Opinion
HAVE A GREAT SPRING BREAK!
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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FRIDAY, MARCH 13, 2009
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Just so everybody is clear on the issue: The way to a man's heart is through his sternum.
--have to be constantly productive.
Whoever is smoking in the Templin stairwalls, stop, because it smells like ass.
To the blond-haired ref in the championship intramural game: There's nothing like a power trip. Thanks, bro.
--have to be constantly productive.
3-1-6 = Championship
I love that clubs outside the U.S. don't close till like 5 a.m.
It's pretty much amazing.
Dude, I swallowed something and it hurt. I guess that is why they say don't put random junk in your mouth.
--have to be constantly productive.
That was the most profound statement in the history of man
--have to be constantly productive.
My genes aren't selfish enough.
--have to be constantly productive.
My stomach just growled
really loudly. I thought
someone was whispering at
me through my door.
--have to be constantly productive.
--have to be constantly productive.
Why is it every time I need to do something, I forget to do it?
Hidden talent that I'm secretly proud of but will never have any use for or show anyone: I can spit like four feet.
I'm preparing for my Bio100 test right now by watching videos I found on Youtube made by little boys explaining DNA. SO much easier than reading the book.
MATLAB needs to die in a fire.
Maybe one day I will have the size and strength of the Strongman, Ryan Madden...
What does it mean when a guy uses lots of explanation marks (1) at the end of his sentences in his text messages? Like, "Hey!" Does he like me, or is it just because he's a happy type of a guy?
--have to be constantly productive.
No, he doesn't like you, because you're dumb and said explanation marks.
--have to be constantly productive.
Breathing like Darth Vader using my hands will never cease to cheer me up.
I dressed this morning according to the Google results for "Lawrence Weather." Incidentally, Lawrence, New Zealand had a beautiful 65 today.
--have to be constantly productive.
Left with no jobs, failing economy, our generation deserves its breaks
EDITORIAL BOARD
ASSOCIATED PRESS
We live in fiscally downtrodden times. The economy is in a recession. We face budget cuts, a falling stock market and rising unemployment. This is the worst crisis of its kind since the Great Depression and it is the greatest challenge facing our generation.
We get it.
No matter how many different ways you spin it, the economy looks just as bad as a Missouri Tiger in Allen Fieldhouse. Despite this, it's time for students to take a break — spring break, to be exact. This is not to negate the severity of the situation our school, country or world is facing.
For college students, however, taking seven days to think about something aside from finance, stimulus packages and budgets is not only permissible, but absolutely necessary.
Starting today, as soon as you hand your last midterm to your weary-eyed professor, as soon as your hear that final blow of the steam whistle and walk out into the unpredictable Kansas weather, you realize that for at least the next couple of days you do not
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Stop worrying for now. The awful economy has affected students, but this
KANSAN'S
OPINION
doesn't mean you shouldn't enjoy the break from class. If you're leaving town — lucky you — just avoid any situations that resemble the movie "Taken."
If you're staying in Lawrence, find a green T-shirt and check out the downtown St. Paddy's Day Parade. It's free.
The economy is still going to be here for us to fix after the break. So read a book you don't have to highlight, see a movie you're not writing a paper about, go out realizing you won't have to feel guilty about skipping class in the morning. Our generation is facing an incredible challenge, but in order to conquer it we have to make it through the semester first. Cheers.
— Caitlin Thornbrugh for The Kansan Editorial Board
STUDENT LIFE
BEN COLDHAM
Universities should leave laptop decision to students
It's an average day on campus, and you're just settling into your classroom. In the moments before the official lesson begins, numerous other students, maybe including you, yank a laptop out of their backpacks and settle it comfortably on their desks. In today's technology-crazed society, it's not surprising to hear several sets of furious fingers grazing across a keyboard while in class. But the glow of computer screens during lessons may soon be a thing of the past.
Eric Thibault, writer for the GW Hatchet at George Washington University, wrote that a number of professors were limiting laptop use during class. This issue has also been addressed at other universities, including Yale, Georgetown and the University of Pennsylvania. Though the University does not have any such proposal, expecting one isn't farfetched. With the freedom to roam the Internet during class, many choose to stalk a crush on Facebook, develop Tetris skills or finally write that e-mail to mom instead of typing notes. Many professors, and even students, are sick of it.
So why don't all colleges just ban laptops? Well, that's where things get tricky. While some hooligans fool around on their computers, there are also dedicated individuals trying to catch every important word of a professor's lecture. I am personally more of a notebook-and-pen kind of gal — I prefer traditional notes I can flip through easily — and can attest that many teachers breeze through material faster than my hand can jot down fragments. With several students typing 90-plus words per minute, using a laptop makes capturing verbatim notes a real possibility. The ease of Microsoft Word leaves students the option to return to their notes later, add more information and still maintain organization. Accessing Powerpoints, further reading and syllabi on Blackboard sites adds to the effectiveness of laptops in the classroom.
Some students in class feel distracted by laptops, but others can't imagine passing a class without them. It doesn't seem fair to punish those correctly using laptops because of a few jokers. After all, those screwing around in class will pay the price come test day.
And, of course, notes written with a hand cramp can become more difficult to translate than Mandarin Chinese. Unlike us handwriting devotees, those using laptops to type notes never have to decode quickly written sentences.
Laptops in classrooms are a choice that should be decided by each person, not by the University. Certain students may have to learn the hard way by failing a class they regularly attended (but rarely took notes in) before changing their habits. Classroom information isn't absorbed through osmosis, and laptops during lecture are only beneficial if used to amplify learning opportunities.
Buser is a Columbia, III., junior in journalism and English.
SCIENCE
Common myths hamper understanding the brain
The brain is both the most important and most misunderstood organ in the human body. It coordinates all our actions, from our ability to run to our capacity to love. But with its complex function come many misconceptions that permeate popular culture.
One old adage says "you only use 10 percent of your brain." Often this proverb is accompanied by some inspirational remark on the vastness of human potential. But any reinforcement of humanity's image gained through this myth is undeserved. All of your brain is important, and all of it gets used for some purpose.
Consider this: the brain may take up only a small portion of your body, but it can use up to 25 percent of the body's energy. Because evolution is such a conservative force, it seems natural that it would maximize the efficiency of the brain. Using only 10 percent would not only be wasteful — it would jeopardize our survival.
Another popular myth about the brain is the idea of "left-brained versus right-brained." If you like oil paintings and romantic poetry, you are labeled as "right-brained." If you spend your evenings working calculus problems and building model bridges, you are "left-brained." Such a distinction is both inaccurate and misleading. It is true that the brain does have certain functions that are localized to specific hemispheres.
For example, sensory and motor information for the left and right halves of your body are segregated in the brain, and language abilities tend to be contained within the left hemisphere. But complicated mental abilities such as creativity and logic are not isolated in either hemisphere of the brain and certainly require all of the brain to operate effectively. This left-right
The final myth is the most pervasive and fools even the college-educated: It is the idea that each part of the brain has a specific function. In most introductory psychology courses, the functionality of different parts of the brain is boiled down into easy factoids, such as "the amygdala controls emotion" or "the occipital lobe controls vision." But this is a gross oversimplification. Most brain structures participate in many activities and functions, and many of those functions are collaborative efforts among different areas of the brain.
brain model also incorrectly supports the false stereotype that individuals must be either artistic or mathematical, an idea that stifles potential.
For instance, it is true that optical information is relayed to the occipital lobe, but it further spreads to many other areas of the brain for processing. This complex interaction weaves the living picture of the world we see, going beyond just simple visual input. In the brain, there is not always a one-to-one ratio between structure and function.
Properly understanding the brain may seem irrelevant or unnecessary, but the brain defines every person's desires, beliefs, creativity, and personality. A proper appreciation of the brain helps develop a proper appreciation of oneself. These myths distort the beauty of the biological workings of the mind and oversimplify a wonderfully complex organ.
Folmsbee is Topeka junior in neurobiology.
Alcohol problems exist at all universities
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
In light of the Jason Wren tragedy, it does not come as a surprise that he died, allegedly from alcohol poisoning. What is surprising is that it does not happen more often.
First and foremost, as much as many of you don't want to read this, it isn't a greek problem. Acute alcohol abuse runs rampant through this and many other campuses in the U.S. and it's not going to change because fraternities and sororites decide to go dry. No matter how much you like or dislike Greek life (of which I am not a part) this is a problem with the perceived college lifestyle pictured by beer bongs, Irish car bombs and keg stands. The Greek community doesn't deserve this ire. The college lifestyle isn't "Animal House," folks. The college lifestyle is learning how to be responsible and independent and prepared for work life, and
it shouldn't take the loss of a student to tell us that.
So how can we change this?
I honestly don't know. There are always going to be people whose goal for the day is to drink 24 Keystone Lights and eight shots of Patron and black out. As horribly dumb as that is, they are entitled to do it. But they have to know that there are consequences that can't be fixed with orange juice and aspirin, and that sometimes they involve a coffin.
In an area filled with, seemingly, adults, alcohol poisoning should never happen. I don't see the allure of taking 20 shots in 10 minutes, pissing myself and making my friends responsible for my actions.
But, hey, who am I to judge? Alcohol is going to kill another person on this campus, but the least you could do is make sure it's not you.
-Zachary Aaron Graham is a graduate student from Columbus, Ohio.
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THE EDITORIAL BOARD Members of the Kansan Editorial Board are Brenna Hawley, Tara Smith, Mary Sorick, Kelsey Hayes and Dan Thompson.