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KANSAN.COM | THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2016
My favorite Tyler Self story is when I saw him at the Hawk and he shot his cup into the trash can and he missed.
I was so tired that I waited 20 minutes at IHOP to pay, only to realize I had to go up front and pay.
Current situation: I'm eating Oreos in the shower.
It's allergy season y'all.
There is a certain art to drinking a whole bottle of wine on a Tuesday night and functioning on a Wednesday. I have not mastered that art.
Someone walked into my class carrying a pillow. Living the dream.
The beginning of Work by Rihanna sounds like the soundtrack to a jungle level on Donkey Kong Country.
I want to be reincarnated as one of Hemingway's cats.
I bought my cap and gown. The end is in sight.
When you realize that the easy weekend you had was because you forgot to do an assignment...DUE IN FIVE MINUTES. May the freak out commence.
Can you even graduate college if you haven't thrown up from drinking before 9 pm?
My teacher cancelled class the same day I skipped class. Gives me hope.
The other day I was so sleep deprived that I was driving home at 2AM and I thought I saw turtles in the street..
Don't you love when your computer crashes on you while writing a paper that's due in a couple days?
9 days until Spring Break!
A whole bunch of broadcast people witnessed me spilling tea all over myself. #livingthedream
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Illustration by Brandon Keenan
DUMP TRUMP
Mikinski: America should be ashamed of its overwhelming support for Trump
► MADDY MIKINSKI @Miss_Maddy
I've never been one to believe in conspiracy theories.
At best, theories are a funny diversion from reality; at worst, completely unsubstantiated rants. In the past few weeks, one particular conspiracy theory has caught my attention.
One of my friends is an adamant supporter of the theory that Donald Trump is running for office as a Republican only to split the Republican vote and ensure a Democratic victory. This theory has some semblance
of credence.
In a piece last year for CNN, Princeton professor Julian Zelizer argued Trump has the power to split the Republican vote if he chooses to do so. The Washington Post points out that many of Trump's earlier statements conflict with what he's saying now and that, in the early 2000s, his rhetoric had a sharply liberal slant.
I'd like to officially announce my endorsement for this conspiracy theory. My support, however, isn't so much based on the somewhat compelling facts of the case, but on the fact that I'm a humanist and I don't believe that anyone could ever be as horrible and malicious as Donald Trump without some kind of planning.
I could use a million different synonyms for "horrifying" to describe Trump's
constant front-runner status. Since his candidacy announcement last June, Trump has built his strong lead in the polls on a foundation of lies and bad sportsmanship.In the same speech he announced his presidency, Trump made a now-infamous comment equating all Mexican immigrants with rapists and drug dealers.In December, he made more comments that heavily implied his complicity in establishing a database of Muslims in the country.
The worst aspect of Trump's campaign isn't his xenophobia and racism — it's that American voters openly subscribe and perpetuate his own personal brand of hatred. This week he dominated Super Tuesday caucuses and primaries, winning seven out of 11 states. Over the past year, Trump's standing in the
polls has only increased according to a Huffington Post poll. The fact that some of the people choosing him in polls are white supremacists, including the grand wizard of the KKK himself, shows that he's catering to the lowest tier of American voters.
Our apparent approval of Trump's mendacious views doesn't only affect us. America has always been a major player in international politics, but we're hardly the most likable world power. Widespread support for Trump's hate speech only makes it harder for us to be taken seriously. We should consider it out of the question to elect a man who was nearly banned from entering the United Kingdom. London Mayor Boris Johnson once said, "The only reason I wouldn't go to some parts of New York is the real risk of meeting
Donald Trump."
To be fair, Trump gets a multitude of attention from his opponents, as well. Whether people agree with him or not, Trump has the campaign that launched a thousand thinkpieces. But the people who oppose Trump are not voting for him in polls or caucusing for him.
Trump's political success relies entirely on people who subscribe to his controversial views, and right now, Trump supporters are in the majority. In the words of Mark Twain, "Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect."
Maddy Mikinski is a junior from Linwood studying English and journalism.
- Edited by Vicky
Diaz-Camacho
Clough: Surprise album trend does not bode well for future of music industry
▶ MATTHEW CLOUGH
@mcloughsofly
"Flawless" is likely the word Beyoncé fans would use to describe the artist's most recent release. Her self-titled album dropped Dec. 13, 2013, with no promotion and achieved immense critical and commercial success. Since then, the "surprise album" tactic in releasing music has become something of a cultural trend as more artists reveal little, if anything, about their projects before releasing them.
Yet the phenomenon doesn't carry the same gravity as it did in the Beyoncé era, nor does it have such a profound effect on the market. If anything, releasing albums with little or no promotion has become more of a complicated process than it has been
The result, in both cases, was chaos. When Rihanna's "Anti" was finally released in late January, it initially only appeared on the streaming service Tidal. Then she began issuing free downloads via her Twitter until the album was officially added to iTunes the following day. So how well has the album performed commercially? It's difficult to tell, given how many copies were downloaded for free and the inconsistencies in streaming availability
Most recently, Rihanna and Kanye West have participated in a variant of the surprise album trend. Although the two extensively promoted their work — Rihanna's "Anti" was foreshadowed by rumors surfacing over the course of a year, while West ranted on Twitter before finally deciding on the title "The Life of Pablo" — neither artist declared a release date for their albums.
traditionally, and as artists experiment with new ways to release their work, I can't help but worry that the music industry is changing in less than favorable ways.
across platforms.
Another detractor from West's release is that he's not really profiting from his work. Signed artists make approximately $2.30 per album download on Apple Music, according to a report, but West isn't benefitting from this platform. Even if he were to add the album eventually, it'll sell less than it would have had it been added upon its release. Ordinarily profit wouldn't be a major concern for artists who already have millions, but it may
The release of West's album wasn't much better. Also appearing exclusively on Tidal, "The Life of Pablo" still hasn't been added to iTunes despite its spontaneous release Feb. 14. And since Tidal doesn't disclose streaming statistics, the much-anticipated album isn't charting at all—a clear detraction from the acclaim surrounding West's complete canon of work. If artists continue to release work in such scattered, experimental ways, recording the success of albums in the market is going to become a challenge for the industry.
It also takes a big name to successfully pull off the surprise album. Without promotion and pre-release singles, most artists aren't going to garner media and fan attention—not to mention that music executives are losing value in the industry, as their primary responsibility is to market artists.
hold some importance for West, who claims he's millions in debt.
Even well-known artists sometimes can't make the surprise release work. Anyone with an Apple product will certainly remember U2's "Songs of Innocence," which was downloaded automatically to iPhones and computers in 2014 to the chagin of users worldwide. Although it was an experimental, new method of release, tracking commercial and critical success is, again, a murky process. This release affirmed there's certainly a downside to making an artist's work available to too many people just as there is to making it available to too few.
Quite simply, as the surprise album release continues to rise in popularity, it loses the notoriety that made it so powerful several years ago. With so many artists attempting the practice, it's almost become a standard in some markets, and fans are starting to lose interest.
Experimentation in creating music is a great thing, but it becomes problematic in releasing that music. The industry trend of releasing albums with little or no promotion has given rise to numerous other issues, including incongruities in recording commercial success and achieving critical acclaim, and the inability of access across certain streaming services. For the sake of fans and producers alike, new music should be released through the traditional promotional process.
Matthew Clough is a junior from Wichita studying English and journalism.
- Edited by Samantha Harms
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Members of the Kansan Editorial Board are Vicky Diaz-Carnacho, Kate Miller, Gage Brock and Maddy Mikinski
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