THE UNIVERSITY DAILY GANSAN PAGE 4 FREE FOR ALL Text your FFA submissions to 785-289-8351 To the Republican. You're not a true conservative if you don't like basketball But...I decided not to text that one in...FFA, get out of my head!!! She just gives off passion like a rain cloud in the springtime. I love storms. Everyone says college teaches you time-management skills I say it teaches you crunch-time management skills Who is this Jeff Withey guv everyone can't shut up about? Editor's note: Professional tril, right here. To the guy across the bus aisle in the suit. I appreciate your effort to make Monday morning classy. I pretend I'm in a dinosaur when I'm at the gym. They call me tyrannosaurus FLEX I'm not in love with the drummer. He's adorable like a puppy, but that's all. Probably the most frustrating thing is seeing Jayhawks not know their own school name! University of Kansas people not Kansas University. Step on a crack, and my mom will break your back. TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 2013 You know you're a student during midterm week when your fantasies are about sleeping. I just heard that Safe Bus this year isn't a party bus... Freshmen, I'm disap- pointed. Oh yeah? Tablets for school kids everywhere? Please, there are still districts that can barely get up-to-date textbooks. Passive aggressive tweets are never the answer. Grow up. My headphones are in despite my dead ipod because I don't want to talk to you. If you say 'ciao' on a regular basis and you're not Italian, I'm definitely judging you. We sweep K-State this year. I refuse to acknowledge this Big XII "co-champions" nonsense. If you don't care about basketball, then you aren't patriotic enough to be a Republican. SOCIAL MEDIA I must apologize to everyone in the Western Civ II midterm. "Sniffle". Being sick is awful. I know an international student who wants to be fat and stupid so that people will think he's "more American". I'm offended. FALSE!! Wescoe was supposed to be the gateway to Narnia. I just watched my boyfriend punch a can of oranges open because he forgot that he didn't have a can opener. This just goes to show that not all stupid things that happen in college have to involve alcohol. Snapchat taking over the application world Do you have it? That little yellow ghost icon on your cell's home screen? If you do, then you've experienced the sometimes thrilling, sometimes useless, sometimes disastrous effects of The Snapchat. No, not just "Snapchat." I prefer to call it by its proper name, "The Snapchat," because of the life it has taken on in my cellular world. Apart from text messages and those vague "Provost eNews" emails, the Snapchat is my most frequent notification. (Seriously though, what are those Provost eNews things?) The best part about The Snapchat is that it's essentially the "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" digital remix. But we'll call this the "How to ruin all your relationships via a small yellow ghost" version for good measure. Its use and abuse rarely have good outcomes, yet we're still all, "OMG what did we do before we could send 10-second pics of our face doing inane daily activities to our 50 closest friends?" Luckily, I have had many a run-in courtesy of The Snapchat and am prepared to share that advice here. Consider this your anti-guide to The Snapchat. First, let's tackle that eye-opening yet horrifying Best Friends feature. They can't just call it "The Three Random People You Happen to Snapchat Most," can they? No, these three have to be your "Best Friends," and they're posted on Snapchat.com for the whole world to see. The worst part is The Snapchat doesn't lie. There no denying how much you're in contact with these people once someone's discovered your dirty little Best Friends secret. For best results, make sure these three include criminals, ex-boyfriends, sexting buddies, people you don't actually know and general crazies. And while were on that page, let's consider that "HISCORE" feature. As if it's not bad enough that The Snapchat publicizes your three most embarrassed "friends," now everyone can judge you for just how addicted you are through an ambiguous HISCORE. And can I just say how much I appreciate The Snapchat's creative use of capitalization? LOL wait. No, I don't. At all. Make sure you use The Snapchat to send pics and vids to all of your contacts, not just the ones that are relevant or you've talked to in the last year. The tricky part is that The Snapchat has not yet developed a "Select All" feature for choosing your recipients. When that happens, God help us. In the meantime, be as unrestricted as possible when sending those heinous pics. Your obscure friend from high school? Yes. That kid in your 500-seat bio lecture? Yes. The cute boy you met at a bar but for some reason never snapchats or texts or Facebooks you back? The ultimate yes. Next, use Snapchat for sexting nude photos. Easier to win a relationship/your reputation/ your life. Moving on, the "Delivered" vs. "sent" vs. "Opened" feature is god. Once you've sent a particularly masterful snap, you reserve the right to check that unreasonably tiny print every 30 seconds until The Snapchat confirms your recipient has indeed succumbed to your snap of you walking to class, singing to a KeSha song in the car or "trying on hipster glasses!" LAWLZ." The key here is that if that person doesn't respond within five minutes, your next move's to send a snap of your sad face with the caption, "No SnAp AbCk??? (: ,(: The worst kind of friends are the ones who refuse to partake in your snap conversations. You snap, "Goin out 2nite?" with tongue out. They text message you, "Nope, got some homework to catch up on." You snap, "What?! LAME!!" with indignant face. They text, "Yep, bummer haha." No picture, no video, no nothing! These people are not worth your time on The Snapchat or in life. "Snap! [Username] has screen-shotted your Snapchat!" notification is like being told, "Hey! Your trust and friendship and revolting facial expressions have been exploited at your expense!" Screenshotters, you are the Benedict Arnold to my American colonies. No, scratch that. The worst kind of friends are screenshots. I once had a friend screenshot my monstrous photo/caption combo and tweet it. Getting that rinally Snapchatters, in order to completely alienate yourself, you need to follow @ SnapchatProbz and retweet it religiously. Tweets like "I always look ratchet at when I SnapChat at night. .." are both relevant and entertaining! The sad part is that The Snapchat doesn't have to be our downfall. We can use it for getting outfit help from friends! For keeping in touch with people studying abroad! For proving to your boyfriend that you really are where you say you are! But if you like to engage in the above behaviors, well, I won't say I told you so. Mayfield is a junior studying journalism, political science and leadership from Overland Park INTERNATIONAL A taste of Brazil culture found here in Lawrence Some 40 days before Easter, almost all of Brazil — my homeland and a large chunk of the Catholic world — take a deep breath to dive into Carnival, the world's biggest party. Originally a Christian festivity inspired by the pagan festivals Dionysia and Bacchalana, Carnival was traditionally the last party before the pious days of Lent. Characterized by binge eating and drinking, Carnival is an escape from ordinary life and a taste of the life of a hedonist. While in the U.S. the most famous expression of Carnival is New Orleans' Mardi Gras, Kansas does not have much of a tradition on this field. But although we are far away from Brazil's country-wide festivities, lucky us, we can take a shot at it in Lawrence. Brazilian Carnival is a distinctive feature of the Brazilian imagery as seen by foreigners, but what many people don't realize is that it also plays a central role in Brazilian culture. Of course, the awesome, extravagant party is a lot of fun, but its meaning goes well beyond that. For Brazilians, it is a display of an idealized classless society, inexistent in our unequal country, as well as the unofficial kickoff for the New Year. In fact, in Brazil, it is often said that the year does not begin until after Carnival. Like most Brazilian holidays, Carnival has Catholic origins. And again, like most Brazilian holidays, it is not as holy these days. With it is a temporary forgetfulness of rationality and the life of the mind, in exchange for a week of Heionism and life of the body. Carnival is among Western society's most interesting phenomena. Lawrence has its own Carnival party. It is the largest Brazilian Carnival in the Midwest, according to the KU Department of Spanish & Portuguese, as well as the largest show-party in Lawrence. It is also the city's most awesome party of the year, not only according to my biased opinion as I'm a member of the Brazilian Student Association but also according to folks who have been saying on the event's Facebook page about how "legendary" it was last year and how they "can't wait for it." At the party, you will get the chance to see and dance with traditional samba dancers in colorful costumes, capoeira players, drummers and an awesome Brazilian music band from Chicago. Lawrence's Brazilian Carnival is March 30, the week after spring break. You can find more info about it at the KU Brazilian Student Association website, brasaku.com. The date is off the traditional Roman Catholic calendar, but one could say March Madness is more or less a version of Lent in lajawh land. Since the flesh is weak, we might as well celebrate it. It is about time to get the year started. Morelix is a junior majoring in business and economics from Belo Horizonte, Brazil CAMPUS CHIRPS BACK LAWRENCE Life like constant changing weather It is atop this majestic tower that one can see all of Lawrence. The campus far off in the distance, the various parts of town and even the farm road that generally follows those lovely drives across the Clinton Lake bridge. Lawrence is a beautiful town with a lot of different flavors in a small area. In this particular area, the only lights are those coming from the city, so it's easy to take in the full breadth of the landscape. Have you ever been there? Head south down Iowa Street and drive on the highway for a minute, and you might find it. Or just use Google Maps. It's pretty easy to find that way. According to Douglas County Dept. of Public Works website, "the park is located three-fourths of a mile east of US59 on the south side of County Route 458." This past weekend, it was raining in Lawrence. Dark clouds moved swiftly across the sky, leaving the world painted gray. That beautiful smell that rises from sidewalks when it's raining permeated the air, and the air was a humid warm. Well, it was more wet than humid, but that didn't stop me from going to Well's Overlook anyway. Three weeks ago, we enjoyed a delightful snowstorm that immobilized us, followed by another snowstorm, followed by beautiful weather where the warmth allowed everyone to walk gallantly in the sun between classes. Kansas Weather... Looking east is easy. We're all so familiar with this town and its traditions, it will be a part of us forever. However, if you turn the opposite direction and look west, you can see the horizon. And if you look really hard, focusing all of your attention, squinting a little, in the rain, you can see your future. @Harpin Hannah @UUK Opinion By rehearsing with the KU Wind Ensemble for recordings and Carnegie Hall! #kucarnegie @Harpin Hannah As my clothes become ever more drenched and thunder roars around me, I look out onto the unknown and wonder, "What's in store for me?" A bright light flashes nearby followed instantly by a loud crack that sounds like a riffle being fired. It's startling, but nothing I'm unfamiliar with. Not anything I haven't already learned not to fear in the past. Besides, if Mother Nature chooses to have her way with me, I'm done for. However, today is not that day. Today, we're both on the same wavelength. what's in store for us, but the rain makes clear the true uncertainty of our lives. The dark clouds roll onward, but on the horizon, you can see the faint glimmer of the sun waiting to shine through. The answer is different for all of us because we all have different ideas and plans. Beautiful plans that we all stand to bring to life. But when things don't go as we've planned, we'll look onto the horizon and remember that we haven't quite reached it yet. The peaceful rain is gone, and it's cold again. But tomorrow, it will be warm. It's easy to think we know Life is the Kansas weather cycle: cold one day, warm the next, cold again, warm again for a while, too hot, too cold, dark, bright and sometimes so overwhelming you can't do anything but stay inside. Bartocci is a junior majoring in journalism from Kansas City. Follow him on Twitter @NBartocci. ( ) @llottino @UDK Opinion Slowly waiting for everyone to filter out so Lawrence, my seniors thesis & I can finally be alone together. #truelove @HeyJacklynn @UDK_Opinion watching a lot of Sherlock because I'm going to London! @t0astfaceKillah HOW TO SUBMIT A LETTER TO THE EDITOR @UDK_Dpinion going fake tanning every day and bathing in a tub of margarita mix while wearing a visor. LETTER GUIDELINES Length: 300 words The submission should include the author's name, grade and honour Find our **full letter to the editor policy** online at kansas. com/letters. editor@kakao.com Sarah McCabe, managing editor sunchee.com Nikki Westling, managing editor newtling@kakao.com Hannah Wise, editor-in-chief editor@kansan.com Dynamic sysmnt /milton edward diplo@kakao.com Elise Farrington, business manager farrington@kakao.com Jacob Snider, sales manager jacob@kakao.com Dylan Lysen, opinion editor dlysen@kansan.com Malcim Gibson, general manager and news adviser mglbison@kansan.com Jon Schilt, sales and marketing adviser jschilt@kansan.com CONTACT US THE EDITORIAL BOARD 0 Members of the Kaman Editorial Board are Iannah Wise, Sarah McAkee, Mihale Wenting, Dylan Lyon, Elise Farrington and Jacob Snider.