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THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 2011
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
PAGE 5A
opinion
apps.facebook.com/dailykansan
Dear FFA community, my boyfriend that goes to KSU has been hacking my FB and writing on FFA, I'm deeply sorry for any pain this may have caused.
I hate the idea that you find what you are looking for when you stop looking.
I've decided that I'm going to marry Amy Adams and have her babies! If only I could meet her and if only she wasn't married already...
Tell ya what, if we have a great night together I'll make breakfast for you in the morning.
I'm surprised a KSU student knew how to work a "computer gizmo" (as they would say).
I don't understand why girls get tattoos on their feet. It used to just be the hipster thing to do, but now it's actually popular.
I wonder how many of my professors smoked weed in college. Just curious
I just can't sex you because I don't think you can beat my one-night stand over spring break, sorry!
Can't find my pizza blasted Goldfish... Naismith must be haunted!
Dear Facebook ads, I am not Mormon, and I do not want to drive a school bus. Where does it get its information?!
Then explain to me why I'm getting an ad for "me and my baby" when I have nothing baby related in my life.
It's like fortune teller Madame Ruby. She is saying "baby related things are coming soon." For $50 I tell you EVERYTHING you need to know.
What's the same about K-State grads and tornados? They both enjoy trailer parks.
How can I tell if this bitch is cheating on me?
To the girls wearing short shorts and leggings: Other students and faculty can see your butts sticking out.
I used to be in the FFA all the time, now I have a boyfriend and no longer have clever cynical things to say #bittersweet.
Please don't ruin it for the male population.
I am so glad I am graduating in May, because I am tired of getting put in group projects with sorority girls.
I listened to "Let it Burn" by Usher after we lost Sunday. I'm obviously handling this very well.
When she says she isn't THAT kind of girl it means that she doesn't want to be that kind of girl with YOU. Sorry bud.
The South Park St. sign is missing...
What a shame...
Awwwww Missouri has banners for every sweet 16 they've been to, how cute.
'Limitless'undervalues power of human brain
Basically, Cooper's character, Eddie Morra, is a deadbeat writer who was recently dumped by his girlfriend and is about to lose his apartment. He discovers NZT-48, a drug that supposedly "accesses 100 percent of the brain."
What if you could take a pill that made you better, smarter and richer? This is the basis of the new movie "Limittile" starring Bradley Cooper, Abbie Cornish and Robert De Niro.
The movie claims we can only access 20 percent of our brain. One pill allows him to finish writing his book, learn Italian and become rich through investment in four days. He becomes a wealthy businessman when he starts experiencing adverse side effects of the drug: black outs, memory lapses and lack of strength.
CULTURE
So would you take this pill if you were guaranteed to see vast improvement? Regardless, NZT-48 does not exist in real life. What about other guaranteed pills that are FDA approved? That makes it better, right? Adderall and other similar medications prescribed for ADD are the closest we have to "magic" pills in the sense that it helps most users focus and get motivated.
The issue is people that are not diagnosed with ADD abuse this drug. I
BY MONICA SAHA msaha@kansan.com
admit I took it once, ironically, to study for a neurobiology test. I was in the zone within 20 minutes. Reading about synaptic plasticity seemed enjoyable.
I was up for 13 hours straight reading powerpoints and drinking an ungodly amount of water. Adderall is a diuretic and will dehydrate you.
I did well on the test, but coming off this drug was horrible. My heart seemed like it was beating twice as fast. My appetite was suppressed for half a day so my stomach was hurting. I was so tired but couldn't fall asleep. I sat on my bed miserable, with my right eye twitching.
I decided then I would never take it again. The side effects were not worth it.
Morra is urged to stop taking the pill when he finds out others who abused it have died or were hospitalized.
When your body becomes adduced to a substance like NZT-48, your body begins to rely on it. A 2008 Harvard study showed addictive drugs stimulate a reward circuit in the brain.
The effects of over-consuming medication are dangerous. In "Limitation,"
Rewarding experiences like getting an A on a test or making millions in a four-day period triggers the release of dopamine. This signals the brain to "do it again." Therefore, it is difficult to quit right away when drug-induced change alters memories linking the drug as a pleasurable incentive. Morra has to taper off the drug by reducing the dosage little by little.
It is important to note how this movie belittles actual brain power. In the middle of the 20th century, scientists had limited knowledge on how the brain functioned. This somehow translated to to public and mass media now that only use 20 percent of our brain. New technologies like MRIs or PET scans show this to be incorrect. That is like saying we only use 20 percent of our muscles when muscular contraction happens all that time. If these statistics were true, you would be dead.
extreme as NZT-48 to be released for the public. It would be expensive to buy and regulate in the pharmaceutical market. Many scientists would try to make a generic for a fraction of the cost
The world is not ready for a pill as
The world would become an instant Darwinian society. Anyone who had access to the pill would be infinitely times better than their peers competing for the same job or entrance to a professional school. Others without the funds for this drug will become jealous and mentally hungry.
When people are desperate, they do not think rationally. They may even kill others to get the drug. Morra is so desperate he drinks the blood of someone who just injected NZT-48 in his bloodstream in hopes to get the high he needs.
If one is on this pill long enough, the line between the actual person and the drug becomes thin. Am I talking to my friend or am I talking to the effects of the drug on my friend?
It does not take a pill to succeed,
just inner motivation. And when you
find that inner motivation, you really
become limitless.
Saha is a junior in neurobiology from Overland Park.
HUMOR
Here's to longer spring breaks and refreshing Dr Peppers all around
I went to London for spring break this year, and though it was overall a tremendously fun and rewarding experience, there were a few things about the trip that bothered me. For example, not one single restaurant I ate at, fast food or otherwise, had Dr Pepper as a soft drink option. They did, however, offer orange Fanta without fail. I'm not against embracing cultural differences, but Fanta is the least American beverage in the known universe, and I just can't abide engaging in such uncivilized behavior as actually drinking it.
I think much of London would agree with me, because near the end of my trip there were massive protests on Oxford Street and Trafalgar Square, presumably by a coalition of Dr Pepperians and anti-Fantites who did not wanta the tyranny of Fanta in their otherwise majestic city.
Limited soda selection aside, the real problem with my trip was that it had to end. Indeed, many students returned from their spring break travels this week, exhausted and not particularly excited to return to the harsh reality of classes, tests and papers. It's entirely unreasonable to expect anyone to be able to jump right back into the rigorous routine of academia after an entire week away from it all. This is why I believe we need a new structure for spring break, one that lets us ease back into our schedules.
Cliché though it may be, "I need a vacation from this vacation" is a sentiment shared by many, yet followed through by few. Under my new system, spring break would be followed by spring break break, a week-long wind-down period during which students can relax by staying at home or going on a leisurely trip, perhaps to a place that prefers the 23 wonderful flavors of Dr Pepper to the one crappy flavor of orange Fanta.
BY ALEX NICHOLS anichols@kansan.com
Of course, an entire week of napping and lounging and sipping DP would put students in a bind of a different sort: They would be too rested.
and as a result unwilling to wear themselves out with a return to a full-speed slate of coursework. That's why spring break break would be followed by a pre-return dry run - a week during which students go to classes at their scheduled times, but with casual conversation and free food in the place of actual lecture and discussion. This would get students back into the habit of going to class without placing the unseemly burden of actual work on their newly stress-free shoulders.
When actual work resumes the next week, it may not be quite up to par with the work students produced earlier in the semester, when they were in something of a rhythm. To allow students the time to get their scholastic grooves back, the month after the pre-return dry run would be a heavily curved probationary period, during which all tests and assignments will earn an "A" grade regardless of actual quality. This would help compensate for the academic capabilities lost or damaged during the previous three work-free weeks.
At this point, finals week is all that would remain. Thanks to the tremendous grade improvements experienced by all during the probationary period, very few people would need to take their finals to keep an "A," rendering this last week totally optional - as it should be.
I urge Student Senate to turn this plan into policy at the soonest possible opportunity. Also, screw this Coke campus stuff; I want some Dr Pepper in the Hawk Shop!
Nichols is a senior from Stilwell in creative writing.
James Naismith's original rules of basketball will be on display at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art until May 29. Where should the rules' final destination be?
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I am a lover of the English language. Aside from a brief fling with Spanish in high school, I have remained monogamous to English for around 20 years. I've used it to write reports and poetry, and I've spoken all the most important sentences of my life in it. I think all of my thoughts in English, though I realized I don't need to use any language at all to convey my own ideas to myself.
The English language is great but could use some modifying
COMMENTARY
As the lover of English that I am, there was once a time in my life when improper use of grammar and spelling upset me. I would correct people when they meant whom instead of who, and I had strong opinions about Oxford commas and the word octopi.
I grew older though, and I realized a couple things. Most people do not pay attention to you when you correct their English, and the only reason I really cared so much was so I could have another reason to feel like I was better than everyone else.
Now I find myself growing irritated when I hear others correcting grammar and spelling. In particular, I dread hearing people complain about others replacing "you" and "are" with "u" and "r." The last time I heard this complaint, though, I had an epiphany. What if there was a way to stop these complaints?
I have a very simple solution that should solve all the problems people have concerning these two words. Why don't we just change the official spellings of "you" and "are" to "u" and "r"? Now I can imagine some will not
Nicholas Sambaluk
English obviously doesn't have a problem with one-letter words as the words "a" and "l" already exist. There is also a precedent among all languages for changing the spelling of words.
like this idea, but allow me to make my argument.
You could argue "u" and "r" don't look professional. Of course, wouldn't the time and ink saved over time by spelling words with two less letters eventually add up and be in the best interest for businesses?
You might also say it would be confusing to change the spelling of words when people are so used to them. I didn't invent these one-letter spellings myself. Many people are already using them. It could be said that's no reason to change a word. Many people wrongly use the word monkey when talking about apes like chimpanzees. That probably doesn't mean we should get rid of the word ape. That's why I'm not arguing we should update any words besides "you" and "are" at this moment though.
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Honestly, I don't think the English-speaking world will accept my proposal, but I also don't expect the one-leter spellings of these words will go away. There will be no resolution to this limbo in my lifetime, but I at least can hope that some people will read my argument and decide to be a little less critical of their fellow human beings.
Ben Holladay is a senior in journalism from Mulvane.
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