I would also like to address my comments made in Barrett Neale's article "GLBTQ panel discusses issues, answers questions." Firstly, my comment regarding the university's Track and Field team may have offended several people.
For those of us who follow Virginia politics, 2009 has been a year of Republican demagoguery, fear-mongering and partisan bickering that has contributed substantially to the failure to achieve an intellectually honest debate about the issues that actually matter to Virginians, such as transportation, education and economic growth.
"Be careful," warned the janitor as I entered the bathroom on my hall one early morning of my freshman year.
I may not have had my own bed while at home for Fall Break, but I did have the comfort of knowing that the second floor would remain above the first as I drifted into my REM cycle and back.
Glasses? Check. Gloves? Check. Scalpel? Just kidding. But instead, I need some bleach. Yes, that's right.
I would like to make a few comments and share my personal experiences, which might clarify this week's article "GLBTQ Panel Discusses Issues, Answers." Firstly, I would like to commend Ms. Neale for writing this piece.
Two weeks ago (unless you're reading this in THE FUTURE), President Barack Obama was granted the Nobel Peace Prize for "efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples." This is the political equivalent of a parent sighing, "Well, at least he's trying," whenever their "special" child fails another test. Now, usually I try not to get very political because politics are hilarious and they quickly go out of date, but what gets written once on the Internet stays there FOREVER (which is why I can never be president myself). Today, however, I have to make an exception. If the Nobel Committee is giving out prizes for "efforts" to make world peace, then, damn it, I deserve a LOT more credit for all the crap I've been doing: "Efforts to finish my German homework." "Efforts to clean my room." "Efforts to make a Web site." "Efforts to write an opinion piece." "Efforts to be funny." "Efforts to be a productive member of society." And if that's the case then we have Oscar night all wrong!
Greetings from Ireland, the Emerald Isle! I realize I should have probably written something about Ireland first, instead of Germany, but in the spirit of October (and what better way to celebrate this glorious month than a beer-and-pretzel-laden festival in a German city), I would like to recount an amazing weekend abroad: Oktoberfest 2009. I, like many other fellow Spiders, somehow managed to get to Munich, Germany, by way of bus, train, plane, taxi, walking, hitching a ride on the Hofbraeu horse wagon ... you get the picture.
Now readers (especially you, ladies), before insults begin to fly from your innocent mouths, hear me out.
Some people might think that it's entirely too soon to begin talking about the 2010 elections. In my opinion, it has become ridiculous that we even bother holding elections anymore. Like clockwork, every other year, we are treated to a tremendous amount of bullshit and lies, and the worst part is that we entertain them as if they were actually going to happen if we cast our votes.
Dear University of Richmond Campus, The image of a male on the University of Richmond campus has become increasingly negatively skewed.
Time: How many of us have it? Many of us spend our whole lives procrastinating. We procrastinate doing our homework.
Dear Readers, I wanted to take the time to remind you all that you are reading an OPINION column, just in case you have forgotten. If you are looking for news, sports or anything else, please refer to the corresponding pages. Still here, on the bottom of page 11?
Back-to-back Family Weekend and Fall Break - poor planning but promising possibilities. As parents poured onto campus last weekend, our residences became a little cleaner, our stomachs and refrigerators a little fuller and our self-esteem a little higher.
The very first paragraph of Mike Padovano's column, "An Obama progress report," reminded me of a simple but amusingly true statement: "Everyone is entitled to their opinion but yours is stupid." Now, it is true our Constitution provides for freedom of speech -- which the government protects -- however, this should not necessitate a political discourse based on awfully-put-together talking points, half-truths and no-truths, fallacious (attempts at) arguments, uncivil behavior, name-calling, fear-mongering and a disrespect for our political processes and leaders. Vis-a-vis the crazy town-hall heckling, gun-wielding, socialism-crying, anti-government alternate-reality birthers and astro-turf activists, there is an even larger crowd of Americans who have different opinions on the role of government and different methods for voicing them. We mortal beings -- we, the reality-based, who witnessed the biggest financial collapse since the Great Depression and sensed the effects of a sluggish economy in the high unemployment numbers, the terrible job market and the lack of capital and credit -- we look at the world and see what takes little effort so long as one has the ability to distinguish fact from fiction, and reality from ideological interpretations of it: We are aware that 14,000 Americans lose their healthcare coverage everyday, that healthcare spending in 2007 was more than $2.2 trillion dollars, yet more than 45 million of us are without healthcare. We mourn the loss of 4,326 men and women in uniform to an unnecessary war in Iraq. We have seen rising costs put higher education out of reach of the great majority of Americans and are troubled by the fact that less than 25 percent of college-age youth are full-time students.
Ladies and gentlemen, as usual, apartment 507 is bringing you an exclusive. This is the first in a semester-long series of translated conversations to help you figure out what a man means when you are having a hard time deciphering his words. We'll do this by example.
We walk a few yards away from the cafe and begin to hear the screams. It is a woman's voice, shrill and Italian.
Despite taking an entirely Arts and Sciences class schedule, my most thought-provoking lessons this week came from the Business School. Quite the coincidence that I referenced my B-School expedition last week, because an e-mail I received regarding my column was from the very professor whose accounting class I had visited last semester - professor Joe Hoyle.
It's a Friday night. You've just ended a long, hard week. You're not really feeling The Cellar, and you don't know of any decent parties, so you retreat to your dorm. There, you dwell in absolute boredom.
It was the day before I left for my journey to Europe. All summer, I had been mentally preparing myself.
