My fifth-grade classmate Mary Beth was one of the nicest people in our school. But playing against her in the girls’ basketball league, I found her incredibly intimidating. This was not the NBA.
It is so easy to lose the purpose of living in this world—feeling confused on what I should be, or want to do. In third grade, I was walking home from school in the late afternoon, looking at the orange sunset spread over the sky, and I wondered, “Why was I born? How is this world structured?” I thought that in order to understand what I should be doing, I need to understand the purpose of this world, how it is made and what it is made for.
As current college students know, a college diploma is just about mandatory to succeed in the highly competitive job market after graduation. However, obtaining that diploma is an extremely costly task. It costs nearly $25,000 for Wisconsin residents to attend UW-Madison each year, with tuition for out-of-state students soaring to nearly $45,000. Under the current system for higher education, families either have to save for decades or plunge into the black hole of student loans to afford the cost of a college education. However, during this current election cycle, candidates are batting around the idea of a free public college education for students. This would not only alleviate the financial and emotional stress from millions of families across the country, but would also jump-start the American economy.
Everyone’s had a dragged-out Sunday at College Library. A stack of empty paper coffee cups. Bags of sour gummy worms forming a pile. A mountain of unfinished work. I often find myself stuck in this all-too familiar scene until the walls blend into the floor and my reading comprehension abilities are put into question. When I finally make my escape, it is not without a pledge that Helen and I will meet again next Sunday to repeat the same mundane production.
Let’s get something clear. Being opposed to same-sex marriage does not make you homophobic. Being opposed to abortion does not mean you hate women.
Russian warplanes in Western Syria have carried out several airstrikes that are believed to have killed dozens of civilians.
At first glance, net neutrality seems like a great idea. It proclaims to keep the Internet free, equal and void of discrimination. Freedom, equality and anti-discrimination certainly are important American principles, but they are meant to be applied to citizens’ relationship with government, not citizens’ relationship with private businesses. Internet access is not a right, and all of the intricacies and stipulations of the service should be left up to the Internet company and its customers.
The true foundation of republican government is the equal right of every citizen in his person and property and in their management,” Thomas Jefferson said.
It was a crisp October evening in Madison; the leaves were beautiful and the weather was perfect for a warm sweater. I was feeling content, walking down the street towards the glowing sign of the Majestic Theater, visions of the concert to come being entertained in my imagination, as my friends and I enjoyed the warmth of our alcohol blankets. With a few ‘pardon mes’ and only a couple ‘watch it bubs,’ we made our way into a decent position and began to cheer as the lights dimmed. That’s when the crowd began to glow.
Every incoming freshman is told of the horrors of the freshman 15. Even the utterance of its name is enough to strike fear in the hearts of us all. Most people have a plan coming in to avoid the abominable phenomenon. Upon arriving on campus, however, it’s quickly become apparent that eluding the freshman 15’s grip is easier said than done.
Oct. 12, South Korea decided to implement a new nationalized Korean history textbook starting in 2017. As a South Korean and a history major, this is one of the most shameful downplays of historical study. This textbook applies to all South Korean public institutions from elementary to high schools. George Orwell emphasized the importance of history itself: “Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.” History has to be studied and narrated by different sources and viewpoints; if not, then we will only harvest unripe and foul misunderstandings.
Irecently came across a quote saying “don’t choose being ‘cool’ because it doesn’t mean anything outside of high school.” My knee-jerk reaction was “what a load of crap.” Middle school and high school were overwhelming when it came to peer pressure. Not only were you trying to figure yourself out, but so was everybody else and the melting pot of moldable identities did not really aid you in finding your own. However, after four years of college, I can say that college is just a more expensive version of high school, boiling over with even more peer pressure than ever before.
We have a sexual assault problem.
Campus shootings are a horror that are unfortunately becoming a common occurrence in today’s society. Within 2015 alone, there have been 53 campus shootings across the country, killing 30 and injuring 53 people, according to The Kansas City Star. There are multiple schools of thought on how we can overcome this problem: increased gun control, improved treatment of mental health issues or fighting fire with fire by making it easier to defend oneself with a gun. This is the option that Wisconsin lawmakers want to make a reality on University of Wisconsin campuses, with state Rep. Jesse Kremer,R-Kewaskum, and Sen. Devin LeMahieu, D-Rostburg, proposing a bill to the state Senate that would allow students and faculty to conceal carry weapons on campus.
For the past hour, I’ve been staring at a blank Google Doc page. My fingers are lying motionless at the helm of the keyboard. My mind is wandering into space. Not a single idea is coming to mind.
Last month in the White House Rose Garden, President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping stood side-by-side and hosted a news conference on the topic of corporate cyber attacks. In the news conference, President Obama stated that both China and the United States would refrain from cyber attacks aimed at pilfering company intellectual or trade secrets for commercial advantage. However, events following the news conference are raising questions on whether this agreement is going to be upheld.
The class clown; not the cool one that has the good jokes or even the one that does stupid stuff that makes everyone laugh. No, I speak of the sub-variety of this personality that sits in the back of the class and has a comment for everything. Someone you want to tell to take a long walk off a short pier, but you know they thrive on any attention. So, you are forced to grind your teeth, smile, and watch as the second hand crawls across the clock face, leisurely strolling towards your freedom.
I recently downloaded Apple Music, and let me tell you, I feel like Ryan Seacrest. For nine bucks a month, I can bump Drizzy while I’m runnin’ through the six and croak along to The Weeknd until I can’t feel my face (I’m proud of that joke, let me have it).
As high school seniors search for colleges to apply to, it will be difficult for them to find one that doesn’t have some sort of “general education” or “liberal studies” requirements. The idea that colleges must produce a well-rounded individual by means of mandating breadth in course selection is almost universal. While it would be nice if it was possible to instill knowledge into students by implementing general education requirements, knowledge is something that you have to want to have. After all, it is entirely possible to get through every liberal studies course you take with the grade you want if you memorize enough information and dump it on the exam, or write a good enough essay on a topic you don’t care about. The flaw in mandated liberal education is the idea that forcing students to complete a set of classes will make them acquire and retain a certain set of skills or amount of knowledge.
Apple Inc. was recently ordered to pay the University of Wisconsin $234 million for infringing on a patent. Although this is far lower than the original reported $862 million, it’s still a substantial sum. Much of the money will presumably go back to the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and be reinvested in research. But why not consider some more fun options.
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Solutions by The State News
