Yup. We really are graduating.

So you may remember a while back how I hinted that @PrezHuddleston and I were working behind the scenes with each other on a project. Well, it ended up going in a slightly different direction then we anticipated, but it is actually much better this way.

Here is how it went down. I wrote a column last semester about what the senior gift should be. Although, it was mostly in a sarcastic manner. Pretty much I just didn't want it to go to the business school (because that only helps a small percentage of campus) and I didn't want it to be a bench or something. Anyways, Prez tweets me saying that he's on board for trying to do something bigger (a video screen at the Whit would be in the 1-2 million range, it will not happen) and that he knows who I am. I then realized I also know who he is and we've know each other for a while now.

Long story short, we bounced ideas around, but then got in touch with the alumni department and decided that we would help them promote the senior gift using our followings. Through the help of a few focus groups they decided that giving the money to the rec center (to immediately add equipment or for future expansion) would be the best use of the senior gift money. Usually the senior gift money just goes into a generic UNH fund for whatever needs money (from painting rooms to sidewalk repair etc).

So how do @PrezHuddleston and I fit in with all of this? Basically, if we get 50% to donate (even just $5) PHudd will reveal himself at the lobster back. I'm being used for educational and promotional purposes. (Basically UNH knows that students don't check their websites, but they do follow me and Prez much more closely.)

Here's how I come in: Basically UNH has a terrible history of raising a senior gift fund and our alumni donations are terrible. In the past they have asked the class to donate their graduating year in money. For example last year they asked students to donate $20.11. Guess what? 35 friggin' people donated and about half of it was staff. I think we can beat 35 people. UMass historical raises a ton of money through donations. We're classy, so I think we can get 50%.

Stay tuned, there will also be a video and more featuring PrezHuddleston and the real Huddleston and other special guests (I declined a role in the video because I'm still working on my own plans). Also, you don't have to be a senior to give.

Underclassmen, remember, the gym is going to benefit you. Not too long ago the student gym was a small classroom in the Field House, imagine what it could become.

We've worked to make the donation process very simple and I really hope we can make this work.

Stay classy, not UMassy.

Senior Gift Ideas

Monday morning the new UNH Twitter account, @UofNH, submitted the following tweet: "Attn #UNH Seniors! What would you like to leave as your Senior Gift? Let us know your ideas! Please use hashtag #UNHSeniorGift." UNH Class of 2012, this is our chance to leave our mark on this fine institution.

For the past four years, or more for the super and super, super seniors, UNH has provided us with an education to be successful in this devastating and depressing economy. Or at least they have convinced us that we can find jobs out there.

Personally, I'm not so sure. But hey, that's what graduate school is for, right? Delaying the inevitable for another couple years – or however long it takes. There's always mom and dad's basement and managerial positions at McDonalds. How do you say "would you like fries with that" in Spanish?

Anyway, back on topic: The 2012 UNH senior gift. Personally, I don't want to be remembered for a little granite bench or simply contributing to the new Peter T. Paul business school.

I'm a dreamer and I want our gift to be something that we can be proud of, that our state can be proud of and that the university can be proud of. Of course, that might be tough. The state obviously isn't very proud of us at all – I mean, they already cut our funding in half, and I'm willing to bet that the largest newspaper in the state has never written a positive article on UNH.

So what are the major things that UNH is known for? Well, if you read the papers we're known for being a party school, buying lots of beer, having high arrest numbers, disruptive concert crowds, not getting along well with the town of Durham, having poor diversity and race relations, a Greek system that loses a charter seemingly every week, and we have a pretty decent hockey team.

Out of all of those things that UNH is known for, our hockey team and particularly the state-of-the-art Whittemore Center, which is one of the very few Olympic sized rinks in the country, is something to truly be proud of. However, for the Whitt to be truly labeled "state-of-the-art" I believe that it is missing one key feature: a video replay scoreboard. I mean even the decrepit old Alfond Arena up in Orono, Maine, has a video board. Think of how much easier it will be to harass our favorite referees like the Hanson brothers when we have video evidence on our side.
Listen, the orange light bright scoreboard is unique to the Whitt, but it just doesn't do a good enough job. Sure the stick figures are entertaining, but player pictures are basically undecipherable and its technology sophistication is that of a 5-year-old's play toy.

You're probably thinking to yourself, how would this benefit the university as a whole? Well, let me put it this way: what other aspect of UNH draws more attention? The hockey program is nationally known, regularly sells out home games, makes TV appearances, and draws students from across the country as well as internationally. And while a video board may be expensive, it's a heck of a lot cheaper than a new football stadium. A replay board could also serve as a visual component to concerts, trade shows and other events held at the Whittemore Center.

If you're not yet sold on the idea of a video replay board there are many other options for the class of 2012's senior gift. This is our chance to come together and give something back to the community for a change. Another common idea could be setting up a scholarship fund for future students from tough economic backgrounds – in this economy and with rising tuition costs, cases like that will only become more likely. Other ideas could be murals, memorials, database subscriptions, specific renovations, and sustainability upgrades such as solar panels.

Bike racks and benches have been done numerous times – lets leave a gift unique to UNH and unique to the class of 2012.

Stay classy, not UMassy.