UNH Study: No correlation between Social Networking and Sleep

Newswise — "How much sleep college students get each night is not affected by how much time they spend using Facebook and other social media, according to new research from the University of New Hampshire.
The study indicates that using social media is hardly what keeps students up at night,” said UNH adjunct professor Chuck Martin, whose marketing research class conducted the study. “Using Facebook, and to a lesser degree YouTube, blogs or Twitter, do not appear to have any impact on how much or how little students sleep.” (Read entire article here.) 


This seems like a pretty interesting study, but I find it strange I was never polled during the research, I mean I am the premier campus blogger. That being said I still agree with the results. I spend a lot of time on various social networking sites (for my personal and blog use) and I still get plenty of sleep. What this study fails to answer is what is keeping these students up all night. It doesn't take a genius to figure that out, and this is college right? There are many different factors that keep students up into the wee morning hours such as studying, homework, reading, drinking, TV, movies, taxi driving and video games. Apart from finals weeks I bet video games are the real kicker. Anyone who has ever played the new Call of Duty games can attest to that. I don't have Xbox 360 or and fancy video game system, but I understand how addicting they can be.


Stay classy, not UMassy.

What's the better UNH remix?

Party at UNH

Next Episode: University of New Hampshire

The Stats:

I also wanted to include Decap's "UNH Pimpin'" (In da Mub) from a few years back but I wasn't able to find a useable version online. Some of you may also approach this deciding which one is worse. I think they both have some pluses and minuses, but they are both cool to hear late at night in a dirty basement in Durham when you're wasted.

Stay classy, not UMassy.

PS: I deleted that last post because I learned that the girl from the video is blind. 

Prepare To Have Your Faces Rocked

Hello everyone. For the purposes of this blog, my name is Rusty, and I am the self-proclaimed Party/Sports Correspondent. The New Hampshirite will cover these fields as well, but I'm specifically focused on those topics, because that's what college (besides academics but fuck that) is all about to a guy, right? Sorry ladies. For you, I guess you'd need a Party/Sweatpants Correspondent. That's not me.

Like The New Hampshirite, I share a hatred for Ke$ha, which is a really fucking stupid name. Your song is dumb, half of your references are from before you were born, and I hope your 15 minutes of fame ends incredibly soon. It's painful.

To cleanse my ears from that song Tik Tok, I have to listen to this so I feel better. Ladies and gentlemen, one of the greatest bands to walk the Earth, KISS.



If you have any suggestions for what you want to hear or if you already hate me and want to tell me to fuck off because you think sweatpants are a comfortable substitute, send something to unhblog@yahoo.com and it'll get to me eventually.

200th Post: Expanding the Blog

For the 200th post of the University of Nonsensical Happenings I have some pretty big news that I am really excited about. I am currently in the process of recruiting a few more writers to join the blog. I already have one confirmation and he is an actual journalism student so you'll get to read some decent writing for a change. I have also contacted a few people but we are still in contract negotiations. 
My ultimate goal is to make this blog a free-from campus super blog or "underground newspaper" that is updated daily (during the semesters) where anything goes. So if you are interested (current students only) in contributing please email me at unhblog@yahoo.com. Be prepared to tell me what type of posts you would be interested in writing and how often. If you have good ideas and are willing to submit a sample post or two there is a decent chance I will invite you to become a writer (meaning you get to make your own account and ID). You can post under your real name if you want, just be aware that this will be around forever. You don't have to write in the same style as me (meaning you don't have to write about doing stupid things, but you can if you want.) I am hoping to get about 3-4 writers, but please let me know if your are interested in just contributing once and a while. Email me if you are interested or have any ideas or questions. I really want to expand and make this blog more appealing to the entire campus.
If you are interested in contributing guests posts, without officially joining, you can email them and I will post them like a "letter to the editor." If you choose to do that include how you want me to give you credit (name, fake name, ID...)


Some quick ideas for guest columns or letters (but definitely not limited to):

• freshman/transfer student adjusting to life at UNH
• senior preparing for the real world
• athletes (life as a student athlete... that would be so awesome)
• movie/music/ reviews
• local band reviews - live music from Portsmouth/Dover/Newmarket...
• UNH event coverage
• funny/interesting stories
• sport game recaps/previews
• big party reviews (which frat really does have the best parties?)
• rants and opinions
• current newspaper writers/english/journalism students looking to write informally 
• photographer for picture/photo of the week posts
• student senate updates
• connections to SCOPE
• student club/activity profiles/summaries- event recaps
• For an Alumnae: life after UNH or how UNH prepared you (was it a success?)

This could be a great way to dip into journalism or try something new and outside your major. I hope this is something that will interest a few of you and please don't be shy.

Stay classy, not UMassy.

Mid Break Updates

So we are just about halfway through winter break and I have a feeling these next couple weeks are gonna drag on. I can't wait to get back to Durham and party! (Although I have a feeling Kesha will be so over played this semester I might have to seclude myself in my room.)  I figured I would link up a few Durham updates since I have nothing to do today... until Alabama shows Texas what's up. (I'm picking 'Bama 27-17). Anyways let's see what's been going on back at the old U.

• There was an arrest in the Halloween assault. Eric A. Hunt, 21, of Hudson gets my vote for prick of the semester. He was charged with second degree assault, and tampering with witnesses and informants. Hunt turned himself in after a tip pointed police in his direction.
• There was a drum circle at the campus ministry which has lead to an anthrax scare. Apparently spores from the animal skin drum were an inhaled by a young woman. 
• Jenn Wakefield, a standout on the women's hockey team, is planning to transfer to BU. Wakefield took this season off to play with the Canadian National team... Really, BU? At least it's not Maine or UMass, but still...
• UNH was ranked 83rd in the top 100 most affordable public colleges by Kiplinger's Finance Magazine. I'm not sure if that is good or bad, but I still say tuition is way too high. I mean I would love to get an internship this summer, but I might have to take a job to make more money.

OK, that's all I could find by searching "UNH" in google news. I have been thinking about possibly expanding the blog by adding a couple more writers. I haven't made up my mind yet, but I think it would help broaden the possibilities for the blog. I want this blog to be less about me and more about the campus. Let me know if you think I should keep running it by myself  (which I don't mind) or if I should look into recruiting 2 or 3 more writers. I would still run everything, they would be strictly writers. Another possibility would be adding some guest posts once and a while.

**If you are interested (current students only) in contributing please email me at unhblog@yahoo.com. Even if you just want to write once a week, reviews, UNH sports updates, campus happenings, photo of the week or whatever. Email me if you are interested or have any ideas or questions. I really want to expand and make this blog more appealing to the entire campus.**

Stay classy, not UMassy.

Instantaneous Comminution: The Rebirth of Journalism

This is kinda lengthy for a blog post and it doesn't have too much to do with UNH, but it is something I think anyone interested in journalism might like to read. It's just my some of my rambling ideas on the possible future of journalism.

In the late 1960's and early 70’s Abbie Hoffman, a leader of the yippie generation, wrote a book called “Steal This Book.” It was written to teach people how to survive in America with little to no money. Although many of the tactics are outdated it is still an awesome read to learn about the counterculture of America in the 1960’s and 70’s. (That link contains the entire book if you're interested.) In the introduction Hoffman wrote:

“There is a saying that ‘Freedom of the press belongs to those who own one.’ In past eras, this was probably the case, but now, high-speed methods of typesetting, offset printing and a host of other developments have made substantial reductions in printing costs. Literally anyone is free to print their own works. In even the most repressive society imaginable, you can get away with some form of private publishing… To talk of true freedom of the press, we must talk of the availability of the channels of communication that are designed to reach the entire population, or at least that segment of the population that might participate in such a dialogue. Freedom of the press belongs to those that own the distribution system. Perhaps that has always been the case, but in a mass society where nearly everyone is instantaneously plugged into a variety of national communications systems, widespread dissemination of the information is the crux of the matter.


Keep in mind Hoffman wrote that in 1971. Well before computers, cell phones, the internet, blackberries and iphones. It is pretty crazy to think that in 1971 people thought they were “instantaneously plugged into a variety of national communications systems.” Look what we have now with handheld internet devices that allow instant access to websites like twitter, wikipedia, youtube and various message boards and blogs. Literally anyone can write or read about an incident or event just seconds after it occurs, without publication issues. (For all I know someone could have blogged about this same thing, I wouldn't be surprised at all.) Take a look at this time lapse of the Wikipedia page for the Virginia Tech massacres. This 30 second clip shows how the page grew in the first 12 hours following the shooting.  

I think that is pretty crazy how fast updates can be made and the public can be notified. Students at UNH experience this first hand every time there is an emergency alert text sent out. Is this a good thing? Does it create safety or hostility? Currently, people discussing changes to the alert system because every time we get one of those texts or emails so does WMUR and other local news outlets who relay the message to the public. These outlets then become bombarded with calls from worried parents because the full story is still unknown. Anyways, back to my original point...

Hoffman talks about how new printing presses have created  low cost printing methods, which has allowed for anyone to private publish. Imagine if Hoffman had internet access? What would have become of  this generation in America if they were able to blog and truly have instantaneous communication?
They probably would have never printed that book, but created a blog or website. Maybe something like this: a "Steal This Wiki" page that has taken Hoffman's work and updated and expanded on it.

Hoffman says how the "freedom of the press belongs to those that own the distribution system." The internet completely eliminates the distribution system and while many people are calling this the downfall of journalism, I think it is just a rebirth. In 10 years there may be no more print newspapers and magazines left, but they will all be online with paid both free and priced services. Think about the possibilities for newspapers without having to spend money on printing and distribution. Plus they will be able to make advertising money just like any other website. William Randolph Hearst (the ultimate newspaper mogul and godfather of yellow journalism) will be rolling in his grave! I chose those last two links on purpose because they are prime examples of internet magic: Mini youtube documentaries by "watchmojo.com"... Who?

I just watched a full length piece on Hearst and the guy was crazy. To gain more readers he created his own news by paying people to jump into San Francisco Bay and then he would write the heroic story of their rescue, or how no bystanders helped them, and publish it on the front page! With online journalism propaganda and yellow journalism will be even more blended in with real statistics and research and it will be up to the people to decide who and what to believe. We already have this problem, but when journalism goes completely online it will be even more prevalent. Heck, even Stephenson Billings calls himself an Investigative Journalist!

I am not an expert on the history of journalism, or history or journalism. These are just some of my random and unorganized thoughts and opinions on what the future of journalism might become. With the advances of technology over the past thirty years, who knows what will become available in the years to come, but I want to be apart of it. This is some of the stuff I had to explain to my friends and relatives over the holidays when I told them I plan on switching my major to journalism. They all gave me that "your going to be poor, even if you can find a job" face...

Stay classy, not UMassy.

Talking Dope

Happy New Year my fellow Noncensors, I hope it treats you well. I would like to briefly discuss something that was brought to my attention by a family friend who works in Concord. So this post actually has a legitimate source.

Last October the New Hampshire House of Representatives passed a bill that would have allowed medical marijuana to be prescribed by doctors to severely ill patients. Soon after that Governor Lynch vetoed the bill citing the distribution and growing processes as potential problems. There was still hope for the bill to be overridden by the state senate, but it failed by two votes. So who is to blame for the failure of the medical marijuana bill, which could do wonders to those suffering from terrible diseases? It is easy to point a finger at Lynch. It is easier to blame the senators who failed to see the potential benefits of medical marijuana to aid suffering citizens of our state. But there is also a third party who deserves some of the blame as well.
The third party was a group of UNH students who traveled to Concord and were present at the vote. No, they were not protesting it, but they actually supported the bill. These students actually hurt the bill they were trying to support just by attending the vote. Everyone, including indecisive voters, knew why those students were there and it wasn’t because Aunt Sally has breast cancer. Many people opposed to the medical marijuana bill take that stance because they believe it will make it easier for kids to get their hands on some bud, so when a group of college students show up to the vote it really doesn't do them any good.
 I think that it is great that these students were so enthusiastic about the bill, but they would have been better off staying at campus that day. Sometimes students are so eager to fight for what they believe in they let act without examining the possible outcomes, or reactions by others. The appearance of these students upset many senators who supported the bill because they knew that it would not make a good impression on the undecided voters. It is completely nonsensical that medical marijuana illegal is so many states. Maybe someday we will live in a country whose politicians aren’t so morally corrupted by monetary persuasions. I have faith that one day New Hampshire will legalize medical marijuana as more people become educated on it’s benefits to suffering patients.  As Abe Lincoln once said “prohibition makes crimes of things that are not crimes.”

See you all in a few weeks, well kind of...

Stay classy, not UMassy.