Why give?

For the past few weeks, @PrezHuddleston, @GTK18 (of college freshman fame) and I have been helping promote the senior gift. Why? Because we thought it would be nice to use our "fame" to give back to the university that has done so much for us.

The thing that I hear the most from other seniors is: "Why would I give them anymore money? I already pay a tuition that is probably too high and I'm graduating so I won't even benefit."

First of all, nice attitude, asshole.

Secondly, how many of you (yes, you the 18-22 year old student) actually pays the full cost of tuition without any help? No help from your parents, grants, loans or scholarships? Maybe one or two of you? How many pay the full price with some help, maybe a few thousand in loans or a wealthy and kind aunt or grandparent? Gee, that's awful nice of them. Helping to pay for your education where they wouldn't benefit.

This year's senior gift will  go to the rec center to help pay for new equipment or future expansions. Sure, it may not benefit you, but did you know the rec center used to be the hockey arena before the Whit? And the Whit was built through fundraising and donations? And not long ago the student gym was a "classroom" in the field house?

I didn't realize that we all paid future donations to help built the Whit and the rec center we have today... oh wait, no we didn't. It came from fundraising efforts and alumni donations.

Sure, students don't have a lot of money to give. Believe me, I'll be happy if I can still afford a 40 or two the night of graduation, but I still gave my $5. I gave my five dollars because UNH has done so much for me. I gave my five dollars because I'm not paying for my tuition all on my own, someone (my parents) are helping out quite a lot. I gave my five dollars because UNH students before me donated and that's why I've been able to enjoy my time at UNH so much. Five dollars is not a lot, but it still felt right to give.

If you're a super competitive type, 153 UNH seniors have already donated verses 143 at UMass and they have a much bigger student body than us. Let's kick their ass one final time.

Donate very easily right here. 
(You do not have to be a senior to give. So non-graduates you can see improvements for the gym while you're still here!)

Stay classy, not UMassy.

Survey Results

A few weeks ago I created a short survey (it's still open) about this blog to get a sense of what people like and don't like about this site. I thought it would be a nice way to better understand my readers and hopefully give me ideas and feedback for future writing projects. I thought it would be nice to share and respond to some of the results. This may seem long, but it should actually be entertaining and a quick read.

Out of the 68 people who took the survey:

• 42 were female
• 50 were current students
• 9 were alumni
• 9 were faculty staff (and another was a "staff spouse")
• Ages varied from 18 to 52 (core 19-22)
• Most people check it "a few times a week" (which means the amount people who read it is higher than my daily page views)

Here are some responses to the question: "What is your favorite part of UNH Blog?" (With my responses italicized)

• You posts are generally entertaining, and I feel like the news is more 'honest' than may be portrayed in TNH
• Your sarcasm towards certain UNH services (cough cough Dining) I also follow you on Twitter and find out a lot of what is going on through you (Wait, someone gets that I use sarcasm?!)
• Tirades that remind me of my youth. Very important to you at a moment in time, not so much in the big picture. It's a lot of fun to read. (Wait, drinking cheap liquor and acting like a fool isn't important?!)
• I love the New Hampshirite's insights into the workings of UNH and some of the different aspects that he comments on (dining, police, hockey, greek life, etc). I almost always laugh when I read this blog and I think it's a very funny, accurate portrayal of college life here at UNH and I'm actually really sad you're graduating. (It's just allergies, I'm not crying I swear).
• articles for the TNH (The TNH...)
• you are. I want to meet you. Im in love with you. Even if youre straight. I just want you so bad. want a bj? (No, thank you...?)
• I think it's a great way to find out what's going on around school without having to rely on tnh. i feel like the blog has more about what the students actually care about. And with twitter, information is passed along pretty much instantly so we know what's going on, on campus. It's how I've gotten a great deal of information over the past couple of year
• The hilarious posts about stuff like Cabinet Kid's shenanigans (Those posts write themselves, but sadly he's toned it down this year...)
• Other general comments: Funny, honesty, realistic, represents student life well etc.

Here are some responses to "what is your least favorite part of UNHblog.com?"

• references to over the top excessive drinking (Thanks, mom.)
• It's not a pill that makes me bigger, stronger & faster. Also, I have a feeling it's not bear-proof... (I'm working on this one...)
• Low frequency of posting, but I know you're busy (Second semester senior... senioritus is more than just school work... also, I feel like this semester has been pretty uneventful UNH news wise.)
• That it exists. (Thanks for reading. Douche.)
• dreaming about you fucking me after I read you, daily. (Apparently, I have not used this blog to its full potential.)
• Not to be completely naive, because I know a lot of students do, but not every student drinks or drinks heavily (You're right. Only the cools ones do...)
• the union leader rants are getting a little old. not saying i don't agree... but i get, you don't like it. (Ahem: Fuck the Union Leader.)
• Complaints about UNH dining. Once you get into the real world, you'll miss the dining hall. (Yeah, I'm really gonna miss diarrhea, soggy sandwiches, and not being able to find salt.)
• Ads. (Fucking anti-corporate liberal bastard!)
• Other general complaints: Not updated enough, didn't like any guest writers, want more guest writers, should get a female blogger, didn't like the female blogger you had, I miss the female blogger, that you're graduating... (A lot of favorites/least favorites cancelled each other out like drinking stories and guest writers. Guess that means it is actually balanced).

Responses to "ways to improve the blog":

• Include a campus map which shows all of the social area where people party. (You're doing it wrong.)
• get deep and personal, spill your soul all over my screen. (Stalker level: 99)
• Your tagline is Stay Classy, Not UMassy -which I really like. but many of your comments and behavior around alcohol are not too classy. I am not at all opposed to having fun on the weekends, but you seem to have no perspective on your attitude around drinking. (Do people not realize the tagline is part of the joke?)
• don't let us graduate (I wish...)
• General feedback here: More pictures, posts, videos, interviews etc...

Responses to "other general feedback, suggestions, comments or questions?"

• get laid more and write about that (Go read Barstool)
• Your awesome! PARTY WITH SLUTS! (Not having herpes is going really well for me right now.)
• Fuck me. (I'm sensing a theme here...)
• i feel like i'd like you as a person, good job (I probably wouldn't like you.... just kidding).
• Other general feedback: good job, keep it going, find a successor, don't give it to a dumb kid...

 Overall, I just want to say thank you to everyone who took the survey (despite what I posted above, I got a lot of great feedback.) I feel sorry to say this, but I will not be passing the blog on. I'll explain this in full detail in another post, but it has to do with personal issues. Also I think someone will come along and create their own work for future UNH generations.

Stay classy, not UMassy.

Some advice to the lucky ones who aren't graduating...

In less than one month I will be graduating, but most of you reading this will have at least another year or more here at UNH. I have experienced a lot of different things during my time here and I think it would be only fair to use one of my last columns to share some helpful advice with you all.

I know what you might be thinking, “Why would we want to take advice from a buffoon of a student who may or may not drink too much.” Well first of all, it is not a drinking problem until you graduate, so the joke is on you. Secondly, and if you have not figured this out by now you may need some language comprehension classes, but a lot of what I have written over the years is in character, sarcastic and satire. Well, other than the whole drinking stuff. That part is real. Anyways, here is some of what I think is the best advice I have to offer.

If a professor ever tells you, “This is not a paper/assignment/project that you can complete the night before it’s due” they are wrong. Just about any assignment can be completed in “A” fashion the night and/or early morning before it is due. Just do not make a habit of it or you may develop insomnia. I cannot tell you how many times I turned in a paper literally still warm from being freshly printed.

Try something new. Scratch that; try as many news things as you possibly can. I never expected to write a blog or a newspaper column, and I think that this turned out pretty well for me. Do not limit yourself to your comfort zone. I know a lot of people will say this about college, but I feel so many students still never step outside their regular routines.

Try to dedicate one night or weekend a year to become your personal ultimate college story. Everyone needs to graduate with his or her one go-to story to share to close friends for the future. This does not need to be a party or drinking story, rather it should be something that would be unusual for your lifestyle.

Study abroad for a semester. Even doing one of the shorter summer or J-term trips would be worth the experience and it is much cheaper than traveling on your own. Not studying abroad for a semester is probably my biggest regret about college. I have many friends who took advantage of the opportunity and I know they are happy that they did. However, I would not recommend doing it second semester senior year because you are going to want to be in Durham with all of your closest friends for your last few months of college.

Similar to the last one, another regret of mine is that I never took a big road trip with a group of friends for spring break, winter break or the summer. Sure, I took weekend trips to other colleges, but I would have loved to take some type of road trip with my roommates.

Try to pile up at least one or two minors. I will be graduating with three unfinished minors, in political science, English writing and communications because I could never make up my mind or commit to anything. I took more classes for my major than I needed, but part of that was that there were so many interesting ones, I could not resist.

This one comes directly from personal experience, but I think it is something everyone should do. Write on your own, outside of classes. I do not mean to keep a journal or diary or to write personal essays or poems. Just write. Keep track of funny things that happen to you or things you see, write down ideas, thoughts or future goals. It will help you stay organized, clear your mind and actually help reduce stress. Take 10 or 15 minutes just to write, think and clear your mind. It will pay off when it comes to studying or writing an essay because it will help you focus on the task at hand.

Finally, when you are in my position and preparing to graduate, make sure that you have as little regrets as possible. Make your own personal college bucket list because you will be able to do things in college that you will never be able to experience again. This may seem pretty cliché, but it is true. Enjoy your time here, because it really does go by faster than you expect.

Stay classy, not UMassy.

Senior Gift

I had the pleasure of working with UNH video services, @PrezHuddleston, Griffin (Meme Guy @GTK18 on twitter) and the wonderful folks from the alumni association in brainstorming the idea for this video. I kinda took a back seat throughout the process and was really involved to help promote the senior gift, but it was really neat to see how UNH video services works from start to finish. Please help out with the senior gift. It really is a great way to give back and make UNH better for future students. Donate your $5 (or whatever you want) today, I already did and it is super easy.

Vote! Everybody Vote!

Yesterday just got the following reader email:

Saw UNH's Tweet about student elections, and on a lark decided to see if my old account is still active. I graduated 3 years ago, but I can still get into Blackboard (not my UNH email though).
Turns out that even though I'm not a current student. I can still vote. Screen shots added. 
Don't worry, I didn't vote for any of the real candidates. Just my favorite perpetual write-ins.

Well it appears as though at least semi-recent alumni are still able to vote in the student body elections. Maybe UNH did this on purpose to help get more than just a few hundred votes. Last year I endorsed myself at the last minute as a small form of protest because the student body president has never really accomplished anything noteworthy during my time here. TNH endorsed a candidate, but I think a few votes for good ole' New Hampshirite could really do this campus some good. Who knows, with enough votes cast my way, maybe I'll stick around next year...

Zombies at UNH

There is one thing I have noticed during my time at UNH that many college students seem to be addicted to, and no, it is not alcohol. It is not drugs, partying or studying, either. It is zombies. Now before you get on my back, yes I know zombies aren’t for everyone. Not everyone likes zombies, so I don’t want to give you all a bad name.

Others may think that zombies are a thing of the past and vampires are the new zombies. First of all, if you think that, I don’t want to live on this planet anymore. Zombies are, always have been and always will be, the greatest Sci-Fi monsters of all time. (Unless you considered the velociraptors depicted in Jurassic Park, even though they weren’t accurately portrayed, but that is neither here nor there.) Vampires have been tarnished by the book and movie series that shall not be named.

But with the huge success of the TV series “The Walking Dead,” zombies have been restored to their rightful place among the most terrifying, awesome and even comical monsters. A good zombie story has everything you need: a widespread pandemic, gore, hero characters, characters you want to see suffer and usually a comical death or zombie killing sequence. (Think “Shaun of the Dead” for that one.)

Anyways, this got me thinking: if the zombie apocalypse actually does happen, what would be the best chance to survive here at UNH? Let’s say in a hypothetical situation that the breakout began in one of the science buildings (how about Gregg Hall, because no one knows what actually goes on there) and UNH was barricaded from the rest of the world so no one could get out.

Option one: Barricade yourself inside your dorm room. Sure you’ll be safe for a short while, but soon the isolation will set in. Maybe you are lucky enough that your roommate is there or you can stay in contact with your neighbors, but then you run out of food. Game over.

Option two: Barricade yourself inside the DUMP like in Stephen King’s “The Mist.” You will have plenty of food to stay alive, people to stay in contact with, and beer to help pass the time. But there is always that one person who goes insane way too fast and ruins it for everyone by leaving and not locking the back door. If you’re lucky, you make it out, but where do you go from there?

Option three: Join the mass relief center put up at the Whit or Rec Center. Food, shelter and other people all seem good, but somehow the outbreak has breached the doors. Someone inside was bitten earlier and kept it a secret. This always happens.

Option four: Thompson Hall clock tower. This seems like a good idea at first, but when the zombies break in you have nowhere to run.

Option five: You decide to get adventurous and decide to explore the tunnel that runs underneath Spaulding only to find a secret lab where there is a crazy professor testing cures for the zombies. It seems safe at first, but you soon realize he is out of his mind and is a danger for other reasons. If you’re lucky, you escape to the tunnels rumored to be under Main Street. You try to follow them out of town, but they are blocked off as well.

Option six: You decide to Jeremiah-Johnson-it out in College Woods. You live off of the wildlife and build a nice fort, and it seems like you will outlast the outbreak by living off the land. But you stumble across a commune where the hippies are trying to live in peace with the zombies. They’re all dead in a few days.

Option seven: You decide to take matters in your own hands by setting a trap for the zombies. You manage to lure them all underneath the stands at Cowell Stadium and by simply removing one keystone beam, the entire stadium collapses crushing all the zombies and leaving you the hero.

Plot twist! It wasn’t actually a zombie outbreak; it was just a massive walk of shame that took place on a quiet Sunday morning.

Stay classy, not UMassy

President Huddleston. I like this guy.

Earlier this morning I sent a twit pic of that cop car parked next to a "No vehicles" sign to President Huddleston. This is how he replied:

Huddleston for the win.