In 1970 the free speech and anti-war activist Abbie Hoffman stood on stage at UNH's Lundholm gymnasium before an audience of about 4,500 UNH students with an additional 3,000 outside listening to the sound being projected through speakers. On that May evening Hoffman said "What has taken you so long? Dinosaurs have been running this fuckin' state for too Goddamn long... bunch of dinosaurs make all the political decisions in this state. A bunch of senile dinosaurs make all the educational decisions, all economic decisions. How come you haven't buried the fuckin' dinosaurs yourselves?"
Sadly, over 40 years later Hoffman's statement is still dead on. New Hampshire, primarily the state senate is made up of too many people focused on immediate action and not the long term consequences. Earlier this week the New Hampshire state senate passed a 50% cut to funding for the University System of NH, which is an additional $3 million to what UNH expected to be the worst-case scenario. New Hampshire is already 50 out of 50 for state funding for state universities and that is before the cuts!
On Twitter President Huddleston had this to say (to TNH Executive Editor @ChadGraff) "Budget is looking bad. Fight not over yet, though. Still time for people to contact their state reps to press case for UNH."
On top of these budget cuts, the timing only makes it worse. UNH is in dire need of construction and building improvements. The faculty wants raises and we're still many millions short on the new business school project.
Here's my take on this whole situation. It sucks. Real bad. I'm now a senior and it probably won't affect me too much, if at all. But as a life long NH resident I know this is not good for the state. As I said on Twitter, UNH does more for New Hampshire than any state representative ever will. They are a bunch of money grubbing whores.
Currently, around 60% of UNH's enrollment are New Hampshire natives, which would probably be higher, but since out of state tuition is higher than instate, more non-NH students have been accepted recently.
From the previously linked article: "College students at schools in the University System of New Hampshire face almost certain tuition hikes after the committee not only left in place deep cuts made by the House but took another $3 million in aid designated for the system." If tuition continues to rise, and UNH is already one of the higher costing state universities in the country, you can probably expect more students to look elsewhere for college.
Over 44,000 of New Hampshire's population are UNH graduates. More and more UNH students are graduating every year in search of jobs, many right here in this state. The better education and opportunities these students receive at UNH, more accomplished workers and professionals will be entering the New Hampshire work force. Do you want to better our state? Then help better our education system. Personally, it seems pretty simple, but our good ole' senate is too focused on budget cuts to realize what it could do for our future.
You want to cut the budget and cut taxes? Sounds great! But wait... then who will pay for public education? Who will pay for our libraries, hospitals and to pave our roads and repair our bridges? Any ideas?
This is something that UNH students and NH residents should care about and be very concerned about. New Hampshire was recently named the most "livable state" for the 6th year in a row. With the direction of our state's government, I don't see that streak lasting too much longer. The future of UNH is kind of frightening, President Huddleston's "2020 Plan" is looking more and more bleak and this might be the one thing that makes me happy I only have a year left here.
Stay classy, not UMassy.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Email Fail
I'm supposed to be on vacation, and by that I mean that I start work in the morning, but we have only been gone for just a few days and UNH has already done something so irresponsible that it is blog worthy. Okay, maybe "irresponsible" isn't the right word, but the new UNH "wildcats" email sucks. Bad. I'll admit, the old system was far from perfect, but in the lightest sense, at least it was simple: "abc#@unh.edu" is much better than and faster than "abc#@wildcats.unh.edu", plus now we have to log in twice. Upon a few test runs it seems as though the new system might be a little cleaner, but the whole "wildcats" thing and double log-in is annoying. It looks better, but as far as I can tell it is actually has less features. I did run a test and emails sent to our old addresses are forwarded to the new ones. Who knows, maybe I should have read the email they sent about it a few weeks back more clearly. Blackboard has never been great, but I've only heard complaints about the new email. I don't know, maybe I'm being over the top and I should have paid better attention, but I like things short and simple. They're easy to remember. I feel like our new emails are some type of NASA code or something. What's next? "abc#@wildcats.durham.unh.studentID.residencehall.major.edu/
Dear UNH,
KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid)
Love,
The New Hampshirite
If blackboard was an physical object, this would be me:
Stay classy, not UMassy.
UPDATE: I'm told the new email was a unanimous decision by the student senate to switch to "LIVE". I told you to vote for me!
Dear UNH,
KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid)
Love,
The New Hampshirite
If blackboard was an physical object, this would be me:
That felt good.
UPDATE: I'm told the new email was a unanimous decision by the student senate to switch to "LIVE". I told you to vote for me!
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Gone Fishin'
Well Nonsensical Nation, another year is behind us. It was easily my best year at UNH and I can honestly say every year has gotten better so I already can't wait for the fall. I made some great new friends, kept in touch with old ones and took downtown by storm once I turned the big 2-1. (Sorry bank account.) I have some really big plans for the end of the summer heading into the school year and I'm really excited to get started on that project. Let me say that this year will be my last at UNH (unless I go the grad school route which isn't completely ruled out yet) so I am planning on not holding back and giving it hell one last time. That being said, I'll be writing this on my own and I really can't say what will become of this blog this time next year. I do have plans for my own blogging future and that will become apparent as next semester approaches. However, we have a long summer ahead of us and much like last year I don't plan on blogging too much over vacation. I'll check in from time to time if I experience good stories or if any major UNH news happens. Before I go I do have a few shout-outs to give that I missed or was to busy with classes to pay attention too. The UNH men's Volleyball team captured the DIAA National Championship earlier this semester and the Women's Track and Field team took first place at the New England Regional Tournament. University of No Hardware no more, with respect to the 85 Women's Lacrosse team and 1998 Women's Hockey (wasn't a NCAA sport at the time).
I'm gone fishin' for the summer UNH, have fun and keep in touch. I'll be checking in, but see you all next fall for one last year long bash. That is it for now. We may only have about a half-hour left on earth, so I'm heading to my secret bomb shelter and curling up in the fetal position.
And now I leave you with my ultimate summer jam. This one is for all you readers and for all the kids who heard this blasted at midnight throughout the semester. See ya next year gang.
Stay classy, not UMassy.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
I'm a senior... ohhh crap.
So I just took my last final and I'm officially a senior. Oh man, I don't want to be a senior. College can't end... I've been packing and cleaning all afternoon and I'm hitting the bars soon with a few friends before heading back. Check these new UNH produced videos. NEWD films (White and Ghetto and V-Card) is back and Valhalla has a new music video out.
Crosswaphobia, it's a bitch:
And a new music video from UNH's own Valhalla with Evin Baird.
Crosswaphobia, it's a bitch:
Stay classy, not UMassy.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Bad Weather and Finals Got You Down?
Are you bogged down by this crappy weather or still studying for you last finals of the year like me? Well I had a couple of interesting photos that will hopefully get a laugh or at least a "WFT!?!" response out of you.
The first is an advertisement in my roommate's FIELD AND STREAM magazine. Check out this glory of an ad from the back page: (Sorry from the crooked scan)
The first is an advertisement in my roommate's FIELD AND STREAM magazine. Check out this glory of an ad from the back page: (Sorry from the crooked scan)
"Put in any liquid without detection" are you friggen kidding me?!?! That might be the most awesome awful thing I have ever read. God, I'm happy Zeta isn't around anymore...
This next picture is of my friend's bird "Sunny." Let's say that Sunny likes to party and there's no better way to enjoy the warm weather than a few Corona's in the sun. Yes, that is a real bird. And no it was not harmed in the making of this photo. Side note, I am one of the very few people this bird has never bitten and made bleed. One of my roommates has a legit scar from this bird.
That's all I have for now. I have my last final tomorrow at 1 and then I have some serious packing and apartment cleaning to get to. Best of luck if you have anymore exams left! Two more days...
Stay classy, not UMassy.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Cat Crew Knows What's Up
One of my friends who was accepted into the Cat Crew for next year texted me this picture from their marketing manuel:
Although I got to say, what's up with "one of the most popular bloggers representing the UNH campus?" Is there someone else I don't know about because I'm pretty sure I'm the top dog when it comes to UNH blogging. I'm not being cocky here, but seriously, is there? Either way, you got to love the Cat Crew, they always provide laughs between hockey periods and basketball timeouts. Maybe next year I can help them advertise for some promotions... I'm thinking a best sign at a hockey or basketball game contest? Cat Crew, aka the kids I know in it or Gnarlz, I'll be in touch next semester.
Stay classy, not UMassy.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Oh, that's why my head hurts...
Nothing like a game of Wisest Wizard to break up finals week... PS, that jar on the stereo is all tabs. Over 2,000 and counting for the semester. We have a problem...
I woke up this morning, hungover/still drunk and went on a rant to my roommates about politics, media, natural gas and other bullshit. I think they were entertained. It also turned into a "what am I doing, how can I change things" type of rant. I think I might write a personal manifesto or a mission statement. I ended my rant by saying people like me either turn into crazy writers or politicians, but I don't want to be a politician. They all think they're going to be the one who changes things, but then they turn into the exact person they didn't want in power. It's the people, and usually the people on the fringe who move the middle and make changes, not the politicians. I have a lot of thinking to do. I don't think I've gone off the deep end, but maybe I have. Or maybe I'm just seeing things a whole lot clearer. It's strange how many times those are the two options.
Stay classy, not UMassy.
Friday, May 13, 2011
Blogger Down
Alright, so Blogger has been all messed up today and for some reason a bunch of recent posts on numerous blogs were lost. Only my post from yesterday on the email sent to Gables residents is missing and Blogger says they are working on recovering the posts, so hopefully that all works out. I have a final soon and need to keep reviewing, so that's all I really know or have time for right now.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
UNH Housing Cracking Down... Even More
Just when I thought that the year was winding down and UNH would not be providing me with any inspiration, I woke up to this email in my inbox:
Dear Gables resident,
The past weekend at the Gables our staff and the UNH Police dealt with a lot of loud parties, underage drinking, and vandalism. UNH Police made several arrests, several students were transported to the hospital, and others are pending charges through the conduct system. With just two weekends to go in the semester (one for those of you not attending commencement), we need your cooperation at keeping things from getting to that point again. Remember that 24 hour quiet hours are in effect through Commencement. Any conduct issues that occur from now until May 22nd will result in conduct hearing during the summer. Even those who are attending graduation are not immune from having their diplomas withheld by UNH due to conduct issues. This weekend, there will be Apartment Staff presence along with increased Police presence at the Gables. If your apartment is excessively noisy or is hosting a party, you should expect to see someone knocking at your door.
Thanks for your cooperation and good luck on exams and finishing up for the semester.
Michael Saputo
Assistant Director
Housing
What? The last legitimate weekend of the semester, one that was Cinco de Mayo weekend and included nicer weather and a concert, and college students were drinking! What a shame. What is wrong with you people? How are going to get anywhere in life when you drink alcohol on the weekends. We're in college to learn people, not party...
As a Gables resident I was pretty surprised by this email. I can't recall last weekend being any louder or more hectic than most weekends at the Gables. In fact the two nights from the year I recall being the "worst" were homecoming and the afternoon and night of the Wiz Khalifa concert. Homecoming, my building and the entire complex was trashed, last weekend did not compare. I remember having our window open this weekend and thinking that there were a decent amount of parties and apartments raging, but it really didn't seem too much out of the norm.
I also want to add that it is absolutely ridiculous that there will be increased staff and police presence at the Gables this weekend. The increased staff and police presence is only going to be a waste. It is 24 hour quiet hours and anyone having a party this weekend is an idiot... although my apartment is planning a modified case race with a few friends, but we are keeping it very small because of the noise issue. (Although, I do think 24 hour quiet hours is a bit excessive for a Friday and Saturday. I understand that finals are important but if we had say 8-11 PM "social hours" that would be a great way to ease some stress. And let's face it, anyone who is studying on a Friday or Saturday night should be at the library anyways. Sundays are for studying, everyone knows that.)
In other news, salaries for every tenured track professor, associate professor and assistant professor have been released. Check them out to see how much you least favorite professors make and how little your favorites make. In my three years at UNH, my absolutely favorite professor was actually just a lecturer and she isn't being hired back next year. I've had her three times and I'm pretty upset, but what can you do. The UNH history department is ranked 18th in the entire country so there isn't much for me to complain about.
Stay classy, not UMassy.
Dear Gables resident,
The past weekend at the Gables our staff and the UNH Police dealt with a lot of loud parties, underage drinking, and vandalism. UNH Police made several arrests, several students were transported to the hospital, and others are pending charges through the conduct system. With just two weekends to go in the semester (one for those of you not attending commencement), we need your cooperation at keeping things from getting to that point again. Remember that 24 hour quiet hours are in effect through Commencement. Any conduct issues that occur from now until May 22nd will result in conduct hearing during the summer. Even those who are attending graduation are not immune from having their diplomas withheld by UNH due to conduct issues. This weekend, there will be Apartment Staff presence along with increased Police presence at the Gables. If your apartment is excessively noisy or is hosting a party, you should expect to see someone knocking at your door.
Thanks for your cooperation and good luck on exams and finishing up for the semester.
Michael Saputo
Assistant Director
Housing
What? The last legitimate weekend of the semester, one that was Cinco de Mayo weekend and included nicer weather and a concert, and college students were drinking! What a shame. What is wrong with you people? How are going to get anywhere in life when you drink alcohol on the weekends. We're in college to learn people, not party...
As a Gables resident I was pretty surprised by this email. I can't recall last weekend being any louder or more hectic than most weekends at the Gables. In fact the two nights from the year I recall being the "worst" were homecoming and the afternoon and night of the Wiz Khalifa concert. Homecoming, my building and the entire complex was trashed, last weekend did not compare. I remember having our window open this weekend and thinking that there were a decent amount of parties and apartments raging, but it really didn't seem too much out of the norm.
I also want to add that it is absolutely ridiculous that there will be increased staff and police presence at the Gables this weekend. The increased staff and police presence is only going to be a waste. It is 24 hour quiet hours and anyone having a party this weekend is an idiot... although my apartment is planning a modified case race with a few friends, but we are keeping it very small because of the noise issue. (Although, I do think 24 hour quiet hours is a bit excessive for a Friday and Saturday. I understand that finals are important but if we had say 8-11 PM "social hours" that would be a great way to ease some stress. And let's face it, anyone who is studying on a Friday or Saturday night should be at the library anyways. Sundays are for studying, everyone knows that.)
In other news, salaries for every tenured track professor, associate professor and assistant professor have been released. Check them out to see how much you least favorite professors make and how little your favorites make. In my three years at UNH, my absolutely favorite professor was actually just a lecturer and she isn't being hired back next year. I've had her three times and I'm pretty upset, but what can you do. The UNH history department is ranked 18th in the entire country so there isn't much for me to complain about.
Stay classy, not UMassy.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
More Blog Awards and Other Stuff
First off, I have a few UNH Blog Awards I forgot to handout last week. One came via the comment section.
Chris Hanson Creepiest People Award: Users and Defenders of the Alumni Camera
The Scott Hanson Award for Worst Hockey East Official: Scott Hanson
UNH Blog Alumni Award: Corey! (Snagged a writing job while Geoff asked his name to be removed so he could apply to some government jobs and Fox News in DC. Really Geoff? Fox News over the blog!?!?!) Just kidding, but seriously... we love all our blog alumni.
UNH Produced Song of the Year: (Our first tie ever!) John That "Drug Song" and The Cave Boys "Change the World."
UNH Produced Parody/Rewrite of the Year: "White and Ghetto" by NEWD Films.
Strangest UNH Promo Video that I could find on Youtube in a couple minutes: On Campus Apartments:
Despite today being a reading day I had a pretty busy day around campus so I don't have much to write about right now. Going to classes and seeing and hearing people talk around campus is usually how I get inspiration and ideas for topics, so I'm lacking some creativity right now. I had a banquet this morning (New Hampshirite pulling in some academic acknowledgement, do work son) and some review sessions this afternoon, but they did not provide for the same type of inspiration. I'm sitting here with a nice glass of Evan Williams and diet coke so maybe something will pop into my head soon enough, but for now here's a video that was posted on Barstool. I usually don't post their UNH videos they have (usually out of slight jealousy that kids sent it to them) but this one was just too good for me to pass up. I'm not a person who goes to the gym, but this video had me cracking up.
Chris Hanson Creepiest People Award: Users and Defenders of the Alumni Camera
The Scott Hanson Award for Worst Hockey East Official: Scott Hanson
UNH Blog Alumni Award: Corey! (Snagged a writing job while Geoff asked his name to be removed so he could apply to some government jobs and Fox News in DC. Really Geoff? Fox News over the blog!?!?!) Just kidding, but seriously... we love all our blog alumni.
UNH Produced Song of the Year: (Our first tie ever!) John That "Drug Song" and The Cave Boys "Change the World."
UNH Produced Parody/Rewrite of the Year: "White and Ghetto" by NEWD Films.
Strangest UNH Promo Video that I could find on Youtube in a couple minutes: On Campus Apartments:
Despite today being a reading day I had a pretty busy day around campus so I don't have much to write about right now. Going to classes and seeing and hearing people talk around campus is usually how I get inspiration and ideas for topics, so I'm lacking some creativity right now. I had a banquet this morning (New Hampshirite pulling in some academic acknowledgement, do work son) and some review sessions this afternoon, but they did not provide for the same type of inspiration. I'm sitting here with a nice glass of Evan Williams and diet coke so maybe something will pop into my head soon enough, but for now here's a video that was posted on Barstool. I usually don't post their UNH videos they have (usually out of slight jealousy that kids sent it to them) but this one was just too good for me to pass up. I'm not a person who goes to the gym, but this video had me cracking up.
I know Barstool is huge, but these are the type of videos from around campus I'd love to get. Please send stuff like this my way if you ever come across it. For all you weird music fans out there like me, Man Man released their new album today. They're a funky experimental band out of Philly and I once saw them open up a show in Boston. They came out in all white with war paint and after their set I realized what LSD is like.
Stay classy, not UMassy.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Finals week means one thing to me...
It is the last week of finals at UNH and you know what that means! Books for cash at the book store and cash for booze at the booze store. As I see it: Books = cash and cash = booze, so books = cash = booze, therefore books = booze. If I paid attention to math I'd tell you what property that is, but I call it The New Hampshirite's Property of Alcoholism. (Even further, do the "boo" cancel each other out, therefore making it ks = ze? Whoa, I just blew my own mind.)
I just finished my last paper of the year and now I only have three exams to go until freedom. Actually, I have three exams to go until I have to start working, which I can't blow off like classes because I'm too hungover from drinking half a handle of cheap whiskey the night before. So actually I have three exams to go until I actually have to be semi-responsible. I swear that college is the real vacation.
Over the weekend I made some pretty big decisions regarding the blog next year, which is going to be my senior year (ooohhhh shit) and the last year I'll be writing this. But do not fear. I have some ideas that I'm really excited to work on this summer. Let me just saw that jaws will be dropped, minds will be melted, babies will cry and guts will be busted. For now, it remains a secret, only to be known as its code name "Project August." (First step of Project August is finding a different code name because Project August already means something else to me.) I am really excited and looking forward to the final year of this blog, but do not fear, The New Hampshirite will never die. Next year, history will be made and it will be my one last chance to raise hell and live vicariously through this identity.
Until then, good studying, good year and good luck. I'll be checking in throughout finals week, posting small things here and there as well as some random posts over the summer. It's been fun and I'll be on campus through the 18th, so I'll try to keep the posts daily until then.
Stay classy, not UMassy.
I just finished my last paper of the year and now I only have three exams to go until freedom. Actually, I have three exams to go until I have to start working, which I can't blow off like classes because I'm too hungover from drinking half a handle of cheap whiskey the night before. So actually I have three exams to go until I actually have to be semi-responsible. I swear that college is the real vacation.
Over the weekend I made some pretty big decisions regarding the blog next year, which is going to be my senior year (ooohhhh shit) and the last year I'll be writing this. But do not fear. I have some ideas that I'm really excited to work on this summer. Let me just saw that jaws will be dropped, minds will be melted, babies will cry and guts will be busted. For now, it remains a secret, only to be known as its code name "Project August." (First step of Project August is finding a different code name because Project August already means something else to me.) I am really excited and looking forward to the final year of this blog, but do not fear, The New Hampshirite will never die. Next year, history will be made and it will be my one last chance to raise hell and live vicariously through this identity.
Until then, good studying, good year and good luck. I'll be checking in throughout finals week, posting small things here and there as well as some random posts over the summer. It's been fun and I'll be on campus through the 18th, so I'll try to keep the posts daily until then.
Stay classy, not UMassy.
Friday, May 6, 2011
2010-2011 UNH Blog Awards
UNH, it has been one hell of a year. Another one down, and year closer to life in the real world. The year would not be complete without recognizing a few individuals and groups for their achievements of excellence, their vast disappointments, extreme classiness, those who possess true amounts of Wildcat Blood and most importantly those who acted down right Nonsensical.
Nonsensical Nation, I give you the 2010-2011 UNH Blog Awards!
If you are a winner, simply print out the certificate below and fill in your name (or your organizations/group/team/etc name) and the proper category. Feel free to frame it, hang it on your wall or put it on mommy's refrigerator.
Wildcat Blood Award: Ryan the Asian ( For his efforts at hockey games and he will be the new cowbeller beginning next season. We need more cowbell!)
Rival Reader and Commenter: The Maine Guy. It's the Maine Guy's second year in a row with an award. A true reader, despite being a Black Bear.
Best Game: UNH 5-4 over Maine. Such a great ending. The Nyquist breakaway, open net, post, Thompson from behind the net... ahhh.... so good.
UNH Blog Athlete of the Year Pick (Also known as the kid I told my friends from other schools that I had class with Award): Paul Thompson
Clutch Pass out Performances: The Cabinet Kid. Cabinets, under couch cushions, need I same more? Champion.
Blatant Plagiarism Award: UNH Media Relations
Freshmenest Freshman Moment of the Year: Wiz Khalifa piss drinker
Most Obvious Prediction Award: People being mad at SCOPE
Most Lacking News Scandal: Williamson RA firing
Most Over Blown New Story: UNH ranked Number 1 Drug College
Most Ridiculous, Incompetent and down right stupid Methodology for ranking druggiest colleges: Daily Beast
Lamest Potential Blog War: Maple Leaf Fans for hacking the Hobey Vote
Best Comment Thread: Maple Leaf Fans and the PTP School Post
Best Fort Award: Nonsensical Headquarters (awarded to all those who contributed. I know I'm bias, but I saw a couple other forts this year and they did not hold up to our standard.)
Are you really still worried about us award?: UNH Dining
Top Tweeters: Anyone who gave dining shit (see last link)... and the real Huddleston.
Best Bad Idea: Starting the new business school $20 million dollars short with the school's budget being slashed by the state: Everyone involved in that decision
Best Situation Gone Bad: Peter T. Paul's Donation. Awesome, but UNH can't afford to cover the rest of the project.
Still yet to disown me Award: New Hampshirite's Parents
Continued to put up with my columns Award: TNH Editors
Most frequent commenter Award: "Anonymous" dude commented on almost every post... I told you to start using names or reoccurring IDs at least...
Best Local News Story that Quoted me: UNH Students Dispute "druggiest" Ranking
Strangest Story: The girl who tried to take UNH housing to court because she was underage and had a drinking party with a bunch of underage kids and they kicked her out and she said they violated her 5th amendment.
The No Chance in Hell Award: Union Leader asking to reprint one of my columns with my real name. Nope.
Staying Classy Award: UNH. We might be a little nonsensical, but we're still not UMass.
If you are a winner, please feel free to post your acceptance speech in the comment field. And as always,
Stay classy, not UMassy
Nonsensical Nation, I give you the 2010-2011 UNH Blog Awards!
If you are a winner, simply print out the certificate below and fill in your name (or your organizations/group/team/etc name) and the proper category. Feel free to frame it, hang it on your wall or put it on mommy's refrigerator.
(Click to enlarge)
Wildcat Blood Award: Ryan the Asian ( For his efforts at hockey games and he will be the new cowbeller beginning next season. We need more cowbell!)
Rival Reader and Commenter: The Maine Guy. It's the Maine Guy's second year in a row with an award. A true reader, despite being a Black Bear.
Best Game: UNH 5-4 over Maine. Such a great ending. The Nyquist breakaway, open net, post, Thompson from behind the net... ahhh.... so good.
UNH Blog Athlete of the Year Pick (Also known as the kid I told my friends from other schools that I had class with Award): Paul Thompson
Clutch Pass out Performances: The Cabinet Kid. Cabinets, under couch cushions, need I same more? Champion.
Blatant Plagiarism Award: UNH Media Relations
Freshmenest Freshman Moment of the Year: Wiz Khalifa piss drinker
Most Obvious Prediction Award: People being mad at SCOPE
Most Lacking News Scandal: Williamson RA firing
Most Over Blown New Story: UNH ranked Number 1 Drug College
Most Ridiculous, Incompetent and down right stupid Methodology for ranking druggiest colleges: Daily Beast
Lamest Potential Blog War: Maple Leaf Fans for hacking the Hobey Vote
Best Comment Thread: Maple Leaf Fans and the PTP School Post
Best Fort Award: Nonsensical Headquarters (awarded to all those who contributed. I know I'm bias, but I saw a couple other forts this year and they did not hold up to our standard.)
Are you really still worried about us award?: UNH Dining
Top Tweeters: Anyone who gave dining shit (see last link)... and the real Huddleston.
Best Bad Idea: Starting the new business school $20 million dollars short with the school's budget being slashed by the state: Everyone involved in that decision
Best Situation Gone Bad: Peter T. Paul's Donation. Awesome, but UNH can't afford to cover the rest of the project.
Still yet to disown me Award: New Hampshirite's Parents
Continued to put up with my columns Award: TNH Editors
Most frequent commenter Award: "Anonymous" dude commented on almost every post... I told you to start using names or reoccurring IDs at least...
Best Local News Story that Quoted me: UNH Students Dispute "druggiest" Ranking
Strangest Story: The girl who tried to take UNH housing to court because she was underage and had a drinking party with a bunch of underage kids and they kicked her out and she said they violated her 5th amendment.
The No Chance in Hell Award: Union Leader asking to reprint one of my columns with my real name. Nope.
Staying Classy Award: UNH. We might be a little nonsensical, but we're still not UMass.
If you are a winner, please feel free to post your acceptance speech in the comment field. And as always,
Stay classy, not UMassy
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Huddleston's Twitter Hiatus
UNH President Mark Huddleston has been a force to be reckoned with since he joined twitter. He has used the social media network to spread news, talk about his personal life, post creepy pictures of Philip Seymour Hoffman sleeping on a train, and have epic twitter-wars and battles (twars? Twattles?) with his impostor Prez Huddleston. But the real Mark Huddleston has been on a Twitter hiatus since April 24th, over a week without one single HuddleTweet.
Wednesday morning I reached out to readers to see what you think President Huddleston might have been up to during this time away. I didn't get the responses I hoped and some weren't really that good, but here is list of my own and the best user submitted ideas to try and find the one true answer to this question. Where is Huddleston and why isn't he tweeting his every action?
@UNHblog Sorry. Stuck in Royal Wedding after-parties. Back in time though to accept new PTP offer to match up to $100K in 2011 class gifts.
@UNHblog Also just accepted today nice gift of $100K for UNH library from Barnes & Noble.
Not too shabby President Huddleston. You get a pass on this one.
Wednesday morning I reached out to readers to see what you think President Huddleston might have been up to during this time away. I didn't get the responses I hoped and some weren't really that good, but here is list of my own and the best user submitted ideas to try and find the one true answer to this question. Where is Huddleston and why isn't he tweeting his every action?
- He is coordinating an attack against the Maine Black Bear, Bananas #OperationRivalryOver
- Flying his plane around the world
- Killing Osama bin Laden
- Flew the helicopter during the Osama raid
- No one knows, air traffic lost contact as he flew through the Bermuda Triangle
- Wire tapping AAUP emails and phone calls
- Trying to bribe officials in Concord, which was counteractive because he was using UNH's money
- Huddled up in the corner of his T-Hall office because he lost complete confidence in himself
- Lost total confidence in is tweeting ability
- He was at the Royal Wedding, consoling the British over their loss of money due to the high expenses the wedding cost the public. He's very familiar with having to explain poor spending habits.
- Finding ways to increase our tuition without letting us know
- Overseeing architectural plans to renovate Ham-Smith and Nesmith (just kidding!)
- Preparing to announce that he will be Donald Trump's running mate
- Working on his own Wikipedia page
- And his own imposter Prez Huddleston said: "I've been eating a lot of comfort food. That A-A-f'ing-U-P things wasn't good for the ol' self esteem."
One final thing on Huddleston, if you go to his UNH page, there is a link to "download a high resolution image of Mark Huddleston." It's only a little creepy. I might print it out and keep it on me and have him autograph it if I ever bump into him around campus. Seriously, what is the point of that picture? Do they think students are going to print it out and put it on their desk? Seems weird to me.
Stay classy, not UMassy.
Update:
President Huddleston has broken his twitter silence to me! Twice! He wrote:
Update:
President Huddleston has broken his twitter silence to me! Twice! He wrote:
@UNHblog Sorry. Stuck in Royal Wedding after-parties. Back in time though to accept new PTP offer to match up to $100K in 2011 class gifts.
@UNHblog Also just accepted today nice gift of $100K for UNH library from Barnes & Noble.
Not too shabby President Huddleston. You get a pass on this one.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Business School Video Update
The videos play automatically, so follow the page jump to see the post.
A UNH History Lesson
Today and tomorrow mark the 41st anniversary of the only major student strike in UNH's history. Although the university does not acknowledge the strike, the final two weeks of classes were turned into voluntary workshops and finals were cancelled. All of this was over the freedom of speech and the Vietnam War, but on May 4th, 1970 the infamous Kent State shootings took place and across the country universities protested, rallied and went on strike. On May 5th, Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin and David Dellinger, three members of the Chicago 7 appeared at UNH's Lundholm Gymnasium to give a "lecture." The rest is history. The Union Leader did its thing (conservative propaganda), the speakers smoked joints on stage, The UNH Student Body President was charged with contempt of court for allowing the men to speak at night, and the strike was official. There is a documentary on this very week in May at UNH in 1970. Here is the trailer:
Last year the Peace and Justice League held an event and showed the video. I attended it and it remains on one of the best events I've attended, if not the best, during my time at UNH. Here is my full reaction and description I wrote last year of what went down during that historic week at UNH. It's pretty crazy stuff and it makes me wish the majority of the student body were still active like that and not just a select few.
Stay classy, not UMassy.
PS: I am working on an interactive post. The usually active President Huddleston has been away from twitter since 4/24. Let me know what you think he's been up to during that time. Feel free to use any plane flying or loss of confidence pun you feel necessary.
PPS: I am almost done with the 2010-2011 UNH Blog Awards. This is your last chance to submit nominations. It should be by the end of the week or next.
I actually own a digital copy of the full documentary (it's only about 30 minutes) but blogger won't let me upload it.
Stay classy, not UMassy.
PS: I am working on an interactive post. The usually active President Huddleston has been away from twitter since 4/24. Let me know what you think he's been up to during that time. Feel free to use any plane flying or loss of confidence pun you feel necessary.
PPS: I am almost done with the 2010-2011 UNH Blog Awards. This is your last chance to submit nominations. It should be by the end of the week or next.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
UNH Students too Passive
A few weeks ago I wrote about the lack of student activism and participation around campus. UNH students, and many other college campuses, are pretty passive nowadays when it comes to holding rallies and protests. Obviously this was not always the case, such as the protests that were held in the mid 1960s and into the 1970s over the United States actions in Vietnam.
It is a little surprising that campuses remain so quiet now, even with the very similar wars going on in the Middle East. Most professors would agree that students do not seem to care about class material or real-world issues, and even President Huddleston has taken notice.
As we all know by now, President Huddleston gave a speech to the New Hampshire State Finance Committee that raised some eyebrows around campus, particularly with the AAUP, who held a "no-confidence" vote on Huddleston's actions. However, I am not here to critique President Huddleston or the AAUP for either of their actions.
I want to draw light on the particular quote by Huddleston that caught the AAUP's attention. Huddleston said:
"We still too frequently convey information in 50-minute lectures delivered by a ‘sage on the stage' to largely passive recipients in the audience three times a week for 15 weeks a term — as if that schedule were Biblically decreed and as if that were the way that ‘digital natives' actually learn today. Worse, we remain wedded to a credentialing regimen of courses and majors and degrees that mainly reflect ‘seat time,' rather than what students actually learn or need to learn."
The part that first grabbed my attention was the "largely passive recipients in the audience" line. You can say that again.
UNH is full of students who really do not care about many classes and real-world issues. Both of these problems have really simple solutions, but the changes need to be made from the top of the university system.
The entire General Education and Discovery program needs to be changed. I understand that it is important for students to have a well-rounded education, but students are too often stuck in meaningless Gen Eds that are simply GPA boosters. What good does that do? Other than boost your GPA of course. Germs? Making Babies? Intro to Music? I'm glad I know that washing my hands is healthy, condoms prevent STDs and babies, and that I can name which one of Beethoven's symphonies is being played in just 15 seconds.
Watch out Donald Trump, here comes The New Hampshirite, future entrepreneur of the century. I'm going to be as healthy as an ox and musically sophisticated, that is a one-two punch to make millions off of. If UNH loses funding there are going to be even more 250 seat brainless lectures, because classes like those are cheaper to run.
The second problem I mentioned above, UNH students not seeming to take an interest in world news and events, can also be improved. This became blatantly apparent Sunday night following the news of Osama bin Laden's death. Universities across the country including Penn State, West Virginia and even UMass had students pouring into the streets in celebration. I made my way downtown and UNH was dead quiet – a virtual ghost town.
One of the reasons that students of the 60s and 70s were so active was because the schools allowed them to and even encouraged it in a way. Many universities would hold what were called "teach-in" discussions and debates for up to three days every semester.
During these teach-ins, classes would be replaced by debates and workshops dedicated to discussing the Vietnam War and other national events in a respectful and civil manner. What is really more important, learning about something you can probably look up in about three minutes online or examining and discussing real world events that are currently impacting your life in more ways than you know?
Vietnam protesters were called "bad Americans" for not supporting the government despite the fact that it is our responsibility and right to critique the government. I do not think protesters are "bad Americans" at all, but I do think that you can be a "bad American" if you do not take the time to learn and discuss what is really happening in the world.
Then the question arises, should we as a people be morally responsible for letting it happen? If you're not being taught or discussing world events in class, then educate yourself.
Stay classy, not UMassy
It is a little surprising that campuses remain so quiet now, even with the very similar wars going on in the Middle East. Most professors would agree that students do not seem to care about class material or real-world issues, and even President Huddleston has taken notice.
As we all know by now, President Huddleston gave a speech to the New Hampshire State Finance Committee that raised some eyebrows around campus, particularly with the AAUP, who held a "no-confidence" vote on Huddleston's actions. However, I am not here to critique President Huddleston or the AAUP for either of their actions.
I want to draw light on the particular quote by Huddleston that caught the AAUP's attention. Huddleston said:
"We still too frequently convey information in 50-minute lectures delivered by a ‘sage on the stage' to largely passive recipients in the audience three times a week for 15 weeks a term — as if that schedule were Biblically decreed and as if that were the way that ‘digital natives' actually learn today. Worse, we remain wedded to a credentialing regimen of courses and majors and degrees that mainly reflect ‘seat time,' rather than what students actually learn or need to learn."
The part that first grabbed my attention was the "largely passive recipients in the audience" line. You can say that again.
UNH is full of students who really do not care about many classes and real-world issues. Both of these problems have really simple solutions, but the changes need to be made from the top of the university system.
The entire General Education and Discovery program needs to be changed. I understand that it is important for students to have a well-rounded education, but students are too often stuck in meaningless Gen Eds that are simply GPA boosters. What good does that do? Other than boost your GPA of course. Germs? Making Babies? Intro to Music? I'm glad I know that washing my hands is healthy, condoms prevent STDs and babies, and that I can name which one of Beethoven's symphonies is being played in just 15 seconds.
Watch out Donald Trump, here comes The New Hampshirite, future entrepreneur of the century. I'm going to be as healthy as an ox and musically sophisticated, that is a one-two punch to make millions off of. If UNH loses funding there are going to be even more 250 seat brainless lectures, because classes like those are cheaper to run.
The second problem I mentioned above, UNH students not seeming to take an interest in world news and events, can also be improved. This became blatantly apparent Sunday night following the news of Osama bin Laden's death. Universities across the country including Penn State, West Virginia and even UMass had students pouring into the streets in celebration. I made my way downtown and UNH was dead quiet – a virtual ghost town.
One of the reasons that students of the 60s and 70s were so active was because the schools allowed them to and even encouraged it in a way. Many universities would hold what were called "teach-in" discussions and debates for up to three days every semester.
During these teach-ins, classes would be replaced by debates and workshops dedicated to discussing the Vietnam War and other national events in a respectful and civil manner. What is really more important, learning about something you can probably look up in about three minutes online or examining and discussing real world events that are currently impacting your life in more ways than you know?
Vietnam protesters were called "bad Americans" for not supporting the government despite the fact that it is our responsibility and right to critique the government. I do not think protesters are "bad Americans" at all, but I do think that you can be a "bad American" if you do not take the time to learn and discuss what is really happening in the world.
Then the question arises, should we as a people be morally responsible for letting it happen? If you're not being taught or discussing world events in class, then educate yourself.
Stay classy, not UMassy
Monday, May 2, 2011
Thoughts on Yesterday's News
Well, yesterday was a pretty crazy day if you ask me. I encountered some of the most random luck ever... and you know, the whole Bin Laden thing too. Before I get into that, I just want to share a few things. I also realized how simple my life is for certain events to make my day so awesome. First, I'm on the way to the dining hall for lunch. Really it was my breakfast, but it was at lunch time. As my roommate and I are walking down Gables Way a friend passes us and she gave us a ride to HoCo.
Then on the way back another one of our roommates passes us and gives us a ride back. Then I head over to Solarfest, meet up with a few friends and partake in some good old hippie watching, which is always entertaining. At night we're hanging out in the apartment and I see on Twitter that Obama had a huge statement coming up and through some investigative twitter searching I found a leaked report about an hour before any of the news channels made the official announcement.
So, my roommates and a few friends and I watch the news for a while, do a celebratory shotgun and I get the idea to go to the bar. I really wanted to see if campus would be active at all downtown. Three of us head out just as a bus pulls away and I manage to thumb it down in the street and they let us on, which may be my greatest accomplishment at UNH yet. At the bar we split a pitcher and a kid next to my roommate turns and asks "are any of you behind UNH blog?" (I had tweeted that we were heading to Ballards). At first we all said no, but after a minute I told him. He shook my hand and said I was his hero. It was pretty hilarious, but also felt really nice to hear that.
Anyways, the more important issue...
I just want to end this post with some thoughts on the issue of celebrating last night's news. I completely see both sides of the argument. Is it wrong to celebrate a death, doesn't that make us look like the extremists who celebrated 9/11 and American deaths? But that is not how I see it. I see it as celebrating a moment in time that America really needed. Hopefully this will be a unifying moment for America. There are a lot of problems right now, domestically and internationally, and the death of one man will not solve them. But it is definitely a historical and symbolically important moment. We are celebrating the achievement of a goal that was 10 years in the making. On September 11th around 3,000 Americans were tragically killed. Since then thousands more have fought and been killed in battle. Bin Laden's death doesn't change that, but it is now the first major step in finally ending the war. Retaliation can be expected and this war is not over. But this is a moment we will not forget, this is a moment where the United States can say that we achieved a significant accomplishment. It is for those reasons why I believe it is okay to celebrate the moment. Do not celebrate the death, but celebrate what this means for our country and freedom. UNH was basically a ghost town last night, apart from a few small fireworks. At most colleges there were huge rallies and celebrations, which would have been quite an event to witness or be apart of. But do not forget, this is not over. It will not be over soon. It is okay to celebrate, if you realize these things. Do not celebrate a death, even if it was one of the most hated and evilest humans imaginable, but celebrate what it represents. This is a symbolic moment and American needed a breath of fresh air.
Stay classy, not UMassy.
Then on the way back another one of our roommates passes us and gives us a ride back. Then I head over to Solarfest, meet up with a few friends and partake in some good old hippie watching, which is always entertaining. At night we're hanging out in the apartment and I see on Twitter that Obama had a huge statement coming up and through some investigative twitter searching I found a leaked report about an hour before any of the news channels made the official announcement.
So, my roommates and a few friends and I watch the news for a while, do a celebratory shotgun and I get the idea to go to the bar. I really wanted to see if campus would be active at all downtown. Three of us head out just as a bus pulls away and I manage to thumb it down in the street and they let us on, which may be my greatest accomplishment at UNH yet. At the bar we split a pitcher and a kid next to my roommate turns and asks "are any of you behind UNH blog?" (I had tweeted that we were heading to Ballards). At first we all said no, but after a minute I told him. He shook my hand and said I was his hero. It was pretty hilarious, but also felt really nice to hear that.
Anyways, the more important issue...
I just want to end this post with some thoughts on the issue of celebrating last night's news. I completely see both sides of the argument. Is it wrong to celebrate a death, doesn't that make us look like the extremists who celebrated 9/11 and American deaths? But that is not how I see it. I see it as celebrating a moment in time that America really needed. Hopefully this will be a unifying moment for America. There are a lot of problems right now, domestically and internationally, and the death of one man will not solve them. But it is definitely a historical and symbolically important moment. We are celebrating the achievement of a goal that was 10 years in the making. On September 11th around 3,000 Americans were tragically killed. Since then thousands more have fought and been killed in battle. Bin Laden's death doesn't change that, but it is now the first major step in finally ending the war. Retaliation can be expected and this war is not over. But this is a moment we will not forget, this is a moment where the United States can say that we achieved a significant accomplishment. It is for those reasons why I believe it is okay to celebrate the moment. Do not celebrate the death, but celebrate what this means for our country and freedom. UNH was basically a ghost town last night, apart from a few small fireworks. At most colleges there were huge rallies and celebrations, which would have been quite an event to witness or be apart of. But do not forget, this is not over. It will not be over soon. It is okay to celebrate, if you realize these things. Do not celebrate a death, even if it was one of the most hated and evilest humans imaginable, but celebrate what it represents. This is a symbolic moment and American needed a breath of fresh air.
Stay classy, not UMassy.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Last Call
Attention Nonsensical Nation, the 2010-2011 UNH Blog Awards will be announced later this week. You could all be winners! This is your last chance to submit nominations for any category, or send ideas in for new categories. See my original post from February or last year's awards for ideas. Get excited, because as we all know, the UNH Blog Awards (submit a good name for the awards and you'll win one!) put the Oscars to shame. You're not a winner until you've won a UNH Blog Award. Wildcat Blood.
Stay classy, not UMassy.
Stay classy, not UMassy.
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