As finals week rapidly approaches here at UNH, seniors are facing one of the greatest challenges of our college careers: the dreaded senioritis. It is an infectious disease that spreads rapidly among roommates, friends, neighbors, and classmates, debilitating one's academic motivation and promoting one's ability to procrastinate or ultimately skip assignments. Bar hopping replaces studying as legitimate weeknight activities and our beds become more comfortable every morning.
I had a brief scare last week as some symptoms began to emerge. Luckily I was able to identify them and have made a quick recovery. I realized that skipping class to get caught up on Dexter and putting papers off until hours before their deadline is not sustainable or healthy.
I feel that senioritis hit me harder and much earlier than four years ago when I was finishing up high school. I began to wonder why, and soon the answer became very clear.
Four years ago the high school senioritis bug did not infect me at all, but here I am in November and it is already showing signs. When I was preparing to graduate high school things were looking up. There was a strong feeling that Obama would take the presidency later that year and it seemed to invigorate the young people of America.
Playing baseball in the spring forced me to keep my grades up, not that it was ever a concern of mine in high school, and I was also looking forward to the new personal freedoms of college. But here we are four years later and for the first time in my life I'm not exactly the happy-go-lucky optimistic character my peers know me to be.
Obama has not quite lived up to the expectations of my generation. At the same time the Republican candidates scare me more than when I stayed up to watch Stephen King's "IT" in elementary school. I couldn't sleep for a week. Let's face it whether you are a liberal or a conservative, the man who many consider the top GOP candidate, Mitt Romney, hasn't even been the true "favorite" yet, and one of his main competitors, Herman Cain, was the CEO a pizza company and has absolutely no idea how to handle foreign policy. Then there's Rick Perry. He is incompetent, can't finish a thought (let alone a sentence) and, well uh something else I can't think of right now. Oops.
The economy is not doing well, the biggest movement in years is taking place on Wall Street and across the country in response to economic inequality and here I am months away from entering the work force. Why would anyone want to graduate right now? It is like an unconscious subliminal message telling us to stay here as long as we can. This year's senioritis is not caused by carefree attitudes, but because there may very well be nothing out there for us once we receive our diplomas.
But attitudes like that are not healthy. The generation I grew up with has been through some good and hard times like any other American generation. We grew up with constant wars in the Middle East, the biggest attack on American soil in history and now the crisis in the jobs market. But we have also been privileged to live in a time and place where we have the ability to make things better. It can be hard and a long process, but it can be done. The future of our country relies on the new generations entering the work force. We are now about to become responsible for things like improving the American economy and promoting human rights around the world. Will it be easy? Not at all. Can it be done? Definitely yes.
Ask anyone from the generations before us if 50 years ago they thought there would be an African-American President. Do not forget that the Civil Rights movement was only 40 to 50 years ago, which is not a very long time. The people of that generation made sacrifices for our generation. Now it is up to us to do the same thing.
Let the prospect of creating a better country, a better world for that matter, be your motivation to finish out the year strong. But remember, we are still in college. We can't do or fix everything already. Our time will come and when we receive our diplomas we have a chance to do great things. Oh, wait, my diploma is going to say "History." Oh crap.
Stay classy, not UMassy.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
My Welcome to College Moment
It was mid-October of my freshmen year and my college career wasn't even two months old, but I thought I had a pretty good idea of how things worked on campus.
The Red Sox were in the middle of a playoff series with Tampa Bay (remember those days, Red Sox making the playoffs?) and it was a Thursday night at UNH. It may have been over three years ago, but I remember all the details so well. The Red Sox, trailing 7-0 in the eighth inning, would come back to win 8-7.
This turn of events called for celebration shots of cheap vodka chased by Diet Coke. I still cringe at the thought of the taste.
I was with my roommate and another friend from high school. "Let's go for a walk," one of us suggested. "Find a party or at least hit up DHOP." Ah, those were the days, thinking that we could just show up at a party or rely on entertainment by drunker kids downtown.
We threw the half-empty handle of vodka into my roommate's backpack and took off to see what we could find. I want to note, most of the vodka had been consumed on previous occasions; we had barely had a drink each before we left. But the smell of vodka lingered on our breath.
After a loop around campus we began to head back for Williamson. We had given up on finding a place to party, but we didn't really care. We took a shortcut, walking down a path near Stillings Dining Hall, one of the paved trails through the woods. We didn't even notice the cop approaching until he was right in front of us.
"You boys mind if I talk to you for a minute?" My heart sank, paranoia struck in. "Does he know I drank tonight? Can he smell my breath? I am going to end up on that busted at UNH SCAN-TV show?"
His flashlight shined brightly into our eyes and then the questioning set in. "Students like to drink beer in the woods here, is that what you're up to?" For what seemed like an eternity, but was probably more like 10 minutes he grilled us. He wanted to look in my friend's bag where the half-empty handle of vodka was hidden.
He accused my other friend's keychain of being a bowl and wanted to know if we had "dope" on us. The questions seemed never-ending, he said our eyes looked glossy and could smell beer on us. Clearly it became apparent that he was grasping for anything to nail us on. I could taste blood from biting the inside of my lip. I wondered if the cop noticed that.
He then said, "Just tell me what you were doing and I'll let you go. I just want to know." This was clearly a trick, but we held our ground. Eventually, he let us go, but warned that he "wouldn't be so easy on us next time."
Luckily for me there never has been a "next time," but I know for a fact dozens of other students may not have walked away from that incident.
The cop relentlessly tried to trick us into admitting things we did and did not do. He said he "knew what we did and lying would only make it worse," even going so far as to say that we wouldn't get in trouble if we came clean. That was his way of saying, "I have no proof of any wrong doings, let's see if I can trick these freshmen into a possibly false admission."
This makes me wonder, what are the cop's true priorities on campus and how many arrests are made with illegal tactics because students don't know their rights? It is not so much as getting away with a crime as knowing your rights defined by the Constitution. He tried to illegally search a bag, trick us into admitting things we didn't do and confuse us with the way he worded his questions.
The last thing you want is your name showing up in a police log when it could have been prevented. Obviously, the easiest way to prevent that is to not drink. But in reality, college students are going to drink, there is no denying that. It is a part of the college culture. If you do frequent parties or drink underage, be safe and smart about it, but most importantly learn your rights.
Stay classy, not UMassy.
The Red Sox were in the middle of a playoff series with Tampa Bay (remember those days, Red Sox making the playoffs?) and it was a Thursday night at UNH. It may have been over three years ago, but I remember all the details so well. The Red Sox, trailing 7-0 in the eighth inning, would come back to win 8-7.
This turn of events called for celebration shots of cheap vodka chased by Diet Coke. I still cringe at the thought of the taste.
I was with my roommate and another friend from high school. "Let's go for a walk," one of us suggested. "Find a party or at least hit up DHOP." Ah, those were the days, thinking that we could just show up at a party or rely on entertainment by drunker kids downtown.
We threw the half-empty handle of vodka into my roommate's backpack and took off to see what we could find. I want to note, most of the vodka had been consumed on previous occasions; we had barely had a drink each before we left. But the smell of vodka lingered on our breath.
After a loop around campus we began to head back for Williamson. We had given up on finding a place to party, but we didn't really care. We took a shortcut, walking down a path near Stillings Dining Hall, one of the paved trails through the woods. We didn't even notice the cop approaching until he was right in front of us.
"You boys mind if I talk to you for a minute?" My heart sank, paranoia struck in. "Does he know I drank tonight? Can he smell my breath? I am going to end up on that busted at UNH SCAN-TV show?"
His flashlight shined brightly into our eyes and then the questioning set in. "Students like to drink beer in the woods here, is that what you're up to?" For what seemed like an eternity, but was probably more like 10 minutes he grilled us. He wanted to look in my friend's bag where the half-empty handle of vodka was hidden.
He accused my other friend's keychain of being a bowl and wanted to know if we had "dope" on us. The questions seemed never-ending, he said our eyes looked glossy and could smell beer on us. Clearly it became apparent that he was grasping for anything to nail us on. I could taste blood from biting the inside of my lip. I wondered if the cop noticed that.
He then said, "Just tell me what you were doing and I'll let you go. I just want to know." This was clearly a trick, but we held our ground. Eventually, he let us go, but warned that he "wouldn't be so easy on us next time."
Luckily for me there never has been a "next time," but I know for a fact dozens of other students may not have walked away from that incident.
The cop relentlessly tried to trick us into admitting things we did and did not do. He said he "knew what we did and lying would only make it worse," even going so far as to say that we wouldn't get in trouble if we came clean. That was his way of saying, "I have no proof of any wrong doings, let's see if I can trick these freshmen into a possibly false admission."
This makes me wonder, what are the cop's true priorities on campus and how many arrests are made with illegal tactics because students don't know their rights? It is not so much as getting away with a crime as knowing your rights defined by the Constitution. He tried to illegally search a bag, trick us into admitting things we didn't do and confuse us with the way he worded his questions.
The last thing you want is your name showing up in a police log when it could have been prevented. Obviously, the easiest way to prevent that is to not drink. But in reality, college students are going to drink, there is no denying that. It is a part of the college culture. If you do frequent parties or drink underage, be safe and smart about it, but most importantly learn your rights.
Stay classy, not UMassy.
Monday, November 7, 2011
ATO Busted... again...
For the second time in a couple months the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity at UNH has been busted. Shortly after receiving a 5 year ban they are in hot water again after 11 members were arrested for drug related charges that came from a search following an alleged sexual assault case. The house has also been ruled to unsafe to live in after fire violations, health code violations and life safety violations were found. Talk about a rough stretch for UNH fraternities, huh? This is way beyond double secret probation.
When I first came to UNH I heard about all the Greek life stereotypes, sayings or one liners. These aren't mine and I'm not saying they are true, but I learned them early and I'm sure most of you have heard them too. There was "A-Chi-Hoe," "Kattle Delta", "It always snows at ATO" and of course how Zeta was known for roofies. The articles I read only mentioned marijuana and prescription drugs (and others sent to labs to be tested) being found at ATO, so no word yet if "snow" was found.
I can't say this comes as a surprise at all, but hopefully this is the end of major busts at UNH. We don't exactly have the best reputation when it comes to this sort of stuff and our Greek life system doesn't look to good right now. Believe it or not, but having a strong Greek life is important to big universities. For a lot of the crap we hear about, they do get a lot of fundraising and volunteer work done (not to undermine other student orgs that do those things without all the "extracurricular" activities.)
Stay classy, not UMassy.
When I first came to UNH I heard about all the Greek life stereotypes, sayings or one liners. These aren't mine and I'm not saying they are true, but I learned them early and I'm sure most of you have heard them too. There was "A-Chi-Hoe," "Kattle Delta", "It always snows at ATO" and of course how Zeta was known for roofies. The articles I read only mentioned marijuana and prescription drugs (and others sent to labs to be tested) being found at ATO, so no word yet if "snow" was found.
I can't say this comes as a surprise at all, but hopefully this is the end of major busts at UNH. We don't exactly have the best reputation when it comes to this sort of stuff and our Greek life system doesn't look to good right now. Believe it or not, but having a strong Greek life is important to big universities. For a lot of the crap we hear about, they do get a lot of fundraising and volunteer work done (not to undermine other student orgs that do those things without all the "extracurricular" activities.)
Stay classy, not UMassy.
Friday, November 4, 2011
Videos For the Weekend
One a.m. quiet hours in the Gables and Woodsides again? Check.
Secured hockey tickets from a secret source (cough UNH player cough)? Check.
Lastly, in the latest Main Street Magazine @PrezHuddleston claimed he has as much influence as me without ever having to write more than two sentences. I like @PrezHuddleston, I like his style and I like his messages. But let's be serious for a second: Coming up with the term "Hallowcoming" or being responsible for restoring apartment quiet hours? I'm not trying to start anything, just stating facts.
I plan on beating the quiet hours thing to death. It is my greatest accomplishment since I've been at UNH. National History Honors Society? Pah, that's nothing compared to this.
Have a great weekend. It's homecoming part II. See you at the hockey games, bars, tailgate, football game and parties. And if you find yourself at the Gables or Woodsides raging past midnight, you're welcome. I did it all for you.
Stay classy, not UMassy.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Well that was actually pretty easy
I didn't even need to make a petition! Effective tonight the Gables and Woodsides quiet hours will be restored to 11PM Sunday-Thursday and 1AM Friday and Saturday. You're welcome UNH. You see what just a little effort can accomplish? Words can't describe how happy am about this. By far the most satisfying thing this blog has ever done. Who's ready to party like it's 2010? I'll gladly except all thank you gifts in alcohol form. Just taking over UNH one step at a time.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Music Options Aren't Limited to UNH Orgs
Do you go to UNH? Do you like music? Do you not like Two Door Cinema Club or don't want to pay $45 for Avicii tickets? Well I have a few ideas for you to help with your music monkey.
There is one option that I really don't care about, but have been contacted by many people involved, including one of my syndicates so I'll give it quick shout out. On November 11th Scorps is hosting a few rappers including Timeflies whose album reached #11 on iTunes. Tickets are $20 and available here, but if you register with SumoSkinny and enter the campus code: gp_unh you are entered to win two free tickets. Since it is at Scorp's it is 21+, but they will have $2 drinks all night. To be clear, I'm not endorsing the show (it's called "Swagfest", I'm sorry but that's not my style...) but seeing as it is a UNH music event and I know a lot of student are into this stuff I feel obligated to at least mention it.
However, there is something I will definitely endorse. Last night I went to Bluegrass Tuesday at the Stone Church in Newmarket and I had a blast. No cover charge, $2 PBR's all night an some good old bluegrass music. Or as we call it, "white people dancing music." That's right. I love bluegrass and I am proud of it. The Stone Church is a gem, they frequently have great acts and nightly themes (including electronic nights). Of course, almost all their stuff is 21+, but it's nice because once you're in you don't have to keep getting carded, which makes for shorter non-drinking periods. My roommates, friends and I will definitely be making to more bluegrass Tuesdays throughout the year so hopefully I'll see some of you there. Nothing beats good, fun music (by very talented musicians) and cheap beer. They play all types of traditional bluegrass music so you're bound to hear a few songs you know if you grew up with it like I did.
There is one option that I really don't care about, but have been contacted by many people involved, including one of my syndicates so I'll give it quick shout out. On November 11th Scorps is hosting a few rappers including Timeflies whose album reached #11 on iTunes. Tickets are $20 and available here, but if you register with SumoSkinny and enter the campus code: gp_unh you are entered to win two free tickets. Since it is at Scorp's it is 21+, but they will have $2 drinks all night. To be clear, I'm not endorsing the show (it's called "Swagfest", I'm sorry but that's not my style...) but seeing as it is a UNH music event and I know a lot of student are into this stuff I feel obligated to at least mention it.
However, there is something I will definitely endorse. Last night I went to Bluegrass Tuesday at the Stone Church in Newmarket and I had a blast. No cover charge, $2 PBR's all night an some good old bluegrass music. Or as we call it, "white people dancing music." That's right. I love bluegrass and I am proud of it. The Stone Church is a gem, they frequently have great acts and nightly themes (including electronic nights). Of course, almost all their stuff is 21+, but it's nice because once you're in you don't have to keep getting carded, which makes for shorter non-drinking periods. My roommates, friends and I will definitely be making to more bluegrass Tuesdays throughout the year so hopefully I'll see some of you there. Nothing beats good, fun music (by very talented musicians) and cheap beer. They play all types of traditional bluegrass music so you're bound to hear a few songs you know if you grew up with it like I did.
No, I won't be at Two Door Cinema Club, I won't be at Avicii, I won't be at Swagfest, but I'll be at the Stone Church for bluegrass Tuesday from 9 to midnight. I may be in the minority here, but I don't care. I know what I like and I'll never get sick of stuff like this:
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Students should pay more attention UNH's fiscal problems
Over the summer I wrote down a short list of generalizations I had about the UNH student body, including myself. I did this because going into my senior year I wanted to pay more attention to the news and the happenings of the university system, especially due to the budget crisis. I wanted to look at what types of things the student body, including myself were passionate about and what things we shrugged off. We are now about a quarter of the way through the year and I thought it might be appropriate to revisit a few items on that list I wrote down.
I went on record last year saying many times that I believe our student body is far too inactive and passive. The evidence I used for those claims were the lack of votes cast in the Student Body Elections and the fact that students rarely truly stand up for what they believe in here. UNH is one the most expensive publics schools for instate tuition in the country. To be exact, we were number ranked fourth before the most recent tuition hike. But never once has there ever been any type of organized student attempt to challenge the hikes.
When state officials in Concord cut the budget by 45 to 50% we sat back and said “that sucks… where’s the party tonight?” I never did anything about it either, but I wish I did. That is why I met with housing over the apartment quiet hours issue. Sure, it is nowhere near the importance level of tuition or state funding, but at least it is a start and it is something that many students did actually care about.
So, to speak in extreme generalizations, if we don’t care about funding or tuition apart from a short conversation or editorial from time to time, what do the students care about? Well, this past few days provides some perfect examples. We care about SCOPE and their choice of concerts and hockey. Which to me is perfectly fine. We’re in college and want to see our favorite forms of entertainment, especially when other schools are getting famous artists and we want our teams to do well. I’m as big of a UNH hockey fan as there is. Check out SCOPE’s facebook wall after their shows were announced. An outpouring of truly hateful and disrespectful comments for one show and then mass approval for the next, with a few comments in the reverse direction as well.
The line for tickets to the UNH-Maine hockey team was over 200 students at 4:30 am Monday morning and all the student tickets were gone around 7:30, just a half-hour after the box office opened. I think that is fantastic and I would have been there with them if I weren’t battling off a cold. But it drives me to ask is: where is that kind of support or passion for the actual school that is being torn apart by our state representatives in Concord?
UNH is in panic mode right now. The state slashed our budget, meanwhile we’re trying to build a $50 million business school and our professors want higher salaries. Usually, I would side with the professors but at this time they are demanding a 16% salary increase over the next four years and have only agreed to a fraction of the benefit changes offered by the administration. President Huddleston sent out a statement saying that the AAUP and UNH are at in impasse and a mediator will have to be brought in to finish the process. At this time is it really sustainable for the faculty to have such strong demands when the university has faced such huge budget cuts?
Personally, I blame Concord for the whole situation. UNH has a great faculty and they produce some fantastic and groundbreaking research, but due to the budget cuts there is no money available to give. Annual salaries increases are very common, this isn’t a situation unique to UNH, but due to the decisions made in Concord it has become a much more drastic situation.
This is an issue that students should care about because it could cause some major changes with how this school and the entire University System of New Hampshire is operated. The privatization of UNH could very well happen in the near future. While that has pros and cons in both directions, it could drastically influence the curriculum, hiring and application processes.
Stay classy, not UMassy
I went on record last year saying many times that I believe our student body is far too inactive and passive. The evidence I used for those claims were the lack of votes cast in the Student Body Elections and the fact that students rarely truly stand up for what they believe in here. UNH is one the most expensive publics schools for instate tuition in the country. To be exact, we were number ranked fourth before the most recent tuition hike. But never once has there ever been any type of organized student attempt to challenge the hikes.
When state officials in Concord cut the budget by 45 to 50% we sat back and said “that sucks… where’s the party tonight?” I never did anything about it either, but I wish I did. That is why I met with housing over the apartment quiet hours issue. Sure, it is nowhere near the importance level of tuition or state funding, but at least it is a start and it is something that many students did actually care about.
So, to speak in extreme generalizations, if we don’t care about funding or tuition apart from a short conversation or editorial from time to time, what do the students care about? Well, this past few days provides some perfect examples. We care about SCOPE and their choice of concerts and hockey. Which to me is perfectly fine. We’re in college and want to see our favorite forms of entertainment, especially when other schools are getting famous artists and we want our teams to do well. I’m as big of a UNH hockey fan as there is. Check out SCOPE’s facebook wall after their shows were announced. An outpouring of truly hateful and disrespectful comments for one show and then mass approval for the next, with a few comments in the reverse direction as well.
The line for tickets to the UNH-Maine hockey team was over 200 students at 4:30 am Monday morning and all the student tickets were gone around 7:30, just a half-hour after the box office opened. I think that is fantastic and I would have been there with them if I weren’t battling off a cold. But it drives me to ask is: where is that kind of support or passion for the actual school that is being torn apart by our state representatives in Concord?
UNH is in panic mode right now. The state slashed our budget, meanwhile we’re trying to build a $50 million business school and our professors want higher salaries. Usually, I would side with the professors but at this time they are demanding a 16% salary increase over the next four years and have only agreed to a fraction of the benefit changes offered by the administration. President Huddleston sent out a statement saying that the AAUP and UNH are at in impasse and a mediator will have to be brought in to finish the process. At this time is it really sustainable for the faculty to have such strong demands when the university has faced such huge budget cuts?
Personally, I blame Concord for the whole situation. UNH has a great faculty and they produce some fantastic and groundbreaking research, but due to the budget cuts there is no money available to give. Annual salaries increases are very common, this isn’t a situation unique to UNH, but due to the decisions made in Concord it has become a much more drastic situation.
This is an issue that students should care about because it could cause some major changes with how this school and the entire University System of New Hampshire is operated. The privatization of UNH could very well happen in the near future. While that has pros and cons in both directions, it could drastically influence the curriculum, hiring and application processes.
Stay classy, not UMassy
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