Education: Privilege or Entitlement?

This is a letter submitted to the editor of the Dakota Student that has yet to be published. We will see if it ever makes it into print.....

Welcome to UND, our fine institution of higher learning. While pursuit of post-secondary education is a distinct privilege we enjoy in this country, I say to you, it is not an entitlement.

In Michelle Obama’s address to the Democratic National Convention given August 25, 2008 she says, “[My dad] and my mom poured everything they had into me and Craig….thanks to their faith and hard work, we both were able to go on to college. So I know firsthand from their lives-and mine-that the American Dream endures.”

There is no substitute for hard work and dedication. Why then, does Barack Obama propose a tax credit of $4,000 to basically everyone going to college when his wife is so proud of her parents’ hard work that put her and her brother through college? Avenues are already in existence that will allow anyone with ample fortitude to seek a college education. Having some student loans after college or a few years of a military commitment upon graduation can easily be viewed as motivating factors for working towards a successful career.

There is no fear of failure or loss when you are gambling with someone else’s money. Unless there is some accountability for this money, there will be even more failing freshmen that don’t know how valuable the education they are receiving really is. Classrooms are already overcrowded and professors are overworked. Why should we burden them with more underachievers that delay learning for the rest of us? Now if the University expands to accommodate more students, more costs will arise and be passed on to the student or to the taxpayer that will basically negate the effect of the tax credit.

It is an evident truth that not everyone will be wildly successful in life. The difference between success and failure is that successful people don’t even see failure as an option. There may be rough stretches, but never do they abandon ship or wave the white flag. Accomplished individuals embrace challenges that adverse situations present, and excel when put under stress.

One trait that makes me most proud to call myself an American is our desire to rise up and overcome when the challenge is daunting. I believe it is our spirit to be trend setters on the world stage. My national pride is hurt when I see other nations passing us academically as well as economically, with little or no desire being shown to reverse these trends.

Having ambition and self-discipline in America can take you far because freedom affords us that opportunity. If you set your mind to it you can achieve it, but not because you are entitled. I am proud of my country and I hope every one of you is too.

“If you can read this, thank a teacher; if it’s in English, thank a soldier.” –Anon.

Jesse Roth
Senior, Civil Engineering

CROCS!!!!!!!!!

I found this picture in the facebook group, I Dont care How Comfortable Crocs Are, You Look Like A Dumbass. If you are reading my blog, you deserve to laugh....please come back sometime and laugh again!

More Options!

In years of late, I have developed an appetite for politics. It is an appetite that seems to grow the more it is fed. The races for each parties respective nominations have been great up to this point. The Republicans have already chosen Sen. McCain and the Democrats are still fighting as to whether Sen. Obama or Sen. Clinton will represent the party in the Presidential election. At this point I can see that the next president of the United States of America is going to be a former senator that isn't necessarily conservative. These are two traits I am not very excited about.

I would like to see a candidate that is fiscally and socially conservative as well as supportive of a dominant military. We need to protect our borders and take care of our own before we go out and try to save the world. I understand we are a world superpower and wield the power to fight tyrrany, world hunger, etc....but we need to revert back to American ideals which are hard work, patriotism, and desire. We have to re-establish who we are and quit killing each other in gang-wars, quit disrespecting each other through racial injustices, and quit being satisfied with mediocrity. America is the greatest country on Earth because we desire to excel at everything we do, we are tolerant of each other and each other's beliefs, and we can co-exist in the most diverse ethnic melting-pot the world has ever seen. What American doesn't want to see our Olympians dominate with the chant of U-S-A, U-S-A in the background. Who doesn't get goosebumps when one of our athletes stands atop the podium and the Star Spangled Banner plays. I never get tired of hearing about Americans dominating something on the worldwide scale. And on the converse side of things, I HATE, let me emphasize HATE hearing about how other countries are scoring higher on math tests, how the U.S. is more obese and exercises less than other countries, how our murder rates are higher even though other countries own the same amount of guns, etc.

All of the previous is said so as to emphasize where I'm coming from, and to emphasize that being conservative doesn't mean being indifferent and insensitive. Where all of this ties into politics is that I am disappointed with the choices we are left with for the leader of the free world. I feel like there's no new direction that is a worthwhile new direction. As a matter of fact, Sen. McCail doesn't really propose much of a new direction.(at least that's the drift I'm getting.) And from the Democratic side, all I hear is keywords and phrases that are the product of test groups that "respond well" to them.(meaning give the voter a warm-fuzzy so they'll vote for the respective candidate, i.e.-"change"....gag me!) Where is the original thought? Some real substance? A true proposal for "change"? It seems the two Senators aren't willing to propose anything controversial that may be exploited by the media or their counterpart, so they choose to propose nothing at all. I hear empty claims that there will be some sort of revolutionary differences made, but no original ideas. The one candidate, dare I say, with some new ideas was Ron Paul. Now anyone who really listened to him for an extended period of time, like I did when he was on Meet the Press, could see that he is by no means prepared for the Oval Office. He had some new and original ideas but no way to implement them. I also couldn't get over the irony when he said he would veto anything with an earmark when he was responsible for plenty of earmarks benefitting his own voting district.

This rant has gone on longer than I thought, and it seems it will have to be subdivided into another installment as I haven't even started to talk about the optional candidates I would suggest or what likeness these options should emulate.

To all who have made it this far, remember this--there is nothing more worth being proud of than being proud to be an American. It is the responsibility of this generation to keep it that way!

Tony Kornheiser should stick to PTI

OK, so I wanted to keep this blog informative, positive, and inspirational, but here goes my first rant. Tony Kornheiser needs to stick to PTI cause he sucks on MNF. Let me expand upon this: Two weeks ago the Falcons were playing and he couldn't quit talking about the one player who had absolutely no effect on the game at hand-Michael Vick. I mean, OK, Vick has adversely affected the Falcons season, but I guarantee you those players on the field weren't like, "Oh no, what are we gonna do without Michael Vick....(tear)." They played the f'n game hard nosed and tried to win just like any pro/amateur athlete would do. Then this week the Colts are playing and he can't stop talking about a player not even in the game, Tom Brady. He spoke 'as if' he were Peyton Manning saying repeatedly, "Look at me, I'm still here, don't forget about me, I'm still the superbowl champ....blah blah blah." C'mon Kornheiser, Peyton doesn't throw TD's cause he's trying to keep up with Tom Brady. He throws them so the Colts win games. If they need 6 TD's for the Colts to win, a good majority of the time he'll probably throw 6. He's got nothing to prove and I'm tired of Kornheiser getting stuck on a very mute point for the duration of MNF. Everything that comes out of his mouth has a negative feel. When the Giants were playing he spoke as if he was Eli and couldn't get over how (Kornheiser speaking)"Peyton gets all the attention, Peyton sells out to advertising, etc." Now I may be a product of American cinema/entertainment by wanting to hear feel-good stories all the time, but what's wrong with that. I want to hear about the guy who battled back from a would-be career ending injury, the guy who fought cancer or the loss of a family member and is dedicating his performance to their memory. Those are the things I watch MNF for--entertaining and enlightening stories that make you feel good after the fact, not stories unrelated to the game or hypothetical conversations with yourself speaking as if you were someone else. Save the speculation for PTI where you belong. There is a time and a place for the hypothetical questions like, "who's the best quarterback in the NFL", "who had the best performance yesterday", "what's the best matchup this weekend", but the time and the place is in the afternoon on a talk show, not monday night when I want to see the matchup at hand. Even if it isn't a good game, take notes from baseball commentators and fill the dead space with history of the game or interesting facts about players on the field. Do some homework, just don't show up with an agenda to talk about and force it upon the fans for 4 quarters. Tony does a good job on PTI opposite Wilbon. I like the point/counterpoint style of the show, and I watch it when I'm in the mood for that, but I don't want it on Monday night when I'm watching an actual game.

Vitruvian Man

This image exemplifies the blend of art and science during the Renaissance and provides the perfect example of Leonardo's keen interest in proportion. In addition, this picture represents a cornerstone of Leonardo's attempts to relate man to nature. Encyclopedia Britannica online states, "Leonardo envisaged the great picture chart of the human body he had produced through his anatomical drawings and Vitruvian Man as a cosmografia del minor mondo (cosmography of the microcosm). He believed the workings of the human body to be an analogy for the workings of the universe." It is also believed by some that Leonardo symbolized the material existence by the square and spiritual existence by the circle. Thus he attempted to depict the correlation between these two aspects of human existence. According to Leonardo's notes in the accompanying text, written in mirror writing, it was made as a study of the proportions of the (male) human body as described in Vitruvius, who wrote that in the human body:
-a palm is the width of four fingers
-a foot is the width of four palms (and is 12 inch)
-a cubit is the width of six palms
-a man's height is four cubits (and thus 24 palms)
-a pace is four cubits
-the length of a man's outspread arms is equal to his height
-the distance from the hairline to the bottom of the chin is one-tenth of a man's height
-the distance from the top of the head to the bottom of the chin is one-eighth of a man's height
-the maximum width of the shoulders is a quarter of a man's height
-the distance from the elbow to the tip of the hand is one-fifth of a man's height
-the distance from the elbow to the armpit is one-eighth of a man's height
-the length of the hand is one-tenth of a man's height
-the distance from the bottom of the chin to the nose is one-third of the length of the head
-the distance from the hairline to the eyebrows is one-third of the length of the face
-the length of the ear is one-third of the length of the face

The navel is naturally placed in the centre of the human body, and, if in a man lying with his face upward, and his hands and feet extended, from his navel as the centre, a circle be described, it will touch his fingers and toes. It is not alone by a circle, that the human body is thus circumscribed, as may be seen by placing it within a square. For measuring from the feet to the crown of the head, and then across the arms fully extended, we find the latter measure equal to the former; so that lines at right angles to each other, enclosing the figure, will form a square.

Vitruvius goes through some trouble to give a precise mathematical definition of what he means by saying that the navel is the center of the body, but other definitions lead to different results; for example, the center of mass of the human body depends on the position of the limbs, and in a standing posture is typically about 10 cm lower than the navel, near the top of the hip bones.

The previous text can be found on Wikipedia when a search is made for "Vitruvian Man" and "Vitruvius". Marcus Vitruvius made most of these initial observations and mathematical relations during his lifetime as a Roman citizen around the 1st century BC. Leonardo da Vinci lived in the 15th century AD and further investigated the same ratios and they can be seen in applications in his works of art. I urge everyone who actually read to this point in the blog to consider what they've just taken in. I, for example, think it is interesting that the navel is the center of the body, but when the arms are held down the center of gravity is at the hips. This is applicable in many sports where it is crucial to gain advantage by getting lower and pushing an opponent away from a point, but to also gain advantage at other times by rising above them using the full potential of outstretched limbs. Please post any other observations and whether or not you found this an informative and worthwhile read in comments on this blog.

Ed Hochuli

Beginning last fall (2006) I joined the ranks of football officials everywhere when I was hired by the UND wellness center as a flag football official. In the beginning, I wanted only to officiate games and go home, treating my official status much like any other job. This soon became impossible to do as I am an avid fan of the NFL and observe the mechanics and speech patterns of the officials at this pinnacle position of
football referees everywhere. Before last year I paid absolutely no attention to the officials as people serving a purpose, but only as objects for scrutiny. Watching these officials caused me to analyze how I conduct myself on the field and apply their methods to my own officiating style. Through time I have a newfound confidence in my ability and have started adding some 'color' to my officiating. By this I mean that I still make the calls in accordance with the rules, but I try to spice up the emphasis in making the verbal and physical signals. One man that has jumped to the forefront in my mind is the man you see in the picture at left. His name is Ed Hochuli and for anyone that doesn't know, he is a 56 year old Wisconsin native who played college football(linebacker) at UTEP where he earned a law degree and is now a resident in Arizona, a partner in a law firm, and a father of six. Ed is definitely not the average NFL official. At first glance he has a physical presence that one would equate with a uniformed player and not a referee. He also has great verbal prowess when articulating explanations on the field. Certain traits I have noticed are that when he signals a first down, he reaches across his body, away from the first down direction which always catches me off guard and I'm like, "oh, which way are they going?" only to snap it forward to the actual direction of the first down. Also, doesn't it look like he's posing in the picture above, maybe flexing his bicep as he signals the holding? And you can't tell me he's not wearing a shirt one size too small. All of these little things are what makes him unique and an individual even though he must continue to perform his function as the protector of fairness and neutrality on the field. Basically, in my second season as a flag football official I've started going past just making the calls and having some fun with the job. Adding a few 'pieces of flair' to our run of the mill daily routines can make time pass by a little faster or at least allow us to go through the day with a smile on our faces.