OCR Text |
Show * Friday, April 17,2009 HE SIGNPOST EDITORIAL Signpost Viewpoint The value of scholasticism ::• A lot of college papers have no value. their worldview Has taken on a turn for the worst, then the writing could b : Seriously, the content that makes be classified as being officially "lame." -'• up the "soul" of a paper submitted Obviously, this sort of reaction is highly •'•for a college assignment is often so rf dependant on the specific audience ' meaningless and trite and overdone ' 'that the paper itself is the embodiment member in question, but the average reaction of all the audience combined ' of a complete waste of time. would make an effective statement There is a definable reason for this, on the real-world ^ a n d it is the same quality of a piece, *,'reason the university The quality of a and oftentimes, this "^experience is not as medium reaction piece of writing is, - "engaging as it could can be fairly be. oh average, directly accurately estimated The quality of a by a competent, lone " piece of writing is, proportional to reviewer. While the ; on average, directly the motivation reviewer's personal !_ proportional to the perspective might j motivation behind behind the action influence his \ the action of sitting individual reaction j down at a keyboard, of sitting down at to the piece, it is | and turning thought a keyboard, and possible to work ] patterns into words around that bias to ;! on a page. turning throught see how the world \ This motivational audience in general factor is critical to patterns into words might see the the overall quality of on a page. piece. Some people a piece of writing, but personally don't we need to define our particularly like the i terms, and 'what is but it is obvious that actually meant by this label "quality." movie "Babel, Writing, like any work of art, is the film is a quality, worthwhile piece of audio/visual art. subject to a series of criteria, which Therefore, when a student or any are inherently defined by the piece's author sits before his or her computer audience - a painting with no screen to partake in the complex action audience to view it is as meaningless as of pressing certain button sequences a radio program playing Tchaikovsky in a patterned, custom-made orchestra endlessly in a nuclear holocaust. Save of the fingers, the motivation behind for the few molecular vibrations in the those actions are critical to the overall surrounding air, the prograrn. serves value of the end product. absolutely no purpose and the original human intent behind it is meaningless. Many people embark upon the art Just the same, a college paper or of keyboardistry for the sole purpose any literary work means absolutely of fulfilling a required assignment for nothing if there" is no appreciable one of their classes. audience interaction with it. This When the - motivation behind level of interaction must, logically, writing is the mere fulfillment of an cause some sort of change in the arbitrary requirement, and thus a audience that makes the piece worth grade, and thus the procurement of the precious minutes it took to read, a job, and thus money, many artists thus establishing the "quality" of will find ways to achieve the grade the work. If, by the end of a piece of without doing something so arduous writing, the reader is unchanged or, as actually producing something of God forbid, actually de-motivated and any original value. i i£ Somethinfi on your mind? ilfi^^^BlaSgli^giSBI Take a deep breath and OBANAA LOOKS INTO RADICAL TECHNOLOGIES TO, COOL EARTH'S AIR THC ONE teRE we v THE PRESIDENT SAID HE'D TWtNK AS00TMY M TAKE JUME, JULY ANP A06UST V OUTOflUE CAL6NPART I The Nuance: A national recovery Josh McCafferty • Signpost columnist I'm not feeling so hot this week, faithful reader. Some dastardly demonpossessed influenza bug has caught me with a punishing sideswipe to leave me shrilly begging for mercy here on the killing" floor. Please don't mistake this colorful introduction for a cry for sympathy or even/god forbid, pity. It is merely a warning, should my fever spell drive this column's pros into a more surreal and delusional quagmire than is typical. The "Fall of the Health of McCafferty," began Wednesday evening as I noticed a slight tickle in the back of my throat. When I awoke Thursday morning (OK, who am I kidding? Thursday afternoon) expecting either enhancement or retreat, I was perplexed to find my condition in the same shape as that of my pre-slumbering self. The tickle remained, neither grown to a scratch nor shrunk to a memory. It wasn't until later that night, at work, that I could feel the disease growing. My sinuses flirted with bouts of congestion, my skin rudely awakened nerve endings hibernating since my last illness and my forehead pulsed with untamed cruelty. As I finished up my night of unusually punishing labor, it was hard to deny the reality. nation is undergoing a recovery. As Friday was not - much better. the dow dances around 8,000 and the Dragging my aching limbs through the first family's dog situation overtakes night, I was immeasurably pleased to headlines of collapsing banks, so many finish the workweek and retire to the of us are breathing out a collective bedroom for a restful Easter weekend. sigh of relief. Perhaps those doses of By Monday, it seemed that "glimmers preventative medicine were enough to of hope" were indeed sparkling. Despite escape an ensuing depression. the increasingly If President plugged nostrils, I Obama's recent As the dow dances felt ready to attack speech on the the birthing week around 8,000 and economy is to be Jijce.a rabid pit bull, tajcen seriously, or even a face- the first family's dog the public may do shredding monkey well not to follow situation overtakes (too soon?). After a my example. Who night of rip-roaring headlines of collapsing could legitimately productivity, I went be surprised if we home bragging banks, so many of us were to wake up to my recovering are breathing out a to another fivefather, who had hundred-point been suffering collective sigh of relief. drop in the stock with the same bug market? It could for a week. My • easily be the case massive consumption of Vitamin C, I that we have had only a small taste of concluded, must have spared me of the the virus facing us. deepest depths of this ocean of misery. Long story short, I'm still taking the Then came Tuesday. What a fool Vitamin C, and so should the country. I'd been. After a quick scan about the While the blossoming of this misery has room for the empty bottle of Johnny shaken my confidence in the orangeWalker that must have brought about derived supplement, I must stay the this horror of a hangover, I came to the course. I have just resigned myself to grim realization that I was receiving the fact that I might have to follow the this punishment without the benefit of vitamins with cold tablets for a while. alcoholic pleasure. If we are to accept the sensual Comment on this story a\ evidence, it may seem that this great wsusignpost.conr. start from the top. thesignpost@weber.edu [Cats on campus What is a do-or do-not tip for preparing for finals? nn 1 HE Editor-in-chief Managing Editor News Editor Sports Editor s g Photo Editor Business Editor Features pditor A&EEdrtojrJ§|§J Adviser Ad Manager | S f Office Manager WEBER STATE UNIVERSITY Jessica Schreifels Frances Kelsey: Heidi LeBaron MattGerrish Catherine Mortimer Ashley Salvador Tricell Taylor Samantiia Neri7 ;•; Allison Hess ShelleyJJart • '^M Georgia Edwards 626-7121 626-7614 626-7655 626-7983 626-6358 626-7624 626-7621 626-7105 626-7499 626-6359 626-7974 -The Signpost is published Monday, Wednesday and Friday during fall and spring semesters. Subscription is $ 18 a semester. First newspaper copy free, each additional copy $0.50. -The Signpost is a student publication, written, edited, and drafted by Weber State University students. Student fees fund the printing of this publication. Opinions or positions voiced are not necessarily endorsed by the university. The Signpost welcomes letters to the editor. Letters must include name, address, telephone number, relationship to staff, and the writer's signature. -The Signpost reserves the right to edit for reasons of space and libel and also reserves the right to refuse to print any letter, tetters should not exceed 350 words. Bring letters to the editorial office in the Student Union 401, or mail to: The Signpost, Weber State University, Ogden, Utah 84408-2110, Attntjcssica Schreifels. E-mail thesignpost@weber.edu Compiled by Skylar White Photos by Nathan Caulford "Lots of rest and don't cram, that sucks. Pace yourself through the week and use repetition. It's like a song, play it over and over again until you get it down." . . '. . . . "Get a lot of sleep, eat right, and don't spend as much time on? j Facebook." -' - Lucas Millhouse Theatre Arts Austin Spomer • VisualDesign "Stay on top of everything and remember your due dates and get your reading done on time. Get a head start so you are not cramming." ^TJV'^V'.VU'-:'•+•-•«•••'•••-' ELS."Make sure you get your hard classes taken care of first, then do the easy stuff in between, but make sureyouget the difficult ones done." - Emily Stevens Anthropology V-- "Don't cram for sure, study a j little bit during the days of \ finals week, don't wait until the j last night to do it." /••/:-.•.'•.•• -• | -•iM'-'''-•'?;.S'S'" -QuangHoang '•ti^p^zk Chemical Engineering \ 7 would recommend you are aware of when your tests are and plan out adequate times to study for each ofyour exams." - Sherrt Crook . > >;. "; . Accounting |