Not to say that I've never paid attention to the news. I'm a journalist for fuck's sake. But when your homepage has been Yahoo! News for the past six years, it's hard to not transition from the G-20 Summit to a woman who has been impregnated while being pregnant. Or this.
So my journey into the greater reaches of Athens, Ohio, news begins.
Although I go to school in Athens, I've never really had a relationship with anything news-oriented in the area. And that's probably a shame. True.
But I grew up in Columbus. I still dabble in Columbus from time to time. And I'm still eager to hear the juicy gossip from Columbus.
But I'm slowly--and steadily--converting to an informed Athens citizen one story on Athensnews.com at a time.
Does it feel good knowing things? Probably.
The first article busts my balls because of the Athens Police's complete disregard for anything humane in regards to the Palmer Fest '09 "riot." Not only was the fest no worse than any other fest during the '08-'09 school year, but this article proves that the police force's reaction was a gross over-reach of power.
I'm not here to seem like some pissed-off youth who can't stand authority. And some things at Palmer Fest probz could've gone a little bit smoother. But c'mon. Fine a photographer and give him jail time for simply taking pictures of the event?
That's some boo-shit.
Granted, Athens PD is--for the most part--pretty chill during the year. But the way they handled Palmer Fest--unnecessary and uncalled for beatings of calm attendees--was a damn shame. While us students can share part of the blame for throwing a block party that got a little out of hand, we shouldn't be the only shamed group. Sometimes the group most at fault is the group with the power. Not the one without it.
The second article once again reminds me why I'm a Buckeye and not a Bobcat.
It also reminds any OU student that more people on campus are fans of other college sports teams than the good ol' Bob-kittens.
I'm sure that OU has pissed away a good amount of its money on more unnecessary than necessary shit over the past however many years, but cutting the school's athletic department budget will deteriorate more school spirit than it will develop.
Here's why: intercollegiate athletics are the easiest way to foster school spirit on any campus. Peoples' boners for anything and everything school-related are very much correlated with intercollegiate athletics.
That might be a little hyperbolic, but it's true.
I don't give a shit about what the Bob-kitties do on any given weekend in any sport. They haven't done anything worth noting. I'm a Buckeye who happens to attend Ohio University's journalism school.
And I'm sure throngs of students would agree with me. Our party-school-Newsweek ranking supplies our greatest source of school pride every year. School officials are more than fond of that.
But If the powers that be cut anymore from OU's penurious athletic budget, OU's sports teams will cease to exist in the minds of any students on campus. Since 1990, OU has cut Men's swimming, soccer, track & field and hockey.
I say that OU invest more into its athletic department--not less. A good athletic department translates to competitive teams translates to a profit translates to happy, school-centric students. Yay.
Become at least a power in the MAC in football or basketball or whatever. Take your pick. Make contending for a MAC title the minimum every year. I'm sick of attending a school where I'm more excited about another school's sports teams than my own.
-What are your personal thoughts on mayonnaise? What makes it such an integral condiment in our food culture?
-Do you think if Tupac and/or Biggie were still living today that they would've made a subpar album by now? Are their bodies of work only important because they're dead?
God Is Love,
Rev Rub.
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