Browsing: Editorials

There’s nothing like the sound of a good drum line to get you in the spirit of homecoming.

Even the most jaded of seniors and alumni find themselves drawn to the sound of the referee’s echoing shouts in the stadium, to the smell of funnel cake and corn dogs, to the sound of an unknown cover band singing in the night and to the giant pile of wood reeking of gasoline in the middle of Fountain Mall.

We were there. We all saw it. The colossal pillar of fire that is the long-lived symbol of Baylor homecoming.

It’s hard to believe that anyone in this day and age would say something like “let’s lynch the scientists.”

Unfortunately, the sentiments once reserved for medieval peasants’ feelings towards the local “wizard” when he told a bad fortune are resurfacing in the modern world.

Let us imagine, for a moment, a hypothetical situation.

Many labs at Baylor began as courses of serious study, giving students hands-on experience to complement their class work. Now, however, many labs need serious restructuring.

Why? Well, from our research, many students say that lab degradation can be blamed on a combination of things.

There are plenty of places in the world where people are oppressed and don’t get any say in their own government. To a much lesser extent, one of these places is the United States of America. In America each person gets one vote for each political position in their district. That means that the people they vote for should reflect the will of the majority, but that vote gets watered down by a system of electors, representatives and gerrymandering and eventually dumped in a big tub with all the other votes. This means that each individual vote means a lot less than the aggregate.

On average, a person spends up to eight hours a month on Facebook, whether it’s connecting with old friends, feeding your chickens on Farmville or — let’s be real — Facebook stalking.

If you haven’t already noticed, your timelines on Facebook are beginning to appear like MySpace back in the day or the silly emails that were forwarded to your Hotmail account with lEtTeRs ThAt LoOkEd LiKe ThIs.

This election cycle has been a rough one.

Voters have been subjected to such a barrage of hateful rhetoric and misinformation that it’s a wonder that we can still remember what party each candidate is running for.

College is expensive; we all know this.

For many of us, our parents strive to do all that they can to make our scholastic dreams come true by taking out loans. A recent investigative report published by ProPublica and The Chronicle of Higher Education found that a government loan called the Parent PLUS loan has seemed to harm more than it helped — not only the students’ financial stability but that of the parents’ as well.

Affirmative action has always been a controversial issue since it’s inception in 1961 by John Kennedy. The goal was to counter the effects of a history of discrimination by eliminating the discrimination of minorities in college admissions on the grounds of gender, religion, ethnicity, handicap and yes — race. This not only applies to college campuses, but to the workplace as well.

The only reason we drink bottled water now is this: We’re college students.

We don’t have clean cups to drink from.

But thanks to the City of Waco, if we were ever to wash our dishes (not likely), we could drink safe, clean, taste- and smell-free tap water.

The story of Malala Yousufzai has since captured the attention of the international media. Should she recover, an event that seems likely as doctors treating her in Britain have released hopeful statements about her prognosis, the Taliban has vowed to finish her off.

In the early 1990s Disney taught us that dreams really do come true, beauty is on the inside and two words that can solve any problem: “Hakuna matata.”

Recently, these movies have been coming back to the big screen in 3D.

The trend started for Disney after the re-release of “The Lion King” brought in around $80 million.

The Baylor Bookstore, the center of all things Baylor, remains the boon and the bane of most of the students that attend this school.

Not only can we get our textbooks and various school supplies there, we can get the latest young-adult fiction (Baylor appropriate, of course) for moderately unfair prices. We can get everything from day planners to the latest Apple products and accessories.

As students, when we come to Baylor we are expected to be offered a wide array of amenities and facilities to support not only our learning, but our passions as well as well. For the most part, we have to commend Baylor for providing some awesome things. But, they fall short in one small and often-overlooked category — horses.

While Baylor does have a fantastic equestrian team, there are no equestrian facilities for any other use than official equestrian team activities.

The Baylor football team’s recent loss to West Virginia has brought a very important issue to light.

Baylor is going to lose games.

We have in the past — even under RGIII — and we will in the future.

Fortunately we have not had to face a loss at home in over a year and there is no reason to expect that we will lose at home this year, but a home loss will come.

Most of us have it — in the form of student aid, though we have yet to feel the effects. In fact, outstanding student loans in the U.S. equal a total of more than $1 trillion. Baylor is an expensive school – many of us are undoubtedly contributing to that sum.

With more than the usual amount of parking being eliminated this year by construction, remodeling and a giant freshman class, we would be remiss if we neglected this ongoing rant in this week’s editorial schedule. In fact, on-campus parking problems have become a favorite subject of ours in board meetings, simply because the lack of improvement we have seen on this issue has brought the level of discontented grumblings among the student body up to full fledged battle royals in the parking garages — day and night.

Working out has two specific goals in college: staying in shape and maintaining your social life.

Treadmills in the SLC offer a television to watch while you run, although there is some debate as to the drawbacks of treadmills.

The track in the SLC is a circle that never changes, offering no entertainment whatsoever.

If you are a dog or cat lover, your heart may be on the verge of breaking for the animals in Waco.

In case you weren’t aware, the Humane Society of Central Texas was denied funding and in a matter of just two months, will be forced to put an end to its adoption program, turning it in to a 72-hour kill shelter.

Furthermore, Waco’s Animal Birth Control Clinic has exhausted all of its funding, which will result in a major decline of spaying and neutering of animals in Waco.

Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech; or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

When prospective students and their teary-eyed parents walk on to this campus, there is a invariably a certain awe that comes with viewing the pristine lawns, the vibrant and strictly manicured gardens and the simple yet complimentary fountains. Baylor all but forces people to take note of its verdant and overly-watered campus as a point of pride in its appeal to incoming students. We at the Lariat are happy to acknowledge that most of the expense and trouble Baylor has gone to over maintaining its grounds has contributed toward making it as sustainable as possible.

The debate on the correct balance between news and entertainment has been going on for decades.

A prime example of this debate can be found right here on Baylor’s overly-watered but oh so green grass: Castellaw Communications Building.

The bottom floor hosts the film and digital media department while journalism, public relations and new media stay on the top.

There is hardly any crossover.

This year has been fraught with controversies, one after another: some big, some small; some tragic and some arbitrary. The nature of social media in an ever-shrinking world ensures that there’s always a new problem to fight about. Breast-feeding has been a long-standing point of debate with many sides and many points of view.

Consider this the first volley.

There was once a storied organization at good old Baylor U.

Voting is a right that, as Americans, we are fortunately blessed with.

It stands to reason, therefore, that everyone should have equal opportunity to register to vote, right? Wrong. The Baylor Democrats, and other student political organizations, have been out on the front lines every election year trying to register people to vote, and they have met with success.

There’s an old joke that goes – Jews don’t recognize Jesus as the Messiah, Protestants don’t recognize the Pope as head of the church, and Baptists don’t recognize each other in the liquor store.

As funny and exaggerated as that last line is, it does hold an element of truth. In many areas of the Protestant faith, not only Baptist, there is a sort of “see no evil” mentality. A preacher can drink a beer after the ball game on Saturday as long as he serves grape juice for communion on Sunday.

juniors and seniors for you young whippersnappers — deserve to “live the good life” while ending their careers here at the good ol’ Baylor U.

In order to truly embrace the ignorant saying, “YOLO,” upperclassmen must be able to do as they please without the burdens of Baylor and its financial requirements.

Thankfully, a new wave of freshmen has come in to fill the void and care for them in their dotage.

As college students, we at the Lariat understand the difficulties inherent in balancing a budget. To allocate funds in one area sometimes means to leave another without.

However, some dues must be paid. It would be ridiculous to buy a new video game or a pair of high heels with money that should be used to pay an electricity bill. In this instance, it makes sense to skip the luxury items and pay your dues.

In the U.S. it’s completely permissible to have your own opinions and beliefs. However, people tend to forget there is still a line of social responsibility that cannot be crossed without equal repercussions. History has amply taught us that words can be just as deadly, if not more, than any physical weapon. In this case, it was a film.

A thought: what is the true cost of an honors degree? What are the benefits?

We can’t speak to the post-Baylor effects an honors transcript might grant the hard-working holder (being but students ourselves), but today we’d like to talk about in-house benefits.

It is inescapably apparent that Baylor has become a lot more green lately.

However in spite of the sweet look of the recent makeover, there are significant drawbacks.

Namely, the traffic this has caused on every major thoroughfare on campus.