Browsing: Opinion

By Danny Huizinga You may have heard the statement, “A women makes 77 cents for every dollar a man makes.”…

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.

Who would’ve thought that stealing a pile of newspapers would be a bad thing?

Some people would say, “Hey, you’ve got a hankering for learning about the world!”

Others would say, “You’ve got a problem.”

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.

What is real may not be real, so how do we know what’s real?

Some people think of neuroscientists as scientists who sit in a laboratory and just poke and prod brains all the time, but I feel like sometimes people forget the more humanities driven aspect of the major.

Baylor’s neuroscience program is part of the neuroscience and psychology department. The classes we take as neuroscience majors are cross-listed as psychology classes and psychology majors are required to take at least one of those classes as part of their major.

“Truth crushed to earth will rise again.” _ Martin Luther King Jr. (quoting William Cullen Bryant)

Sometimes, oceans are not enough.

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.

Humor, in my opinion, is one of the best medicines around, especially for a college student. It can be a stress reliever, bring people together or lightly poke fun at certain situations or stereotypes.

Tumblr accounts are compilations of GIFs, a format for image files, using scenarios from movies and TV shows in a blog setting.

Recently mentioned in the debates were the “Bush Tax Cuts,” a set of laws passed in 2001 and 2003 that lowered marginal tax rates for almost all taxpayers. Although the laws were set to expire in 2010, President Obama renewed them until 2012. Now the debate begins a third time as Democrats and Republicans again argue about the cuts’ proposed expiration.

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.

Tax policy has been a focal point in this election, with both candidates claiming their proposals “strengthen the middle class”. Much of the debate last Wednesday involved criticisms of the opponent’s tax policy.

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.

I’ve lost loved ones, but I’ve never had to go through what the Ledet family is facing right now.

A plane crash over the weekend took the lives of Leonard Ledet, 60, his 62-year-old brother, Gregory Ledet, and his sons, Mason Ledet and Paul Ledet.

They were on their way to the Texas A&M game against Ole Miss.

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.

Let me just say that love and agreeing are two totally different aspects of life. I may disagree with my family on occasion, but I don’t love them any less.

Some people would argue that because I disagree with someone that means I don’t support that person—some would go so far as to say I’ve expressed dislike of the person because of my disagreement.

A friend of mine posted a Facebook status about halfway through the presidential debate on Wednesday saying, “This debate is a waste of time.”

She’s wrong.

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.

I would like to thank the editors of the Lariat for publishing on Sept. 27 an editorial on public breast-feeding, because they have drawn attention to an issue that is of profound cultural significance, and have had the courage to hold a position on it that is so manifestly unchristian.

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.

Many of us come from hometowns filled with exciting nightlife, big cities or rolling hills. Some of us have even come from abroad—or states so different you feel like you might as well have been abroad.

We have made our long journeys from many different places, all with the common goal of arriving at Baylor — and Waco.

The United Nations General Assembly in New York is giving many international issues more prominence in the media than they normally receive.

Many of these issues are not issues immediately relevant to the average college student.

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 it’s completed in a few months, Solyndra expects to hire 1,000 workers to manufacture solar panels and sell them across America and around the world,” President Barack Obama declared at the Solyndra plant in Fremont, Calif. That was in May 2010, over a year after the Department of Energy guaranteed a $535 million loan to the company, promising a bright future and more jobs for Americans.

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.

Dear old-fashioned, outdated, face-to-face communication: We are no longer in need of your service, but thanks anyways – we have Facebook.

Cell phones, social media sites and computers – to name a few – seem to be replacing authentic, face-to-face communication. I remember the days where sitting at the dinner table each night consisted of conversational replies other than, “Oh, sorry mom, what? I didn’t hear you, I was texting my friends back,” or, “Hold that thought while I post how much fun we’re having on Instagram.”

The first thing that comes to mind when the word ‘anime’ is brought up is typically ‘immature’, or ‘childish’. This is a warranted thought, because some of the first shows considered anime that western audiences are introduced to are “Yu-Gi-Oh” or “Pokémon” (the latter of which some Baylor students STILL enjoy).

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.