Entangled

Entangled Baylor Lariat Spring 2014
Contents:
Intro:
Pride:
Sloth:
Greed:
Gluttony:
Lust:
Wrath:
Envy:
Screen Shot 2014-05-03 at 11.47.44 PM
Introduction

There’s more to it than meets the eye

Staff Mugs From a young age, we’re taught to avoid certain behaviors, and the seven deadly sins are supposed to be the worst of the worst. They can deform our character and turn us into horrible people. Last semester, I took an ethics class centered around the seven deadly sins. David Echelbarger taught the class, and he my interest in the topic and taught me a lot. As a child, I learned the seven deadly sins. My understanding was far too minimalistic. The sins are complex and powerful — they are very worthy of the title “deadly.” We read “On Evil” by St. Thomas Aquinas, and this really opened my eyes. Aquinas painted a picture of the seven sins that I hadn’t thought of before: Pride was the tree from which other sins stemmed because they are rooted in prideful tendencies.


Pride

pride copy

Here for the party

TAB ARMWRESTLING The different political views and ideologies that students are confronted with in college can cause a division among peers. Fairfield junior Caleb Gunnels said he has seen a division of Baylor students who have only one ideology. He said views he does not agree with strengthen his personal beliefs, which becomes productive to learning. “I’ve been criticized for being close-minded and not with it and too old school simply because I feel a moral obligation to believe certain things and support that moral obligation,” Gunnels said. “I don’t strive to be a prideful person, but I’m very proud of the beliefs I stand for.” Gunnels got his license to preach at Northside Baptist Church in Mexia. Although he grew up around conservatives, Gunnels said he chose on his own to be a conservative Republican because most of their ideologies and opinions reflect closely with Christianity.

I go to Baylor: What’s your excuse?

entitlement_ftw The ability to attend one of the most prestigious Christian universities in the world comes with a hefty price tag — $50,000 a year to be exact. Upon admission into the university, late nights and heavy workloads are sure to ensue as students work toward obtaining a degree within the next four years. Keller senior Courtney Roberts said these attributes of the university can lead to a sense of entitlement from students across campus.

Baylor alumni find superhuman confidence after graduation

Tab Photos Baylor graduates receive more than a diploma when they cross the Ferrell Center stage; they receive an opportunity. Alumni have the chance to show pride in their alma mater, which they will go out into the world to represent. “Baylor has given me the opportunity to develop spiritually, academically, social and professional,” said 2012 alumnae Tiffany Clark. “Like most other freshmen, I came to Baylor with a desire to grow, and this university has more than succeeded in helping me do that.”

Sloth

slothftw

Let’s do that tomorrow… Procrastination strikes, grades suffer the blow

TAB OTHER A beast that rears its ugly head at the sight of a deadline. The little voice in our heads that says there’s plenty of time later. The urge to choose an all nighter to write a paper instead of finish it in over a full semester. It’s called procrastination, and for many, it comes with more than just sleepless nights clinching a coffee cup at the library. At one time or another, most people have been guilty of putting off some task they know they need to take care of but cannot get motivated to begin.

Not all attendance policies are created equal

Class Attendence photo Illustration Skipping, ditching, playing hooky — an absence by any name can add up to a world of trouble at Baylor, where losing class time can result in losing credit. “This semester I had a piano class that I failed due to absences alone,” said Keller freshman Esther Nyangani. “I understand that Baylor has their standards as a private school, but at the same time they need to understand and respect that we’re students, we do get tired and we have extracurricular activities that are university sponsored.” Nyangani is a member of the Women’s Choir and said she often missed Monday and Wednesday classes because of performances and school sponsored events.

Netflix binge: a new way to devour media

Tab Photos On Valentine’s Day earlier this year, sleazy politician Frank Underwood wooed the world once again with his syrupy-sweet southern accent and maniacal tilt of the head. After a yearlong hiatus, both he and his equally diabolical bride strangled the life out of allies and foes alike with their conniving, cunning charm. Despite the sickening debauchery, America fell in love with the Underwoods. While they’re only fictional characters in the Netflix original political drama, “House of Cards,” the couple managed to lure in upwards of 5 to 15 percent of all Netflix subscribers watching at least one episode during the second season’s weekend release, according to a survey by Procera.


Greed

greed copy FTW

A major money issue: Students select field of study based on money, passion

NEW top 5 majors-FTW It’s a classic opening question – what’s your major and what do you want to do with it? Every college student is asked this at some point in their college career, and by the time many graduate, they have perfected their answer, whether the motive is for salary or a true passion in their career field. Some students choose what they love, despite the diminishing career prospects. Others give up passion and attempt to replace it with another career, one that has a promising future. While some students’ true talent and interest is a major brimming with money and achievement, it seems many students have to choose between doing what they enjoy or making a comfortable salary with a different major.

Students forced to cut corners to afford college

#poorcollegestudent #ramennoodlelife #noshame #collegestruggles – We’ve all seen these stereotypical phrases being posted by college students while checking Facebook and Twitter. Yet when labels such as “poor college student” are overused, students can sometimes lose a sense of what it really means to be poor. The problem is that a majority of students have one extenuating factor that skews the poor college student stereotype– parents. ”It’s kind of like I still have a net if I need it,” said Tyler junior Hannah Beth Roberts. Roberts relies on her parents for tuition, books, rent, some monthly bills and some food, depending on the outgoing costs each month. Her 10-hour-a-week campus job pays for student organization dues, the majority of her monthly grocery bills, gas and entertainment. Some students have to pay for nearly all of their needs and bills. Katy senior Kate LeTourneau is required to provide funds for tuition, books, rent, utilities, food and gas.

Athletics over academics?

*Editors Note: Salary numbers have been changed from the printed version in order to reflect accurate base salaries. Previous versions may have included additional compensatory items. Baylor men’s basketball coach Scott Drew, women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey and football coach Art Briles are the three highest paid employees at Baylor University, and it’s not really close. According to the most recent tax records available, Briles and Drew made $2,160,641 and $2,044,773 respectively in 2011. Mulkey made $1,085,380 on top of that. The salaries of the highest paid academic officials pale in comparison to the top of the athletic department. Baylor chief academic officer Elizabeth Davis and Dr. Lee Nordt, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, earned $310,793 and $221,235 respectively during the same time frame. Ken Starr, president and chancellor of Baylor and the fourth most compensated employee at Baylor, was paid $577,531 in 2011, less than Mulkey and a third of what Drew and Briles collected. Starr was the third-highest paid president in the Big 12. The following year, Baylor had the “Year of the Bear,” a period where former Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III won a Heisman Trophy and led Baylor to an Alamo Bowl victory, women’s basketball won a championship, men’s basketball made the Elite Eight and every varsity sports team at Baylor qualified for postseason competition.


Gluttony

gluttony smilingftw

Freshman 15

TAB OTHER Have you ever looked at pictures of yourself from high school, sighed and said to yourself, “Man, I looked good back then.” You are not alone. In college, weight fluctuation is almost inevitable. According to Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, one out of four students gains about 10 pounds during the first year of college. Kilgore senior Dustin Dubose was one such student. He said he gained about 10 pounds his freshman year. There were multiple factors that led to him adding pounds. “Any weight I gained as a freshman was more because of the choices I made on what to eat than the amount I ate,” said Kilgore senior Dustin Dubose. “I didn’t eat any more than I had before, but I ate a lot more Penland pizza, hamburgers, burritos and quesadillas. I ate a lot of quesadillas that year.”

Baylor aims to reduce food waste on campus

Dining halls There’s a gravy-soaked cookie riding a greasy plate down the conveyor belt to the kitchen sink at a cafeteria somewhere. No doubt, you’ve probably seen it around campus. While the green and gold has felt pressure to go green with in the last decade, the question for sustainable operations, particularly when it comes to food service, finds a home at the south end of a ledger. Sustainability is about dollars, not necessarily sense. Food is important for staying healthy and maintaining social interaction, and the dining halls play a special part in that around campus. But for as much good campus dining does for the institution, for the students, food is a bad buy for the university when it gets wasted. University Dining Services are a coordinated effort between the school and an industrial food corporation, Aramark.

Caffeine addiction: Students weight in on importance of coffee, teaIMG_3802 FTW

We’ve all been there — it’s 2 a.m., you just finished a paper that’s due in three hours, and you haven’t even started studying for a test you have the next day. The automatic next step is to turn on the Kuerig you got for high school graduation and make yourself another cup of coffee. College students feel a need to constantly work. Oftentimes students choose to focus on school and social life, neglecting their sleep, and let a caffeine habit fill in the gaps. When it comes to turning in an assignment on time or getting a full eight hours of sleep, students choose schoolwork and their deep sleep cycle suffers. “When people begin to drink more than the recommended 300 milligrams of caffeine a day, they can begin to suffer withdrawal,” said Stan Wilfong, registered dietician and lecturer in nutrition science. “Minor symptoms like headaches, irritability and difficulty concentrating can occur.”

Lust

lustftw

Tinder changed the game

Tinder, the dating app that caught fire on college campuses all across America, has made its mark on Baylor. Whether someone is looking for a friendly date, a hookup or simply an ego boost, Tinder makes it easy to find the perfect match with a simple left or right, “yes” or “no” swipe of the thumb. App dating’s simplicity is its strength, although the simplicity of it could be viewed by many as superficiality. Tinder is a location-based app that allows the user to set his or her “search radius” anywhere from six miles to across the globe. Using Facebook profiles, Tinder gathers users’ basic information and matches potential candidates that are most likely to be compatible based on geographical location, number of mutual friends and common interests.

The stigma of sex: Baylor students weigh morality, reputaton

Baylor students have mixed reactions to the increasingly open sex culture of America. As students at a Christian university, their school expects them to behave in ways that reflect Baylor’s Christian principles which maintain that sexuality is a gift from God and that temptations to deviate from this include heterosexual sex outside of marriage and homosexual activity. Through Baylor policy, students are encouraged to behave and dress modestly. While some students maintain the same identity on and off campus, others have a more lax approach to behavior — especially when it comes to sex.

Porn: When curiosity takes over

Deleting Search History Screenshot FTW “Lust is the craving for salt of a man who is dying of thirst.” At the end of his interview, addictive behavior specialist for the Baylor wellness department, Dr. Don Arterburn, said that this is one of his favorite quotes from American writer and theologian, Frederick Buechner. The quote resonates as one of the underlying causes of any type of addiction: the satisfaction of pleasing one’s self is greater than the need to get rid of it. In its simplest form, pornography is any medium of visual display of sexual organs, actions or scenarios that is designed to stimulate erotic behavior in its viewer. However, more than physical satisfaction, Arterburn said that pornography also satisfies emotional and psychological aspects as well.


Wrath

wrath not yelling FTW

Driving around in soapboxes

I-35 at Night Anger, anxiety, depression, sleepiness and being under the influence. Some people may experience these feelings and emotions more than others and some may only experience one of these emotions. No matter how often a person experiences this, we have all been in one of these states of being before, even when behind the wheel. These states also cause road rage. Dr. Michael B. Frisch, a psychology professor, said two-thirds of drivers experience road rage and only 2 percent or less get into an actual altercation.

Only time can tell… curse words are here to stay

It may seem nuckin futz, but swear words are considered the hottest verbal commodity in the world today. For hundreds of years, these no-no words have been used by people in the English language to express, impress, insult and de-stress. In fact, many linguistic scholars have worked to trace these words back to their Latin roots im order to explore their development over time. And, holy frijoles, have they evolved. “Shadoobie,” said Baylor alumnus ‘13, Preston Blackburn. “I say that in place of the S-word sometimes, like so, “I have to go take a shadoobie.” But, it seems not everyone is quite as modest as Blackburn.

Waco works to batter domestic abuse

“You whore! You are nothing but a whore!” Her face smashed into the dashboard. *Sarah could not hear the words her husband, *James, was screaming. They were muffled in the moment – lost in the sheer shock of what was happening. Head throbbing, ears ringing. She knew this was bad. This was not the first time, but it had never been quite like this. Dashboard again. Sarah’s thoughts were muddled, but she tried to remember how things escalated so quickly. So violently. She and James had what she had considered to be a slight disagreement, but he interpreted it as outright disrespect.

Envy

Envy Profile FTW

Tweeting with envy

envious twitter bird flipped-FTWSocial media, sadness and envy are not three words often advertised together. A new study reports that they are inextricably linked. A number of studies suggest that using various forms of social media often results in very negative emotions towards oneself and others you connect with on those platforms. A German study conducted at the Institute of Information Systems, Berlin, showed that the more time people spend browsing on Facebook, as opposed to actively creating content and engaging with it, the more envious they felt about the content they were consuming. This was a result of the principle of social comparison.

Athletes should bench envy of teammates

There are a shocking number of stories and sagas behind the scenes of college sports that rarely ever get talked about, much less even known to others outside the lines. The focus hardly ever goes to players waiting their turn in college, struggling to feel affirmation for their hard work. If asked honestly, how many players would truly describe how they felt seeing their teammate above them in the depth chart, continuing to succeed on the field? Success for the starter diminishes the chances for the reserve player who is restlessly anticipating his opportunity to shine, let alone play.

Media portrayal of body image affects self-acceptance

Tab Photos Skinny models, perfectly sculpted muscles, impeccable hair, thick eyebrows, flawless skin and a straight nose. These are the qualities most models in photoshopped advertisements have. Some at Baylor are saying the unrealistic portrayal of people in the media is responsible for people having a negative body image. Dr. Emma Wood, a staff psychologist in the Baylor Counseling Center, said media outlets are more prominent and more accessible than ever, and the impact they have on body image is almost universal.