STUPID traditions usually have stupid beginnings. The University does not have a shortage of similar meaningless traditions, but the fact that they've earned the title of being "traditions" doesn't make them any less stupid. All University traditions have an endearing little anecdotal beginning that is passed through generations and ingrained in the students' way of life.
THIS WEEK, a University task force released a report discussing the restructuring of financing for varsity sports.
THE UNOFFICIAL motto of the University is "work hard, play hard." Although not all students drink, and certainly not all students drink excessively, it is no surprise that "play hard" has translated into the drinking culture that pervades much of the University.
NOT MANY people fully understand the implica-tions of the First Year Housing Proposal. As a Student Council representative, I was first introduced to it last semester as SR01-7, "A resolution supporting the ad-hoc enrollment committee proposal." It seemed like a relatively amicable idea, but then I thought on it a little more, talked to other students, and now I realize that it has far greater social ramifications.
PRESIDENT George W. Bush, the man who brought you the words "Hispanically" and "misunderestimated," has eliminated the AIDS and race relations offices of the White House, and is getting rid of mandatory testing for salmonella in school lunch meat.
SELF-HATING white people. You don't often hear about them, but they're out there. Forums like Reflections on Complexions tend to focus on the concerns of minorities, with the implicit understanding that white people are already taken care of.
THERE ARE two reasons students should participate in tonight's Take Back the Night march on the Downtown Mall.
ALMOST all students will tell you that they enjoyed their first year at the University, regardless of where they lived.
OUR NATION'S comatose China policy is beginning to lag in strong leadership as President Bush bends over backward with his apology to China.
MONEY. Some call it the root of all evil, but in the College of Arts and Sciences it has become a vital issue in the quest for a new dean.
WE SHOULD be careful not to confuse education with academics. The two are of course related, but they aren't synonymous - education includes far more than coursework.
IN A DRAMATIC fashion, Tiger Woods won the Masters on Sunday. In so doing, Woods became the first professional golfer ever to win four consecutive "major" titles - the PGA Championship, the British Open, the U.S.
THE UNIVERSITY'S Board of Visit-tors decided against addressing the Unocal shareholder resolution vote in its meeting last week.
THE RECENT report submitted by the Task Force for the Department of Athletics represents a shameful last-ditch effort by which the University might treat its ailing athletic department.
EVERY year as the NCAA men's basketball tournament rolls around, a nationwide frenzy erupts as children, college students and adults alike gather around their television sets in eager anticipation, wondering - as the competition slowly narrows - which of their beloved teams will make the trip to the Final Four, or even (God willing), the championship game. With the championship game and the chaos of the past few weeks still fresh on our minds, it's time to step back and ask ourselves a very important question: What the heck are we doing?
THE TIME is approaching faster than most would prefer to admit. The ISIS man is dusting off his keyboard, professors are practicing their signatures in anticipation of course action forms and students are beginning to hoard Course Offering Directories.
I THOUGHT that Congress had discontinued witch hunts. I also thought that this country supports intellectual curiosity among all nationalities. So I was shocked to read that the government has decided to fight terrorism with a databank that monitors foreign students studying in the United States and will make them pay the cost.
I AM WRITING this editorial in response to Laura Sahramaa's March 27 column, "Snuffing out anti-smoking sentiment." I respect and appreciate all of Ms. Sahramaa's comments and am confident that a number of people share her sentiments.
THIS SUMMER while most of us will be working internships, profitable summer jobs, traveling abroad or attending summer school, other young people our age in developing countries around the world also will be working.
LAST WEEK, with the usual accompanying level of brouhaha, the U.S. News & World Report's rankings on the best graduate schools in the country came out.
