THE GREATEST thing I have done is attend the University. It is, and always will be, my most special place.
MY IMMEDIATE thought when I received my first job rejection over e-mail was, "Why couldn't they at least send me a real letter so I could get a free drink at Orbits?" The more I mulled it over, the more angry I became at the use of impersonal, casual e-mail to deliver such weighty news. Unfortunately, this seems to be a growing trend.
THOUGH the Rolling Stones don't rank among my favorite bands, their lyrics rang true for me recently as I reflected on the years I've spent on these Grounds.
CLICK. CLICK ... Click ... Click click clackety click clack? Click! Is this what all your conversations sound like these days?
I USED to be terrified of the Bogeyman. As my older friends described him, he was an escaped convict who wore a patch over one eye and would hide under children's beds, waiting until it was dark to jump out and attack.
THE WORLD Bank/IMF protest might have shut down D.C., but on campus the news blew by. As I polled people for Views Around Grounds last week, I asked many University students this question: "Would you participate in a World Bank/IMF student walkout?" Most responses went something like this: "I've heard about the protests in D.C., but I don't understand the issue at all.
ONE BILLION dollars is a lot of money. The fact that the University has surpassed its $1 billion goal for the Capital Campaign is a huge achievement.
PEOPLE OFTEN like to see moral issues in high contrast. A simple question takes less time to answer, and often can incite a response through sheer emotion, without much need for reasoning.
A Fourth Year student of mine, Erika Jacobsen, is doing fieldwork in Washington, D.C. this semester.
THE PUBLIC discourse at the University often runs itself. The leaders of one organization know the leaders of others and, very often, "the others" include the publications that students pick up everyday.
MONEY well spent. Not always something written about in the newspaper. If looking for an example around Grounds, how about serving up a laptop with your next latte?
THIS, MY LAST column as The Cavalier Daily's ombudsman, originally was going to be a review of the numerous improvements made to the paper during the previous year.
ACTIVISM is usually good. Some activism, however, is really bad. Unfortunately, some of that bad activism is present at the University. Religion is good.
MY HANDS and clothing have been stained often enough by the ink sliding off this cheap newsprint that I know that it doesn't wash off without some difficulty.
IT'S AFFECTIONATELY referred to by students as the "grease pit." Its defining characteristic is the rancid smell of grease that permeates through students' hair and clothes once they leave the "pit," subduing even the most expensive colognes and body washes.
THE UNIVERSITY is an attractive place. It is full of spaces that delight the tourist's camera and titillate the casual history buff.
WE WERE all at "that awkward stage" once -- pre-pubescent adolescents just figuring out the way things worked.
WHEN MOM and Dad tell you to be careful, they mean it. If the startling criminal incidents of the last few days have taught us anything, it is that we are not nearly as safe as we might pretend to be.
THESIS. It's a scary word, isn't it? I probably just frightened half my readers away. For all you brave souls still reading, take heart.
FIGURES lie and liars figure. Once again out-of-state tuition is increasing, and once again President John T.
