Opinion

I have a confession to make: I love reality TV. Each week, I carve time out of my hectic schedule of school, work and family to glue myself to the couch and absorb all the garbage being thrown at me from the television. And yes, I realize the shows are scripted. Do the producers really expect us to believe the Kardashians work out all their family problems by the end of each hour-long episode? Or what about the raunchy show “Love and Hip Hop Atlanta”? No way would Kirk have the audacity to play his wife like that on national television. […]

Are you aware that hate is a learned behavior? Oh yes, my friends, learned. By everyone it seems – family, friends, peers, acquaintances. No one is safe. Hate can breed like a gaggle of KKK rabbits. It knows no boundaries in terms of race, ethnicity, sex, age, economics, social status or common sense. Let me tell you about one of my early lessons in racial understanding. On a Saturday evening in 1972, my father, a Shriner, took us to the Cincinnati convention center to see the Shrine circus. Lions, tigers, bears, oh my! On the way home, my father casually told my brother and I, “No work, no ball.” […]

To grab attention from a fleeing audience, makers of the iconic board game Monopoly conducted a poll to find out which of its game pieces were most popular. Normally, there’s nothing I’m up for more than a little procrastination via the Internet, but in this case, I didn’t have to click any further to know the answer to Parker Brothers’ question. […]

Smoking’s bad for you. That’s been pretty much universally agreed upon since the ‘60s or ‘70s. To paraphrase the comedian Denis Leary, nobody reads the surgeon general’s warning and says, “I thought cigarettes were good for you! I thought they had vitamin C in them!” In recent years, officials have enacted increasingly tighter controls on smoking in private and public places. It’s an effort to protect those who don’t smoke from the harmful effects of second-hand smoke coming from those who do. […]

I love money. Obviously, I’m not alone. It’s not like most people are going to turn it down when it’s offered. While having money is awesome, spending it is even better — and that’s where the problem lies. The thing that many of us want the most is too easily lost. But all too often, that money goes toward frivolous things that we just don’t need. […]

I have always loved to read and write. I can remember spending lazy summer days curled up with a good book as a kid. I would get lost into the wonderful world of fiction for hours, always dreading to return to reality. As a teenager, I spent several sleepless nights pouring my soul onto a piece of paper after a messy breakup with my boyfriend. However, as I grew older, I locked away my gift and buried it in the sea of unlived dreams. Until I came to college, that is. […]

I’m no expert on health care. I’m not a doctor, a nurse or a physician’s assistant. My only medical training is a first aid and CPR class or two. Oh, and watching reruns of “House.” For that reason, I don’t hand out health advice, and I wouldn’t want people to listen to it, anyway. I don’t know what I’m talking about. Know who else isn’t a doctor? Jenny McCarthy. Yet, for some reason, people across the country are still listening to her when it comes to vaccinations. McCarthy’s credits include 1993’s “Playboy” Playmate of the Year, the MTV dating show “Singled Out,” the slapstick comedy “BASEketball” and, most recently, “The View.” I don’t think she has enough star power to get invited to the Oscars. […]

A good friend is hard to find. But sometimes a good friend finds you. That’s what happened the day before last Thanksgiving, when I got my Jack Russell terrier, “Puppy.” It started with an inhumane act. I was in my back room painting and talking to my girlfriend. I couldn’t help but notice a woman behaving strangely in the alley behind the apartment. I continued with my conversation but also kept watching the woman. She had a bulge underneath her robe. She walked quickly to a dumpster and opened the top. A furry white face stuck out from under her arm. […]

The Scene newspaper office was buzzing with reporters and photographers on the morning of Feb. 19, when we received word of breaking news on campus. Police had taken several students into custody because of a possible gun threat. Members of our staff rushed to the cafeteria to find out what was going on. We hadn’t even finished reporting when we heard two more students were being handcuffed outside the theater building and led away. After all the dust settled, I finally learned what had triggered both of these incidents, and my stomach churned. Two fights had broken out on this campus within hours of each other, and both were cases of domestic violence. […]

I consider myself a pretty good student, always keeping my head down and my eyes on the prize. But I’ve got to admit that every year about this time, the A’s start turning into C’s … as in “C-ya later turkeys!” I mean, how am I supposed to concentrate when spring is in the air, flowers are blooming and all the little birds are frolicking just outside my window? I can’t help but daydream about a life without teachers or bosses or homework, a life where I could go outside whenever I wanted — the life of a farmer, the life for me. […]