February 13, 2004

Valentine’s Day Showdown

He says: Cupid is stupid

She says: Love is life

By ANDREW CRAFT

As Valentine’s Day gets closer, can you smell the love in the air? Well I can, and it stinks so bad that it’s making me sick. Don’t get me wrong, I am completely on the side of love, but to me, the fact that people buy into cards, candy and flowers every fourteenth of February seems a little dumb, if not pathetic.

I just don’t understand why some people need a day to remind them how much someone else means to them. A day that is set aside in order to spend more time with your significant other seems pretty pointless, if not down right time-wasting.

To a good majority, the day isn’t all that significant. Think about it, school is still open during the mushiness. For those of you who don’t need to buy your loved one a gift on Valentine’s Day, you and I are in the same boat.

It’s nice to know that there are others out there that don’t feel the need to buy into the corporate holiday. If you can make your girl or guy feel good on any day without a card saying it for you, or candy to stuff in their face, or flowers to give them something to sniff, then you know how to do it right.

Real love comes from the heart and it can be given on any day of the year instead of just one. For someone who has been dumped on Valentine’s Day twice in his life, (one of them just last year), seeing others together on Feb. 14 really makes me sick to my stomach.

This year on Valentine’s Day, I won’t be doing anything too productive. I’ll end up wearing all black, secluding myself in my room, turning off the ringer on the phone, not answering the door, and not going anywhere near the mailbox. But I do wish all you a happy and safe Valentine’s Day- just don’t ask me to like it.

By DANIELLE POLAND

Valentine’s Day comes one day a year. It’s a time for lovers to express their love for one another, a time for friendships to grow stronger and a time for families to come together and show their appreciation for one another.

It isn’t just for couples. That’s one of the best things about it. You can spend it with anyone who is special to you, someone you bond with. Valentine’s Day isn’t just about the candy that you receive or the dozens of roses sitting on your doorstep. It’s about the love that you share with your family, friends or your special someone.

So, if you feel alone this Valentine’s Day, take a deep breath, take a look around, and realize you have people all around that love you. Most of the time, boyfriends and girlfriends will come and go, but a strong friendship will last for eternity.

I definitely feel that it is important to celebrate Valentine’s Day, whether you have a mate or not. Everyone deserves to be pampered at least one day a year. Isn’t that what Valentine’s Day is all about? It’s the importance of our very existence that we bestow love upon one another.

Love is the fine quality of our human race. God gave us a gift; it’s the gift that helps us survive. The ability to love and honor one another, to learn from our mistakes and the ability to benefit from others. He gave us the ability to know right from wrong.

So have fun on Valentine’s Day and remember to share your company with another. Let everyone know that without love we would have no earth, this planet would be nonexistent.

Love is happiness.

Love is life.

A few questions...

CINDY SMITH

I will be graduating in May, and I have some questions that have been on my mind since I first came to Wesleyan as a transfer student in 2002. I could not think of a better way to get a variety of answers than by asking three questions that I would like to know the answers to in a column. At my last job, I had to order decals very similar to the ones used by the college. The average cost for these stickers was around $2.50 a piece, and we were usually able to find them even cheaper than that. Why, then, do the students have to pay $25 per car for the privilege of parking on the Wesleyan campus? Why is parking not included in our tuition?

Let’s do a little math.

If 80% of the 1500 students on campus purchase a decal, that would come to $30,000. If the college is paying $5 per sticker (that’s an outrageously high estimate, but I’m in a generous mood), that amounts to a parking sticker profit of $24,000 a year. Not bad. Another local college uses the decal system to control parking in their lots, but they do not charge students for them. If the college is going to charge this fee then consider this: since that profit comes straight from use of the parking lots, shouldn’t some of that money be used to fix the parking lots, so that on rainy days we can walk to class without being ankle-deep in mud?

Did you know if you transfer to Wesleyan that your GPA from your old school does not count toward Latin honors if it will raise your GPA, BUT it does count if it will lower your GPA? For example, if a student has a GPA at Wesleyan of 3.59, and transferred in 50 credits with a GPA of 3.9 then those 50 transfer credits do not affect the student’s GPA. Thus, that student will graduate with a 3.59, or Cum Laude. If, however, that same student transferred in 50 credits with a GPA of 3.0 then those 50 transfer credits DO affect the student’s GPA, and the student will not graduate with Latin Honors. Once the transfer classes are factored in, the student’s GPA will be too low for honors. In both cases, the rule is to the disadvantage of the student.

Maybe it is because I’m a little slow, but when I heard about the rules regarding this, it didn’t sound right. Perhaps this is how all colleges do it? If so, then maybe all colleges are wrong. Again, let me say that there could be a very good explanation as to why it’s done this way, and I’m open-minded about hearing the reason. One person told me that because the student is graduating from Wesleyan that only the classes taken at Wesleyan should count toward Latin Honors. Ok, fair enough. Why then can those same transfer classes lower his or her GPA?

I don’t get it, but as I said, maybe I’m just a little slow. We’ve all been there: in class, listening to a lecture and trying to write down all of the important points only to have our concentration interrupted by the sound of snoring coming from the person next to us. Come on, now. Are you really that tired? I’m not talking about the kind of tired where your eyes glaze over, and your notes, upon later inspection, make absolutely no sense. I’m talking about the lay-your-head-down-on-the-desk-using-your-binder-as-a-pillow sleep that is usually accompanied by snoring, drooling and mumbling. If you’re that tired, don’t come to class! Do you really think you’re gaining points with the professor by showing up and snoring through his or her lecture?

I would LOVE to see someone try that in a business meeting. After you have graduated and landed a good job, try this: lay your head down while your boss is talking and start snoring away. What’s he going to do? Fire you? After all, you did show up. I really would appreciate the answers to any of these questions. If you’re “in the know” (or just not as slow as I am) then please, feel free to fill me in.

Site created and maintained by Linda De Rosa.