Eastern Michigan's Student Union

I was going through my documents on my laptop and found this article I wrote for my journalism class last year. It's short and I thought I would share it with you all.
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Students Less Than Excited About New Student Center
Sherry Kotarski

A group of linguistics students discussed the opening of the new student center recently showing a lack of enthusiasm over the new building. The biggest complaints among the students were not being able to use their meal plan in the dining area and the distance the building is from the rest of campus.


Eastern Michigan University’s new student center may be larger than McKenny Union, but students are not as excited about it. Lack of meal plan options was the biggest complaint cited.

A group of linguistic students attending class in Pray Harold today were asked if they had been to the new union and whether or not they liked it there.

The majority of the class had been to the new union. Most of the students were not displeased, however, they weren’t excited either. “The services offered does not compare to the amount of money spent building the new union”, says Jason Fry, a junior at EMU. The chief complaint of Jason and several other students in the class was they were not able to use their meal plan options at the restaurants in the union. One student was overheard saying, “The restaurants will accept credit cards, but not meal plans. That is just wrong.”

The students did like the added touches of the fireplaces and flat screen TVs. They said, however, that was not enough to get them excited about the new building.

Of the students polled only a handful had not yet visited the new union. These students mainly consisted of graduating seniors who felt they had no reason to go to there. The other few who had not yet been to the new union did not want to go there because of the distance from the main campus. Kaylene, one of the students interviewed, simply said “it’s too far away”.

Where does all my money go?

This information was taken from the following article :

If you're wondering where your money goes each month here are 10 expenses that really add up.

Coffee, cigarettes, alcohol, manicures, eating out, bottled water, car washes, vending machines, gym memberships, and credit card interest.

Angelina and Pam Anderson

Yesterday while standing in the checkout line at the grocery store I was looking at the magazines. On the cover of one of them there was a headline about Angelina Jolie possibly being pregnant because she gained 10pounds. What the heck? First off they made it this huge deal because she gained 10 pounds and, apparently, because she put on a few pounds that means she might be pregnant? What has happened to this world?

People wonder why so many teenaged girls are so obsessed with their weight. Well because magazines are making a big deal because some one gained 10 pounds. Duh!

Pamela Anderson got married again. It was a quickie Vegas wedding this time. She married the guy who made the infamous sex tape with Paris Hilton. Personally, I'm glad she's not married to Kid Rock anymore because I'm secretly hoping he's saving himself for me.

Update

When I wrote my piece about the sanctity of marriage I had intended to do a follow-up piece as well. I just wanted to say that I still intend to write that piece I just haven't had time to write it yet.

I have been busy with Cub Scouts as of late. This new pack is frustrating and taking up a lot of my time.

The "Sanctity" of Marriage

An online friend of mine announced her engagement today. I am very happy for her. In her blog she mentioned that she didn’t want a big church wedding, but still wanted a nice wedding. Her comment got me to thinking; when did society change? When did weddings become a huge over-the-top event? Do couples really believe that the more lavish the wedding the better the marriage? Surely these couples have better things to spend their money on than giant weddings.

Like I told my friend, the wedding does not define the marriage. You could have the most lavish wedding on the planet or simply stand before a judge in jeans and a t-shirt; just look at Prince Charles and Princess Diana. Either way, what will ultimately define your marriage will be how you are as a couple.

Some people say that coming from a divorced family makes you more susceptible to divorce. With the divorce rate skyrocketing, I don’t think coming from parents who didn’t divorce makes you any more likely to stay married longer.

Take, for example, my dad’s family. My dad’s parents were married for over 50 years. They had nine children. Each of those nine children has been married for over 20 years. Only one of them has been divorced. The oldest of the nine was divorced after 25 years of marriage. Both of their daughters are also divorced. My own brother is divorced, and our parents have been married for 37 years. I have a couple of other divorced cousins from my dad’s side of the family as well.

What does this all prove? Well, nothing really. But, it does show that it doesn’t matter who your parents are or what kind of wedding you had, you are just as susceptible as the next person. One thing all of the above relationships had in common is that they were all rocky from the very start.

Marriage can be a wonderful thing. But if the relationship is strained beforehand, going through the ceremony isn’t going to change anything. The relationship is going to continue to be strained. If you are willing to put up with your partner’s faults before marriage, then you should be willing to put up with them after marriage. Do not expect your partner to suddenly become a better person just because you had the $60,000 wedding. I can assure you, they aren’t going to change a bit. Whoever they were before the marriage is who they will be after the ceremony.

A Day of Rememberance

I actually had someone ask me about a year after 9/11 happened what the big deal was. Why did this day deserve it's own holiday? I was apalled. She said it wasn't that big of a deal to her because she was on the west coast sleeping when it happened. And didn't find out about it until later on in the afternoon. The worst part of all that is this woman was a military wife. I don't understand how people can ask what's the big deal. The big deal is that terrorists attacked our country and killed thousands of innocent people. This only the second time something of that scale had happened to our country. The first being Pearl Harbor. There is a special day for that, in case you didn't know. Do you remember the unity our country had for a short time after 9/11? Where did that go? This post is in remembrance to all the people who lost their lives on that day, to all the families who lost loved ones on that day, to all the soldiers who gave their lifes in a foreign country trying to make sure this would never happen again, to all the families who have lost a soldier, to all the soldiers and their families whose lives have been changed through injury in those same foreign countries protecting my life and liberties.To all the soldiers still over there fighting I say THANK YOU! Thank you for risking your life for mine, thank you for taking years away from your children so that mine might have a better life. To the families of those soldiers fighting I say THANK YOU! Thank you for giving up your time with your loved one so that I might have more time with mine. I know mere words are not enough to get you through these hard days, but know that I am thinking of you and thanking you for your sacrifices and praying for yours or your loved ones safe return.Try to remember where you were on September 11, 2001. Try to remember how you felt that day and the days after. When you are out and about and you see a soldier Thank them for their service. Thank them for allowing you your freedoms. Let them know you appreciate all the sacrafices they make for you and your family.
Where were you?
I was in the car taking Eddie to daycare and then was going to drive from Ft. Knox to Louisville to go to school. I was listening to Howard Stern on the radio and I heard him say something about a plane crashing into the WTC. I was just like yeah right whatever it was Howard Stern afterall. I changed the channel on the radio thinking that if it was real they would be talking about it on all the stations. And sure enough it was real. I dropped Eddie off and got back in the car during which time I think the second plane hit. It was a 40 minute drive to Louisville and not a fun one. All I wanted to do was call my mom. I listened to Howard Stern the entire way because they were live in New York. It was almost like being right there. When the towers fell you could hear people screaming. You could hear the Jets flying in the sky. The first payphone I found in a safe neighborhood I stopped and called my mom just crying hysterically just to tell her I loved her. She actually told me to forget school and go home. I had a test that day that I had to take. I couldn't believe this, but my mom said "screw the test, go home". I promised her I would leave as soon as I took my test and I did. When I got back to post I realized I didn't have my ID card on me. But I had my CDC card and told the MP that I lived on post and that I was going to pick up my son and showed him the CDC card and he let me on. Up until that point Ft. Knox was an open post. I got Eddie home and cried for pretty much the rest of the day and the next. Matt was in Korea and only 7 days away from coming home so I was really freaked out about what was happening with him. He ended up only having to stay a couple of extra weeks and then was allowed to come home.

As you can see, that was a very profound day for me. One that I will NEVER forget for as long as I live.

Now I know I'm old

You know you are old when you look forward to reading the newspaper each morning and you get upset when the delivery person puts your paper in the middle of the hallway of your apartment building instead of in front of your door where it belongs.