NFL Draft

With the NFL draft nearing quickly, teams are getting ready to go on the clock and make their picks in high pressure situations. I can only imagine how much pressure a general manager is under during draft day. In the first round each team gets ten minutes to make a selection that can potentially make or break a team. But yesterday, the Miami Dolphins locked up Jake long for five years. I think teams should not be allowed to make their picks before the draft. I feel like in theory, the entire draft could be done before draft day. Now that Miami is off the clock, St. Louis is on the clock and has 96 hours to deliberate who their first round selection will be. But the Falcons at three don't know who will be available when draft day rolls around and they only get ten minutes. The NFL should not allow any player to sign before draft day. It's the only way to keep things fair.

Fountains

The fountains are one of the nicest features about our campus. The weather has been beautiful now for over two weeks and yet the water of the fountains is no where to be seen. We have the fountains for a month in the fall and even that seems way too short. If they turn the fountains on today, we would enjoy two weeks of fountains before the semester ends. What are they saving it for? I don't get it. I would love to sit by the fountain but obviously, that can't happen right now. It is located at one of the nicest spots on campus--overlooking the lake and usually the fountain just adds to the ambiance. Why do we even have a fountain if we never use it?

Shuttle System

This post is in response to Chris's post about implementing a shuttle system on the Ithaca College Campus. For one, this would greatly improve the parking situation which we all know is disastrous and seems to be getting worse. Two, this would be an excellent gesture in terms of how "green" we are as a college. Even though many students would bring their cars to school, they would definitely use them less if they knew they could take a free bus from the circles to one of the academic buildings. The third reason is that this would make the streets of IC safer. With students knowing that they could go from the dorms to the circles, students would ride rather than drive which would prevent drunk driving. We're paying over $40,000 a year. How hard is it to get us a free shuttle?

Floor Programs

In response to Evan Schapiro's post on Floor Programs I couldn't agree more. I haven't been to a single one this year. It's almost like a vicious cycle. No one ever goes, so RA's don't spend time on making them all that much fun. This results in nobody going. I think a huge benefit to Floor Programs would be for the RA's to use the school's money to supply free food to the students. I realize some Floor Programs do provide the students on the floor with free pizza, ice cream, etc. but it is never advertised that food will be there. Evan's right. Friends get together, order food, and watch a movie all the time. So why wouldn't you want to do this with all expenses paid for by the school? I think RA's should let the students know that the school pays for everything because I don't think everyone knows that. The fact that attending Floor Programs isn't the cool thing to do also plays a role, but I wouldn't care if it's the school paying for delivery.

I Know my Kid's a Star

I saw two episodes of the VH1 reality show I Know my Kid's a Star earlier today and was amazed. The show combines the talent of a child with the managing ability of the parents. Hosted by former child star Danny Bonaduce, this show seems to have the potential to go multiple seasons. At first I felt myself asking ‘why am I watching this?’ But after the first five minutes I was hooked. This show is awesome. From a viewers standpoint that is. These parents are out of their minds. And the kids reflect it. Each potential child star is more screwed up than the next. The parents push their kids to be the best and because of this, the kids usually end up hating their parents. I'm sure the point of this show was to be like a younger version of American Idol where people watch to see how talented these kids are. Instead, it has turned into a Real World type of environment where the majority of the viewers watch to see if any of the mothers kill each other. I love it. But it seems unfair to these kids who deserve parents who care about their kids rather than their kids' careers. I would never want my kid to be this focused on a career at this early in his or her life but if it’s other people’s kids—who cares. I love this show.

Class Registration

Quite possibly the most stressful eight minutes of my life. This system has got to change. There should be an alternate form of priority other than the current "whose internet works the fastest." The worst is the time leading up to that dreaded 7:00 am. My heart was pounding because it's such a stupid thing that ends up molding four months of my life. One falter and magically... next semester sucks. I don't know what a better system would be but I do know that it has to change. I have so many friends that didn't get the classes they wanted and are still searching for one and even two classes to add to their schedules. Something's wrong here because it's all luck. A student shouldn't be penalized because they click SUBMIT three seconds later than another student

More Weather

In response to my own post, I think there is another benefit of suffering through a long winter. I don't want to speak for other people, but in my mind, I almost feel immune to the cold. Immune in some sense-that is. As of right now, a day in the low 40's feels like a 60 degree day would have last year. Today is topping out in the high 50's and I feel like it's 70 degrees out. Last summer, if there was a day where it was 58 degrees people would be wearing pants and sweatshirts complaining of the cold. Today, everyone is outside wearing shorts and talking about the beautiful weather. Just seems like we've all built up a tolerance which is going to eventually reward us.

Weather

This post is in response to Seth's in regard to the changing weather. It's true that the weather does put everyone in a better mood. With the wind dying down, and the sun starting to show itself, everyone just seems to be happier. But I do not think going through all that bad weather is for nothing. After that freezing cold winter every student at Ithaca College is the opposite of spoiled... whatever the word is for that. It's much easier to appreciate the warm weather after we suffered through 4 months of sub-freezing temperatures. If schools down south get a day like this, they can't appreciate it like we can. They would think this was cold. In a way I pity them

Changing Passwords

This post is in response to Evan's in regards to us having to change the passwords to our emails and WebCT accounts. I agree with Evan and must say that a mandatory change is way to drastic and downright unnecessary. Nobody cares about what emails a college student is getting and what good would being able to get on another student's WebCT do me?? I think it would have been more appropriate to send out an email telling students that they recommend we make our passwords tougher to guess by throwing in a number and a symbol. I liked my password and now it usually takes me two or three times to figure out that my password is different than the one I had first semester. I have enough passwords to remember as it is. Just as I felt I had a solid password, they make me add another to my resume of endless passwords.

Perfect Bracket

Has it ever happened? Well lets think about it this way. Every year there is at least one Cinderella team. Usually two or three teams that surprise everyone and upset in more than one game. Let's say 1% of all brackets have these two or three crazy picks that actually comes true. That narrows the field down to one- onehundreth of the entire bracket community that is capable of getting a perfect bracket. Lets say about 500,000 brackets are filled out each year. That means that out of these only 5,000 even have a shot to be perfect. The field is now 5,000 and the chances of one of those people to have the rest of there bracket perfect is absolutely impossible. Something like 16,000,000,000,000 to 1. Never has happened... never will

Meningitis

In response to Amanda's post in regards to Meningitis, I couldn't agree more. It scares me knowing that there is a deadly disease in the area that is very easily spreadable. Amanda mentioned how here at Ithaca we are vaccinated. However, I spoke to one of my friends from home who's dad is a doctor and he said the vaccination usually has no effect on the deadly form of meningitis but rather a sibling disease to it - Even more to worry about. We should all know to be on the lookout for symptoms and at the sign of even the slightest symptoms, go see a doctor.

128 Team Bracket

Every year during March Madness, there are numerous teams left out of the tournament. Currently, there are 64 teams in the tournament. Every year the 65, 66, 67 seeds who get left out feel like they should have been in. Virginia Tech's coach Seth Greenberg said that anyone who doesn't see Virginia tech as a dancer in the tournament is 'Certifiably Insane'. The best way to eliminate this problem is to make the tournament one round longer and make teams win 7 games instead of just 6 to be the NCAA tournament champions. This also gives the lower seeded teams more of a chance to upset creating more of an appeal for viewers... afterall, everyone loves a good upset

Campus Food/ Food Frenzy

As most of us probably know, the new craze on facebook is Food Frenzy which works hand in hand with CampusFood.com. I wanted to talk about how great of a marketing scheme this is. If someone plays this matching game to win free money, which gets transferred to their Campus Food account, they almost feel obligated to order food from the website. The most I've ever recieved was $1.00 towards one of my orders. However, after three days, the money expires, so people feel obligated to buy quickly. My hat is off to this business strategy because I know from first hand that it is very effective.

NFL Free Agency

Normally at this time, football fans across the country are going crazy because of the arrivals and departures of different players on different teams. But this year just doesn't seem to have the same excitement as years past. Very few "household names" have moved. The biggest signing of the off season is arguably Patriots cornerback, Asante Samuel who was picked up by the Philadelphia Eagles. Although he is a top five cornerback in the league, I feel like 50% of the American population does not know who he is. (After all he's not Champ Bailey). This is because cornerback is not considered a "sexy position" (quarterback, running back, wide receiver). Even so, there would be much more excitement seeing Randy Moss leaving the Patriots and going to a decent team-making them a real threat for the 2008-2009 season.

Breaks in College

I feel like the vacations in college could be a little better spread out then they currently are. In my opinion, the first stretch of school is too long. As a freshman, getting adjusted is not easy, and I remember counting down the days until Fall break rolled around (sometime in October). From the start of the school in late August to the first break in mid-October, we have about eight weeks of school. That seemed like an eternity at the time. Now, we've been back at school for a while and I feel like I just came back from Christmas break. My point is that we should have about five weeks from the start of school to the first break that kids can get situated but not feel like their trapped. I would be more than happy to spend a longer stretch at school now simply because I almost feel like, at this stage in the game, IC is home.

Heat in the Dorms

In my opinion, it is way too hot in the dorm rooms. Night after night I find myself opening my window to avoid melting in my room. I think that school could save a lot of money by lowering the heat by three or four degrees. I also have friends at other schools who complain about the same problem. It just seems a little weird that this school which is supposed to be so environmentally friendly, is not really in tune with the students in this aspect. I almost feel bad opening my window at night know that all the heat coming out of the radiator is going right out the window.

Class on Presidents Day?

Obviously as a student I am going to be opposed to having class on this day but I think there is more to it than that. Tomorrow (February 18) celebrates the birthday of George Washington. For those who don't know, such as the people who decide to give students at Ithaca college class, Washington was the first president this country had. He set the precident for presidents to come. In my opinion we should honor this. Many might arguing that keeping kids out of school is no way to honor a president. But we do get off for Labor Day, and Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I feel like our first preident should get the respect that these days get. Honestly, I have no idea what Labor Day celebrates and I'm sure there are a bunch of people out there who also have no idea what it's all about. If we get class off for Labor Day we should definitely get off for Presidents day.

NBA All Star Weekend

Now this is a good event. In complete contrast to the NFL's poor excuse to an All Star game, the NBA really stands out. Throughout sports, the NFL is known for being the class act of all of the major leagues (MLB, NBA, NFL, and NHL). In fact the NBA is supposed to be the poorest excuse for a professional league. Yet for some reason, it seems like this league does the best job of compiling its stars to make for an entire weekend of entertainment. Personally, I am not a big fan of the NBA but this is one event that I will take the time to watch. Although I think the NFL is a much better maintained league, I wish instead of a Pro Bowl game they had something more similar to the NBA All Star Weekend. No risk of injury, maybe no game at all. Instead, I would rather watch a competition with the best athletes in the game competing in skills challenges.

Facebook

At this point in my life, Facebook is nothing more than a way to keep in touch with friends from home who are going to different schools. It's a good way to compile random photos taken into one giant random album. It is also a great tool to help know when a friend’s birthday is coming up. But I know at a certain point some pictures of some people are going to be the downfall of their careers. Once the pictures are on Facebook, there is no telling who is looking at them. I can guarantee that our future president for the year 2040 has a Facebook right now. I am almost positive that this individual has pictures of themselves that they are less than proud of. Whether it’s underaged drinking or anything illegal in general, that future president is going to be in trouble once these pictures of them as a young adult are exposed. If the leader of a large corporation is shown in a picture with this person in a negative light, I can guarantee that that companies stock will plummet the following day. These pictures show weakness in the individual and that shows weakness in the individuals company. And if you're a person of high stature, you cannot afford to show any weakness.

NFL Probowl

This post is in response to Evan K's post regarding the 2008 NFL Pro Bowl in addition to future Pro Bowls. This year, Randy Moss and Tom Brady of the New England Patriots and questionably the best quarterback-receiver tandem in the league have elected to stay home due to injury. But the real question here is are these superstars truly hurt, or are they just plain sick of football after losing to the heavy underdog Giants a week ago in Superbowl XLII. The NBA and MLB All Star games are privileges - a dream for any player in the mentioned leagues. So why does it seem like going to the NFL Pro Bowl is a chore for these players? In my opinion it is because football is a grueling sport- it physically hurts to play football. Many people say they should have less preseason games prior to the start of the season. Why not get rid of the Pro Bowl instead and reduce the risk of injury at the end of the season as well. One of these years (maybe even today) a player is going to have an injury in the Pro Bowl that causes him to miss a portion of the next season. Maybe a season ended or worse. Bottom line: Delete the Probowl.

Knicked and Dimed

http://bhaywood1.blogspot.com/

Couldn't agree with you more here, buddy. Heres my take:
Adding $300 to our tuition on top of $40,000 is nothing. So why not make it $40,300 for the year and include an internet service that works (the gold plan) as well as "free" cable. The difference between 40,000 and $40,300 is nothing and it's much less painful than getting a cable bill every month for $50. I know my brother goes to a school where all of this is included and my parents are much happier about it. From a business standpoint I am aware that they add all these costs on to the tuition but for some reason it makes the consumer (the students and their parents) a little happier and more content.

For me, I have no choice but to spend $50 a month on cable because without ESPN in my life, I wouldn't know what to do with myself. Also without Run's House and Rob and Big I would be miserable. I know very few people who don't have the gold plan internet or cable. Hopefully next year the school will change and include these amenities in the grand total instead of nickel and diming us to death. This also forces my parents to pay for cable instead of me.

Plaxico Burress Prediction

Plaxico Burress recently (very boldly) predicted a 23-17 victory over the juggernaut New England Patriots.  The Patriots who are arguably the best team in AFL-NFL history are a perfect 18-0 including the post season and are looking to have the first ever 19-0 season.  When number one receiver Plaxico Burress comes out in a press conference and tells the world that he sees the scoreboard to show a six point Giant victory.   Immediately after his prediction , the media jumped on him.  Most analysts say he was dumb to share this prediction.  I'v heard the argument that Plaxico doesn't play defense so he has no place predicting that his teammates (and not him) with allow only 17 points against the lethal Patriot offense. 

My take on the issue:

Who cares!?  Let him make his prediction.  I see no harm in a player doing what Burress did especially when the team is a lopsided underdog.  Let them dream.  This prediction gives them hope and something to shoot for.  The New York Giants defense should feel motivated not in the hot seat as some sports experts have described the situation.

My prediction:  41-24 New England