The Past Week in Pictures

Norah had a cold:

Naked Slurpees:

Teeth were brushed:

My beard got even more awesome:

NEWSLETTER ARTICLE!
"You May Be Proud to Be an American, but America May Not Be Proud of You."

I feel like I should probably be honest with you about some things before we get too far into the year and things get awkward. Number one - I don’t really consider the Black Eyed Peas to be talented musicians. At all. In fact, I sort of think of them as, like, anti-musicians. Number two - I’d like to tell you that I am a pillar of sobriety and temperance, but the fact is that I am addicted to something that pulls me in without me being able to resist or fight back. In all honesty, I’d do almost anything for a doughnut. They’re like crack to me. And finally, number three - I think Glenn Beck is a raging lunatic. Like, to the max. That dude is straight crazy.

If you’re unfamiliar with Mr. Beck, you really only need to know that he’s a political pundit who has his own TV show which he uses to basically push a political agenda focused on calling Obama a communist. He’s all about tearing down liberals and Democrats while lifting up “truth” and “logic” and the American Way. I don’t really get why he’s so mad. Some people are just like that, I guess.

I don't want to imply that I think Glenn Beck is crazy because he doesn't like Democrats and the President. That's not what this is about. I'm not here to argue for this or that political agenda or to prove any big political point. I just want to talk about Mr. Beck's approach for a moment, and I want to talk about it specifically because I think he's got it almost entirely wrong.

Glenn Beck rarely has anything positive to say. He's a fountain of anger and frustration and has a tendency to erupt whenever he encounters anything even remotely related to the things he doesn’t like. He jumps to conclusions and makes very stark black and white accusations based on selective evidence. He takes things out of context. He yells a lot. He's just not really that nice of a nice guy (I’m guessing, anyway… I’ve never met him personally). Worst of all, he does all of this under the guise of being a good member of society and wanting to help.

I don’t know about you, but I would definitely not be stoked to have Glenn Beck as a resident in the Upper Quad. I wouldn’t want him or anyone like him coming into our community and spouting off all crazy like. He may think that he’s got a lot to say (and that may actually be true), but he’s not really adding much to our social dialogue by erupting the way he does. His criticisms may be valid, but the way he presents them does more harm than good.

So, what can we learn from Glenn Beck? Well, besides the fact that Obama is apparently a socialist traitor who is single-handedly destroying everything pure in America, we can learn a lot about what it means to be a positive community member. If we take the time to look at the UQ, we’ll see a community of 550-ish very different and unique people who are living together under one roof. That’s a wonderful thing, right? What a wonderful opportunity to learn about one another and to develop some great relationships. But a community like this will never be developed or maintained if we communicate poorly and don’t do our best to interact with each other in a positive way.

If you’re upset with your roommate(s), don’t get all pissed off and start calling them names behind their back. If you think your RA isn’t doing their job right or being fair, talk to them (or me) directly. Going around and talking to everyone else about your roommates, floor mates, or the building staff isn’t going to address the problem or do any real good. Doing that makes you no better than Glenn Beck and everyone else like him. We need to be willing to be work with one another to make the UQ a positive community instead of just tearing each other down. Being a community member in the UQ (like in America) means more than just complaining. It means intentionally working together to make things better for everyone who calls this place their home.

Stay Gold!

MMK