Letter to the Critic: “Have you seen your grades lately”

4/24/08

To the Critic:

I read with interest the article entitled “Have you seen your grades lately?” in the April 18, 2008, edition of the Critic. Managing Editor Ben Holbrook reported that SGA President Jonathan Maciel had petitioned the Student Government Association to support mandatory mid-term progress reports (“mid-term grades”). He did so at the request of anonymous LSC faculty members who “wanted to get SGA’s opinion on the matter.” Mr. Maciel stated that “faculty members and I thought it would pass fine,” but instead the proposal generated a heated debate and two overwhelmingly negative votes.

These anonymous faculty members must know that most of their colleagues support the voluntary procedure that is in place: I do. They must know that a few more of their colleagues believe that mid-term reporting in any form infantilizes college students and discourages meaningful student-faculty discussions. (My personal feelings aren’t that strong.) And of course they must know that those who support a mandatory procedure are in the minority.

So I suspect that this strange episode was not an attempt to poll student opinion; it was an attempt to manipulate student opinion to influence faculty policy. Had the SGA voted to support the proposal, majority support for a voluntary procedure could then be portrayed as “anti student.”

Evaluating student learning is one of the most difficult and deeply personal aspects of a teacher’s work. Reporting on it is one of the most delicate. I applaud the SGA for understanding this and for voting accordingly.

Sincerely,

Timothy Miles Sturm, Ph. D.
Professor of Special Education

Holy Sheet: Anal Sex

4/24/08

By Jordan Royer
Sex Columnist

There are a number of different types of sex. The basic penis/vagina penetration, oral sex, foot sex and others, which includes butt sex. When I say butt sex I am talking, in this case, about it in a heterosexual relationship. Anal sex is normally a hush-hush topic that draws stares when mentioned, but in my conversations with people about it in the last few weeks I had mixed review.

“I know it became popular in America because church girls wanted to have sex, but didn’t want to break their chastity vows,” a friend of mine said. “So they only had one alternative…” I won’t finish what he said because it got a little graphic, even for me.

The females that I talked to about anal sex seemed a little more timid to speak on the subject but I did find a few things out. When I asked one girl she was quick to shake her head in disgust. She said, “It’s gross. It’s a one way chute.” Another girl was a little more understanding of anal sex but admitted she would need to really trust the person in order to do it.

Another one of my guy friends said the reason he didn’t want to have anal sex was because of his fear of fecal matter after sex, like on his bed or worse, on his penis. Someone else mentioned that they felt it was immoral while others just said, “no way.”

I think all together anal sex has a bad rep and that is why most people are quick to talk badly about it. I did talk to several individuals, both male and female who have had anal sex and many of them enjoyed the act. I am not, in any way, saying that you should try anal sex or talk freely about it, I just wish for people to stop judging others because of their sexual needs and/or fantasies.

Position of the Week- Flying doggie

The Three Count: My Personal Opinion on Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson

4/24/08

By Timothy Kemp
Critic Columnist

It has almost been a month since the WWE Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, in which The Rock made his return, after a four year hiatus, to induct his father and grandfather. To be honest, it was awesome to see him back, as it brought back a lot of great memories for me. When The Rock was in wrestling, he certainly was a total package, in that he could wrestle and his skills on the microphone were just through the roof. That man could cut a promo better than anyone else in the history of the business. No doubt! It is only fitting that he would make a transition into being a major Hollywood star.

I believe it was 2002 when he starred in his first real movie, (excluding his minor role in The Mummy Returns), which was called The Scorpion King. At that moment he now had a new passion in life, so I’m sure it was a tough decision to leave the business that he has grown up with. I personally think he is a great actor. He has made a lot of successful movies, and continues to do so. And to be honest, he has already accomplished everything there is in wrestling, so I can understand why he wants to move on to another venture.

Now it is time to show you my ugly side when it comes to Mr. Dwayne Johnson. Could someone please explain to me why he feels like he needs to distance himself from wrestling? I know he is a busy man in Hollywood and I’m sure he has a lot of things on his mind, but for him to say, “I love this business,” and never want to do anything with it for four years kind of seems odd to me. I’m not saying he needs to come back full time, or even part time. If he wants to be retired, that’s fine. However, that doesn’t mean he can’t make a special appearance. Wrestling has been very good time, and made him a star. Don’t you think he owes it back to wrestling and the fans by giving them a special treat every now and then?

It’s almost like a time honored tradition in the wrestling business that when your time to shine is over, that you help build the next generation of superstars. There are so many young stars right now that are struggling to develop who they are as characters, and The Rock has the ability to bring out the best in them. He could do that simply by just interacting with them on special occasions, but the fact that he chooses not to do so is kind of insulting. He became such a star in wrestling, and he gives nothing back.

Some people like to say, “Since the Benoit tragedy, wrestling is a dirty business with the media and being apart of it will ruin your career outside of it.” I personally think that is just ridiculous. Making small, but meaningful appearances in wrestling is not going to hurt someone’s movie career. I don’t think it matters what you do for a living; if a movie is has a good plotline and is interesting to viewer; people are going to see it. What makes a movie a success is the entire picture, not just the actor. All in all, I have all the respect in the world for The Rock, as a wrestler, actor and human being. I just hope he knows how much the wrestling fans miss him, and want to see him back.

Match of the Week: This week a few matches on Monday Night Raw get the award. CM Punk was made to look like a main event player, as he had three great matches with Matt Hardy, Chris Jericho and William Regal in the King of the Ring tournament. Although he lost to Mr. Regal in the finals, he was certainly the star of the night. If you get a chance to see these matches, please do. You’re in for a treat.