Opinions

 

 

Punishment vs. Consequences

By Siavash Emamzadeh

    

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Skipins is a crime. That’s the
message I got in my high school days.

I was a chronic skipper back in the
day—and quite a sly one at that, may
I add. Evidently I was not sly enough,
however, as I recall being caught
and forced to henceforth submit my
instructors’ signatures, confirming my
class attendance. I incurred more finger
wagging than an overly-fervent NHL
referee pointing to the puck after a goal.

slapped on skippers, in the sense that a counsellor. It’s very conceivable that
such punishments do not rectify the the “skipper” in question isn’t simply
wrongdoing at its root. It simply deals evading attendance to hang out at the
with the problem mall, but rather is
peripherally, paving “The abuse of seeking to deal with

the way for future a crippling shyness.

repetitions. power can There could be a host

In the case of have dramatic of other repairable and
yours truly, a lot of the ” legitimateexplanations.
time I actually feared eff ects. It’s ultimately just as

punishment more than

significant to explain

I considered introspecting or discussing why the decision to skip is harmful— not

 

I often question the harsh discipline my reasons for skipping with peers or

only what will happen if the decision is

executed.

Skipping can be likened to
opting against wearing a seatbelt. The
disciplinary ramifications of not wearing
a seatbelt can be hefty, but the clearly
more important hazard is the’ jeopardy
of one’s life. To some people, however,
it may be a matter of playing hide-and-
seek with the cops, rather than being
genuinely concerned with their life on
the line.

This may be a blind stab in the dark,
but perhaps, in part, the reason that some
people abhor principals, teachers, police
officers or other authority figures is that
they seem to exhibit such apathy for those
they punish. While this is not always be
true, power does have the competence to
drill a profound hole in one’s head and
surge it with a massive boost of ego. But
ideally, the attendance sheets and tickets
are meant to remind us of the danger we
are inviting.

Needless to say, authority
figures harbour substantial powers
of intervention, but as is so often
reverberated, the abuse of power can
have dramatic effects. The best way to
ulitize their own authority for maximum
impact is to thus focus on highlighting
the truly-inevitable consequences of our
actions. I’m sure the majority of us are
cognizant of the risks of our conduct, but
for the minority out there, punishment
needs to have a clearer meaning. I think
it most cases, authority figures have the
best intentions in their hearts, but maybe
they have to rethink their tactics. To
them, the serious risks of rule-breaking
might be so blatant that they expect us
to engage in some self-discovery and
simple contemplation. So, which one
needs to be done? It’s your call, but to
me, it might be a fusion of both.

 

Why do some people use
straws on hot drinks?

OP Imponderables with Crystal Auffray

S ee that girl who just grabbed a straw at Starbucks?
Am I the only one wondering why you need a straw to
consume a hot beverage (besides the very obvious “I
want to burn the roof of my mouth off”)? Maybe I have
been terribly unobservant until this point in time, but
I seem to notice this trend occurring more and more.

I have been utterly perplexed as to why people
purposefully reach for the straw as soon as the barista
calls out “Tall, non-fat, extra-hot mocha!” So, after
much pondering, I came up with some possibilities:

Theory 1: Trendiness—maybe LC and Heidi
were using straws on The Hills? If LC and Heidi
were doing it, then it must be cool.

Theory 2: Practicality—if you’re not wearing

long-lasting lipstick, you definitely don’t want
your lips all over the lid of the coffee cup. Trés
unattractive.

Theory 3: Good oral hygiene—the desire to
have the most gleaming pearly whites, free from
nasty coffee stains.

Theory 4: Clumsiness—without the straw,
would the drink end up all over the place, specifically,
on one’s face?

I still don’t have any conclusive evidence, but
I would very much appreciate some measure of a
straight answer from any straw lovers out there...