Qivaro

 

Students aud money

By Grace Neptuno

et’s face it. As students there’s
L= so much money to go around

each semester and we have to find
creative ways of making that money last
until help from Mom and Dad arrives.
A simple exercise in paying attention to
your surroundings for a day might call
attention to a number of items in your
environment that you pay for but most
likely could do without. As a start, below
are some items you can choose to limit
or remove completely from your student
budget.

1. Paper towels: this item is
literally like throwing your
money in the garbage. Buying
paper towels regularly not only
wastes your money, it also
contributes to more garbage.
Yes, some are recycled, but
it becomes part of the waste
disposal process first. Invest in
a good set of kitchen towels,
two per day and a set of small
ones for wipeable spills saving
both your wallet and the
environment in the long run.

2. Phone apps: this includes
text, charges, video and pics

 

SS

7 Six things we buy but don’t need

 

charges, games, etc. We used
to use phones to make phone
calls. Whatever happened to ze
waiting until 6 p.m. to call your

best friend to chat about your

day? These days you spend

your precious monthly minutes

texting under your desk during

geography class thinking the

instructor doesn’t notice. Guess

what? He does. And you’re

also wasting your money for a

phone feature that can’t beat a

good ol’ conversation any day.

Bottled water: did you

know that there is a manually

operated spigot in your kitchen

than provides clear running 6.
water for free? Free! Imagine
that. In the 21* century, no

less. Invest in a BPA-free water
bottle and a filter system and
you can have all the free water
you want.

Junk food: there is absolutely
nothing beneficial about junk
food. It may be the cheapest,
tastiest source of MSG and
ferrous sulphates out there,

but that bag of Cheetos will
only carry your heart, liver and
intestinal health so far. Stock up
on energy rich foods like apples

and almonds to cure your 4
p.m. cravings instead.
Cigarettes: sure smoking
looks cool. Especially when
accompanied by emphysema,
gum disease and possibly a
cancer or two. Not to mention
smelly hair, yellow teeth,
yellow fingers, smokers cough,
phlegm build-up, smelly
clothes, inactive taste buds,
loss of sense of smell, nicotine
eyes and bad breath. Oooh,
baby. Quitting smoking can
put hundreds of dollars back
in your pocket and add days to
your life.

iAnything: this writer can
make leeway for the mini ones
but the chunk of multimedia
glory that is the iPhone? No,
thanks, don’t need it. But how
will you know where you’ re
going without the Google
Map app? Here’s a time saver:
look at Google map for free
on the Internet, figure out
where you’re going and then
impress your friends with your
navigating savvy. Explore
where you live.

There are examples all around you. Take

 

a look at what is cluttering up your life
and your finances and ask yourself, “Do I
really want this in my life?” “Can I make
do with something else?” “What value, if
any, does this add to my life?” When you
have the answers, you can apply it to any
purchasing decision you have to make

in the future, which hopefully will lead
you to better health and money in your

pocket.

 

 

Them fighting words

The Internet is the new liquid courage

By Barbara Woolsey, The Carillon
(University of Regina)

REGINA (CUP)— When you were growing
up, your mother always told you, “It takes the
bigger person to walk away.” Your mother was
always right. But back then, the Internet wasn’t
what it is today.

Take out the World Wide and what you’ve
got is a Web, impossible to untangle to the
point of entrapment. The Internet was created
as a tool for universal authorship, accessibility
and availability of information for everyone.
However, as with anything, corruption occurs.

The Internet is the new liquid courage.
Forget tequila: through conventions such as
social networking, blogs and comment threads,
everybody is able to disseminate their opinions,
no matter how hateful or dangerous they may
be. The rub remains in that people can post
relatively anything without a face, under a
meaningless alias that conceals their true
identity.

This protection has made people braver
than ever. They are given the opportunity to say
things that they probably would not be so bold
to say in real life situations.

There is a convenience to this endless
dialogue. Comments can be made comfortably
from the living room couch, while you are in
class, or even from a mobile phone. In a real life
conversation, you only have so many seconds to

interruption. The medium also allows for an
audience of millions. People can judge your

 

There is nothing wrong with freedom of
expression—it is a right democratic society

“The Internet isn’t castrating society; it’s stopping us
before we can even grow a pair.”

formulate a response without looking stupid. On expressions but they can’t judge you, because _ thrives and depends on. However, how

the Internet, there is the time to better articulate if you so choose, they haven’t a clue who you
thoughts and say more without the possibility of ate.

8

BE insist cee

critically should opinions be taken when they

are presented without a face? Those who

frequent threads and opinion boards must be
constantly taking this into consideration.

Even on a personal level, there seems to
be a growing influx of what should be intimate,
face-to-face conversations happening over
Facebook and MSN.

Instead of making an apology via Facebook
chat, call the person. Or better yet, ask to see
them. People are too readily taking the easy
way out and in doing so, sacrificing sincerity.
Email is a quick way to deal with confrontation.
As human beings, we inherently fear negative
reaction and rejection. But whatever happened to
looking someone in the eye instead of his or her
profile picture?

The Internet isn’t castrating society; it’s
stopping us before we can even grow a pair.
Online, debates are more steadfast, the arguments
even better articulated. Maybe that’s the way
it should be. Maybe that’s how intelligent
conversation thrives.

Social networking provides a good way
for people to keep in touch, as do threads and
blogs allowing for the practice of freedom of
speech. Technology cannot be escaped; therefore
we must be willing to grow as it does. The
Internet should be used to develop the strength
of humanity as opposed to exacerbate its
weaknesses.

 

 

Fuming? Nodding? Tell us your opinions;
contact opinions@ theotherpress.ca