The Editorially Independent Voice of The University of Akron

The Buchtelite

The Editorially Independent Voice of The University of Akron

The Buchtelite

The Editorially Independent Voice of The University of Akron

The Buchtelite

Opinion

Our view: Springtime activities

February 22, 2012

By: Matthew Balsinger It’s the end of February and it’s hard to believe the wonderful weather that we’ve been having.  By this time last year we had record snow falls and a handful of snow days...

Letter to the Editor: UAPD's seeming lack of care for a student's concern of safety

February 20, 2012

By: Elii Skeans I am an international business major at The University of Akron. I also work in the Allied Health Department in the Polsky Building. I consider myself to be a very reserved, friendly...

The road to energy independence

February 20, 2012

By: Matthew Balsinger As a geology student, I often find myself in discussions with other students about the future of our economy on the basis of energy consumption. I often hear proponents of American...

A Mitt (Romney) and his dog

February 20, 2012

By: Russ Friend I don’t understand all the hate being directed towards Mitt Romney. Yes, he drove from Boston to Canada with his dog strapped to the roof of his SUV. What his critics are failing to...

Students stop crying

February 15, 2012

By: Jennifer Craig Teachers are not as dumb as students think they are. They know the games, and crying does not get you out of trouble. We are here to learn, life lessons included, and if you think...

Roo needs routes

February 15, 2012

By: Diana Perez Being a student that goes to the Public Library often, I feel like there should be a Roo Express that stops by more often. Yes, there is a Roo that stops by, but that’s only on Sundays...

The Santorum sweep: But does is really matter?

February 13, 2012

By: Russ Friend Mitt Romney was poised to lock up the nomination going into Tuesday’s elections. Staking his political future in the hands of delegate-rich Colorado, Romney essentially ignored Missouri’s...

UA website woes

February 13, 2012

By: Jessica Linczak When you applied to The University of Akron, where did you get information about applying?  How about when you got accepted into the college of your choice and wanted to access information...

Romney’s raiders target Santorum

February 11, 2012

By: Russ Friend After sinking Newt Gingrich’s campaign hopes in a flood of negativity, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is focusing his attention on conservative rival Rick Santorum,...

Living on UA's campus: To love or not to love, we should all ask

February 10, 2012

By: Starr Davis Being a commuter, I have mixed feelings about living on campus. I lived in Quaker Square Residence Hall my freshman year; at the time, staying on campus was a luxury, but after my first...

Twitter uniting students: @UofAprobs entertains by posting UA problems

February 7, 2012

By: Emily Schultz Approximately 2,000 followers and growing, there has been another University of Akron Twitter account created, @UofAProbs. This account, however, is not your average college representation. ...

Trump endorsed Romney: the "you're fired" businessman

February 7, 2012

By: Russ Friend Donald Trump, businessman, celebrity and owner of exotic furry forehead pets, has endorsed Mitt Romney for President. It’s rumored that this is part of a new reality show, “Who wants...

University safety debacle: How safe are you in the Student Union elevators?

February 1, 2012
I find myself disturbed about my safety on campus. I’m not questioning the security of the campus; my fear lies solely in elevator safety. It sounds odd. I mean, how many times does one ride an elevator in a week?Regardless of how improbable, I found myself trapped in Elevator No. 4 in the Student Union for almost two hours on Sunday with two of my peers.

Starbucks Considers Sponsoring Republican Candidates

February 1, 2012
Politics, like the definition of a Santorum, is a filthy and sometimes frothy business. I heard recently that Starbucks, in a shrewd move that’s sure to please conservatives, has considered sponsoring a number of Republican presidential candidates with their own brands of frothy fun. For Rick Santorum, that Mighty Mouse of conservative ideals, Starbucks thought of going with their quintessential, non offensive, conservative drink, the Caffè Latte.

Societal Problem

January 31, 2012
On-campus housing prices can vary depending upon the type of dorm and meal plan you pick. A common theme with all of them is that you pay by the semester and are required to have a meal plan.

Letter to the editor: Cookie boycott

January 31, 2012
Girl Scouts is a non-profit organization founded on the idea of helping girls become outstanding members of society through exploration of careers and the outdoors. However, some people are losing sight of what Juliette Low originally intended when she founded Girl Scouts.

President Stephen Colbert

January 26, 2012
Nation, South Carolinians are speaking loud and clear. Granted, it’s in a slow southern drawl, a drawl that is only slightly faster than our University’s response to the shocking crime wave terrifying our campus that recently began a short 24 months ago.

Party like a college student

January 25, 2012
It’s 1 a.m.; life is a whirlwind of colors. You are laughing about something that that bartender said. Your ears are ringing; the song “Levels” by Avicii is playing. People are pressed up against you; normally you are claustrophobic but it doesn’t seem to matter much tonight for some reason. You just dropped $20 at the bar, sipping on another long island. One of your “friends” is making out with an attractive guy in the corner while another is in the bathroom washing the X’s off her hands. You are having the time of your life.

Our View: Students find new ways to make winter even worse

January 25, 2012
By: Matthew Balsinger Every year there is little to look forward to in the winter months. One of the most enjoyable annual activities, however, is the Akron Ice-Fest, where current and former students of the University showcase their ice carving skills. Though these statues were made to represent pride in Akron, a few immature and deplorable students decided that it would be a good idea to destroy these works of art.

Goals for spring success

January 23, 2012
Recovering from fall semester is a tough transition. I like to think it like going to war: Most made it, but we still lost a few in battle. Now here we are, stronger and ready to face another semester of college. A new year means new goals and accomplishments. The best part about making academic goals for spring semester is having the time and the motivation to meet them.

Quarterback Tim Tebow: the NFL Christian splash bash

January 23, 2012
As the spring semester gets into full swing, the weather is getting bitter and tank tops, shorts and flip-flops are replaced by hoodies, sweatpants and Ugg boots. And just like the nice weather, the NFL football season is coming to a drastic close. In a season full of record-breaking quarterback play, none has made more of a splash than Tim Tebow. As a loyal ESPN watcher, no quarterback in the NFL has made more news since week six than Tebow. After putting up an 8-5 record as a starting quarterback for a team that was 1-4 before his first start, winning the AFC West and winning a playoff game, many could say that he has proved himself worthy of being able to play the position. That issue is still up for debate.

Letter to the Editor: University of Akron Police Department disappoints

January 18, 2012
I wanted to voice my displeasure and disappointment with The University of Akron Police Department. Toward the end of last semester, I was playing basketball at the rec center and had some valuables (gold chain, watch and smart phone) stolen out of my bag. I found my bag opened and searched through in a bathroom stall. After alerting the rec staff and filing a police report, I was immediately told by the officer that my belongings would most likely not be found and to let this be a learning lesson.

Mayan End of the World

January 18, 2012
I remember when I first heard about the Mayan prophesy.

Refocusing for exams: How to make the best of the last week

November 30, 2011
It’s hard to believe this week is the last one of the semester. For most of us, that means it’s time for cramming. One thing we often tell ourselves before the new semester begins is to keep up with all the work as the semester progresses and to not fall behind in anything or procrastinate until the last possible moment.

Our View: Facking fracking

November 15, 2011
Chesapeake Energy is bringing jobs to Ohio. They’re buying up land and mineral rights throughout the state in preparation for one of the largest hydraulic fracking operations in the United States. Of course, those who sell their mineral rights to Chesapeake will be rewarded handsomely with a pay check every year for the use of their well. Sounds like an awesome deal considering the terrible state of our economy, and the greatest thing about it is that you don’t have to do anything or even worry about anything! That is, of course, if environmental health is not of your concern and you enjoy drinking bottled water.

Child Development: helping develop a future

November 9, 2011
Let’s face it. A lot of college students have thought about marriage at one point or another. You may have thought it all out. You’ve decided on your ideal mate, where the wedding should take place and how perfectly happy you and your future spouse will be. Then maybe you played with the idea of having kids one day.

Campus crime wave

November 7, 2011
We’re living in an age in which our campus has become a victim buffet for criminals. Campus police have been ineffective in stopping the lawlessness, while the University has been slow to respond. Slow is an understatement. If they moved any slower, weeds would be growing out of their assets. How many crimes must be committed before University officials will do anything other than vote to raise student tuition and their own salaries? There was a time when a university was a place of higher learning; where students craving knowledge were sated by a wealth of wisdom. Where has that wisdom gone?

Man commits suicide at Infocision Stadium

November 7, 2011
Many students on campus complain about the campus mail, the crime alerts and other notifications that are sent automatically to our emails. How are we supposed to feel, then, when a crime takes place on campus and we aren’t alerted? Why, now, does the University choose to keep quiet?

Commercials are destroying sports

October 27, 2011
Last weekend, I made my biweekly pilgrimage to Cleveland Browns Stadium to watch the Browns take on the Seahawks. As I sat in the stands, disgust and anger began to fill my veins. No, this outrage was not inspired by the inadequacies of the Cleveland Browns or the terrifyingly boring game before my eyes. It was instead the disgusting use of television timeouts for commercial breaks.

Jumanji Takes over Ohio

October 26, 2011
One week ago, over 50 exotic animals were killed because of the carelessness of one man. Terry Thompson had in ownership over 10 different species of animals located on his farmland in Zanesville, Ohio. He took it upon himself to open all the cages and then take his own life. Local authorities were informed and the city took action with the quickest, easiest means known to man: firearms. News of this began popping up all over Facebook and Twitter: “Hope I don’t see a bear on the way to class,” “Ohio is starting to sound like a game of Jumanji.”

A response to the occupiers

October 25, 2011
I take strong issue with Ms. Prince's column on the Occupy Wall Street protests. The usual left wing tropes are brought out about the rich getting richer, the evil top one percent and complaints over student loans. Much like the protesters themselves, Price offers lots of gripes but few concrete proposals to remedy our "unjust system." There is a stark disconnect throughout her analysis of the movement. She laments that most college students are saddled with increasing student loan debt, so therefore, what this country needs is to demand Wall Street executives to fork over more of their money.

President Proenza makes more than President Obama

October 24, 2011
When I found out that, after his recent raise, The University of Akron’s President Proenza now makes more than the President of the United Sates, I was dumbfounded.

Unreasonable Ohio seatbelt laws

October 20, 2011
On my commute to class every day, I occasionally notice “Click it or ticket” signs or “Buckle up, it’s the law” billboards. One day, directly after noticing one of these signs, a person on a motorcycle sped by wearing street clothes and a pair of sunglasses. While noticing the apparent irony, I thought of how contradictory seat belt laws were with motorcycle safety laws.

The ridiculous high cost of war

October 20, 2011
War is expensive. We’re engaged in two of the longest running wars in our nation’s history. To give an idea of how much our current conflicts will cost us, I’ll break down the costs of a three-year engagement: the Korean War. These figures come from a book by Richard M. Miller, Jr. titled “Funding Extended Conflicts: Korea, Vietnam, and the War on Terror.”

Manners are important

October 18, 2011

By: Emily Schultz “Please” and “thank you.” Was that so hard to say? Now, smile. Did it kill you to use all of two muscles in your face to look at least a little content with your life? Both...

A look at Occupy Wall Street

October 18, 2011

By: Jasmine Pace A revolution has begun across the United States.  Occupy Wall Street is a peaceful fight against corporate greed and social inequality in the United States economic system, which affects...

Killing Issue 2 would save Ohio: a response

October 13, 2011
On Tuesday, a letter by Nic Miller criticized opponents of SB 5, including myself, of lying and being intellectually dishonest. It’s time to set the record straight and show Mr. Miller that comments such as “SB 5 will destroy public unions and collective bargaining” as well as “SB 5 destroys public education as we know it” are not lies or hyperbole. They are direct, observational and intellectual facts.

Response to Kasich Critics

October 11, 2011
Real conservatives at the University aren't non-existent, they just aren't very loud. The loud ones are the liberals. So it's time someone got loud. The latest shouting lib is Matthew Balsinger with his libelous, contradictory evaluation of our own Governor Kasich. I wish people could be honest about Issue 2/SB 5. It seems nobody is. Sitting in a class last spring, I was listening to my professor lamenting SB 5 and how destructive it was. I raised my hand and said, "Uh, pardon me, sir. Did you know SB 5 does not affect collective bargain for the wages of public employees?" I thought I was going to be thrown out of the room, and not just by the professor, but a few of the students as well. He thought I was lying. He knew I was lying. But I wasn't.

Internships are the way to go

October 10, 2011
Internships are notorious for giving students the chance to relate their information to real world atmospheres. This makes individuals capable of developing skills which will help them enhance their performance in the workforce. Many students don’t realize how important it is to plan for their future until that day is staring them in the face. It is very important to plan for life after college, especially in the economy we live in today. Jobs are not guaranteed after graduation.

Behold Emperor Kasich

October 6, 2011
During this past year in the great state of Ohio, we witnessed to the democratic process. In February, Emperor Kasich, along with many other villainous leaders in the Ohio government, steam rolled a bill through the legislature aimed at destroying the collective bargaining rights for all state employees. They did so despite the overwhelming outcry of citizens across the state. Senate Bill 5 was passed and was signed by the Emperor on March 31.

Don't forget the commuters

October 3, 2011
Fall Semester is filled with on-campus events and activities to get the school year started off right; however, most commuters are not aware of this. Students who live on campus, especially in a residence hall, have an advantage over students who live off campus in going to these events. This is because commuters do not have many resources surrounding them and constantly reminding them about events being held on campus.

What a Facebook frenzy

October 3, 2011
If anyone was on Facebook the weekend of Sept. 25, he or she might have seen a status being posted about Facebook charging for their services after midnight on Monday morning. If a person posted a status on his profile before midnight, he would wake up the next morning with free Facebook and the rest of us would be stuck paying a minimum of $3.99 a month for basic Facebook services.

Akron is a place of diversity

September 29, 2011
Sitting in the University of Akron’s library, you can see every single walk of life. It’s amazing how many types of people go here. The whole spectrum of life is covered on Akron’s campus, where every single style and way of life imaginable is on display.

Tenure: to be or not to be

September 29, 2011
Academic tenure is designed to provide professors a safe-haven to express opinions in research and teaching without fear of reprisal and job loss from the institutions employing them. Freedom in research is fundamental to the search for truth because higher education is conducted for the common good, not to further the interest of the academic or the institution as a whole. But in relation to students, the ones paying to be taught, do the advantages of tenure outweigh the disadvantages?

The Politics of a Strong Fiscal Policy

September 28, 2011
Personally, I don't care who created this mess; I blame the American Public because we voted them into office. What I care about is that a strong fiscal policy is created to restore confidence and encourage economic growth. This requires a two-pronged approach involving spending cuts and increased revenue generation; timely implementation is also very important, especially in regards to confidence.

The debate with drama queen

September 26, 2011
I looked at Jeff, wearing his pretty blue dress, and said, “Let me be blunt; I don't care if a gay couple holds hands, hugs or kisses in public. What does their lifestyle have to do with me?"

Immigration: an innovative solution

September 22, 2011
The illegal immigration war has been a losing battle for the U.S. economy. Taxpayers are losing tens of millions of dollars annually covering such things as health care and public education. Tens of billions of dollars are leaving the country, and being sent back to the families of our illegal citizens.

Longboards take the light

September 22, 2011
Bikes are quickly becoming a preferred alternative to walking in our country. In fact, it is shown that people from all over America use bikes to get to work, school, ride for fun, exercise, etc.

Finding importance: something to believe in

September 19, 2011

By: Starr Davis With the stress school gives us, outside pressures and things we battle within our personal lives, it would make sense for many of us to start looking for something to believe in to help...

Our View: ID circumstances

September 15, 2011

By: Matthew Balsinger A recent and seemingly disturbing story has surfaced about The University of Akron.  On Sept. 3, the Office of Multicultural Development sent an e-mail only to male African-American...

Campus involvment

September 15, 2011

By: Starr Davis It is that time of the year when student organizations start bringing awareness for certain issues going on in the world to our University. We all walk past the tables that student organizations...

Attack of the raining smoker butts

September 15, 2011

By: Jaclyn Wlosek Can you smell it? That puff from the cigarette the man is smoking in front of you has just blown into your face. The man continues to smoke as you inhale the filthy air. Then he does...

Why fight back against cancer?

September 12, 2011

By: Miranda Burbridge This week, Akron C.A.R.E.S. is hosting a project which it calls “Fight Back Against.”  Akron C.A.R.E.S. is a student organization of devout advocates for the cure of all cancers. ...

Technology and our modern student

September 12, 2011

By: Emily Shultz Throughout the years, people have continued to grow more dependent upon technology.  It started out with dial-up internet, which required waiting for a connection while the server...

Social Media and the mind: skimming the waters of intellectual knowledge

September 12, 2011

By: Ryan Mohr As social theorist Marshall McLuhan stated, the medium is the message. How we communicate largely defines what we communicate. McLuhan argued that the creation of the printing press led...

Future of Digital Media

September 8, 2011

By: Russ Friend The music and movie industries must embrace new technology as they’ve done throughout history. This will allow them to shift business models to a performance based system that will work...

NO-HIO burger a rough start

September 8, 2011

By: Jaclyn Wloszek Ohio Burger, The University of Akron’s new burger joint, opened in the Student Union a few weeks ago, so I figured I would give it a try. No better way to end a long day during the...

Our View: Respect your elders

September 6, 2011

By: Molly Gase Respect is a difficult thing to come by. However, we all reach a point in our lives where respect no longer has to be earned at every turn of a corner and is instead shown out of the belief...

Our View: Celebrity worthlessness

September 6, 2011

By: Matthew Balsinger For months now our country has been struggling with the question of how to best fix our budgetary problems.  Suggestions range from raising the tax rate on America’s wealthiest...

Digital music and movies: Death throes of an industry

September 6, 2011

By: Russ Friend Illegal downloading is rampant. It has gutted a bloated and corrupted music industry. Many artists have lost careers in the process, preventing them from buying their favorite hair care...

Cracking the hash

September 1, 2011

By: Russ Friend The monitors glowed softly in the darkened room while the rat-a-tat rapping of keyboards provided an unsteady rhythm, the white noise reflections of riders hanging ten on dc wires. The...

Our View: Campus Tribulations

September 1, 2011

By: Matthew Balsinger This fall we’ve seen a lot of positive changes here on The University of Akron campus.  There have been changes to the library, restaurants, new buildings and ultimately a better...

Parking wallet-ache

August 10, 2011

By Brien Croff Do you remember walking back to your car to find a parking ticket on your windshield and thinking, “Are you serious?”  If so, you are one of many students who has faced this irritation....

Greek Myth

August 10, 2011

By Russ Friend Sitting in the back of a lecture hall gives me a great view of other students. Down in front of me a few rows sit some fraternity fellows. These poor schmucks are sure geek for the Greek. I...

Envision the Ohio of innovation

August 10, 2011

By Matthew Balsinger Anyone who has ever taken a trip through Ohio can discover one thing: Ohio is quite a depressing place.  Each of our major cities is plagued with unemployment, scarred with abandoned...

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