Greetings from Bushtopia
Well, howdy Grinnellians! Due to an unfortunate set of circumstances, I won’t be returning to the snow-covered prairies of Iowa pending January, but until that time, the S&B can have a record two foreign correspondents: one from jolly ol’ England, the other from Jesus-land/Bushtopia/Red State/Texas! To be honest, I’m from Houston, a relatively Democratic stronghold in a state once known for Ann Richards, Lyndon Baines Johnson, Kinky Friedman and Molly Ivins. Now, all we’re really known for is Dubya.
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Slow down, you’re eating too fast
Obviously, we’re all busy. We have far too much to do and far too little time in which to do it. And so in order to save time, we tend to neglect the little perks of life—sleeping, relaxing, hygiene and inevitably, eating. It’s easy to go into survival mode when work is overwhelming and there’s only 15 minutes to eat before your next meeting. If you even make it to the dining hall, it’s hard to stay for any length of time before hurrying off to complete your next task. We sit down, eat as fast as we can and get out. But this hustle and bustle attitude towards eating could cause even more stress than we already have. In addition to putting us at risk for acid reflux, possible weight gain, choking and other physical problem, it’s just not as fun, and it makes you feel yucky. We all have to eat, so I say we all just relax and take a few extra seconds to think about and appreciate what it is that we’re’re eating. “But how?” one may ask. My answer: Mindfulness.
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From parade to Hard Copy: vigilantes
Before my arrival in Montana, I defined the term “vigilante” as part of a headline on Hard Copy—a trigger-happy husband avenging an adulteress wife was a vigilante, a gas station owner performing retribution for an unresolved robbery was a vigilante. The term certainly leaned toward the pejorative, even edging close to prejudiced: where I came from, a vigilante was a epithet for white trash. Little did I know how much Montana loved its legendary vigilantes, and how to them, the word rang synonymous with true justice.
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Responsible journalism
An old American adage holds that journalism exists to “afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted.” Whether it’s uncritically accepting the Bush Administration’s false rationales for rushing to war or turning away in the face of corporate scandal, we regret to say that too many in our field have forsaken this principle. Well aware of journalism’s declining integrity, we at the S&B work hard to play an active, adversarial role.
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Random Rants
Students speak out about what’s on their minds in 142 words, and you’re invited! If you have a random rant, email it to us. After all, complaining in a public forum is always more fun than doing it alone.
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