Thursday, February 12, 2009
{The Blue Banner}
Page 19
The Blue Banner’s View
This Valentine’s Day, put your
nioney where your heart is
. Valentine’s Day conjures up dozens of
”®ages of hearts, chocolates, Cupids and
but one thing seem lacking from
holiday: Originality.
Every Valentine’s Day, men and wom-
pack restaurants and consume gratu-
’tous amounts of chocolate. Credit cards
; niaxed out and wallets get emptied,
I for things that won’t be around to-
. I^orrow, except maybe in the love han-
: ales,
I Instead of embracing the romantic
I ^P'rit of the holiday, couples bicker about
; aere to eat, what to do and how much
® ®Pend. Finding thoughtful and personal
"'ays to express love often means picking
greeting card, where the thinking has
done for you.
Valentine’s Day is so riddled with cli-
even being jaded has become cli
che
Instead of spending money, couples
should invest time and thought into mak
ing the day something special. Scrap
books, mix CDs and love letters have
value impossible to price. All of these
gifts involve actually knowing someone
and trying to figure out what makes them
truly happy, something Hallmark and Go-
diva can never do.
Finding things to say to the ones we
love should not be difficult, and yet it of
ten is. We worry about being rejected or
saying the wrong thing. Not everyone is a
bom poet or a hopeless romantic.
But speaking from the heart is some
thing every individual needs more prac
tice at doing. Valentine’s Day is the per
fect opportunity to cast all inhibitions to
the side and tell your partner how you tm-
ly feel. Odd are, if you are speaking from
the heart, you will say the right thing.
r&BLUE Banner Editorial Board
Karpen Hall 019 (828) 25T6586 banner@unca.edu
www.thebluebanncr.net
^aron Dahistrom, Editor-in-chief Emily Gray, Business Manager
Jonathan Walczak, Managing Editor Cassidy Culbertson, Photo Editor
Pam Stringer, News Editor Cassady Sharp, Assistant News Editor
Schegps, Arts&Features Editor Bam EmityAssistantArts&Features Editor
Greg Hicks, Sports Editor
Jason Herring, Design&Web Editor
Matt Starkey, Assistant Web Editor
Michael Gouge, Faculty Adviser
pi —
■Xc Banner is UNC Asheville’s student newspaper. We publish each Thursday
®Pt during summer sessions, finals week and holiday breaks. Our office is located in
Jen Hall 019.
“dit Banner is a designated forum for free speech and welcomes letters to the
‘^^nsidering them on basis of interest, space and timeliness. Letters and articles
foil ^ Ee e-mailed to banner@unca.edu. They should be signed with the writer’s name,
°^od by year in school, major or other relationship to UNCA. Include a telephone
°cr to aid in verification. All articles are subject to editing.
University seeks to iimit
effects of budget cuts
As the student body president, 1 am
privy to many facets of the campus and its
differing constituencies. Typically, there
are many responses to any given scenario
or obstacle that may arise to challenge our
university. These variations are explained
by the different interest groups at our
school.
Such diversity puts UNC Asheville in
a better place to deal with the current eco
nomic climate than most. Students remain
insulated from the majority of the effects of
the recent belt-tightening-at the university.
The looming beast of the poor economy
can easily seem to be nothing more than a
distant fairy tale,.and yet it is real. '
Those in need are all around us, from
the administrators who are working to cut
6 percent out of a shoestring budget to the
non-traditional student next to you laid off
from work. This caused the university to
determine its core essentials and caused
others to consider whether further educa
tion is still possible.
You can reach out to both groups and to
many others in the larger Asheville com--
munity who are not as fortunate as some.
We can increase our level of appreciation
and respect for the university.
Preserve lab equipment with the under
standing that it won’t be so easily replace
able; when in the computer labs, print dou
ble sided and only what you really need;
when coming to school on these cold win
ter mornings see if you can carpool with
a neighbor; go to the Key Center to vol
unteer to help others. And when you see
some way that you think the school could
save money, let me know. We have already
put some great student-initiated ideas into
action and researched new ones as part of
By Nick Ladd
Student Body President
NKLADD@UNCA.EDU
undergraduate research.
The administration wants to shelter you
from the cuts so that you may focus on
continuing your education, but they do not
experience their policies the way you do.
If you start to feel, the pinch of a decreased
budget, let me know so we can see what
aspects of this campus are the most impor
tant to the students.
Beyond ensuring the success of UNCA,
you must also ensure your own success.
With the tight job market, it is imperative
that you have a plan for when you gradu
ate. Whether it is further insulating your
self by going into higher education, join
ing the Peace Corps or going directly into a
career, have a plan. To help you determine
the best plan for you and turn this potential
into a reality, the university provides you
with vast resources in the Career Center.
No matter your situation, know that
you have a community of support around
you and that you are not alone. Though we
are a smaller school without the history
of some other colleges, we are a school
built for difficult times. As an institution
equipped with the creativity and ingenu
ity of so many great minds, this time of
hardship will only make us strong and
more focused on our mission to maintain
the standard of excellence in public liberal
arts education.
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