Thursday, February 19, 2009

Ill found out what the subject is when im done i guess?

I guess since this is the honors blog, ill start off my first post on something honors program related.

Being an honors student can be a great thing. It can also be a bit unbearable at times. With the GPA requirement, it can be stressful, especially when you have 3 tests and a paper due over a two week period, the same two weeks that coincidentally happened to coincide with that honors trip to punderson (yay trip! Boo timing!)

So this brief post (ive got to get back to studying some espanolz yo) is dedicated to the things that get me through the day. Heres a short list:

-Friends visiting at work
-Frostie runs (yay wendys!)
-Receiving random movie quote texts.
-Taking a 10 minute break from life to send a text message with the lyrics of "wannabe" (spice girls) in its entirety to my roommate
-Looking at the massive pile of books my brother has for his classes (warms me up inside every time)
-Walks
-Turning my dorm room into a massive pillow fort (havnt done it yet, but the thought of doing so keeps me thinking positive)

What are some of yours?

-Tanie

(PS: ronnette was hatin on my pic i posted. discuss.)

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Is the President what we had hoped?

How about a shift to politics? As you all know, President Barack Obama is now in office. The whole nation is patiently (to a point) waiting to see if the promises of CHANGE and reform are going to come to fruition.

Last night (Feb. 9th), President Obama gave his first prime-time address to the nation since the inauguration. He was as poised as ever, giving a very determined effort to assure the American people that the economic recession depression will be handled in a timely matter, avoiding the permanent depression that will inevitably destroy the nation. Now, I know that this recession is the worst since the Great Depression, but the use of frightening rhetoric is beyond being abused. There are mixed opinions among top economists, and none of them are claiming the sky is falling in the next week or two.

Furthermore, President Obama made the seemingly proud statement that the new stimulus bill will not contain any pork. (Pork-barrel spending: Legislators add projects of interest into bills that will benefit either themselves or their districts.) The only reason the President can claim this is due to the way projects are being typed up into the legislation. There are still frivolous projects, such as a Frisbee park, a new club house for a golf course, and re-turfing of the Whitehouse lawn, written into the current draft. President Obama even spoke of a freeway to be developed in Indiana, where he was speaking, as a result of the stimulus.

Now, I was one of the students strongly supporting Barack throughout the campaign and actively engaged in doing my part to get him elected. That does not mean, however, that I will sit idle as he goes back on his promise to all Americans. How do you all think the new President is doing??

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Honors Course Requirements

There has been a lot of debate, both in the Honors office and amongst Honors students, pertaining the Honors courses required during the first 2 years in the program. Some feel that Honors students have a desire to go above and beyond what is necessary to receive a diploma. Others feel that if the courses were not a requirement that the program would have a hard time getting enough students to register --maybe not even getting enough students to keep the courses open.

Personally, I would have rather had some of my 200 -level major courses as Honors than the actual Honors courses offered. I understand the need to have a course to create a cohort atmosphere for the Honors students, but the HON 200/201 courses are set up for just that. Honors courses should be major-directed since that's what we're all here for in the first place: to get a particular degree.

Any comments? Please, be my guest :)

Monday, February 2, 2009

Meshing Together

CSU Honors Students are a pretty close-knit group. For many of us, the first time we met fellow CSU students was during the Honors welcome reception, and friendships formed from those nervous conversations. A lot of these friendships have lasted the entire college experience and beyond.

However, some Honors students are shy when they first get on campus, and making new friendships can get scary at times. The Honors Program would like to make the Honors experience as fulfilling as possible, both academically and socially.

Ideas have been tossed around since I've been in the program--white water rafting, retreat house, education symposiums...but nothing has come to fruition. Anyone have any suggestions? Comment!