The Cavalier Daily
Serving the University Community Since 1890

No News in the Newspaper

If you think about it in pessimistic light, there really is nothing new about "the news."

For the past week, The Cavalier Daily has published several articles about being preppy and flipping the collar up on polo shirts.

Unfortunately, this "trend" is neither "new" nor worthy of ink in a printed periodical. But perhaps an opinion writer's opinion that no one shows up for student forums is worth our time, then again maybe not.

I'm not trying to bash any of my fellow Cavalier Daily writers. I'm simply pointing out that the materialistic, egocentric norm that society has chosen to accept. No longer do we question the material we are being taught in classrooms, we read in newspapers or we watch on CNN. We have become spoiled and accept the truth as handed to us by shoddy journalists, crooked politicians, or our best friend who heard some story from this other guy who "saw it happen."

The human mind is now in constant need of input -- and if not from substances, then information. I'm quite sure that everyone's mother called continually before Isabel's remnants blotted out the Charlottesville sun. And while it is good for everyone to be prepared and have a heads up for what's coming next, was it really necessary that everyone freak out and worry incessantly about something that ended up being an over-hyped thunderstorm?

No cats stuck in trees, no cars upside down, just a temporary loss of electricity and an increase in alcohol consumption (causing most beer markets to sell out of 40 oz. Hurricanes).

No, hurricanes will continue to intrigue meteorologists, recall elections will occasionally take place, famous people will run for offices, date each other and break up, and some students will be preppy while others miss forums.

History will continue to repeat itself, and we will continue to think it's new and interesting. People with nothing better to do will schedule their day around watching MTV's "Cribs" so they can live vicariously through Tommy Lee's home décor while the walls behind their TVs fall apart, and our moms will worry about us no matter how many times we prove our worth.

Unfortunately, for us kids with the flipped up collars, we appear to have no representation. Majority maybe, but silent. The only people who speak out any more are the liberals, constantly complaining about some "injustice" they heard from that obscure friend.

Our news no longer has a balance of opinion. Instead, we are left to the whims of those with the actual ambition to express their views. Some of us accept it, others reject it.

We are a generation of procrastinators who were given Ritalin by our parents so we would shut up and have evolved into speed freaks who tweak out all day and ultimately accomplish nothing.

Some day, perhaps, we will pass this materialistic mentality of switching diets every week and worrying about flipping our collars up or not and move onto real problems and real solutions to them.

But who am I to talk? I'm just one of the many. A hypocrite among liars, complaining about other people's complaints by continuing the general problem of people complaining all the time. A vicious circle with no end it sight.

In the words of Dennis Leary, "Life sucks, get a f**king helmet."

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