THE PERVASIVE addiction to AOL's Instant Messenger is no longer considered an unhealthy obsession with chat culture; it is a way of life.
THERE are some things in this world that just don't make sense: those crop circles in Iowa, supposedly made by aliens, the fact that the Spice Girls came out of two-hit-wonder oblivion long enough to put out a new album, and the fact that people actually are buying it.
THE HEADLINE of The Cavalier Daily arrested me from my usual Grounds-walking haze. "University drug crackdown" - for a moment I wondered if those wacky kids at The Declaration had created a fake edition, but no, this was the real Cavalier Daily. Federal indictments!
OKAY, first things first: Ralph Nader can kiss my ass. What else can you say about a man who, for the explicit purpose of ego gratification, has likely put in office a candidate whose principles he vehemently opposes?
LEADING up to the election, you would not find a more vehement supporter of Vice President Al Gore.
WHEN YOU buy a new car, you can shop around before making your final decision. Music stores have listening stations so you can sample the newest CD's before throwing down $15.
THE PEOPLE spoke. The Constitution ignored them. Our bizarre, antiquated, illogical and unfair Electoral College system appears, for the third time in history, to have deprived the American people of their choice for president.
WATCHING the recent week's electoral morass on CNN in the same fascinated, near-amazed way workers at a sausage factory stare at their machines, I came to a conclusion on Sunday morning.
YOU ARE enjoying a lazy afternoon watching television when you start to feel kind of hot. Even though it is mid November, you chalk it up to El Nino and return your attention to "The Real World" marathon.
SO YOU went out to Rugby this weekend, had a little bit too much to drink, and encountered the police on the way home. Not fun, but really not that big a problem, right?
I'M GOING to tell you a little story about this University, so bear with me. It's an important story because this week, the Office of the Dean of Students is accepting nominations for the Gray-Carrington Scholarship Award, the highest honor a University student can receive.
MOST OF us feel conflicted about the brouhaha surrounding the presidential elections. We're sick of it because we want a resolution, but it's so exciting we can't stop talking about it.
ONCE YOU arrive here at the University as a first-year student you're thrust into a world involving many unknown people.
"SO YOU were accepted to the University? You probably came for the drama, right?" Laugh all you want at this seemingly false statement -- it is nothing new for students to make fun of the University's arts programs.
THE POLLS are closed, the election is over, and no clear winner has yet emerged. The clear loser, however, made itself glaringly apparent: television journalism.
NIKE HAS Tiger Woods. McDonald's has Coke. U.Va. has Budweiser. Maybe you hadn't heard about this.
WEDNESDAY, 10 a.m. government class, the morning after Election Day. We're talking about the still-undetermined presidential election.
TUESDAY and Wednesday were not any less entertaining than a marathon basketball game with the winning shot still making its way to the basket, in slow motion, of course.
HOLDING your community service fundraising events during Spring Rush. Planning an optional guest lecturer for exam week.
(Editor's note: The author's brother, Richard W. Smith, brought suit against the University, claiming that the it and the University Judiciary Committee violated his due process rights.
