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piggydc
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Name: Derek
Gender: Male
Interests: hanging out with friends, movies, blogging, being a "shrink", US military, exercise, community service, swing dancing
Expertise: Being your friend!
Occupation: Quality
Industry: Medical Manufacturing
Message: message meEmail: email me
Website: visit my website
AIM:  KARHOE
Member Since:
1/2/2003
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| UC tuition
Back when my college years were coming to an end, I remember not wanting to leave school.... because hey, it was college. I wanted stay around friends and people my age. I felt this way for a time after graduation, and I still get a lil' nostalgic about it here & then.
But if someone were to ask me now if I'd like to go back to school, I'd say no.
At least not in the current state that our UC system is currently in. Reliving the past can be fun, but the past's the past.
Anyways, I digress.
A top reason why I wouldn't want to go back is b/c of getting ripped off by the tuition fees. And that didn't include big, fat textbks that I loathed.... the long, boring encyclopedias where you had to pay hundreds of $s for, and couldn't sell back to the Univ. bookstore because they "updated" the textbk when in fact, the updates were probably miniscule and insignificant. (Even if you could sell back your books, you'd probably only get like 1/4 of the price you bought it for). Plus, I rather get paid in the real world than throw out money for classes I probably didn't even enjoy (now I know how Kelly felt.)
As I'm sure you've all heard, a 32% hike has been approved for UC tuition, and the students are seething. I can't imagine the protests that have been going on. I sympathize with them. But then again, I don't agree with them scuffling with officers whose duty is to keep the peace (*ahem* Berkeley). But most of the protests have been peaceful, so I heard.
Back to the students -- it's tough, esp those who need to take loans. I don't envy them. I'm sure that even with the fee hike, the UCs will still be cheaper than private schools. But they're totally different animals; we're talking about public universities here. The UCs may not be the world's best, but they're still damn good schools (okay, that's the UCI alumni in me speaking).
The Board of Regents say that they need to hike the fee b/c our political leaders have cut spending in education (side Q: what programs exactly ARE NOT being cut in spending? we hear how the axe is coming down on education/public services/the elderly/etc, but the things are being scathed, I'm curious to hear what those are).
The Regents need to realize the consequences of this fee hike. Less students may fill up the UCs, which could do more harm than good for years to come. And then the Regents will start whining again what an abysmal state their beloved system will end up in.
Good riddance.
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| "Camelot's" signature
So it looks like the last known autograph of JFK was sold for $39K. Apparently, a few hours before the assassination, he signed a Dallas newspaper. The autograph has been described as "chillingly historic", which I think is an accurate term.
Congrats to the guy who purchased it. But wouldn't it be better if it were kept in the National Archives? Not unlike the Declaration of Independence, JFK's signature is a piece of American history. So shouldn't it be treated as such? It belongs to the country, not just one person. Just IMO. I'd love to see it with my own two eyes.
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| running
Ran a mile yesterday, and if I'm not mistaken, my time was somewhere over 8 min. Still not bad, but I'd like to improve. Of course, you need to do it more, and gotta keep it up. But these days, it's just hard to establish a regular routine (okay, it's not hard, it's just me). Why do our jobs have to take up over a 1/3 of our hourly days?
At least I don't get as tired as I used to, nor do my legs get as sore. Looks like that occasional biking helps.
Running would be so much easier, and more fun, if you have a partner to do it with. It's more motivating. Back at UCI, my best bud Eric and I would just go to the school gym (ARC) and rip apart the indoor track. We didn't do it religiously, but we did it enough. I wish we could do that again these days. | | |
| domestic violence
"There are some women who need to be needed so badly they'll put up with anything. Even if the guy beats the crap out of them, they just feel that responsible for the other person."
Recently, Rihanna has opened up about the beating that ex-Chris Brown gave her. And late last month, Brown publicly apologized (sorta): "At the end of the day, I'm sorry for what I did, whatever it is." (?????)
And I think a lot of people were shocked when Rihanna even went back to Brown earlier this year, myself included. But according to therapists who're familiar with domestic violence, it's pretty common. (ie. "Why some women go back to their abusers") Reasons that victims (looks like it's primarily women) go back include:
- lack of finances
- poor self-esteem (shame, anxiety, guilt -- "It's MY fault that he beat me up")
- having children as dependents
- religion/cultural values (don't want to face family or friends)
- emotional attachment to the abuser
- the abuser would apologize profusely, showering the victim with gifts (hence, initiating another "honeymoon period")
- abuser could also manipulate the victim ("I'll kill myself if you leave me")
When I read this article about men explaining why they beat the women they love, I was shocked. Their responses seemed incredulous:
"I felt like I had power and control over something in my life. It made me feel invincible."
"I would try and express my anger and my disappointment the only way I knew how. And that was through abuse."
"...I was insecure as a person"
"... in that rage, it's like your brain wires, they aren't clicking."
"[I want] to say, by grace and remorse, that I'm still here today. I made it through." (??? Sounds like the guy sees himself as the victim instead of the girl he beat up.)
They say that you shouldn't judge someone unless you've been in their shoes. In most cases, I agree. But when it comes to willingly/intentionally harming someone else just b/c you can or you get too emotional, then it becomes more grey for me, and perhaps less forgivable. So I rather not put myself in those "shoes" in the first place, even if it's just to understand it all. (Yes, I do have my own insecurities, but I don't leash out at others to deal with them.)
And I don't think I will ever fully understand it: why do the victims stay with the abusers? (I'm sure we all heard about that "girls like bad guys" notion, but even at the extreme?) And why do guys beat their girls? Even emotionally/verbally? Fucking psychos...
At least there's one happy ending out there...
PS: If I ever get another gal and end up becoming an abusive guy to her -- even in the slightest -- I give you, the reader, permission (well in advance) to give me a good kick in the @$$.
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