Stereotyping of Aged Elite unwarranted

As a 43-year-old, full-time non-traditional student, I am one of the "Aged Elite," whom columnist Sabrina Noble so masterfully stereotyped recently. I respect Ms. Noble's right to express herself. Yet, to those readers who would find such prejudice against older students to be entertaining, or even accurate, I offer the following:

Being late to a class is not age-dependent. Any student can encounter circumstances that will make them late for class. However, when those of us from the Aged Elite are late, I assure you that it is very likely to be for some worthwhile reason. For instance, we might be running late for an 8 a.m. class because we've already been to our office at 6 a.m. in order to sign the paychecks that are owed to hard-working people, such as your parents, who rely on us to provide jobs for them, so that in turn, they can pay for you go to college and stereotype us. [Read article]

For those of you who don't know (first of all, you really need to crawl out from that hole you've been living in), ASUA decided to extend the deadline for potential candidates for any and all of the positions in this year's election. As you might guess, this has been a very controversial decision, and it spurred excitement for this year's election before it has even started.

Now, I had no idea what we were all in store for when I wrote my column last week. I knew we'd be in for some fun, as every election brings, but this is ridiculous. Candidates have yet to begin their campaigns, and elections commissioner Dan Suh has already made a decision controversial enough to deserve commentary. [Read article]

Fresh from a high school containing a little more than 600 students, I was a bit unprepared for the UA, to say the least. I was fully expecting that college would provide the same sort of environment as my high school. However, it was my first encounter with WebReg that made me realize that college is a different kind of beast.

Being ignorant and naive, I thought that you could get all the classes that you would need for the semester. Like a good little freshman, I logged in at the appointed time expecting to have a neat little schedule with days that would, at their earliest, begin at 10 a.m. and end at 3 in the afternoon. I was set to experience the stereotypical college life that I'd seen in the movies where students wouldn't get up until lunchtime, have class for an hour or two a day, subsist on a diet composed entirely of vending machine fare and then graduate with a nice little bachelor's degree. [Read article]

What makes New Hampshire so gosh-darn special? Excuse me, but Arizona has a very important primary tomorrow, and we need every eye on us. So when I flip on CNN, every third phrase out of Judy Woodruff's mouth better be "Old Pueblo" or "Valley of the Sun."

I mean, c'mon: Is New Hampshire somehow more important than we are? Its history more significant? Its citizens wiser? Heck no.

Let's look at the facts: We have the five Cs (copper, cattle and whatever the other ones are), the Grand Canyon and more than 5 million people. And really, would Chief Justice Rehnquist hang out here for years if we weren't the bomb? No. So what do we have to do to get some attention around here? The Esau treatment has to stop. [Read article]

The best in last week's editorials from college campuses around the nation

University of Iowa

Life in Iowa after the caucuses. It's like the calm after the storm, when the long-anticipated excitement and chaos suddenly grind to a halt and Iowans no longer have to worry about running into Tom Brokaw while walking the dog or sitting next to Howard Dean while eating at the local diner. Some cherish the newfound sense of normalcy here in the Heartland after all the big names leave and the rest of the country once again ignores the fact that Iowa even exists. "Iowa? Isn't that the place that they once compared to heaven in that one movie? Or is that the Potato State?" [Read article]