The University of Utah's Independent Student Voice

The Daily Utah Chronicle

The University of Utah's Independent Student Voice

The Daily Utah Chronicle

The University of Utah's Independent Student Voice

The Daily Utah Chronicle

Write for Us
Want your voice to be heard? Submit a letter to the editor, send us an op-ed pitch or check out our open positions for the chance to be published by the Daily Utah Chronicle.
@TheChrony
Print Issues
Write for Us
Want your voice to be heard? Submit a letter to the editor, send us an op-ed pitch or check out our open positions for the chance to be published by the Daily Utah Chronicle.
@TheChrony
Print Issues

It’s not a perfect world

By Clayton Norlen

The world has never been described as a perfect place. In fact, it is typically depicted as bleak and on the edge of destruction. Since there are so many problems in our secluded campus community alone, I am going to take the opportunity to stand on my soapbox and point out a few problems that I believe need to be addressed.

Problem one: Guns, guns, guns-rednecks can’t get enough of ’em, and those individuals who are, shall we say, “lacking,” are sporting them around campus to compensate. Greek Row will soon be offering the courses necessary to obtain concealed weapons permits.

This campus is composed of a stadium, classrooms, offices, museums, labs, hospitals, clinics, libraries, daycare programs and a preschool. Why would anyone need to take a gun into any of these areas? The Mafia isn’t operating out of OSH and there isn’t a shooting range in the Union, so why is there even a question as to the value of guns on this campus? The plain and simple answer is that we do not need guns here.

Thankfully, University of Utah President Michael Young has the students’, faculty’s and staff’s best interests at heart and is maintaining that the university’s policy concerning firearms will remain in effect until a federal ruling has been issued.

Problem two: Does anyone even remember life before cell phones were as necessary as oxygen? If you do, congratulations on being what demographics refer to as a non-traditional student.

In an age of declining attention spans and growing dependence on technology, people are forgetting the basics involved in human interaction. I had the pleasure of being behind a talkative lass who was so involved in a conversation concerning her friend’s excuse for a love life she had the nerve to tell the clerk to “hold on a few” so she could go “ohmygod” 50 times.

Some pointers on interacting with a real-life human being: Hang up your phone; the person on the other end won’t suddenly implode. Take out both headphones-you can always start the song over after you’re done talking. The real world is different from MySpace-people don’t want to see you looking sorry for yourself. Try smiling at a stranger.

Problem three: Yesterday marked the fifth anniversary of Sept. 11. It was five years ago today that headlines read “Attacked!” In the time since, this is how our nation has mourned: Hollywood has made two films recreating the events, commemorative coins have been cast in honor of the fallen and memorials have been built so we will never forget.

The memorials are justifiable in my mind-they will help me remember the feelings that stirred within me that day. The two movies and the commemorative coins, on the other hand, are an injustice to what that day meant. No director could capture those emotions, and no coin could capture the essence of the towers. Let the memory of that day stay in your heart, and don’t let Hollywood try to tell you what that day meant. You already know.

Leave a Comment

Comments (0)

The Daily Utah Chronicle welcomes comments from our community. However, the Daily Utah Chronicle reserves the right to accept or deny user comments. A comment may be denied or removed if any of its content meets one or more of the following criteria: obscenity, profanity, racism, sexism, or hateful content; threats or encouragement of violent or illegal behavior; excessively long, off-topic or repetitive content; the use of threatening language or personal attacks against Chronicle members; posts violating copyright or trademark law; and advertisement or promotion of products, services, entities or individuals. Users who habitually post comments that must be removed may be blocked from commenting. In the case of duplicate or near-identical comments by the same user, only the first submission will be accepted. This includes comments posted across multiple articles. You can read more about our comment policy at https://dailyutahchronicle.com/comment-faqs/.
All The Daily Utah Chronicle Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *