Seems like a new social network arrives everyday (or maybe it just seems that way because Facebook keeps changing layouts). Have you heard of Pinterest? It’s a site where users can “pin” (or post) anything they find interesting for the world to see. It works like Twitter, so you can follow people you like, but it also has all kinds of categories of different stuff. So this week I logged on the home design section to see new ideas to decorate those boring old dorm rooms.
Faux-Pet
Fish are a great way to liven up your dorm room, but who has the time to care for the fish and clean the tank? Or the money to pay for it? Grab an old jar, a handful of gravel, a paperclip, your best “Jesus fish” outline- and you’ve got yourself a free, faux-friend you’ll never have to flush down the toilet.
All-in-One Charging Station
Ever notice how many chargers you and your roommates have plugged into that one power strip on the wall? Wouldn’t it be great to ditch the messy looking cords and go for a more organized look? Check out this cool charging station made out of a bread box. Great way to stay organized and go wireless… well, sort of.
Stub Jar
If you’re like me and you save every ticket stub, you’ll love this. Instead of piling them up in a random spot, put them in a glass jar. You can make all those stubs a piece of modern art and a time capsule of memories.
Makeshift Chandelier
You can make your very own chandelier with just a hula hoop and some Christmas lights. It provides a different kind of lighting that will make everyone on your floor say “wow” every time. This is easily one of the most creative thing you could do in a dorm, but you might want to check with your RA before you start hanging stuff from the ceiling.
DIY Bathmat
Now this one might not seem worth it, but hear me out- if you have a ton of old towels you’ve used WAY too many times or even old t-shirts that don’t fit you anymore, you can save yourself from spending money at Bed Bath & Beyond and make a bathmat of your own. Collaborate with your roommates and see if they have anything they don’t mind cutting up. Tie the scraps onto a plastic grid frame, and you’re good to go!
Are you on Pinterest yet (if not, leave your email below and we’ll send you an invite!)? Do you have any other creative ways to spice up your dorm room?
The RCC’s new “gaming lounge” is just one of the new additions to our campus this semester… although its not so much a lounge, as it is a station (since it doesn’t have it’s own room or anything…). This campus newbie is located in the lower foyer of the RCC. It contains an Xbox 360 and a PS3 complete with TVs to play them on. So is this new edition a fun part of campus or a funny looking disruption?
Concept/Selection
I think a gaming lounge is a really good idea. As a school made up of more commuters than residents, BSU needs more spaces like this for commuters to hang between classes. Even if video games aren’t really your thing, it can act as an activity to help people (commuters and residents alike) get to know each other… while killing each other on screen, but don’t worry- the selection of games isn’t just shooter-based; its pretty broad. It includes games like Dance Central, Kinect Adventures, and sport games for non-gamers who just want to have fun.
Location
Now I’m not sure if the lower foyer of the RCC is the best location for the new gaming station. It’s definitely a good spot for it to get noticed, but what about the other people in the foyer not gaming? It’s not like the library or anything, but some people do go there to get work done or read. The gaming station could be a distraction for them and if a lot of people are around the station playing and watching games, that’s going to dominate an already busy area of campus.
Future
While the lower foyer is a good temporary location, I’d like to see the game station move to a more permanent spot- ideally, it’s own room. As I’m sure many of you know from recent trips the registrar’s office (and the long lines around it…), it is now in a temporary room in the RCC. What a lot of people don’t know is that room used to be the old gaming room, complete with pool tables, ping pong tables, and dartboards. Once the registrar moves into its new office, perhaps they could put a new gameroom together complete with both old AND new school games.
So what do you think of the new lounge? How’s the location/selection? Will you be playing it? Is it a positive addition to the campus?
found an image on RCC’s facebook of the gaming lounge just not sure how to translate into word press
What is freedom? Is it a right, a privilege, or is it (as Alan Moore believes) a perspective? V for Vendetta is a film based on Moore’s popular graphic novel of the same title. It follows the revolutionary protagonist V and his fight to unite England against a totalitarian government. The backdrop of this ruthless military dictatorship allows V’s passionate and violent actions against them fun and exciting. This film has great meaning for our times, seeing as our country is slipping into a very V for Vendetta-like world.
V and his captive/accomplice, Evey, plot against an oppressive government in this monumental action film. V plans to destroy the parliament building in London, mirroring the famous attempt to do so by Guy Fakes, of whom V also gets his mask. As a viewer it is certainly easiest to identity with Evey. She struggles with whether or not she should trust this man who seems like a dangerous terrorist. However she realizes, as the view does, who the real terrorists are.
The main theme of this movie (pretty obvious) is freedom, human rights, and thinking for yourself. The society of the film is one in which the average citizen has no voice. They have no means to change their world- a pretty horrible fate, but V points out that ultimately the people are the ones who are responsible. When you allow those in power (looking at you 1%) to you into anything like oppressive laws, censorship, the suspension of basic human rights (aka America’s new “defense” bill), you are the victim of terrorism.
Terrosim “the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, especially for political purposes.” Even though these governments try to oppress us, “words will always retain their power” but when we fall silent they win.
Why does this movie’s message matter? Well it’s no surprise that both the “Occupy” movement and the hacker group “Anonymous” have adopted V’s Guy Fawkes mask. We live in a society where peaceful protest is possible and effective. We must make it our goal to do so, to speak out. If we don’t then we could end up like the citizens of V’s world.
Is V a terrorist? Are you protesting? Does this movie remind you of “Occupy” why or why not?
