Hey there QU Sports Fans

This is a blog post, not a New York Times article. So take solace in its conciseness.

I've posted this once before on the facebook page directed at QU sports fans, and incited no response. Maybe this will garner one...

The chants coming from our student section at basketball games of "USA! USA!" directed at opposition not from our country have to stop. Besides the inherent ignorance of such comments, the recent history of bigoted actions at Quinnipiac is very real. Or did we all forget the comments left on various dormitory white boards?

The near xenophobia shown by these students while they slander the opposition paints the community negatively. I love a good trash talker. As an athlete and licensed official I would get in the ear of competitors and officials at near every opportunity. The country they were born in was never a topic of my jawing. Nor should it be of our student section. We like to paint our university as an upstanding institution, yet continued actions of this minority of students goes a long way in destroying our reputation to both other institutions and to the Hamden community. I have a professor, whom I will refrain from naming, that works at Hamden High and teaches night classes here at QU. He told me that Hamden thinks of QU students as, and this is a near direct quote, spoiled drunkards who bring down our property value. That may be one man's attempt at a bad joke, but the most interaction a lot of people have with QU students is at our lovely TD Bank center. Oh, and many of them have their children with them.

Jeremy

Introduction

How's it going everyone out there. Just a small introduction for the readers who don't know me: My name is Matthew Pankey, and I am a Junior, majoring in Economics here at Quinnipiac University. I am involved with two organizations here at QU: the first being head of the Public Relations committee in my fraternity, Delta Tau Delta, while the second is a student leader for the non-profit organization, The Albert Schweitzer Institute (ASI). Both organizations have helped me develop into a better student, and person while at QU.

Ok, so enough about that. When Jeremy first asked me to be a part of this blog - say 4-5 weeks ago - I knew I was interested, but I didn't know what or how I could contribute to it. Over winter break, I'll admit, I pretty much forgot about this. The holidays came, work 9-5, trying to catch up and spend time with friends, family, etc., all got to me, and I never had a chance to think about this.

Earlier in the week, I checked out the blog and read the posts, and still couldn't decide the path I wanted to take. In less than 24 hours though, literally, I came up with a few ideas that I could throw some two sense around. (I had a lot of free time thanks to "syllabus week" - the first and easiest week of classes where no work is assigned, because it takes a full class to go over the syllabus.)

During this semester, and hopefully longer, I'll be coming up with and discussing a wide variety of topics that include: the amazing, yet dangerous and possibly addicting rush of gambling; my past and upcoming trips to Nicaragua in affiliation with ASI; my self made up debate of the two more popular QU bars, Andales (aka Dicks) vs. Whitney Bar and Grill (aka Whit Bag); and finally, random daily thoughts and events that deal with politics, government actions, and current events in the US and the World.

Stay Classy,

- Matt

Obligatory Intro and Involvement

Hey there, I'm John. I'm a Junior Public Relations major with a minor in English. I'm on the Student Programming Board as the Tech and Media Chair as well as in a fraternity, Delta Tau Delta, as the Sargeant At Arms.

Alright, so from that little "About Me" intro to this post you can no doubt tell that I'm in some sense involved on this campus, and that's true. When I was a freshman at QU, I honestly despised it. I had talked with my friends about transferring to Emerson and studying acting. Thank God I didn't do that for two reasons: The first being that I would have thrown my life away and more than likely would have come out of college thinking that I was a know-it-all actor, acting in community theater shows. The second being that I would have lost so much of what I have gained at this university.

I started to get involved with a few things my sophomore year. I was a member of the Student Programming Board and went to a few meetings and I rushed a fraternity, which was something I never figured that I would do. Then this year I look back at what I've done and seen how far I've come with all of my involvement. And to think... I could have thrown all these opportunities away by transferring my freshman year to Emerson.

I guess if there is one thing to take away from my little story is that if you find yourself hating your school and sitting in your room with your headphones on, watching Netflix and listening to music (which is what I did my freshman year), get up and try to get involved in something. Granted, getting involved in a bunch of organizations is not for anybody. Hell, some people find enjoyment in sitting around all day and watching TV shows non stop (which is what one of my roommates does for example), but still. Give something a try because that is what college is all about. And who wants to look back on their college experience when they graduate and say, "Man, I had some awesome times doing... absolutely nothing."

...and for the record, there are plenty of people on this campus who are twice as involved as I am.

Later!
- John

Hello all.

This is the first post of what I'm hoping to be many on this site, by myself and a collection of others. I hope that the collection of authors on here continues to slowly grow. The idea is that we will have a group of core authors with a rotating batch of guest contributors...we'll see how that goes. My first few post are going to be about my reactions coming back from abroad. Horn will do the opposite I hope...I'm not going to speculate on the other contributors, just let them do their own thing.

So, Quinnipiac looks way different. I Live at York Hill, and it looks beautiful...from the outside. The inside kind of looks like my elementary school hallways. It really is pretty ugly. But I still have my own room, decorated with some souvenirs from abroad. Like I said when I was abroad, I did not want to completely assimilate to the culture I was in. I wanted to immerse myself in it for sure, and I think I did that well in terms of learning about the town, politics, and sport. I took advantage of all sorts of things that made Wales special and I think I'm a better and broad person from it. But the same thinking applies when I come back to Quinnipiac. I dont want to be the kid who constantly says "Well, this one time in Wales..." But at the same time, it was the single largest and most consequential endeavor that Ive ever embarked upon. I dont want my room to look like my room in Wales. I dont want it to look like it did before I left for Wales. I dont want it to look like my room at home. I want it to reflect who I was and now am. I think I'm striking a good balance.

Back to Quinnipiac looking different. The Rocky Top Student Center is really an awesome building. Getting to walk from my room to the garage to my car is one of my favorite things. Id like it to be substantially warmer, but it really is beautiful up here. I am now getting into the habit of bringing my camera everywhere with me. I could take 30pictures a day looking out from where the windmills are up here.

The new student center on Mount Carmel campus is also really nice inside. Ive always loved QU and have been proud to tell people I go here, and eager to show the pictures and brag how lovely it really is here. These constant additions make that even sweeter.

Past face value though, Im still really excited to be here. Getting back into the swing of classes is going to be difficult. I took 3 classes in Wales and had a 100hour internship, and my total load of assignments all semester was a 2,500 word essay, a 3,500 word one, a 4,000 word one, and a 5,000 word one. No tests. No quizzes. No homework. The only class Ive had so far will have 3 quizzes, 3 tests, a paper, and an attendance policy. It feels like junior high again.

Until next time,

-Jeremy