Here at Wash. U., we do not fully comprehend the spotlight that sports stars receive. For example, imagine you went to the University of Florida and had a class with Tim Tebow (UF’s star quarterback). The amount of press and attention that he would get would probably drive many fellow classmates and peers insane. Yet, every Sunday morning, thousands of people wake up to turn on SportsCenter and hope to get a glimpse of their favorite player’s personal life. Why do we have double standards where we wish to keep our lives private, yet we want to know what Tom Brady’s wife was wearing at a party?

Remember Michael Phelps and his fall from grace due to his marijuana use? Media all over the world had a field day tarnishing the amazing athlete’s clean record. The most intriguing shift in the world of sports, however, was the federal government’s involvement in sports regulation. When Mark McGwire had to attend U.S. Senate hearings regarding his steroid use, the world was shocked. Why did the government ever see a need to put aside the hundreds of pressing issues like debt, terrorism and the economy to intensely question a man about his drug abuse? This is just another sign of the media and the federal government growing too large and powerful, addressing their own needs while forgetting about the needs of the public.

The real issue behind the Tiger scandals and the Barry Bonds fiasco is that, as American sports fans, we put great athletes on impossible pedestals and expect them to be perfect sportsmen on and off the field. But the moment someone has an affair (or is caught using a bong), we tie them to a pole and stone them. Looking at the Tiger Woods situation, it is a shame that he had marital issues, but why do CNN and the AP have to announce every nasty detail to the world? Their need to make sure that they keep readers enthralled drives them to sacrifice the private lives of celebrities and sports stars.

In the end, we should ask ourselves if we would ever want to be placed on a public platform, especially when people all over the world get to know the problems we are having. Most of these public scandals blow over (look at A-Rod, Phelps and McGwire), but lives are ruined and people lose respect for their idols. Hopefully Tiger will be able to come out of this fiasco without losing too many endorsements or lovers. Oh, and keeping fans would be great too.

Aditya is a junior in Arts & Sciences. He can be reached via e-mail at asarvesh@artsci.wustl.edu.

As we move into the professional world, accompanied by worries about interviews and making good impressions, we sometimes forget the social Internet footprint that we leave. We’ve all read articles about how some people mess up on online social sites like Facebook and MySpace, and later we tell ourselves that we are not stupid enough to do such things. But upon closer inspection, most of us have some incriminating photos or videos which can definitely come back to haunt in the future. How can we prevent this in a society where we feel a need to put ourselves out there with programs like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube?

More importantly, we should take a closer look at the direction our generation’s society is going in. In this day and age, information that we put on the Internet can be a double-edged sword: We are easier to contact, but that means our info is also easy to find. But you say, “I only use social networking sites for staying in contact with people.” How many of your Facebook friends do you actually stay in communication with? (And no, an occasional “Happy B-day” post or a “Like” does not count).

We seem to be getting closer to one another technologically, but we are getting farther from each other regarding social correspondences. E-mails to friends are rare and written letters are almost never seen nowadays, yet we see a constant need to add more people on our social networks so that we can “remember” them.

Still, there are worse things out there than Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. Remember the good old days when you had to have an AIM account or another instant messaging account to meet random people in chat room? Now, sites like Omegle enable us to start a conversation immediately without any input of information. My curiosity got the better of me when I checked out the site, and I began a conversation with a stranger. The ease with which we can meet strangers online today is extremely disturbing, but paired with the fact that we put our info out in cyberspace, they increase the danger of information falling into the wrong hands.

In the end, we still have enough of decency and sanity to realize that social networking programs are tools for safe enjoyment. However, Wash. U. students tend to forget that we live in a bubble that does not exist in the real world. So remember, as you leave the bubble to seek outside jobs, click the “remove tag” button on that photo that you barely remember taking of you kissing a Ronald McDonald statue.

Aditya is a junior in Arts & Sciences. He can be reached via e-mail at asarvesh@artsci.wustl.edu.

(Godiva Reisenbichler | Student Life)

So, “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2” came out. End of column, there’s nothing more that needs to be said. But seriously, why do the best video games come out during the end of fall semester right before finals? “Modern Warfare 2,” “Assassins Creed 2” and “Bioshock 2” are just a few games that have come out or are being released soon. What makes this event a bittersweet moment is that these video games end up being the forbidden fruit in a challenging junior year.

Managing time around school—sorry, I meant video games—is always difficult. I fondly remember freshman year when my friend and I bought “Modern Warfare 1” and ended up doing nothing but playing the game for about 20 hours straight. Right after we finished the game, we went back immediately and tried to finish the game in “Veteran” mode, which, needless to say, was not worth missing 15 classes (between the two of us). More recently, when we heard “Modern Warfare 2” was coming out during the month of November again, we promised ourselves that we would not get lured in by the haunting-yet-fulfilling call of video games. In the end, my friend bought a PS3, and I bought “Modern Warfare 2” the day it came out. Great success!

As we grow up, we are supposed to get a better grip on managing time and money, but as I see it, both things are getting harder to do as time goes on. Among all the time-draining activities students face (like writing papers, performing in Diwali or attending Beta Bubbles), video games seem to be the bane of many students. Yes, you are included, my friend. Whether it’s “Mario Kart” with your freshman floor or a beer pong app on your iPhone, we are constantly looking to video games for distractions. Now, I am in no way going to attempt to tell you how to manage your time effectively, but there is one thing I will say: Go Amish.

Each year around Christmas, video game companies prepare to release a bunch of highly anticipated games that they know kids will be pining for under the pine tree. Little do they know about the damage they do to GPAs across the nation. In fact, I propose there should be a national holiday where productivity can be boosted by having a day (or a week) dedicated to patriotic Americans playing video games. For example, I showed my pride and thanks to the veterans on Veterans Day by finishing “Modern Warfare 2” with great vigor and concentration.

Okay, my hands are hurting from holding the controller, and my eyes are somewhat irritated from staring at the TV for a couple of hours straight, but I definitely plan to play only after I finish my work and after I do the dishes. I look back and realize that even though I have my weak moments, I am becoming more focused on my schoolwork. There will always be video games and lesser distractions as a college student. However, as an immature…sorry, as a mature college student, I realize I no longer have the luxury of playing video games without attending to more important things like school or work. By the way, I finished “Modern Warfare 2” the day after I got it.

Aditya is a junior in Arts & Sciences. He can be reached via e-mail at asarvesh@artsci.wustl.edu.

You may wonder, “Why should they post videos if they’re not profiting from them?” However, the real issue is that companies like Hulu act as middle-men for media corporations like NBC and FOX, and these companies are realizing how many viewers they have. With this realization, they assume that they now have more power to dictate which shows should be presented, depending on where they get more advertisements.

Once content is placed on the Internet, do Internet television providers like Hulu have the right to take it down simply because they feel like it? The problem presented by Hulu is that its Web site has millions of viewers who prefer the higher quality and dependable show presentation and act on that power—and Hulu knows this.

Indeed, Hulu is somewhat revolutionary in the sense that people can go to a Web site that has permission from several media corporations to post videos that people may not have time to watch when they come out on TV. I’m even willing to go as far as to say that I can deal with the annoying ads that pop up every 10 minutes, as long as I can get the shows I want at the quality of regular TV.

A few years back, when Hulu did not exist, media corporations had to deal with hundreds of Web sites that would take copyrighted videos and post them on the Internet for general viewership. Sites would have questionable sources of movies and videos, but most of them were free and did not have any ads in the middle of the videos. Media giants realized there was no way of winning the war against Robin Hoods of copyrighted videos. So they decided to aid Hulu, a Web site that would have only copyrighted material (with permission, of course) from specific media corporations. Guess who owns Hulu? NBC, FOX and ABC all have major stakes in Hulu ownership; so when Hulu announces that a show will be taken off their Web site, it’s probably due to NBC, FOX or ABC’s demands.

In the end, viewers like us (whom Hulu insincerely thanks) must grit our teeth and look elsewhere for free online television and movies of quality. The idea of Hulu sounds great (especially the free part), but when major corporations start dipping their hands into the batter, commercialization is sure to follow. Yes, it may be illegal to post copyrighted material, but can we ever reach a middle ground where viewers can get free Internet television without the hassles of commercialization and without breaking any laws?

While that debate goes on, I don’t need Hulu anyway. I’ve got Ninjavideo.

Aditya is a junior in Arts & Sciences and a Forum editor. He can be reached via e-mail at asarvesh@artsci.wustl.edu.

When we were little, we celebrated Halloween by choosing an awesome costume and stuffing candy in our pillowcases that would last until February; but now college students celebrate Halloween by dressing—dare I say it—scantily and going to parties. Is this how Halloween will be for the rest of our lives?

Can we ever go back to sharing candy? In the end, the social aspect of Halloween stays the same, but we’ve shifted from celebrating the pursuit of candy to simply celebrating.

As we get older, Halloween shifts its focus from giving and sharing to self-enjoyment and smaller group interaction, and—when we look at a larger transition that has taken place over time—we can see that Halloween has become less collaborative overall. Halloween used to be a time when neighborhoods organized activities and trick-or-treating in a cooperative manner. Nowadays, parents are too worried about the infinite things that are lurking out there: not Frankenstein or Dracula, but child molesters and drugs. People interact less, and children grow up more wary of social activities. The real idea of Halloween—giving out treats and sharing experiences with others—is forgotten, and Halloween becomes just another occasion to indulge oneself.

In line with the shift from giving and sharing to pure entertainment, it’s interesting to note the massive hold entertainment merchandising has over the American public. Remember when Harry Potter came out, and every other kid was dressed up as Harry? And the same thing happened when Spider-man and Batman movies became popular. According to a survey from the National Retail Federation, American consumers spent almost five billion dollars on Halloween-related goods in 2006. In contrast, UNICEF has spent over 50 years collecting money each year during Halloween and has raised about 120 million dollars over the past 50 years.

The shift from social cooperation to personal entertainment is evident: We spend five billion dollars in one year for Halloween merchandise, but we’ve only raised a fraction of that for the past 50 years for a charitable cause.

But we’re all to blame. Before writing this column, I myself was not looking forward to handing out candy to annoying little kids who probably will all be dressed up as Hannah Montana or a “Twilight” character. However, it matters not; I will be the bigger person and be willing to share my candy (or, at least, bite-sized boxes of left-over raisins).

Aditya is a junior in Arts & Sciences. He can be reached via e-mail at aflutist89@gmail.com.

When I first heard of the Patriots playing in New England, I immediately remembered the Family Guy episode “Patriot Games,” where Peter joins the Patriots, gets fired, joins an English football team and challenges Tom Brady to a game where the Patriots play an English team. Needless to say, Family Guy portrays the English team as a bunch of skinny, “wordy” cowards who get bulldozed by the Patriots. So, if in the future a European football team is created, can they stand up to the massive seasoned Americans? Or are we Americans blissfully unaware of equally powerful rugby players and fast soccer players who are athletically qualified to play our sport?

The overall purpose of these international games is to see if there is a larger international audience that the NFL can tap into to gain more profits. This is probably a response to the United Football League, which plans on having teams in London and Germany. But then again, the UFL is still very new and has nowhere near the audience of NFL games. On the other hand, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell probably wants to see American football have an international presence like baseball or hockey.

Going back to Sunday’s international game, one must wonder how the English will view the game. Many blogs and sports analysts have been polling the audiences and have noticed several factors. To begin with, many people are siding with the Buccaneers simply because they are the underdogs with a worse record. On the other hand, many fans also can’t wait to see Tom Brady in action (last week he destroyed the Tennessee Titans 59-0). It will be most interesting to see how regular soccer fans (who are always depicted as crazy Guinness chugging, uncontrollable maniacs…wait, that sounds like Cubs fans…) will observe the game. Americans love standing behind the field goal waving stuff to distract the kicker, but how will the English react? Will there be a floating beach ball that will cause one of the teams to score (look up Liverpool’s loss to Sunderland last week)?

In the end, the NFL is hoping to bridge the Atlantic gap and see if they can gather more profits from a European audience. As an avid football fan, I realize it does make a large difference where football games are played, and with the NFL having games in international locations (more games have been planned), some teams—especially those with worse records—may complain. However, this Sunday, I can’t wait to see a wild fan painted in Patriot colors running naked across the football field.

Due to lack of communication regarding the construction on the 40, there were (and currently are) only two plausible ways of walking to campus. One route is between JKL and Lee, and the other route is all the way around the Wohl parking garage. The first method is very dangerous, filled with puddles and freshmen, while the second route makes me understand how it felt to get from New York to California by ship before the Panama Canal was built. As the first few days of classes were not conducive to trekking, the sweltering heat at 10 in the morning made my journey feel more grueling than Frodo’s. Clayco’s answer to this problem was to build a series of temporary stairs like mazes between construction zones, which of course can lead you nowhere.

My experiences with bicycles this semester have not been good. I first tried borrowing one from a friend, and it ended up being similar to a deathtrap. Due to a lack of maintenance (and usage), the back brakes are nonfunctional, the seat is loose, the tires are flat and the front wheel is pulling to the right. I nearly died the first time I rode it. I was wise enough to grit my teeth and buy my own.

The final method I chose to use was the campus circulator. My experiences with it have been nothing short of terrifying, hilarious and maddening. On some occasions, the driver tries to eliminate the waiting time per stop delay, and you better get out of the way in those moments. It does not matter what race, gender or disabilities you have, pray you can jump out of its path. Last year, as my friend and I were riding the bus, the driver rocketed around the turn from Wallace Drive into Mallinckrodt, and two poor students had the misfortune of not walking on the sidewalk. The driver came up from behind and honked his horn menacingly. One of the kids probably had to change his pants, and the other exhibited “deer in the headlights” characteristics. On another occasion, it was a bitter winter morning and there was a long line at the Clocktower. Students were frozen, praying for the campus circulator. He came a little early, but kids gratefully clambered aboard. All the kids had boarded, and we noticed a kid on crutches limping toward the bus. The bus driver proceeded to invoke the Pirates’ Code: Those who fall behind get left behind. The kid started to move faster but was left in the snow. I can’t help laughing as I write this, but it sure would have sucked to be that kid.

A note to the freshmen: Wash. U. is not a large campus, but when it is snowing and 2 degrees below zero, your dorm seems like miles away. In general, I suggest bikes as the best method of transportation. Walking isn’t bad if you aren’t in a rush, but if you are really late or if it is raining, take a deep breath, and pray the campus circulator stops for you.

Frequent Scrubs enthusiasts can relate to the show’s message of completely capitalized health care. It is indeed a terrible thing, for countless massive corporations like insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies consistently meddle in the medical field. After the World War II, small private and home-run medical services were slowly losing out to the massive hospitals where physicians were able to serve a larger clientele with ‘better’ equipment and supporting services. However, once the pharmaceutical companies realized that instead of bribing one doctor at a time to purchase their products, they could focus their funds to infiltrate an entire hospital. My experience in working in hospitals has not shown me otherwise. Physicians are given free trips to Las Vegas or Miami for “conferences” where the pharmaceuticals spend millions of dollars lavishly courting the physicians in order to gain customers. You might ask: What’s the big deal? It’s not like they’re committing any fraud or crimes—they’re just seeking new clientele through innovative methods to beat the competition. But therein lies the problem: Medicine has turned from a sacred and revered field to pure, heartless business. Pharmaceutical companies should use the millions of dollars they use for baiting physicians to prove to the doctors the quality of their product in a professional and scientific manner. In fact, millions of dollars that we pay for pharmaceutical products are used for courting physicians and hospitals, and if that practice was cut down, then the prices of drugs would go down.

Many of you may have heard the insane cost of malpractice insurance, but many do not know of the constant struggle between physicians and insurance companies. When running a private practice, many of the physicians relentlessly haggle with the insurance companies for proper payment. Much of the high-figure salaries look good only on paper, but most of it goes back into trying to run a practice or trying to get paid by the patient or insurance company. Today, there is a significant shortage of primary care physicians because many young doctors realize that in order to make decent money against rising malpractice fees, they must be a specialist. This vicious cycle only harms the patients and the physicians, and leaves the insurance companies with bags of money.

How can all of these problems be solved? How can we make it so that the people who need insurance get it and physicians can practice in which ever field they like instead of having to choose a higher-paying specialty to combat malpractice fees? The answer lies with taking the government out of the business of medicine and having them regulate the insurance industries. Hopefully, Obama will realize that the government should not have to monitor the medical industry, but instead should place regulations on massive pharmaceutical and insurance companies who have ‘respected’ politicians in their deep pockets. The idea of medicine developed thousands of years ago to cure the ailments of fellow human beings. That idea has been bastardized and must be rectified in order to create a healthy and harmonious society.

As a native of Detroit, I am no stranger to corruption. Countless scandals of police commissioners, City Council members and even Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick have plagued the Motor City for years. As a mayor, Kilpatrick had improved much of Detroit’s decaying downtown and brought back suburban customers. However, due to “misallocation of funds” and an affair, Kilpatrick went down and brought disgrace upon Detroit. After his incarceration, thousands of citizens didn’t hold back to point fingers and called all politicians horrible names. Yet, if citizens were really so interested in preventing fraud and crooked dealings, they should have been active members in legislative meetings, like town hall meetings and city council meetings where citizens can keep an eye on numbers and statistics that don’t seem correct.

The lessons we learn from the downfall of politicians can go both ways: You might get caught if you mess up, but you can also figure more ways to get through loopholes. More importantly, kids must be instructed that voting isn’t the only method of civic participation. Politicians in local, state and national governments get away with most of their crimes because most constituents are disinterested to pay attention to information that’s available. If more people just questioned their politicians before any fraud or crimes, then whole communities would not be harmed by corrupt politicians.

To succeed in politics, one must definitely engage in some high-browed activity and questionable actions. Most famous politicians get to where they are by following the money. Senators and high government officials know mere popularity will not take them far enough, and this is the concept that must be changed. Somehow, the “moneyed” people seem to replace each other in governmental positions, leaving the common constituent behind. Capitalism is the best system for a healthy, growing population; however, the bureaucracy intertwined with politics prevents the system from working for the people. It becomes necessary, then, for people to become involved in the legislative process.

Take, for example, Washington University as a self-governing body. Students and faculty participate in meetings and councils where we get to know what is going on, and we get to see how our money is being used by the school. Even Student Life consistently prods students to be more aware of the decisions made by the University. Essentially, we have an understanding that the University is functioning as expected.

If the constituents could change the system so that people win with their merits and legislative record instead of how much money they could raise for their campaign, then countless crooked politicians would be deferred from taking control. To do that, we must strictly limit the amount of money and resources that can be raised for campaigns so that money that could have been given to charity does not go to support corrupt politicians’ selfish purposes.

The national debt projected by the Obama administration will hit 20 trillion dollars, or at least hit 100 percent of national GDP. However, the administration has not offered a clear plan of how they will reduce the national debt. The “Cash for Clunkers” program merely resuscitated a terminally ill economy: It staves off the inevitable disaster unless drastic overhauls are conducted.

It has been a rough few months for President Obama, but now that the media has finally seen President Obama cannot part the seas, the American people must realize that non-social policies in place are hard to change, especially in a terrible economy where voters are hesitant to place much focus elsewhere while they try to keep their jobs and put food on the table.

As an Independent voter, I resent both the previous administration’s and the current administration’s economic policies. President Bush’s idea of a “trickle down economy” left the lower socio-economic groups only with tears trickling down their faces, and the administration increased the national debt even more by cutting taxes. And on the other end of the spectrum, President Obama’s administration predicts almost 20 trillion dollars of debt, yet Obama has busted the Treasury trying to fund several new federal programs, some of which are grants where the money will not be returned. For example, much of the scientific community celebrated when many restrictions in research, especially stem cell research, were revoked. However, due to the worsening economy, much of the federal funding has been cut to scientific research, leaving eager scientists with freedom but no money.
But these effects are on a larger scale, and can only be fixed when normal law-abiding citizens make necessary changes to the American lifestyle. Gone are days when you could purchase a $500,000 home on a $40,000 salary. The American dream was a pursuable goal in the post-World War II era, when people spent more than they had yet still could afford luxurious items. Now, people are realizing the true meaning of credit and debt and that money must be saved and spent wisely. Similarly, we must pressure our congressmen who are still from the era where everything could be placed on a bill, and that bill could be paid later. To remain one of the greatest countries in the world, we must first repay our debts (imagine being “repoed” by China) and restructure our internal budget systems so that we do not end up paying for unnecessary expenses, like a senator’s private jet for “campaigning purposes.”

Overall, we must make some changes, because our generation has to foot the massive bill. And no matter how much the current politicians tell us we’re “pre-approved,” we can’t put it on another credit card with a higher limit.