Rant Thursdays: The Automation Nation

Greetings my fellow Blog-o-sphere members,
             This week's rant actually come from some female members of my office in the SUUSA offices. While I have had only a small encounter with this rant topic I have been assured that this is a major problem on our campus. We are taking a journey back to the bathrooms of SUU.
             As many of the members of Thunderbird Nation know, most of our toilets on campus are automated and flush automatically once the motion sensor determines you have stood up after finishing your business. While this can be a nice deterrent to the spread of germs that tend to be found around the porcelain throne. My first issue is that this is a depressing snapshot of our country in that we can't even muster up the energy to pull the handle of a toilet in order to flush. However, I do see a much larger benefit to stopping the spread of germs.
              Now while we have the automatic flush there are some serious issues with the calibrations on some of the toilets on  campus. The number one complaint I have heard from the girls in my office is that the flush is WAY too powerful, because it splashes and the water droplets from the small hurricane in the bowl gets all over the seat. While most men don't have to endure this issue very often due to our evolutionary prowess at being able to stand and to get things done, girls have to deal with this issue every time they are in need of the facilities. So the tiny droplets of toilet bowl water on the seat always can create little surprises that you weren't expecting.
            Furthermore, the timing on the toilet is just a little too fast. As soon as you stand up the toilet flushes, even if you may want to blow your nose (which forces you to have to make the toilet flush agin to get rid of your tissue) or haven't quite moved away to the safe distance that will keep you from being speckled with the water from the bowl. It is almost like a grenade where you have a safe zone about 15 feet from the bowl in order to avoid the explosion.
            One quick applaud for the campus is the water-free urinals that are starting to make appearances in some of the buildings on campus. I fully support the green initiative here on campus and would love to see many other changes like this to help cut down on our waste.
           Check in this next week for more events, observations, and rants about SUU!
            

Thursday Rant: Blizzards

Welcome back from Spring Break SUU! Most of you more than likely went somewhere exotic and warm as I did. Arizona was t-shirt and shorts weather, even in the evening it didn't much colder than 60. A week of relaxation and joy.

Then we return to Cedar City to a mini tornado like weather and the following morning SNOW! As I write this blog entry now I can look out my window and see the soft white flecks falling and building up on my car. The whole year has been fairly light on the snow all the way thru the winter. Then we hit March and Cedar City decided, "Hey, I completely spaced it was supposed to snow earlier this year so here you go"

However, while this is a rant, I offer the following fun ideas to try to take your mind away from the bitter thoughts associated with snow in Cedar:
1) Go make a snow angel, relive your childhood and get a little cold
2) Start a snowball war in your apartment complex, what better way to meet new friends tha tlive nearby than to toss a snowball at them at a high speed.
3)Sit on the corner of 800 W and University. Watch all the Las Vegas students try to figure out what this white stuff on the ground is and how to drive on it. Much laughter to be had.

So as the blizzards will more than likely continue until SunFest, I will be depressed and annoyed. But use my above tips and try to party it up a little while you can.

Thursday Rant: Hate Crimes

Greetings Everyone,
           This week I come to you with a story that I have known about since Monday but wanted to wait till the Thursday Rant to discuss. The Journal on campus as well as a few major newspapers nation wide are running stories on this same subject. This week were SUUSA elections campaigning and voting. The Voice Party consisting of Dallin Crane, Brynn Peterson, Noel Miller and Payden Adams ran a fun campaign. However, when people are different there are those who are ignorant that persecute them.

          Payden is homosexual and not afraid to tell people. However, he also isn't running around hitting on every single man that crosses his path. Well some ignorant and stupid person or group of people decided to tear down all of the posters with his face on them and many of those posters were found with the words "Queer" and "Fag" written on them.

         Now I understand being afraid of what you don't of something new but THIS IS RIDICULOUS! I can't believe Cedar City and SUU would have someone that would do this. We are in the 21st Century and I thought we had gotten past the stage of burning the witches, slavery, and treating people that are different as less than human. We are college aged students and we should at least understand that while that lifestyle may be different than ours, there is no excuse for vandalism and such prominent hate.
          
         Whoever you are, that did these crimes, I hope you someday can come to understand and tolerate people that are different from you. And to all of us, I hope we can increase our understanding and try to pull together because ultimately we are all human, and why should we treat any other human worse than we would want to be treated, just because they are different.