Laura Donovan's Blog

Apparently, the charges against the chalk users on the UA campus are being dismissed.

Thank you, Evan Lisull and Jacob Miller for reminding the UA campus of the importance of free speech. It’s insane that it took so much fuss for the UA to finally realize the ridiculousness of these charges.

According to Sally Gradstudent:

Evan Lisull was detained, cited, and released by the UAPD at the SE intersection of University and Park. The charge was criminal damage, and the arrest occurred at 644 AM today, Monday, Sept. 28.

So far from what we know, he was arrested for participating in today’s reaction to the Jacob Miller arrest on Thursday. A group of students planned to write “Chalk is Speech” on ground surfaces (thereby abiding by the law as it is written) in an effort to exercise their right to free speech.

This blogger is on the side of Evan Lisull and I support his right to free speech.

Wildcat columnist Tiffany Kimmell argues in the Friday Wildcat that sex with no strings attached is the new relationship. She definitely has a point, as disappointing as it may be. Her best excerpt is in the third paragraph of the article:

Unfortunately, girls put a lot of pressure on each other to label and define relationships, even during the first few weeks of dating. A friend of mine use to ask me daily, “Is he your boyfriend yet? Do you want him to be your boyfriend? Where do you see your relationship going? Do you think he wants you to be his girlfriend?”

If you’ve just met up with a guy you like, there’s nothing more annoying than a friend who badgers you with such questions. It’s almost as if she wants to make you feel bad that the guy won’t immediately jump into a relationship with you. If you even want one in the first place, you’ll be unsatisfied, and you don’t need friends to remind you that he’s just not that into you.

Thanks, Tiffany, for reiterating that the college dating scene is not black and white. There are so many in-betweens and shades of gray.

I’m the new Opinions Editor of the Arizona Daily Wildcat college publication, but I’m of course continuing my blogging and staying faithful to the Arizona Desert Lamp blog. Keep reading my blog, the Wildcat, and the Desert Lamp for input on University of Arizona life. Soon enough, I plan on publishing a much-researched blog entry on a specific campus issue I’ve been obsessing over for months. Stay tuned!

Starting Saturday September 26, the SUMC UA Bookstore will celebrate banned books by making them all 20% for an entire week.

Here are some banned books that you can expect to see on sale:

Count me in on the banned book sale!

“Rape, like many things, is kind of a class matter. You have to not deserve it for the world to care even a little bit.” -Charles Bowden.

Though likely unrelated to rape, the recent Yale University grad student slaying reminds me of this quote. A young woman is found dead in a university building and the world acts as if this kind of thing is so unusual and shocking. Unfortunately, people are murdered everyday, and these tragedies aren’t publicized in the same manner.

An English professor used to talk about society’s fascination with the tragedies of women, and he mentioned Edgar Allan Poe’s Raven theme that the death of a beautiful woman is the most poetic thing in the world. Across the country, everyone knew when Chandra Levy, Laci Peterson, and Natalie Holloway went missing, and now, audiences are mourning the loss of Yale’s Annie Le.

Society can use this unfortunate event to be more cautious. Believe it or not, someone is unfairly killed more than once a year, the news just chooses not to give each case substantial amount of coverage.

I wouldn’t normally use this blog as a pseudo-diary, but I’d like to muse over some of the unusual things that happened to me on campus this afternoon.

As I was walking towards my parking garage, a strange man approached me and said, “You just think we’re all following you, DON’T YOU?!”

I just laughed, and he repeated himself.

Today, my professor made a scene in front of the entire class because I chose not to sit in my usual front row center seat. I instead sat in the back of the room, and apparently, this was really bizarre to my instructor. In the end, though, I’m glad to have a professor who cares enough about my academic success to advise me to sit closer to the board.

Weirder things have happened to me, but aside from getting screamed at in Italian by “fake business/briefcase man,” bothered by the biggest creeper ever for an entire academic school year, and bombarded by numerous naive freshmen boys constantly seeking advice, life has been pretty normal on the UA campus.

Because I’ve been accosted so many times, I have some tips on how to carry yourself on campus:

1. Maintain a city mentality
Last year, I had two-hour breaks between each class, so I used that time to catch up on my course reading requirements. I’d usually read on Heritage Hill, in the UofA Bookstore, or on the campus benches by Modern Languages.

In each of these locations, I was bothered by some lunatic stranger or another. The creepy stalker found me reading by Modern Languages, and even after I threatened to call the police on him if he ever talked to me again, he’d still walk past the Modern Languages benches everyday, often complaining loudly to his friend about the “redheaded girl who rejected [him].” Because I’m incredibly stubborn at times, I refused to find a new reading spot. When he ended up joining one of my favorite on-campus clubs, I shamelessly warned all the girls, only to find out that he’d harassed more than five members.

Case in Point: If you’re studying and a random person approaches you, it’s probably not the best idea to say more than a few words to this person. Seriously, if he has to creep on random on-campus girls to find a date, he’s definitely not the best you can do. Avoid suspicious strangers and keep to yourself.

2. Remain Anonymous in Class
This is only a good idea if you want to blend in and just eek through a course. I actually love most of my classes and enjoy engaging with the other students, but on days like today when I just want to sit in the back for no particular reason at all, I’m scolded, and it’s all because I usually go the extra mile as a student. For the most part, it’s better to be the initiative student, but on your off days, you probably won’t want someone else to make you feel lazy.

Anyone who followed my blog this summer knows that I spent six weeks in France with the Arizona in Paris study abroad program.

Because I’m feeling somewhat reminiscent, I’ve been re-reading my old study abroad blog entries. I don’t want the blog to completely die out, so if you’re at all interested in the Arizona in Paris program or if you just want to read about a college student’s traveling experience in a foreign country, read my study abroad blog, and I recommend you start reading the June entries.

It’s just helpful if you a) want to go to France b) want to study abroad anywhere or c) like reading about Americans making fools of themselves in other countries.

My study abroad blog will fulfill your light reading needs. Inch Allah, as the French sometimes say, my blog stories could turn me into the next Julie Powell, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Due to the suspicious trend of fraternity house removals this past year, this blog is greatly dedicated to University of Arizona Greek Life watch. I published my first installment of Greek Life revocation news last week. Other students have also commented on this apparent crackdown, but nothing has really changed for Greek Life.

I just came across an old Wildcat article from 2007:

Seven fraternities and a sorority are on probation until the end of the semester for alcohol-related violations that range from open parties to minors consuming alcohol.

Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity was placed on probation Oct. 3 and had several minor-in-possession citations on bid night.

The other fraternities cited were Delta Chi, Phi Kappa Tau, Tau Kappa Epsilon, Kappa Sigma and Sigma Pi. Six of the seven fraternies and Sigma Kappa sorority will be on probation until May, and Sigma Phi Epsilon until April.

Greek chapters mentioned are on probation for Risk Management Policy violations, which could include alcohol violations. Not all the organizations are on social probation, however, they are on probation of some form.

Interestingly enough, three of the seven listed fraternities that were on probation have been removed from campus or lost recognition, starting with Sigma Phi Epsilon in December 2008. This makes it easier for me to grasp Dean Thompson’s statement in my previous article:

“It was not that we just decided at this moment to penalize the fraternities. There had always been issues.”

As I’ve said before, Greek Life is not the only on-campus organization to have “risk management issues.” Other clubs and groups will engage in underage drinking, and they won’t be punished. It’s just easier to pick on Greek Life, even though they bring great contributions to college campuses.

“The big point I’d like to make is that there’s no difference between the greeks and the non-greeks,” Anthony Skevakis, program coordinator of judicial affairs for the dean of students office told the Wildcat. “They just tend to get caught more.”

Check out the unusual tweet from the UA Campus Rec Center:

UACampusRec:

Come to the rec center you don’t wanna get phat… or do you?

It’s actually more convenient for me to use my apartment complex gym. Sure, there’s not as much equipment, but I don’t have to fight for thirty minutes on the treadmill and elliptical machines. There’s also the issue of men sitting around chatting to take up space instead of actually lifting weights. It’s crowded and I leave feeling embarrassed for the men because I’m dripping with sweat after running several miles and they’re pretending to get a good workout.

Until the rec is expanded, therefore big enough for me to avoid the overcrowded rooms and men faking workouts, I’ll stick to my mini home gym.