Helen Mirren told off a bunch of people drumming and making a commotion for a parade for being loud during the first half of a play she was starring in as Queen Elizabeth II. Spectators said it was unusual to see someone dressed as the queen saying such… profane things. [Source]

Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II

Monday (May 6^th, 2013)

YouTube may soon start to charge $1.99 a month for up to 50 of their video channels. This service will also get rid of the ads before videos and allow people to watch “exclusive content”. [Source]

The Met Gala was Monday night! The theme was punk, which some celebrities chose to downright ignore while others went all out for it. Here’s a gallery of all the dresses and such.

Tuesday (May 7^th, 2013)

Climate change isn’t just affecting the polar bears any more. British wines may be forever changed by new growing conditions due to rising temperatures. [Source]

Mark Sanford, the disgraced former South Carolina governor who resigned after coming clean about his affair, won the special election for South Carolina’s first congressional district’s House seat, beating out Stephen Colbert’s sister Elizabeth Colbert Busch. [Source]

Syria shut down its internet once again, likely due to the attacks going on in the region. This also happened back in November when the internet was down for about two days. (Note: the internet returned nineteen hours later this time).

Probably due to peer pressure, new Secretary of Treasury Jack Lew has changed his signature. Personally, I think his older one looked cooler. [Source]

Wednesday (May 8^th, 2013)

Three months later, police found and arrested the people involved in the $50 million diamond heist in Belgium. 31 people were arrested from three different countries. [Source]

James Holmes, the man behind the Aurora, CO shooting during a screening of The Dark Knight Rises,  pleaded insanity to his court case. [Source]

Nearly a third of all bee colonies in the United States didn’t make it this winter, making it the fourth-worst winter since 2006. It’s particularly unfortunate since bee pollination is crucial for many farmers. [Source]

The newly appointed head of the CIA’s Clandestine Service was outed by the media and Twitter. Obviously, the CIA will probably need to reevaluate this decision since the director, Frank Archibald, is technically still supposed to be undercover. It’s Valerie Plame all over again.

Thursday (May 9^th, 2013)

Friday (May 10^th, 2013)

Police have arrested suspects involved in a robbery that took $45 million from ATMs in the span of 10 hours. [Source]

The International Space Station was leaking ammonia into space today. But don’t worry guys, NASA has it all under control. Let’s be real though, it was only a matter of time before the human race started messing up outer space. [Source]

The carbon dioxide levels have reached a high not seen for millions of year, passing the 400 parts per million mark. Pretty scary. [Source]

Interesting Reads

Historical (British) figures in modern-day garb.

Movie stars and their porn star names.

One man’s story about being swallowed by a hippo.

How American is your music taste? (And on that note, everyone hates Justin Bieber)

The post Are You in the Loop? The Met Ball, Mark Sanford and Climate Change. appeared first on The Campus Companion.

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Remember that story about that high school in Georgia that has always held two separate proms for its white and black students? That ended over the weekend when the high school hosted its first integrated prom. Congrats, guys, but you’re a little late; the civil rights movement was decades ago.

President Obama plans to nominate Anthony Foxx, current mayor of Charlotte, as the transportation secretary, bringing in some racial diversity to the cabinet. [Source]

The White House Correspondent’s Dinner was on Saturday. Hosted by Conan O’Brien, the event was held at the Hilton and attended by basically anyone who matters in the media as well as a select few Hollywood guests. So, not me. But, in case you missed it (which you probably did because who watches C-SPAN on a Saturday night?). here is the link to Obama’s speech and Conan’s speech.

Meet Misha, the man who supposed brainwashed Tamerlan Tsarnaev into a radicalized Muslim, though he denies this involvement.

Monday (April 29^th, 2013)

Jason Collins became the first major league sports male athlete to come out. He received praise from many, including former Stanford classmate Chelsea Clinton and her dad, Bill Clinton. He even got a phone call from current President Obama.

Wolves are making a comeback in Germany after being gone for over two centuries, having been driven out of the country by hunting and other means in the early 1800s. [Source]

Tim Tebow was let go by the New York Jets. [Source]

Ghanaian leaders have banned the killing of “spirit children”, which are essentially kids that are born with physical deformities that Ghanaians have traditionally believed to be possessed by evil spirits. [Source]

Tuesday (April 30^th, 2013)

The Dutch Queen abdicated the throne in favor of her son, making it the first time in 123 years the Netherlands has had a king. This would also make the new monarch Europe’s youngest though don’t get too excited ladies, he’s by no means that young at the age of 46. [Source]

A Missouri senator was writing a proposal on regulations of higher education in the state of Missouri when he decided to make things personal by banning seersucker suits for everyone over the age of eight. Obviously, this didn’t end up happening but still, really? What did seersucker ever do to you? [Source]

Following an on-going hunger strike at the prison, President Obama is finally taking further action to close Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. [Source]

Wednesday (May 1^st, 2013)

Erica Lafferty, the daughter of the late Sandy Hook principal, confronted Senator Kelly Ayotte at a town hall meeting in New Hampshire about the senator’s choice to vote against expanded background checks in the gun control bill recently. Things were, as you can imagine, very tense. [Source]

Guys, Amanda Knox did not do it. She did not kill her British roommate when she was studying abroad in Italy.

Three additional suspects have been arrested, two of whom are from Kazakhstan. All three suspects were classmates of Dzhokhar. Azamat Tazhayakov and Dias Kadyrbayev were charged with “conspiracy to obstruct justice by plotting to dispose of a laptop computer and a backpack containing fireworks belonging to” Dzhokhar and Robel Phillipos was charged with “making false statements to law enforcement officials in a terrorism investigation.” [Source]

Azamat Tazhayakov, Dias Kadyrbaev, and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev

Thursday (May 2^nd, 2013)

Friday (May 3^rd, 2013)

You probably heard about Reese Witherspoon’s arrest (“Do you know my name?”) and now you can actually watch it through this footage from TMZ.

Somewhere between 50 and 100 people were killed in Syria in an attack on the village al-Baida. The attack was done by those loyal to Syrian President al-Assad and it is believed that this was done in response to an attack that rebels did to some pro-Assad fighters earlier in the day, which resulted in at least six deaths and 20 wounded. [Source]

Speaking of Syria, the United States believes that Israel conducted an airstrike into the country though information is still limited. [Source]

Rhode Island has officially passed gay marriage! Governor Chafee wrote a nice piece in the New York Times about his decision to support the cause even back when he was a Republican Senator (he’s now independent). [Source]

Interesting Reads

You can now review prisons on Yelp, which many former inmates have already done.

Why our grocery stories only sell a few varieties of apples.

Handwritten manuscripts of classic novels along with the original doodles in the margins.

High school = the real world.

How one man became a hipster.

The post Are You in the Loop? The White House Correspondent’s Dinner, Jason Collins, and Gay Marriage in Rhode Island. appeared first on The Campus Companion.

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As you probably know by now, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was caught by the police after he spent a few hours hiding in a man’s boat. He was unconscious for most of the weekend and was in a critical condition for most of that period of time.

There was an earthquake in Sichuan, China (the same location of the disastrous earthquake in China in 2008) where about 188 people died though it is said that there will probably be a faster recovery than last time.

Of the 166 inmates at Guantanamo Bay, 84 of them are on a hunger strike and 16 of them are now being force-fed through tubes. [Source]

As most college students know, 4/20 is a major “holiday” for some people. However, celebrations were cut short in Denver when a shooting broke out resulting in the canceling of an event on Sunday. [Source]

Monday (April 22^nd, 2013)

Happy Earth Day (or Other Planets’ Day if you’re into that)! Go out and plant a tree and pray for humanity because the world has been pretty messed up in the past few weeks.

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev will be charged for conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction and since he’s an American citizen and committed the crime on American soil, he will not be tried as an enemy combatant, which has stirred up discussion and debate. He is also communicating with the police via writing and he has told authorities that he and his brother acted alone in the bombing last week.

A week after the bombing in Boston, a terror plot in Canada was thwarted by authorities. Canadian police are saying that the two men arrested are affiliated with a terrorist group and were targeting a train route. [Source]

Tuesday (April 23^rd, 2013)

A car bomb exploded in Libya outside the French Embassy in Tripoli. No one was killed though two guards were injured. [Source]

Let’s welcome the students of Cooper Union to the world of student loans! Starting in fall of 2014, the school will be charging tuition for the first time in a century. [Source]

In other news, Obama has the same approval rating as Bush does right now. [Source]

France legalized gay marriage. It is the 14th country in the world to do so. [Source]

Wednesday (April 24^th, 2013)

Gay marriage passed in Rhode Island, making it the tenth state in the U.S. to pass it and the last of the states in New England. [Source]

In more Dzhokhar news, officials are saying that he was unarmed at the time of arrest and also, he used to kind of deal weed on the side.

The H7N9 flu in China has now spread to Taiwan. The World Health Organization is saying it’s “one of the most lethal influenza viruses” they have seen so far.

In the United States, you can buy a gun even if you’re on a terrorism watch list. [Source]

Thursday (April 25^th, 2013)

Friday (April 26^th, 2013)

I know, I know. Lots of stories about the Boston bomber. Here is a link to an interview given by the man whose car was hijacked by the two bombers. Also, Dzhokhar was transferred to a prison hospital.

It’s official! Football is getting College Football Playoff in lieu of the Bowl Championship Series though it is unclear when this will begin.

Twelve years after the events of 9/11, someone has found a 5-foot long piece of what officials believe to be part off one of the planes that struck the Twin Towers in Ground Zero. Really? In the decade that has passed, no one else seemed to notice this?

Interesting Reads

The economy will bounce back through home and car purchases but student loans are holding college graduates from buying homes and cars, thereby possibly preventing an economic recovery.

Test your economic literacy.

Gatherings of former and current presidents in history.

Using Spanish ham sandwiches to look at the financial crisis.

Gwyneth Paltrow name drops Jay-Z a LOT.

The post Are You in the Loop? Boston News, Bangladesh Tragedy and H7N9 Flu. appeared first on The Campus Companion.

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If you were lucky enough to live in the upper half of the country, you might have been able to see the Northern Lights! [Source]

Justin Bieber visited the Anne Frank house in The Hague and left a note in the guestbook saying, “Anne Frank was a great girl. Hopefully she would have been a belieber.” As you can imagine, the internet had a lot of fun with this. But it also raises the question, would she? [Source]

Adam Scott won the Masters and may be the next Bachelor?

Monday (April 15^th, 2013)

You probably heard about the tragedy that struck Boston around 2:45 PM near the finish line at the Boston Marathon. Three people were killed (including an 8-year old boy who had just hugged his father to congratulate him on his finish) and over 140 more were injured by the bomb blasts. There was also a blast at the JFK Library. Here’s a list of all the precautions that were taken after the blasts.

Pulitzer Prize winners were announced. Here’s a list of all the winners.

Rutger’s ex-head coach Mike Rice is apparently coaching his daughter’s middle school basketball team. As you might remember, he was fired for shouting awful things at his players as well as kicking them. Also in, there has been a rise in the number of girls seeking therapy from verbal abuse in the same town.

Tuesday (April 16^th, 2013)

The bombing at the Boston Marathon continued to be investigated. Newspapers around the world reacted to it. Pictures (warning: some are graphic) were released. The New York Post got a lot of things wrong. Theories about what happened and the cause are sprouting up.

An earthquake in Iran left at least 40 dead. Over 400,000 felt the impact of the quake. [Source]

Wednesday (April 17^th, 2013)

The Senate rejected a law that would call for background checks on people trying to purchase guns, despite most of the Senators actually supporting the law. They just don’t want to lose a reelection in 2014. [Source]

New Zealand passed gay marriage in an overwhelming 77-44 vote. Senators and spectators alike all sang a song together afterwards which is pretty darn cute. [Source]

A fertilizer plant blew up late on Wednesday in Waco, Texas. At least five people died. The incident is likely to be an industrial accident. [Source]

In lighter news, the cupcake fad is over. Like really though. Crumbs‘ stock has fallen from its peak of around $13 to around $1 now. If you’re still eating cupcakes, let me introduce you to macarons. [Source]

Also, the Senate didn’t pass the new gun bill that would call for a background check on buying guns. Actually, that’s not true. It technically did pass (54-46) but a filibuster would require at least 60 votes for the bill to pass. President Obama was not happy. [Source]

Thursday (April 18^th, 2013)

Friday (April 19^th, 2013)

So many things. First, MIT’s campus was basically shut down due to a gunman on the loose and an officer died. But then, it turned out that the two suspects involved were actually the two suspects from the bombing. One ended up dying and the other (as of Friday afternoon) is still on the loose though that is subject to change. The suspect’s name is Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and he and his brother Tamerlan are the prime suspects in the case of the Boston marathon bombing. You can read all about Dzhokhar here. Eyewitness accounts about the Watertown lockdown here as well as more pictures here. Here is a video of the boys’ uncle speaking about his nephews.

[Update]: The suspect was later captured on Friday night.

Wearing a kilt may lead to a more fertile tomorrow, according to a Scottish study.

Interesting Reads

Trick people into thinking you were at Coachella too.

Charts of how we pay taxes, if you care.

This week was awful.

A timeline of all the things that happened this week.

The post Are You in the Loop? The Worst Week Ever appeared first on The Campus Companion.

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#collegerelationships

In need of advice? The Campus Companion Advice Corner is there to be your brutally honest friend, give you some good advice, even hold your hand. We’ve got your back.

Submit anonymously by clicking here.

I’m interested in this guy who only wants to hook up with me and not have a real relationship. I’m super attracted to him to the point of distraction, but I don’t know what to do about our different expectations. Should I wait it out?

Your question brings up an even deeper one: when is it time to DTR (define the relationship)? Of course, most things take their course and eventually lead into relationships. But, if you’re really concerned about your different expectations so much that it’s taking away from the time you spend together, then go ahead and ask him! Don’t compromise your beliefs in relationships simply because you want to make it work- in the long run you’ll feel most likely feel unhappy and used. It may seem awkward and weird, but it’s definitely important to understand both your and your partner’s intentions long before it spirals out of control. Good luck and stay calm! If it’s meant to be, it will definitely work out. 

How do people think of research topics for science?

Oftentimes, college students are assigned research topics for whatever research they are participating. But it that’s not the case for you and you have no constraints, find a topic that interests you! Alright, that sounded super cheesy. If you’re truly struggling to come up with an idea for research, think about any major gaps in knowledge in your specific field. For example- why are people so attracted to cats on the internet? Curiosity and necessity are great drivers of research and ingenuity! You’re going to be spending a lot of time researching, working, and experimenting- so choose wisely!

How can I get a boyfriend, not just a douche-y hook-up?

So, I take it you’re a relationship sort of person! There’s no harm or shame in that. First off, take a few steps back and evaluate where you’ve been spending your social time. If you’ve been hoping to find the partner of your dreams at a frat party….perhaps try a different venue. The hook-up culture is most common at the average rager, party, concert and whatever else involves alcohol and grinding. If you’re looking for a boyfriend, try your other extracurricular activities or classes- you already have something in common and you’re meeting out of the context of a dance floor! If all else fails, follow the old adage: you often meet the most important people when you’re not looking!

The post The Campus Companion Advice Corner #1: Hookups, Relationships, and Science Experiments appeared first on The Campus Companion.

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Dehydration and Electrolyte Imbalance: Alcohol makes you shrivel up like a raisin

Alcohol (ethanol) spreads to almost every part of the body after being absorbed, including glands.  One gland, the pituitary gland, secretes a hormone (which acts as a signal to other parts of the body to carry out certain processes) known as anti-diuretic hormone (ADH).  ADH tells the kidney to reabsorb water into the body that you would ordinarily pee out.  It is active when you need more water, to prevent you from becoming dehydrated.  Alcohol blocks the release of ADH by the pituitary gland, so instead of reabsorbing water, your body gets rid of it instead.

This explains why when you drink you feel like you constantly have to go to the bathroom.  The body is essentially flushing out its fluids, instead of using them when you need them, leading you to become dehydrated.

Prevent it:

Most experts recommend consuming no more than one drink per hour.  Because we are college students, and therefore that seems pretty unreasonable, another way to slow dehydration is to drink water or another hydrating drink (like Gatorade) between each drink.  Double fist with a water bottle if you have to, it may look silly, but you’ll be the one laughing the next day when you can go out in the sun and your friends can’t.

Gastrointestinal Problems: Alcohol destroys your liver and makes you puke

Alcohol is partially absorbed through the stomach and intestines after you drink it, and the chemical properties of ethanol cause irritation of the stomach and intestinal lining, leading to inflammation.  This slows the emptying of the stomach, and makes your digestive tract work harder, producing more stomach acids and pancreatic and intestinal acids.

Liver damage is one of the most well known side effects of drinking.  This is because alcohol is broken down by the liver, and when the body senses alcohol being present, it focuses all of the liver’s energy on metabolizing it.  This means the liver doesn’t break down other molecules it normally would, including fats.  Over time, this makes the liver worse at breaking down those fats, leading to fatty deposits on the liver.

All of these reactions can lead to the nausea, vomiting, and upset stomach that result from drinking.

Prevent it:

Doubtless you’ve heard the phrase “Beer before liquor, never been sicker.”  While mixing different types of alcohol, such as beer, liquor, and wine, will not make you sick (they all have ethanol) the other components of these drinks can increase speed of intoxication, which can affect how your stomach feels.  Carbonated drinks, like beers and sparkling wines, irritate the lining of the stomach more than noncarbonated drinks, which can make the symptoms the alcohol is causing worse.

Eating before, and with, alcohol can help prevent nausea.  Fatty foods especially slow the absorption of alcohol, but any food in the stomach before or with alcohol causes the digestive system to split its energy to process both, thus slowing the rate of alcohol absorption.  While this means you might not get drunk as quickly, it also means you will not irritate your body as much, and might feel better as the night goes on and the next day.

Disruption of Sleep: Alcohol doesn’t help you get a good night’s sleep

While alcohol makes falling into bed and passing out easy, it doesn’t mean your night of sleep is a good one.  When you sleep, you go through stages of dreaming (known as rapid-eye-movement or REM) and deep sleeping (slow-wave).  Alcohol puts the body in longer stages of slow-wave sleep, and shorter REM stages.  REM sleep is necessary for memory-retrieval, among other things, so depriving the body of this stage can inhibit restfulness (and memory of the previous night).

Alcohol also causes relaxation of the throat muscles, which can lead to impaired breathing while sleeping, causing snoring and sleep apnea.  This is when the body is deprived of enough oxygen while sleeping, waking you up (often without you realizing it).  These disruptions prevent the normal progression of the sleep cycles discussed above.

 Prevent it:

Going to bed while drunk obviously means the large amount of alcohol in your system will disrupt your sleep more.  If you can, stop drinking at least an hour before you go to bed (it takes your body about an hour to fully process one alcoholic drink), that way, you do not continue getting more drunk even while you’re asleep.  The less alcohol you have in your system when you fall asleep, the better sleep you’ll get.  Besides, while you are not drinking alcohol, you could use that time to drink water and prevent the headache of the next morning.

Alcohol is a huge part of college life for many of us.  It can lead to fun nights, but also terrible mornings.  By drinking water, eating food, and slowing down, you can help alleviate your hangover symptoms the next day.

The post The Why And How Of Your Hangover appeared first on The Campus Companion.

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Chick flicks are screwing up our perception of love.

There.  I said it.  I have indulged in many a chick flick in my life, but of all the movies I’ve seen, I can think of two that are actually maybe a teeny bit accurate.  TWO.  You want to know what those two are?  Say Anything… with John Cusack and… wait, scratch that, I can only think of one.  I’ll come back to Say Anything… later.  Right now, I’m going to educate all the hopeless romantics out there about how chick flicks are messing up our ideas of love, and in turn, messing up our relationships in college.

The Hate-turned-Love Relationship (i.e. The Ugly Truth)

 When is the last time you met someone you really didn’t like, who you proceeded to butt heads with for long periods of time, and then all of a sudden realized all their little “quirks” (aka douchebagness) was cute?  Come on now, people.  Even if you did have one of these pseudo love-hate relationships that blossomed into a real relationship, do you think it would last?

In The Ugly Truth, Katherine Heigl plays a stuck up news executive who wears her hair in a bun and lives alone with her cat.  Gerard Butler is a tell-it-like-it-is man’s man who somehow gets all the women when he clearly has his head so far up his own ass I’m surprised he can even recognize a female when he sees one.  They are so fundamentally different when it comes to love and relationships, that them becoming attracted to one another is absolutely absurd.  Think about it.  Gerard Butler’s character is probably the type of guy who likes hookups and taking women home from the bar.  Heigl’s character prefers romantic dates with men who wear ties and loafers.  Butler probably parties a lot, Heigl obviously doesn’t.  Even if sparks flew, what kind of a relationship would that be?  They don’t even like doing the same things!

I feel like especially in college, the need to be interested in the same things and actually be friends as well as a couple is neccessary.  In college, you are spending most of your time trying new things and making mistakes and changing your mind.  Dating someone totally different from you might help you learn about yourself and open you up to new experiences, but you have to actually like the person…

The Creepy Stalker (i.e. The Notebook and Twilight) 

Okay, so Twihards might cringe to have their obsession lumped in the chick flick category, but this whole convoluted series is about two people falling in love, and then causing tons of problems for everyone else.  But, before they can cause worldwide vampire panic, there was the initial attraction.

As for The Notebook, I know this is perhaps one of the most beloved chick flicks of all time, and I’ve watched it plenty of times myself, but I feel like something important needs to be pointed out.

If a guy watches you while you sleep without you knowing it or threatens to kill himself unless you date him, run far far away.

Yes, even if he looks like Ryan Gosling.  Come on, ladies, think about this.  Imagine you were innocently at a fair with your friend, and this guy you’ve never met keeps talking to you, and you obviously aren’t interested (because watch, Rachel McAdams is obviously not interested) and then suddenly he is hanging by one hand dozens of feet in the air telling you to go on a date with him.  Imagine how terrifying that would be! Also, I would like to point out that nobody else in town questioned his sanity.  Where was the “Son, do you need to talk to someone about your suicidal tendencies?” Why was nobody concerned that this dude was risking his life for a girl he just met?

And then we have Twilight.  Never mind that Edward can read minds and has a serious case of the creepy stares, he also never sleeps and would rather spend his time perched on Bella’s windowsill watching her sleep.  And when she finds out, does she run for her police officer father?  Nope.  She thinks, “Oh, how cute.  He likes to watch me sleep,” and then spends the rest of the Twilight series giving up her whole life for this cold, dead guy who drinks animal blood.  Really?

(Also, Robert Pattinson spends most of the movie looking constipated. Not sexy.)

If Edward and Bella were a couple in college, they would be the type of people you would see during the first week of school, and then, once they found each other, poof.  You never see them again.  Occasionally you see a picture of you all together and wonder what happened to them, but they have isolated themselves so much from everyone else that it’s not worth the effort to reach out. Don’t be that couple! If you break up, you won’t have anyone else to turn to.

The Rude Girl Gets the Hot Guy (i.e. The Lucky One, 10 Things I Hate About You, The Last Song)

Ok, so Nicholas Sparks is a serious offender when it comes to writing especially mean or annoying female characters, and then having the male characters wait around patiently for her to see his ways.  As for 10 Things I Hate About You, I might be biased because I don’t like Julia Stiles, but seriously, her character is one of the most unpleasant people ever.

In The Lucky One, never mind the fact Zac Efron walked from California to Louisiana to find some chick he has never met, but she isn’t even nice to him.  She literally does everything in her power to drive him away, and makes a total ass of herself, and he sits there looking all brooding and plays with her kid and helps her dogs and fixes her tractor.  When she finally realizes how awesome he is, he accepts her and forgives her.

No.  Why would any guy waste time on a girl who doesn’t treat him well?  I have never heard anyone say, “Well, she’s kind of a total brat to me, but I think she will come around.”  This also goes for The Last Song.  Miley Cyrus can’t act, for one, so she might have thought she was actually supposed to be an appealing character, but regardless, she shuts Liam Helmsworth down over and over again, and has hissy fits for no reason.  And yet, he keeps on coming back.

If you dislike someone enough to treat them that way, it’s not going to work.  In the real world, they either give up or give it right back to you, and there is no dating involved.  People don’t fall in love after treating each other like dirt.  It doesn’t happen.  I like to think most of us have plenty of other people around us that treat us well.  And anyway, ain’t nobody got time for that.  I seriously doubt a guy will waste his time on a girl that sends such clear hate signals.

Say Anything… or the Greatest Chick Flick Ever

If you are a girl or a John Cusack fan and haven’t seen this movie, shame on you.  The reason this is such a great chick flick is because it actually shows the progression of a relationship from the beginning, and past the initial wooing.  Cusack is bumbling, awkward, and totally in over his head with Ione Skye’s character, the valedictorian and daddy’s girl.  And yet, he is so appealing, and so real, you understand exactly why she falls in love with him.  And he with her.  The movie doesn’t end there, either.  It goes on to show how they handle her father’s tax fraud and her leaving to go to England, and it isn’t perfect, but throughout, both characters are consistent. They aren’t caricatures of actual people, they act like real people.

Say Anything… is about two recent high school graduates who are trying to find out where they are going in life and where they belong. They work through their identity crises together, and make mistakes along the way, but still stick with one another.  This movie is such a great example of how a relationship should work, especially during a time when we are going through so many changes, that I think everyone should see it.

So let’s stop obsessing over unrealistic fantasies and creepy behavior.  And keep in mind, if Liam Helmsworth and Miley Cyrus happened, there is hope for you.

The post How Chick Flicks Mess With Our Heads appeared first on The Campus Companion.

Related posts:

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2. 7 Guys to Never Date and Just Keep as Friends (Or As Strangers….Forever)
3. Why It’s Okay to Like Valentine’s Day

SCIENTISTS ARE MAKING PROGRESS ON AN INVISIBILITY CLOAK (THOUGH IT ONLY APPLIES TO  A LIMITED RANGE OF LIGHT WAVES). [Source]

As April 15th creeps up, everyone across the country has either already done their taxes or is scrambling to do them. If you haven’t filed them already, pull a Shakespeare and just not do it because apparently Shakespeare was a tax-evading food hoarder. [Source]

Monday (April 1^st, 2013)

Remember the news story about the pig carcasses in a river outside of Shanghai? It could be the beginning of a pandemic. [Source]

Anddddd baseball is back! No gruesome Kevin Ware-esque injuries so far either. Ahem, basketball.

Caroline Kennedy is the new U.S. Ambassador to Japan. [Source]

Tuesday (April 2^nd, 2013)

Colorado might become the Napa Valley for weed. [Source]

For the very first time, there’s a majority in the Senate for marriage equality. 48 Democrats, 2 Republicans and Vice President Joe Biden all support it. [Source]

Wednesday (April 3^rd, 2013)

Cancer clinics across the country are turning down patients on Medicare because of the sequester. Thanks Obama. [Source]

So, France officially has the cutest lawn mowers in the world. The Mayor of Paris decided to have four two-foot tall sheep munch on grass until October to keep the grass nice and trim in a half-acre patch of grass in a park in the 19th Arrondissement in order to be more eco-friendly. [Source]

North Korea may have moved their missiles closer to the United States. Yikes. [Source]

Thursday (April 4^th, 2013)

Friday (April 5^th, 2013)

A federal judge wants the morning-after pill to be available to girls of all ages. As nice of an idea as that is, the reason the Health and Human Services secretary Kathleen Sebelius required girls ages 16 and under to have a prescription for the pill was because it wasn’t scientifically proven to be safe girls as young as age 11. [Source]

The new National Republican Congressional Committee’s website kind of looks like BuzzFeed. Does this mean we’ll start to see things like 11 Congressmen with Adorable Kittens? [Source]

So now there could be FOUR NFL players ready to come out about their sexuality. [Source]

Six people have died from the H7N9 strain of avian flu and fourteen more have been infected though the World Health Organization says not to panic since it hasn’t been proven to transmit from human to human. Still though… [Source]

Interesting Reads

Ten articles from April Fools’ Day that seem fake but are actually very, very real.

What does your favorite Pixar movie say about you?

The post Are You in the Loop? H7N9, Marijuana Legalization, France’s Cute Lawn Mowers and Arrested Development. appeared first on The Campus Companion.

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It’s April, which means that there is only about a month and a half left of school. While Spring Fever is starting to hit and exam anxiety is starting to creep, there’s still the all-important course registration period to contend with. A seemingly mindless task that doesn’t involve much more than clicking a bunch of fields on a course registration page, it’s actually a critical exercise that does require some thought and planning. But, there is a way to minimize the burden of selecting your classes for next semester and buying yourself at least a summer to get your shit together.

Talk to TAs/People Who’ve Taken the Class Before

Talking to a professor about a class you’re interested in taking next semester is not the way to go, because all that is going to happen is that the prof is going to parrot a response that vaguely sounds like the course description. If you want to get a real feel for a given class, make it point to seek out someone (responsible) who took the class and give you a balanced response about the demands of class without boasting about how s/he left everything to the last minute, didn’t read anything and still got an A. You’ll also get a better idea of the balancing act that the class involves, because quite frankly, your professors often have unrealistic expectations that your sole focus is on their one class.

TAs are another valuable source of information to consider, especially since they are either undergrads or grad students who have a unique insight into the inner workings of a professor’s twisted mind. They do the grading, they know the prof’s pet interests and peculiarities, and they are the ones who lead discussion sections. Doing a little research now can save you a lot of trauma when you’re trying to check out a million classes come fall shopping period.

Check Your Prereqs

This is such a simple thing to do, but then again, perhaps it’s so basic that people forget. A great way to limit the field of uncertainty for the fall semester is to check off any major requirements or prereqs you’ll need for future semesters. In fact, you could end up killing two birds with one stone if you plan to take a prereq in the fall for a more interesting and advanced class in the spring. Some forward thinking can only help.

Pre-register for Limited Enrollment Classes

So you know how course registration begins at a precise time in the wee hours of the morning (well, okay 7 AM, which is the crack of dawn by college standards)? Well, set the alarm if you’re eyeing any classes with a limited enrollment. Quite frankly, it’s more difficult to beg yourself into a class with a slew of other wait-listers in the fall than it is to pre-register and drop the class the spring before. Every college has gunners, and you can bet at 7:00:30 they will have finished pre-registered for all the classes you waited until noon to sign-up for and have blocked you out completely.

Class-Specific Registration Advice

Entering Sophomore Year

1. Don’t overload. Just because you’ve got a year of college under your belt and got As in all of your first-year classes, doesn’t mean you’re equipped to handle 4 reading/writing-intensive classes plus macroeconomics (my mistake). Try to keep a balanced course-load so all you’re doing in the fall isn’t studying.

2. Deepen your interests. Take at least one or two classes in the area you’ll probably major in and start experimenting with some of the more advanced classes. Start paving your way to completing concentration requirements…or at least Stats which is basically a requirement for all college majors.

3. Think ahead to study abroad. If you might want to go abroad your junior spring, register for a language course if you’re desired program needs it. It doesn’t matter if you’re starting from scratch…if you keep up the language for 3 consecutive semesters, you should be ready to take on a program in another country with a language requirement.

4. Keep on exploring. Don’t totally devote your sophomore fall to completing your major. Continue exploring topics the way you were as a freshman and push yourself to take classes that actually interest you.

Entering Junior Year

1. Seminar City. Because you’re entering the seminar phase of your college education, you better make sure you wake up to pre-register otherwise you’ll be in a pretty dire circumstance of begging your way into classes come fall.

2. Standardized Test Year. Start to think about when you’re going to take the GREs/LSATs/MCATs/GMATs. You may want to consider keeping one of your junior semesters light so you can prep for these tests in the summer before the craziness of senior year and application season starts.

3. Plan ahead. If you’re going to be heading abroad in the spring and know you’re not taking any classes abroad for your major, you may want to seriously consider getting a few key requirements out of the way, so you’re not completely screwed when you come back your senior year.

Entering Senior Year

1. Last Huff. Use your senior fall to wrap up any lingering course requirements. By the time you reach the spring, you won’t have the energy to do work anymore. Plus, your thesis will ruin your life.

2. Practical Matters. Some souls will be going directly into the work force after graduation, and for them it’s imperative to take some kind of practical life skills class…from economics to accounting to persuasive communication to Management of Industrial and Non-Profit Organizations (Shout out to Brown ENGN0900). To some of the places you’ll be throwing job applications at, it might be a good idea to look as though you can somewhat function in the real world even though you’ve been immersing yourself in Kabuki Theater for the last 3 years.

3. Last Hurrah. Now is the time to take anything that sounds remotely interesting to you. Do something fun, whether it’s starting a new language or testing out African dance.

The post How to Win at Course Registration appeared first on The Campus Companion.

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We’ve all been there…going to your college town restaurant with 15 of your closest friends to celebrate a roommate’s birthday. The pomp and circumstance of the evening fills you with a kind of jubilation…but sometimes that jubilation translates into annoyance for your fellow restaurant-goers.

Here is a list of some of the more obnoxious things college kids do at restaurants. This list is meant to both cultivate an awareness of your behavior and also to help you refine your annoying techniques to the point of mastery.

1. Drunken Dialogue

“Oh my God, you guys, I’m sooooooooooooooo drunk right now” is probably one of the dumbest things you can say when you’re drunk. One, no one believes you. Two, no one cares. This conversation piece drives your neighbors nuts when you’re sitting at a restaurant, not to mention your tendency to speak twice as loud and continue to rudely pester the waitstaff for more booze. Yes, BYOB is a cool concept, but not when you let everyone around you know how “fucking awesome it is!!!!!” every 5 seconds…loudly.

2. The Picky Vegetarian

I had a friend in college who used to harass the shit out of waiters at every restaurant we went to. Did you put on a new pair of gloves when you were making my food? Was this food prepared on the same cutting board as the chicken? Are you *sure* there’s no egg in this? Can you please bring a new plate—there was one piece of sushi sitting on this? Are you sure this is organic soy milk?

I was fully confident that the waiters would piss in our food all of the time. Yes, it’s understandable in whatever hippy dippy liberal arts college you’re at that everyone is super socially conscious and it’s fair trade everything, but give people in the real world some slack. Waiters and waitresses have a hard life, and generally try to do the best they can. At the very least when you ask these obnoxious questions (even though a green V is clearly indicated next to the item you ordered), do it politely without the accustory tone.

3. Tipping is not a City in China

There’s nothing worse than a group of 20-something-year-olds trying to figure out the check at the end of the night. Inevitably, someone doesn’t have anything but $20s, a few forgot their wallets, and there’s never any consensus on how much each person owes. To add to the absurdity, college kids don’t understand how to take 15% of anything. They either under-tip or over-tip, but what makes your fellow restaurant patrons’ blood boil is the exhausting debate that ensues that leaves no one satisfied.

4. Bad Table Manners

Obviously this depends on the restaurant you’re at and what you order, but the general rule of thumb is that if you have to wait to be seated, you shouldn’t be using your bare hands to eat. Wait for everyone to get their dish before you start chowing down. Napkins are not just for decoration. Also, when you get up to leave, there shouldn’t be all of this food residue and debris left behind. Also, chew with your mouths closed!

5. Not Having a Reservation for a Party > 4

Oh c’mon…..

The post Obnoxious Things College Kids Do At Restaurants appeared first on The Campus Companion.

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