when iTunes tells you the truth...

I was feeling down. Not depressed, but simply down. I struggled to wake up in the morning. I couldn't say good morning to residents. Laughs sounded forced. The only times when I feel like this is when I'm getting my period or when I'm about to get sick in a major way.

Or at least that's what I told myself and other people. In truth, I was stressed. I had gotten a terrible grade in my Econ test (see earlier stressful post), and I wasn't enjoying life. I was in enough of a mind to ask a good friend to help me. Everyone should have a friend like this. She's less of an enthusiastic cheerleader who will agree with you on everything, and more of a calm reflective pool of water that reveals your face on the surface but also has depth. She asked me to list all my commitments outside of school on one side and academics on the other. She asked what was stressful right now. I pointed straight at Economics.

I had declared an Economics major, because a new requirement was added if you declared after February 1st, 2010. Therefore, I decided declaring first and figuring out if I enjoyed it later was the best path. However, I am realizing that Economics is not a major for me. Therefore, my plan is drop econ as a major. However, who takes Econ 301 if it's not required? Perhaps I will withdraw from this course... I'll keep you updated!

On a random note... have you played the iTunes game? Click next song on random, and see what comes up.

1. I feel? Hurt by Christina Aguilera.

2. Right now I want to? Okay, I'll Believe in Myself by Jun In of G-Fla

3. How do I get ahead in life? Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots pt. 1 by The Flaming Lips

4. How do my friends perceive me? Fly by Epik High.

Wow, thanks iTunes.

stream of consciousness of a college student at 7:35am

It is 7:35am, I have been up for over an hour, and I am waiting for free breakfast in thirty minutes. It was surprising to be startled into consciousness at 6am on a Wednesday, with the silence shattered by the wailing of your cellphone. Once the infernal alarm is turned off, I dumbly try to find the light switch, the darkness outside of my window urging me to relax back into its folds. Oh wait, it's right here. Light ON.

Blast it! I slept with a shoe on. It's irritating to find the remnants of last night when you wake up in the wee hours of the morning. Dawn. Pre-dawn even. In the light of my fluorescent desk lamp, I struggle to get into warmer clothes, sit at my desk lamp, flip open the hated Economics book, and start to read.

Read Read Read.

I have an Econ 301 test this Thursday, and my professor practically guaranteed the class an average of 50.

Doomed Doomed Doomed.

False. I refuse to fall into the hopeless mentality. Who cares if everyone else gets a 50? I'm going to be the woman with the 75 (har har har. I'm even scared to type 100. Can a girl hope too much?). Trusting in the ridiculous curve, I know that a 75 would boost me into 150% range.

Flip Flip Flip.

If I had any hair left, I would be flipping it instead of these pages. If I had any fingernails left, they'd be gone. Unlike the stereotypical death of fingernails via chewing, my preferred method is to cut them off. Begone little buggers. Reminiscent of bygone days of piano and fingernail-cutting before lessons, my fingernails are round, pearly stubs.

Shoot, it's 7:53am. I'm still on Diminishing MRTS. Ah wells... time for breakfast.

Is Obama leading us astray?

I hope the title raised a couple of eyebrows. In his New York Times opinion column, Stanley Fish called Obama the "object of unceasing attention," hence the name of his article: The Obama Show. It's true that whether it's criticism or adoration, Obama is the focus in the media. Mr. Fish makes a good point in that although opponents try to tackle Obama, Obama is a man who "takes shot after shot, and not only is he still standing, he’s still smiling." Despite criticisms, President Obama is still looming large.

Therefore, when I saw "Is Obama leading us astray?" in a blur of a flyer as I walked past, I did a double-take and read it again. Students United for Business (SUB), a very new organization on Grounds, was hosting a lecture by economics professor, Lee Coppock. It was about the Obama administration's handling of the economy, complete with a catchy title "Give Nothing a Chance: How to Get the Economy Moving Again." Having had Coppock in a previous class and curious about how he would justify his opinion, I decided to attend the lecture.

I must say... what is excellent about UVA and any respectable University are these types of lectures that engage all listeners to participate and create dialogue. At UVA, I receive emails about lecturers from our own faculty and visiting renowned guests fairly often. Speakers are a crucial component of this system, because excellent speakers invoke questions and opinions in the audience, sparking further dialogue. A good speaker also has a clearly stated thesis, significant evidence to back up the claim, and comfortable public speaking skills.

Professor Coppock certainly is a winner in all three. He is an excellent public speaker, comfortably lecturing to over 1000 students in the spring semester. In the last night's lecture, Professor Coppock cracked in-law jokes, made analogies to athletes and the Commissioner of the Department of Transportation, and made allusions to his "several dozens of children." He also was able to state his claim clearly. He believes that the economic situation was misdiagnosed, and therefore the "solution" of pumping money into the economy through tax rebates (Bush) or a stimulus package (Obama) has no effect, except for increasing our deficit into the highest peacetime deficit of all time (almost $2 TRILLION). Finally, his claim that this economic crisis is just a natural condition exacerbated by poor decisions by the Federal Reserve and the US government is backed with solid graphs, statistics, and examples.

His solution? Instead of increasing the number of dollar bills in the system, which could eventually lead to run away inflation, fixing the bank system to effectively utilize currently available money is a better solution. This elucidated his originally far-fetched solution of "doing nothing."

No stimulus package, true, but no back-breaking taxes either.