Joe Hager

25 Sep 2008

Advertisements saturate society, plague populous

I hope I’m not the only one who has a love/hate relationship with their major. My major is marketing communications, and academically, it’s been real enjoyable so far. The breadth of the marketing field is sort of what drew me […]

18 Sep 2008

Past election destroys hope for 2008

Hello readers and welcome to another year on the beautiful UW-River Falls campus. It’s only a couple weeks in, and I can already tell that the presidential election in November will be an important and influential issue in classrooms across campus.

07 May 2008

Violent games decrease real-life violence

My friends and I have come to the conclusion that Grand Theft Auto IV, the amazing new felony simulator from Rockstar Games, really brings out the worst in people.

01 May 2008

Video game medium pushes TV’s boundaries

By the time you read these words, I will be a different person. I seriously won’t be surprised if—by the time this column reaches press—the majority of my existence depends solely on the digitally-fabricated cityscape “Liberty City” of Grand Theft Auto IV.

23 Apr 2008

Thirst for technology may leave us parched

Last week, the always-hilarious Comedy Central cartoon “South Park” aired an episode called “Over Logging.”

17 Apr 2008

‘White Castle’ sequel ignites anticipation

Every once in a while, a movie comes along that completely and utterly destroys everyone’s expectations. A few years ago, I saw the trailer for the pot comedy “Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle”—a movie that follows the adventures […]

11 Apr 2008

Google answers life questions

The Internet, as many of you know, is a place brimming with innovation and creativity. Our glorious benefactor, the Google, is itself a company that makes mountains of cash designing breakthrough software and services.

03 Apr 2008

Worship more specifically with unpopular gods

For the last 2,000 years, the western world has been enamored with the mythos of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. This whiskered, blue-collar artisan first earned his divine chops assembling tables and cabinetry, but graduated quickly to full-bore miracles and lengthy discourses on morality and ethics. As a deity, his success is palm frond—worthy and almost unparalleled.

27 Mar 2008

Easter holiday misplaced within modern American culture

I’m saying it so it’s official: Easter is the lamest holiday of the year. Though an important and worthy occasion to celebrate for its messianic properties, Easter as an American, commercialized holiday is generally sucky and lacking in originality.

26 Mar 2008

Guitar Hero addiction transforms existence

I am about a decade late on this subject, but I wish to write about it anyway. I’ll just go ahead and admit it: I recently discovered Guitar Hero, and it has been eviscerating my free time for the last week and a half.