Ben Jipson

10 Nov 2006

Borat could teach global lesson

Two things happened on Tuesday, and I thought they wouldn't have any connection to each other: I voted and I saw the movie “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.” Aside from the prideful, patriotic feeling I got from affixing the “I Voted” sticker to my chest, voting wasn’t very entertaining or amusing.

03 Nov 2006

Halloween exposes RF’s inner children

Until this year I spent the last several Halloween weekends in Madison bingeing on Milwaukee’s Best and Qdoba burritos, sleeping in urine-scented elevators and flushing pepper spray from my eyes.

27 Oct 2006

Political ads go negative this year

There was a time not long ago when political advertisements in the news media supported candidates based on the positive aspects of their political agendas, but it seems those ads have been tossed aside in recent years. Now, the only political ads running are negative ones that only seem to annoy prospective voters.

20 Oct 2006

Support UW-RF student athletes

There is no good reason for such a horrible turnout -- the weather couldn’t have been better, and the game was at an accommodating 2 p.m. on a Saturday.

13 Oct 2006

Exercise makes better students

I had a humbling experience a few weeks ago in PE 108. Members of the class were told to engage in 10 minutes of aerobic exercise.

29 Sep 2006

Support equal marriage rights for all people

Already the e-mails and flyers are starting to circulate. Professors are talking, and it’s going to be the hot-button issue for the next month. Students are being told we have a chance to make a difference about the upcoming vote on the proposed gay marriage and civil union ban, but it seems like we’ve heard the “students can make a difference” line before.

22 Sep 2006

UW-RF offers more than cows

It was more than four years ago, but the thoughts and feelings crisscrossing my mind remain vivid. Along with my father, a couple of blue storage totes and a few bucks in my pocket, I made the three-hour trek from my northern Wisconsin home to this campus for move-in day. Like many others, I had a glaring perception of what college life was supposed to be, and that sparked curiosity. As I neared River Falls, however, that curiosity grew into skepticism.