Juana Garcia/The Cougar

Despite students paying thousands of dollars each semester on a meal plan, the amount of Cougar Cash received is just not enough. 

Living on campus is not cheap. While some may argue the dorm fees themselves are relatively more bearable when compared to the overall cost of an apartment, the mandatory meal plan for most dorms is the nail on the financial coffin.

The least expensive plan, the Bronze, will cost someone $2,209.86 each semester, as of the 2020-21 academic year. However, such a hefty price only comes with $150 in Cougar Cash, which is too little compared to the overall cost.

Cougar Cash allows students to branch out and dine at restaurants other than the Moody Towers and Cougar Woods Dining Commons such as those in the Student Center South. Students can also use it at the markets located on campus, along with the food trucks that visit.

There are a few inconsistencies with the Cougar Cash provided per meal plan. The next meal plan after Bronze, the Silver, allows for 24/7 access to the dining commons as opposed to the Bronze’s 24/5, along with three meal exchanges per week compared to one. However, the amount of Cougar Csh received with the Silver does not change, staying at a low $150.

Some students have taken the initiative to save as much Cougar Cash as possible, only spending it on necessities or just to treat themselves every now and then, like computer science freshman Lemarc Wincher who has the Silver meal plan.

“I’ve spent $30 in Cougar Cash. Although I’ve been frugal, it still goes away pretty quickly,” Wincher said. “Students should be given more than $150 for the entire semester.” 

While many students with the Silver meal plan take advantage of the three meal exchanges a week, sometimes it is just not enough. 

“I get tired of eating chicken strips and fries at Moody,” said petroleum engineering freshman Ayris Cole. “The amount [of Cougar Cash] we receive is pretty absurd. Especially considering the fact that I’m paying more than two thousand dollars a semester.”

Students with Gold and Platinum meal plans receive considerably more Cougar Cash than the lower options, despite having access to unlimited meal exchanges. While they do deserve it due to the much higher prices, the Silver and Bronze plans still do not have adequate amounts of Cougar Cash to last students a whole semester.

The best solution to this issue would be to provide the lower meal plans with more Cougar Cash to spend outside of the often repetitive dining hall options. This is especially helpful for those with the Bronze plan, who cannot even access the dining halls on weekends yet have to ration lightly.

With as much as students spend on their meal plan, they should get more than $150 in Cougar Cash. 

Michael King is a History freshman who can be reached at opinion@thedailycougar.com

—
“Students don’t receive enough Cougar Cash” was originally posted on The Cougar

The University of Utah volleyball team was back home at the Jon M. Huntsman Center as they played Oregon State in an efficient three set win. 

The Utah Utes started out the first set with a nice five point lead before the Beavers started to put pressure on the Utes by scoring some consecutive points. However, the Utes were able to keep their momentum going as they led 15-9 in the first set. Madelyn Robinson clinched the set 25-18 with a kill. 

In the second set, the Beavers started out hot as they had a 5-1 lead against the Utes. The Utes found themselves behind but were able to fight back. Kiley McMurtrey had back-to-back aces as she helped tie the score up 10-10. Zoe

Weatherington came up with a kill right before a timeout was taken. After the timeout, Utah changed the momentum and won the next six out of seven points to have a big lead of 21-15. The Utes managed to win the set 25-19.

In the third set, the Utes had their best offensive frame as they were able to control most of the set. Utah had four straight kills during the set and managed to put a ton of pressure on the Beavers as they won the set 25-13.

Throughout the night, Dani Drews had 13 kills and a .500 clip. Weatherington also had a .500 hitting percentage as well as seven kills. Robinson ended the night with 12 kills. Stef Jankiewicz had 28 assists as well as nine digs and four blocks. Megan Yett had seven digs and Vanessa Rameriez had six. Kennedi Evens and Allie Olsen both had three blocks throughout the night. 

The Utes will play No. 11 Oregon on Sunday, Oct. 3, at 1 p.m. MDT at the Huntsman Center. The match will also be live streamed through the PAC-12 Network.

e.dush@dailyutahchronicle.com

@DushEmily

The post Utah Volleyball Downs Oregon State appeared first on The Daily Utah Chronicle.

History: The Eagles and Red Wolves have met five times, with Arkansas State holding a 3-2 lead in the series. However, GS defeated Arkansas State for an FCS National Championship in 1986.

Last Week: The Eagles suffered their third straight loss of the season after falling to Louisiana, 28-20. Just a day after the loss, head coach Chad Lunsford was relieved of his duties, with cornerback coach Kevin Whitley taking over as the interim.

Running back Gerald Green led the way for the Eagles as he racked up 186 yards and all three of the Eagles’ touchdowns. Veteran quarterback Justin Tomlin accumulated 175 passing yards, but also accounted for a costly interception.

However, Ragin’ Cajun quarterback Levi Lewis shredded the Eagle defense for 249 yards and three touchdowns through the air. Ultimately, big play ability of the UL offense was enough to push this past the Eagles.

“Right now, our biggest opponent is ourself,” said Whitley. “We’re going to work to get better. We’re going to do the things we need to do.”

Scouting Report: Offensively, the Red Wolves boast one of the best passing attacks in the country. Their 363.5 passing yards per game is good enough No. 7 in the country.

Florida State transfer quarterback James Blackman has spearheaded the revived passing attack under Butch Jones. Despite Blackman’s emergence, junior quarterback Layne Hatcher has seen a considerable amount of playing time this season.

On the other hand, the Red Wolves’ rushing attack is among the nation’s worst. Arkansas State is one of just 14 teams to average less than 100 rushing yards per game.

Defensively, the Red Wolves have been among the nation’s worst units. In fact, Arkansas State allows more than 560 yards per game, nearly 40 more yards than the next worst team.

For an Eagle offense that has struggled to get going, the weak defense should be a welcome sight. But for an injured defense, the electric passing offense is a cause for concern.

Bottom Line: This game should allow for both offenses to move up and down the field at will, which should excite fans of the sport.

The Eagles have performed below their expectations this season, but so have the Red Wolves. Expect both teams to come out with a different kind of fire on Saturday.

Prediction: GS escapes with a  31-30 victory

The post Game Preview: Eagles look to reset in first game after firing of Lunsford appeared first on The George-Anne Media Group.

The No. 7 Gopher volleyball team found itself on the wrong side of a sweep Friday night against No. 5 Wisconsin. Minnesota came into the match riding a 6-game win streak but the Badgers had other plans.

Wisconsin came out of the gates firing and grabbed an early 8-2 lead in the first set to establish the tone for the night. The Gophers tried to fight back multiple times in the set, but whenever things got close, the Badgers would regain momentum. Ultimately, Wisconsin took the first set 25-17.

Set two was a much different story for Minnesota. It was a back-and-forth battle the whole set before Wisconsin used a 6-0 run to try and put things out of reach.

Match point, down seven, the Gophers were on the brink of a second set loss. Thanks to two aces from redshirt senior Katie Myers gave Minnesota some hope as it climbed back to within two. That was it for the second set comeback as the Gophers dropped the set 25-22.

Set three had a similar start to the second as both teams were battling back and forth. Wisconsin, however, went on a 5-0 run to extend its lead to seven points at 15-8. Again, Minnesota wasn’t out of it and fought back with its backs against the wall.

That was enough of a push for the Badgers liking as they finished off the set and match with a 9-5 run to complete the sweep 25-17.

The Gophers are right back in action Saturday and will try to get back on the right foot against Northwestern.

“My Mount Rushmore is me with four different expressions.” 

Although this line from Drake’s 2018 song “Survival” is meant to flex on the rest of the rap game, it also serves as a metaphor for his dynamic career. From his early introduction to the spotlight as a child actor to his transition between rapper and R&B singer, Drake has never stayed in one lane. Whether it’s  the vulnerable melodies of “Take Care” or the braggadocious slaps on “If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late,” Drake’s versatility is his greatest strength. Unfortunately, his attempt to compact all of the voices and styles that justified his status into one magnum opus has resulted in the sonic mess of an album that is “Certified Lover Boy.” 

Originally set to drop in January this year, “Certified Lover Boy” arrives at an uncertain time in Drake’s career. Despite its overwhelming hype, many fans (including myself) didn’t know which side of Drake to expect. Would we get a sentimental Aubrey based on the album title? Would we get the overconfident 6 God, despite the permanent stain left from his 2018 feud with Pusha T? Or would we get the popstar Drizzy trying to outsell his fellow industry titan Kanye? Through 21 tracks, “Certified Lover Boy” reminds the listener of these past faces, but fails to fully resurrect them, reducing each to a shallow character played by Drake. 

Ironically or perhaps fittingly, “Certified Lover Boy” deals with loss, discovery and acceptance of identity (even the album’s title is an inside joke acknowledging Drake’s simp tendencies). The opening track “Champagne Poetry” serves as a brief summary of the album, immediately giving the listener a look into Drake’s mental state. Drake claims, “Under me, I see all the people that claim they over me/ And above me, I see nobody.” At the same time, he admits his “Career’s going great, but now the rest of me is fading slowly.” This dichotomy of confidence and insecurity is present throughout the album and reveals Drake’s confusion. Even when taking jabs at the rest of the rap game, this confusion calls the 6 God’s legitimacy into question. In the upbeat “Papi’s Home,” Drake acts as a father to his competition. In stark contrast, he turns his playfulness into contempt over the aggressive production in “No Friends In the Industry.” In the chorus, he makes it clear that he is not in the rap game to make friends, asserting that he has “No friends in the industry/ I had to draw the line between my brothers and my enemies, a fact.”

Drake on tour in 2016. (Wikimedia Commons)

Along with questioning his identity, Drake also contemplates the loyalty of those around him. In “Fair Trade,” Drake explains, “I’ve been losin’ friends and findin’ peace/ But honestly that sound like a fair trade to me.” In “Love All,” he realizes that “Loyalty is priceless and it’s all I need/ Can’t burn a bridge just to light my way.” Fortunately, there are people in Drake’s life that have stayed loyal; on the album’s outro “The Remorse,” Drake reflects on the support he’s received throughout his career and his regret for not being able to pay his friends and family back. However, we also see how his personal relationships have been negatively affected in both the lyrics and production of “N 2 Deep,” where he tells a girl, “Me and you been on a first name basis/ Why you think I hate it when you talk that Drake shit?” Aided by the beat switch halfway through the song, Drake draws the line between his personas as the confident superstar and as just Aubrey, a vulnerable man seeking love.

“Certified Lover Boy” wouldn’t be a Drake album without some corny love stories and desperate moves. We get the familiar crooning melodies of “Pipe Down” and “Race My Mind,” but with an added layer of maturity beyond the simple love letters in “Take Care.” Drake reminisces over a past relationship and wrestles with the contradiction of wanting his ex to fail while simultaneously being unable to let go of his feelings, respectively. On “Get Along Better,” he gives his best vocal performance on the album while explaining to a past love that he is now in a relationship with her friend, but not out of revenge. Although the lyrics are cliché, Drake’s delivery more than makes up for the simplistic storyline. 

Unfortunately, Drake’s performance on “Get Along Better” is a rare instance of energy in a densely packed album. The now infamous line from “Girls Want Girls,” “Say that you a lesbian, girl, me too” is demonstrative of the larger problem with the album as a whole: Drake’s intent and ideas come through, but are poorly executed with a lack of energy. He is consistently outperformed by his features — whether it be Lil Baby, Jay-Z, Lil Durk or Kid Cudi — to such a degree that they take over Drake’s own songs. Ironically, it is Drake’s features who demonstrate the most confidence on this album. 

Much like its controversial cover, “Certified Lover Boy” is a messy collection of all the different versions of Drake we have seen throughout his career. At its full potential, the album seeks to encapsulate Drake at his best: the sentimental R&B serenader, the untouchable king of rap and the global popstar. In reality, Drake’s identity has never been more unclear, and as a result, his strengths are never fully explored in the album. His disorganized mental state and confusion about his identity are accurately reflected in the music; however, because of high expectations (the highest of his career) and uncertainty in its own sound, “Certified Lover Boy” fails to give listeners the full Drake experience.

The post Drake’s ‘Certified Lover Boy’: Aubrey, the 6 God and Drizzy appeared first on The Emory Wheel.

Cynthia Germanotta hitmaker was delighted to perform Westfield supportive

Lady Gaga stunned her fans with a globally streamed performance to celebrate her new album.

The pop star’s fans around the world were treated to a preview of her new duets record with Tony Bennett, ‘Love for Sale’, in partnership with retail brand Westfield.

The ‘Rain On Me’ hitmaker was delighted to perform in front of her fans once more after being apart from them due to the coronavirus pandemic.

She said: “It’s so important to me to reunite with my fans after such a long time of not being able to sing for them and I so appreciate Westfield being supportive of that being an experience that is brought through jazz music.

“Jazz music is the greatest music that I believe exists in America and for us to all to be experiencing it together and coming together to watch it, sing it, to listen to it, to cheer for it… this all that I could hope for.

“I just want to express my deep gratitude to all the fans that were here tonight.”

Gaga has championed mental health awareness through her career with the Born This Way Foundation, which she founded with her mother Cynthia Germanotta in 2012, and is glad that the conversation surrounding the issue is changing.

The 35-year-old star added: “I think since I started the Born This Way foundation with my mother this conversation around mental health has changed so much as that we’re having the conversation.

“Before it was something that was very hard to talk about, there was a huge stigma around it and now it seems that people are more open to discussing it and realising that especially with the state of the world we are in, it’s so important that we all have an understanding of the importance of our mental health, and what I would say right now to anyone watching is it’s ok to check in with yourself and ask yourself how your head is doing, how you are feeling and if life feels too fast-paced or you need to slow down its ok to acknowledge that and take care of you.”

https://www.mycentraloregon.com/2021/10/01/where-to-stream-venom-2-for-free-4k-watch-venom-let-there-be-carnage-at-home-online/

The Daily Californian

The Minnesota Daily sat down with Billy Menz, a teacher at Edison High School and the only candidate running for District One Park Board commissioner, to talk about what changes he wants to bring to the park board.

Why did you decide to run for District One Parks Commissioner?
“I decided to run because I want to depoliticize the park board and make sure that we’re working to build programming for youth. It’s really all about the kids for me. I have a lot of experience working with young people as a school teacher and also as a coach. I noticed that the park board plays a really big role in that, but [the park board] could do things a little differently to meet the needs of today’s youth.”

What changes do you want to make as the new District One Park Board commissioner?
“I think the politicization of the park board over the past four to six years has been very challenging … I know that we vote on our park board, so it is a political process to elect people to the park board. But, it’s also a process where there’s no party affiliation listed on the ballot … I want to create youth councils and I want to create systems where every kid gets to the Mississippi River in collaboration with the schools.”

On your website, you said that you are devoted to dismantling systemic racism within the parks. How do you plan to do that?
“I’m certainly not going to do it by myself … I can call on us to examine policies that may be unintentionally racist or intentionally racist, make sure that we are calling out and lifting up the voices of those who have been marginalized and make sure that their voices are heard, and if we’re not reaching those voices, that we make more efforts to do so … Every time I look at something or look at plans, I’m going to look at it from that lens as best I can, to make sure that we’re trying to create policies that allow for all voices to be heard.”

You’ve mentioned expanding creation spaces. What will that look like?
“In the park board, we have what’s called creation spaces, and those have really taken off over the past year … We need to make sure that the parks are a place where kids can explore … we need to create a space in our parks, where it’s a place of exploration or it’s a place for kids, young people and older people to make sure that we’re trying new things. We can have all kinds of opportunities in our parks. We just need to open it up, give it back to the people and make sure that we’re there with input, but we have the responsibility to do the programming and make sure that we’re opening those programs up to as many folks as possible.”

If you are elected, what are you looking forward to most?
“Serving my community. I’m very humbled by the fact that I don’t have an opponent. It’s not like people in the northeast and southeast part of Minneapolis are not active or engaged. So I’m very humbled by the fact that people believe in me and think that I will do a good job at this … I hope that I can bring leadership to the board that allows for our park board to become even better than it already is and that we can meet the challenge that the pandemic has created for young people’s engagement.”

Senior Marcus Jones has done it all for UH in 2021, playing a role at cornerback, receiver and punt returner for the Cougars. | James Schillinger.The Cougar

Coming off its third consecutive win, Houston looks to stay perfect in American Athletic Conference play Friday night against Tulsa.

Follow along with our live scoring updates throughout the game:

Fourth Quarter (14:55): Houston 42 , Tulsa 3

After stopping the Golden Hurricane on fourth down for the second time, the Cougars marched downfield for another touchdown, this time from senior tight end Seth Green off an 8-yard pass from Tune.

Tune has now completed passes to nine different receivers in the game.

Third Quarter (14:06): Houston 35, Tulsa 3

The Cougars carried the momentum into the second half and intercepted Brin for the third time on the night, this time junior linebacker Donovan Mutin tipped the ball and it was intercepted by junior safety Gervarrius Owens and returned for a touchdown.

Halftime: Houston 28, Tulsa 3

The Cougars put together a dominating first half as they totaled 284 yards while giving up just 106 from the Golden Hurricanes.

Tune completed 14 of his 19 passing attempts for 210 yards and a touchdown while McCaskill racked up the other three touchdowns for UH, Dell was the leading receiver at the half with five catches for 72 yards.

The defense held Brin to just 97 yards while completing nine of his 20 passing attempts and was intercepted twice, once by senior cornerback Damarion Williams and again by junior cornerback Alex Hogan.

Second Quarter (1:22): Houston 28, Tulsa 3

The Golden Hurricanes got on the board for the first time tonight with a 33-yard field goal from graduate kicker Zack Long to cap off an 11-play 65-yard drive.

Second Quarter (9:33): Houston 28, Tulsa 0

After intercepting Tulsa Junior quarterback Brin Davis just a minute and a half later, the Cougars kept their foot on the gas after Dell took a short pass from Tune to the goal line to set up another walk-in touchdown for McCaskill.

McCaskill now has nine carries for 37 yards and three touchdowns in the first half.

Second Quarter (13:01): Houston 21, Tulsa 0

Following a turnover on downs, Tune found sophomore wide receiver Nathaniel Dell for a 29-yard sideline grab to set up for McCaskill’s second score of the evening.

Dell’s reception was originally ruled incomplete, but was overturned after being reviewed.

First Quarter (1:14): Houston 14, Tulsa 0

Junior receiver Jeremy Singleton took a screen pass and broke multiple tackles, taking it 47 yards for the score to put UH double-digits.

First Quarter (4:23): Houston 7, Tulsa 0

Junior quarterback Clayton Tune avoided a sack and found junior tight end Christian Trahan for 40 yards to set up Houston deep in Tulsa territory.

A few plays later, freshman running back Alton McCaskill rushed for a 1-yard touchdown to give the Cougars the early lead.

—
“Live Score: UH travels to Tulsa for Friday night showdown” was originally posted on The Cougar

President Joyce McConnell sent an email to the Colorado State University community to announce that she has tested positive for COVID-19. According to the email, McConnell was exposed last weekend and got tested as a precautionary measure. Despite testing positive, the president said she is “feeling absolutely fine” and that she believes the COVID-19 vaccine […]

On Sept. 17, Tech students swarmed to Georgia Tech Night at Six Flags for a fun break from school work, but for some students the experience was much less than enjoyable.

With several rides open on the Night at Six Flags, students were able to go on as many coasters as they could during the six hours of the event.

Popular rides included Goliath, Dare Devil Dive Flying Machine (commonly referred to as Daredevil), and Superman, but some attractions at Six Flags experienced a few problems during the night.

Rollercoasters are always subject to intermittent breakdowns at any amusement park, and Six Flags Over Georgia is no exception.

Students may have noticed certain rides being out of order for some period of time, such as the Superman and Georgia Scorcher rides temporarily breaking down with many students in line.

Other breakdowns were more traumatizing for some students as the rides would halt with students in the cars.

“Once they were able to get Daredevil back up, the ride was running normally until it was our turn,” said Macy Khamsa, a guest attending the event from UGA.

Khamsa said that the Daredevil ride had broken down while she was waiting in line with her friends, but she waited until it was fixed and sat in the front seat with her friend. The ride started and they then realized that it was not going to be the fun experience they had expected.

“Right before we get to the top it stops,” said Raneem Rizvi, IE ’22, who sat in the front car with Khamsa.

“We had a few nervous chuckles [and] after about 30 seconds it begins to set in that we are actually stuck.”

The ride stopped while Khamsa and Rizvi were going up the first big hill of the ride before their car would be released and could fly through the rest of the tracks.

The unique feature of Daredevil is that the ascent up its first hill is completely vertical, so the riders stuck in the car were staring straight up at the sky.

“We are there for like 10-15 minutes before [the car] starts moving again and they make us do the ride,” Rizvi said, which surprised the two frightened riders. “We go through the ride and it even stops halfway and is going really slow,” Rizvi said, who added that the Six Flag workers only briefly apologized about the ordeal afterwards and wished them a good day.

While Rizvi and Khamsa were able to finish the ride, other students were forced to dismount their cars when their rollercoaster broke.

“We got to the top and it stops and starts making this weird, worrying sound coming from the motor,” said Daniel Hudson, BMED ’24, who got stuck at the top of the Blue Hawk rollercoaster.

“So we wait there and we kind of just settle in because we couldn’t do anything about it,” Hudson said, and after about 20 minutes Six Flags technicians ascended the staircase along the first Blue Hawk hill.

Hudson said that the technicians intended to check out the ride to see where the noise was coming from but soon realized it would not be a quick fix and instructed the riders to get out of the cars and climb back down to ground level.

Hudson and the other riders walked down the stairs and ended their night at Six Flags there, also a bit shaken.

While the night was enjoyable for most Tech students, problems with the rollercoasters plagued the event for some unfortunate riders.

The random nature of the breakdowns is not unheard of for amusement parks, but it is something to be aware of each time Tech hosts the annual event.