npr PAIR OF PENNIES: The Lion’s Eye September 16, 2010 EFFOrL By daniel j. taylor - Lion's Eye World and Local Editor - djt5036(@psu.edu “Do your best.” “Give it all you’ve got.” “Hustle up!” Yeah, I don’t ever remember my par- ents telling me to slow down, work less, or give up. Even today my dad tells me “you can be whatever you wanna be—if you just put in the work.” Mar- velous, beautiful things can be accomplished with a little bit of get-up-and-go. In fact, regular things can be accomplished with it, as well. One thing, however, is for sure...nothing, with the exceptions of weight gain, social isolation, and failure, can be accomplished without any effort at all. Man, oh man, have I seen some weak- hearted efforts in my day. I once got angrily and physically dominated by an enormous linebacker- teammate of mine for simply trying during a high school football practice. The thing about laziness is that it is so infectious. In fact, the attitude of” working-hard-is-not-for-me” spread like wildfire throughout the team, causing us to lose in the play- offs that year because our starters weren’t physically conditioned, as they should have been—if only they had run the sprints. Now don’t get confused, I’m not very much of a doer myself. I like laying back and watching a Phillies game or fiddling with my laptop as much as the next fat guy, but when the time is right, I’ve always been willing to expel a little energy in order to get things done. It doesn’t happen very often, and it rarely happens for things that I don’t care about... but when it’s time to compete or it’s the night of a deadline and a grade is on the line—I get moving. I am a competitor by nature, and I may not be a very successful one (any speed I once had has escaped me, I’m not strong, and I don’t have any brain power worth writing home about), but it can be expected that I will, if nothing else, try. So when | showed up to my first badminton class this semester, with no prior experience, I was prepared to give it an honest effort. I learned how to handle the racket and some things about the rules, but I’m no professional. Many of my peers outplay me on the court, and that’s fine. After all, it’s badminton. However, the whole class is not exactly willing to give this thing a real attempt. One classmate in particular, let us call him Miguel Nickelby, has been repeatedly unwilling to undergo any physical effort at any point in any of the classes. Therefore, as an aside, I want to direct this to him: what the f--k, man? What the F--K? For the love of my shuttlecock, move, step, swing, sweat, do anything! You’re driving me nuts! Other players, however, have really thrown themselves into the game and are already increas- ing their skills. It’s good to see hard work, or even not-so-hard work, rewarded. I’ve seen the benefits elsewhere, as well. In high school I went to a six- week program designed to increase speed and took nearly a full second off of my 40-yard-dash time. During the past two semesters, I’ve hit the books harder than before and raised my GPA high enough to make the Dean’s List. Last year, I doubled the number of weekly hours I worked, and received a raise from my supervisor. There’s clearly some cause-and-effect here. ..effort truly does reap ben- efits. To some, my examples may seem obvi- ous and worth overlooking; however, when I look around I see people far lazier than myself. I spend a lot of time doing mindless activities which could surely be replaced with hobbies more beneficial to me. I could put in some work on learning how to play my guitar, or really give rereading The Iliad a fair go, or really start writing more frequently as I always hope to do. That said, people I see at school and at work and in my personal life are not try- ing. They’re not putting forth any effort toward the things that they should be working towards or even towards the things that they like! By not using any “umph” in their everyday lives, they’re letting that sappy marrow drip to the ground, when they should be living deliberately and sipping it up! SRC] Why is the Xbox360 so addicting? By Nicole Fedora - Lion 5 Eye Staff Writer nkf5026(@psu.edu The Xbox 360 is no doubt one of the most popular gaming platforms out there. It would be eccentric to find a guy who doesn’t play Xbox - 360 using Call of Duty or Halo. Even some girls play video games. I, for one, I went 0 and 16 the first time I played. Yeah, horrible. But what makes Xbox 360 and its games so addicting? Is it because of the way someone can out themselves into the game and feel like they are in the war zone. Could it be the way to pass the time; to rid themselves of boredom? When someone ac- complishes a certain mission, it obviously makes that person extremely proud and maybe that’s one of the reasons why it’s so exciting to play. I don’t know one guy who doesn’t play Xbox 360. The most likely reason why it’s so attractive to gamers is because it’s fun and entertaining. it’s extremely popular. With new games such as Another very important explanation is the ability to use the Internet and the chance to play against people all around the world. PlayStation 3 has this as well, but as from what I have read, it doesn’t have the same connection as Xbox 360. Online doesn’t work quite as well with PS3. Xbox also comes with more up-to-date accessories than PS3, including more technologically advanced mi- crophones and headsets. Also Xbox has a keyboard that goes directly onto the controller. Whatever you or your friend’s reasons are for using the game console and its many games, Call of Duty: Black Ops and Halo: Reach coming out soon, its popularity will hit the roof. Thursday. September 16th Student Activities Committee Interest Session 12:00pm. 202 Commons People Poll with Kelly Crawford - What are you looking forward to this semester? Surprise Gbain Sophomore “My Bio 129 class” Hi Andreea Dan Senior Christina Petitto Junior “Finding an internship to graduate” “Being closer to graduation” Korinne Nimey Sophomore “Christmas Break” HM AACA Aros Ads ddA SS ddd Sd dd
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