Tangents and Tirades

by The Cowl Editor on February 15, 2018


Opinion


Under the Kardashian Spell

The Kardashian-Jenner family has managed to break the internet—again.

On Feb. 1, Kylie Jenner and rapper Travis Scott announced the birth of their first daughter, Stormi Webster, in an 11-minute-long YouTube video titled, “To Our Daughter.” But why do people care so much?

Maybe it is because Jenner’s pregnancy was never officially confirmed by the family, despite heavy media speculation.

Perhaps it is because people were able to see how loyal, supportive, and enthusiastic Travis Scott has been throughout Jenner’s pregnancy (how sweet, right?).

Or maybe it is because people are fascinated by Stormi’s name (“Stormi” with an “I,” not Stormy with a “Y”). Yet why do we care so much? They are just people, right?

Well, maybe people are so infatuated with the Kardashian-Jenner family because they just seem so unrealistic. Remember when Kim cried over losing her diamond earring and Kourtney had to remind her, “Kim, there’s people that are dying?”

But, still, so what?

While there’s no singular reason as to why the Kardashian-Jenners are so infatuating as a whole, you simply cannot deny the amount of power and influence they have on society.

Nevertheless, why do we care if Kylie Jenner had a baby or if Kim Kardashian was married for 72 days?

If anyone has figured out how to break the infectious Kardashian-Jenner spell, please explain.

-Katherine Torok ’20

 

No More Stressful Saturday Nights

Once sunlight begins to fade on a Saturday night, only a few pockets of light brighten up Phillips Memorial Library. Motion sensors begin to shut out the lights in empty areas, leaving lone light bulbs shining over the remaining students like stage-lights. Only the sound of clattering keyboards echoes through the library halls, as students race to finish papers before the dreaded midnight deadline.

Walking back to their dorms after writing a small paper, the irony begins to set in. Their Sunday and Monday nights are free, and they do not even have that class until Tuesday! Frustratingly, had the deadline been the start of class, they could have spread out the work over the three days. Saturday night could have been relaxing. Instead it was spent nervously racing to meet the deadline in the dimly lit library.

Exhausted from a week of lectures and readings, burnout is at its worst on Saturday. Eyeing a break from the workweek, weary students typing in the library are not doing their best work, nor will they feel recharged for the next week, as the workweek seemingly never ends. Yet by moving the deadline to class-time, rested students will have an energy boost and craft better assignments.

-Nicholas Moran ’19

 

Shaky Stage Set for PC Dancers

Dancing on elevated surfaces is great, but not in front of Providence College alumni, students, and families.

Friday’s Friarcon festivities offered guests some great food, a beer garden, live music, and a wonderful showcase of student performances.

A number of campus dance groups performed, including PC Step, Dance Company, Dance Club, Irish Step Club, and Motherland Dance.

Performing in and of itself can be nerve-wracking, but dancing on a semi-precarious mobile stage is particularly daunting. The first reason is because no matter how solid the structure, one cannot help but think that landing the first leap is going to result in mass destruction.

The nature of a raised platform is to have space underneath it, space for students in matching outfits to fall through and onto the floor.

Secondly, the stage might be sturdy, but it is still mobile. It is hard to suppress that creeping paranoia telling you that the whole situation is on wheels and going to roll out of control.

Thirdly, mobile stages are always smaller than you think they are. If choreography involves leaps and rolls, or, God forbid, aerial stunts, you are in trouble.

You will not be fully dancing the choreography, and if you are, you are doomed to trip over the speakers, fly off the stage, and land on the unsuspecting crowd below.

At least the Friarcon stage was one continuous platform; many events have featured stages made up of multiple smaller platforms questionably connected to one another.

The Friarcon stage was a step in the right direction, but an end to the small, shaky, raised platforms altogether would be best.

-Lela Biggus ’18