Tag: Katherine Belbusti ’22
PC Students Should Push to Remain Informed: How Can Students Stay Up to Date With the News?
by The Cowl Editor on November 15, 2018
Opinion
by Katherine Belbusti ’22
Opinion Staff
Within the past few weeks, the news was filled with stories about the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting tragedy, the Thousand Oaks shooting in California, and the midterm elections. With all these major news events happening so close together, it is so important for the public to stay informed.
For the average college student, that task can be difficult. At home, one can easily turn on their own TV and watch the nightly news for about five minutes to understand what is going on in the world around us.
At college, some students do not have TVs in their dorm rooms and even for those who do, the nightly news is most likely not the first channel they would think to put on.
So what does accessing news mean for some of our fellow students here at Providence College?
For Kerra DiPippo ’22, she receives her news from the news app that comes with all Apple devices. When asked how often she checks the news, she replied, “I rarely ever check and read full articles, but I get notifications about stories all the time so I usually just read the headlines to stay informed.”
DiPippo likes getting the news this way because the notifications she gets for news stories enable her to quickly gather an understanding of current events without having to read a lengthy article.
She also said she doesn’t have to read full articles if she doesn’t want to. Another beneficial part about the news app is that, “you can filter what kind of news you want to see so if you’re not interested in business or pop culture, for example, you don’t have to hear about those subjects.”All things considered, DiPippo seems to have a very reliable and reasonable grasp on news and receiving information.
Another PC student, Shannon Maguire ’22, also explained how she receives her news, why she likes getting her news this way, and how often she checks the news.
“I get my news from Snapchat. I subscribed to one of the news channels on Snapchat called Stay Tuned so that I can easily see the news headlines. The school weeks are so busy that I don’t go on Snapchat that often, but I try to check at least twice a day. I like to get my news this way because it seems pretty convenient, considering we all go on Snapchat. It gives you all the major news in 2 minutes or less and they update it throughout the day as they receive more information on developing stories. This is how I’ve gotten my news for a while and it makes sense for me,” says Maguire.
This less traditional approach to accessing news is very modern and helps show how the millennial generation is straying away from paper news and even from traditional news channels.
At the end of the day, staying up to date with current events is just one more thing that becomes more difficult for college students. Day to day life at PC can be a whirlwind, with so many events to go to and so much work to finish, news can become one of the last things one thinks about each week, let alone on a daily basis.
Staying informed is one of the most important things for our generation to do and it is easier to do than you might think.
If you are interested in a comprehensive summation of news events from the week that’s even entertaining, try watching Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. If you would prefer to read rather than watch, simply searching “this week’s news” into the Google search bar will result in many articles and top stories.
Next time you have to wait in an annoyingly long Dunkin’ line, scroll through the articles that are on the news app on your phone and see what’s happening in our world today.
Tangents and Tirades
by The Cowl Editor on November 1, 2018
Opinion
Breakfast for Dinner in Ray
From chocolate chip pancakes to cheesy scrambled eggs and crispy hash browns, Raymond Dining Hall’s breakfast is absolutely stellar. And there are plenty of Providence College students that would agree with this statement.
However, breakfast during weekdays ends at 10:30 a.m. which is inconvenient for students with late classes or for students who just want to sleep in for a few extra hours.
After a busy day of classes and homework, there is nothing better than breakfast for dinner; however, there is never breakfast offered past the early morning hours during the weekdays and past 2 p.m. on the weekends.
Ray should offer breakfast options throughout the day, because there is nothing more homey than having breakfast for dinner or even for lunch.
Some may argue that the dining hall offers cereal throughout the day which is enough of a breakfast fill; however, the cereal options are usually the same and are less satisfying than fresh pancakes or waffles.
The breakfast here at PC is the best meal that Ray offers, so even incorporating special nights where breakfast is served for dinner would be satisfactory. While it is great that they have nights like these during finals week, they should incorporate them more regularly throughout the semester, as well.
But even aside from dinner, many PC students could benefit from an extension of the hours that breakfast is served, which would make it more accessible for busy students.
After all, breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
-Emily Ball ’22
PC Pups: Unexpected Pet Therapy
As we just passed the semester’s midpoint, many of us may be missing the comforts of home.
Maybe it’s sleeping in your own bed or enjoying a home-cooked meal as opposed to Ray food, but for many there’s the longing for their dog. Dogs always seem to know how to cheer us up and make us smile.
Being away from home and your pet for so long creates a longing in your college life that, luckily, Providence College somehow manages to make better—by allowing dog walkers on campus!
Whether it be during a long walk from the Arthur F. and Patricia Ryan Center for Business Studies to the library, or just walking in between classes, one is always bound to see someone walking their dog.
Oftentimes, students spot the same dog throughout the week; however, there never appears to be a shortage of new dogs gracing the walkways of PC.
Events such as the one on Oct. 27 during New Student Family Weekend where students were able to play with puppies offered a good stress-relieving break after a busy couple weeks of midterms.
There are no complaints from any of the friends I’ve been with while encountering dogs on campus. In fact, those few minutes of pure joy while petting a cute dog serve as a tiny bit of pet therapy. And in the end, the encounter leaves all parties better off.
-Katherine Belbusti ’22
Intramurals: Stress to Destress
by The Cowl Editor on October 25, 2018
Campus
by Katherine Belbusti ’22
Opinion Staff
Fall is upon us, and for sports fans, that means one thing: fall sports are in action as well. College football is in full swing, the World Series is starting, and the NBA season has just begun.
But for students here at Providence College, not only are we cheering on the hockey and basketball teams, but we are also participating in intramural sports.
Intramurals are a great way for students to get involved in sports that they want to try. Not to mention, playing a sport is a great way to take a break from the stressful workload.
Coming to PC, I knew I wanted to join intramural teams with my friends as a way to not only meet new people, but to stay active in a fun way.
For most students, the general appeal of intramurals comes from the thought of trying something new.
Wallyball and handball are examples of intramural sports that are offered at PC that are typically not offered as varsity sports in other schools. After the initial appeal comes the benefit of stress relief, which is another big reason for why so many students participate.
Between schoolwork, club meetings, and spending time with friends, it can get difficult to balance commitments without the proper outlet. Intramural sports provide that stress-relieving resource for many students.
Patrick Downey ’22 can almost always be found in Peterson or on one of PC’s many sports fields.
When asked what it is like to be a part of a flag football, wallyball, and handball intramural team, he responded, “It’s a lot, I can’t lie. I like being a part of intramural teams because it’s fun to keep active and it helps me to break up my day. At times it can actually be stressful when I have different intramural games back to back, but more than causing stress, playing intramural sports helps me relieve stress.”
If intramurals help to relieve stress purely because of the fact that you are staying active, what distinguishes joining a team from going to the fitness center?
For so many students the difference is in the ability to be a part of a team, to participate competitively, and to have fun while playing—even when you lose.
The greatest thing about intramural sports is that you and your teammates will get very invested in the games and want all the best success for your team. However, in the end, the actual outcome of the game matters very little.
I remember coming to PC for the first time and taking my official tour. One of the things I always remembered was when my tour guide mentioned the intramural champion T-shirts. Perhaps in the end, that is what is really driving the participation in intramurals—the quest for the coveted champion T-shirt.
Cultivating Community Despite Language Discrepancies: New York and New England Slang are “Wicked” Different
by The Cowl Editor on October 18, 2018
Opinion
by Katherine Belbusti ’22
Opinion Staff
When going off to college, one fully expects to have to adapt to his or her new environment. Adjustments that come to mind are making friends, adjusting to an academic schedule and living in a dorm with roommates.
One unexpected surprise has been adjusting to differences in spoken English.
After being at Providence College for only eight weeks, I can firmly say that I am not in New York anymore. I think all Northeasterners who are not part of New England can agree that the slang and lingo here are so much different than what we are used to.
In fact, not only have I not understood what some of my New England friends have been saying to me, but I also have gotten into many heated debates over the correct or incorrect way to say “bulkie” (that’s a roll for all you non-New Englanders).
After debating, it becomes apparent that the way some people talk in Providence, or other parts of New England, is drastically different from the way people talk in New York.
Where New Yorkers say water fountain, New Englanders say bubbler. If something is “mad annoying” in New York, it is “wicked annoying” in New England. The list of differences seems to go on and on. How is it possible to live only a couple hours from Providence and to have never heard some of these phrases before?
At times, some of our linguistic differences have been humorous, but at other times, it can be frustrating. One added benefit has been how much fun we have discovering these facts as we get to know each other.
It is surprising how decoding each other’s slang is such an important element in bringing peers together. Our slang is very local, something we do not fully realize until coming face to face with different slang.
It gives us a sense of pride in our hometowns and gives us something unique and special to share about where we are from. When we learn our friend’s slang, it gives us a deeper connection to them and we learn what makes them unique.
Language has always gone hand in hand with culture. Perhaps this divide in speech among people from the Northeast does not signify any deeper cultural difference, but it provides some insight into the diversity of language in the nation as a whole.
Surprisingly enough, this experience has made it easier to understand a little of what it must have been like for our ancestors who came to this country. They had to adjust their language and customs when they came in contact with different dialects of their own language or with the great American melting pot.
While the collective impact of immigration into this country in the last century might not have contributed to the differences in slang in the Northeast, all of our experiences add to the conversation in the PC community.