WTB: Summer Camps at UT

One of my most fond loathsome memories of summer while being an undergraduate at UT is the overwhelming influx of children ages -2 to 18 that descend upon campus like locusts every summer.  I was unfortunately reminded of this parasitism while attempting to play basketball this past Saturday and also while watching the blockbuster hit Independence Day.

For as long as I can remember, UT Recsports (among other university departments) has maintained Faustian pacts with various camps for school-aged children.  The agreement goes something like this: Camp Beelzebub pays UT an obscene amount of cash, from the even more obscene amounts the attendees pay, and UT permits the payor to do what it likes for a specified period of time. 

For almost the entire summer, these swarms infest every square foot of every gym and residence hall.  They settle in for predetermined lengths of time during which all other goings-on must be displaced and accommodate the exodus of kids from one building to the next. 

My major qualm with this practice is not that I am against UT providing resources and facilities to camps for kids, but rather the extent to which the student body is forced to take a backseat to these mistresses of recreation.  Countless times I have had to move courts while playing ball and wait for tortuous periods of time to play a single game [see: 2 hrs to play a 20 minute game].  Some days I have less patience for this oppression and just forfeit playing altogether.

All of the facilities UT is renting out to these camps are bought, maintained, and paid for by student fees.  Yeah, you know, those seemingly arbitrary sums the administration continue to hike up for allegedly justified changes in cost.  And you have to pay them, even if you never step foot in Gregory Gym until your graduation ceremony. 

The Student Body's interest in those STUDENT facilities is being suppressed so that RecSports or some other university entity can profit even more from the assuredly handsome fees it charges each camp.  I have engaged in a few "discussions" with RecSports personnel, of which I was once a part, but they are understandably not the ones making the decisions. 

I have been displaced previously for other STUDENT events (i.e. Intramurals, festivals, garage sales) but all of these were for the overall benefit of students.  This is sheer misappropriation of assets.  Where is the interest of those whose interest should be us?  If it is any consolation, it is only temporary (though perennial) and only SOME of those kids are beyond obnoxious.

Denny's Everyday Value Scam

Today, The family went to take advantage of the denny's promotion of a grand slam for $3.99.  All they were serving, however, was a grand scam.

The only visible publication of the specific terms of this offer were on a small sign on the front door, facing outwards.  When we ordered the "grand slam", a commonplace term associated with Denny's itself, the waitress failed to mention the secret combination one had to order to activate the special.

She insisted, in fact, that "you need to order four items". There was no mention of the "everyday special grand scam" on the menu itself.  Then we eat what we thought were $3.99 plates and feel grossly underwhelmed when the check comes.  "For that much we could've eaten at central market", someone lamented.

So, dear reader, be advised that you must order three items to take advantage of this special and don't count of denny's to be upfront about it.  NHOMBRE!

American Vice: Entitlement

A little while back I read an article by a columnist named Ruben Navarrette, Jr.  I used his book, Odyssey of a Harvard Chicano, as partial fodder for my senior thesis on evolving assimilation.  I've often referred to him as a cultural opportunist and shameless self-promoter, but I found his reporting on other people's work to be particularly insightful.

http://www.durangoherald.com/sections/Opinion/Editorial/2009/05/04/Book_details_toxic_effects_of_narcissism_on_American_society/

Navarrette writes about a researcher's concept of "Generation Me" and the growing culture of narcissism and entitlement among younger generations of Americans.  I'm absolutely positive we all have observed this, and probably indulged in it at some point. 

Generally, this trend demands and expects special accommodations for objectively normal things.  Cited are examples like people calling into work because they were too tired and needed more sleep, students asking for accommodations for birthday trips to vegas, among others.  The thinking seems to render impressions of oneself as exceptional or at least of warranting exceptional treatment.  I have definitely gone through a phase of this, but as I matured, I realized that making excuses and cutting myself constant slack was unfair to myself and to others.    

The article conjectures that this phenomenon is rooted in a popular obsession with oneself.  I think you see this in our self-preserving child rearing: trophies for merely participating, not keeping score in normally competitive games, etc.  I think in certain contexts these are important approaches to the formation of children's views towards others, but in the wrong contexts they seem to impart inflated views of themselves.  Ready rewards are made without requisite effort, a lack of responsibility and self-ownership plagues the development of upstanding principles. 

Nowadays, It's not so much about taking pride in your work and doing your best, it's about doing minimal work and expecting maximum payout and credit.  Ideally, one would try their best and be satisfied with that.  It appears that the value of hard work and a justified sense of achievement have lost value and ground to selfishness and complete self-centeredness.  But what are the effects of this?

        "'Narcissism is absolutely toxic to society,' Twenge said. "When faced with common resources, narcissists take more for themselves and leave less for others. They tend to be greedy and take too       many risks. They feel entitled, don't think about consequences and think that everything will turn out great.'"

This is not to be confused with optimism or naïveté.  The American Vice of Entitlement is marked by hoarding of attention, seeking of sympathy (often in the form of pity) and an incessant desire for exceptional classification in both positive and negative superlatives.  Perhaps you've heard phrases like "Just be glad you don't have it as bad as I do…"-- a parry-and-thrust phrase of one-upmanship wherein two people seek a pathetic designation as "the one who has it the worst."  What kind of sorry goals are we holding?  We seem to crave attention and reward more fervently than spoiled bratty children. 

I have personally observed this behavior at all levels of education and employment.  It is a ubiquitous trend of constant complaining, bragging, truth-stretching and selfish insecurity that seeks to seduce people into a complacent apathy content with doing just enough to get away with it all.  I just hope it isn't permanent.