8/3/2019 The Advocate Love and Loneliness
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OPINION
February 14, 20074
Titan Editorial Providing insight, analysis and perspective
since 1960
On a 60 Minutes inter-
view Sunday night, presi-dential hopeful BarackObama
acknowledged thathe smoked marijuana andsnorted cocaine in
highschool and college. atspart of the journey that Ivet a k e n ,
O b a m asaid. Hesaid thathis can-dor aboutpast mis-takes isto set
anexamp lefor youngp e o p l eand that he does not antici-pate
major ramifications tohis chances as a result of
hisrevelations.
e best defense is agood offense. It was nosecret that Obama had
in-haled he had previouslywritten about it in his 1996book, Dreams
From My
Father: A Story of Raceand Inheritance. In thatmemoir, Obama
wrote ofhis younger self: Junkie.Pothead. ats where Idbeen headed:
the final, fatalrole of the young would-beblack man.
e fact that he has ad-
dressed it with candor sepa-
rates him from rival politi-cians, who traditionally
givehalf-truth canned answersabout past indiscretions.For all of
his accomplish-ments, Bill Clinton willnever live down his
ridicu-
lous I nev-er inhaledline. Andwhile it hasnever beenconfirmed,l
o n g t i m e w h i s p e r semanatingfrom theLone Starstate
indi-
cate Obama may not bethe first presidential candi-date to lean
over the whitelines. e past drug useisnt something to be
trum-peted, but his competencyin dodging a PR bullet is atestament
to his rising star.e fact that he was ableto extinguish a
potential
campaign-killing scandalwithout raising so much asan eyebrow
speaks volumestoward his leadership.
e more we see of thisguy, we like his swagger. Were definitely
intrigued,though not ready to fullycommit yet.
Obama Inhaled...
BY SARAH GAMMILL
Daily Titan Staff [email protected]
Valentines Day is here and to thatI say bah humbug. Ive never
beenmuch for a holiday that designatesonly one day to let those you
careabout know you love them. Andyou cant just say those three
simplewords, buy them things. Buy themdiamonds, teddy bears, cards
andthe allur-ing boxof choco-late. Ifind it
disturb-ing thatc o m p a -nies tryto targetindividu-al emotions
and that the consumersallow them to.
I dont buy into it.Why do we need a holiday to re-
mind people we love them? Cant weexpress our love all year
long?
We show our love with gifts be-cause we are consumers who rely
ongifts to prove our love and security.Gifts verify that people
care, and itssad.
Maybe if we showed our lovedones we care everyday of the
year,this holiday would have a differentconnotation, like a
celebration ofthe love shared all year. Some. likemyself, might not
even see a reasonfor the holiday, except to honor St.Valentine.
Instead, we listen to the propagan-da about Valentines Day and
we eatit up. I tell my boyfriend I love himall the time and he does
the same
to me. I see no reason why extramoney, which we dont have,
should
be spent to show we love each othermore on this day.
I just dont get the allure behindValentines Day, or why so much
ef-fort is used to make it as big as it is.
No more money will be given tothe marketing and advertising
com-panies trying to tug at my heart-strings and dig into my
wallet. egift of everyday love is more thansome could ever hope
for, and sothat is what I give. I show my loveeveryday of the year.
I dont lovesomeone more or less on any givenday, and I expect the
same from ev-eryone else.
ere is a quote, which says, Loveand bel o v ed . Nowherein thatp
h r a s e
does itmentionto buygifts toe x p r e s saffectionand love.
Money, as we all know, cannot buylove. It is the companies
producingthe cards and candy that are tryingto convince us of
this.
Well, I encourage anyone to stepout of the box. Dont buy into a
holi-day designed to rob you.
Dont get me wrong, I am not aman hating, lonely,
never-been-in-love type of girl. I have never beenmarred by a bad
relationship andIm currently in a three-year rela-tionship.
Yet I am still baffled by the em-phasis of this holiday.
Valentines Day has become acomplete consumer holiday andnothing
more.
Lets change the meaning of thisday. Instead of buying cards,
showmore love in everyday life and say akind word on any given day,
rather
than force feelings on ValentinesDay.
e best defense isa good offense. It
was no secret thatObama had inhaled.
To Be Or Not To Be Single
Love is perhaps the mostcommonly discussed, ponderedand
philosophized subject in theworld. For those involved withthe
treatment of Asperger, aswell as those who have it, loveis still a
topic for discussion andthought.
e city on a hill is the perfectmetaphor to describe the
DailyTitan newsroom. With its loca-tion on the sixth floor of
Col-lege Park, it islike that city ona hill where stu-dents,
throughhard work, canenjoy the fruitsof their laborand all the
aca-demic and per-sonal successes. Yet it can defi-nitely be
lonelyat the top. Suc-cess, in my es-timation, is meaningless
whentheres no one to appreciate it.
With Valentines Day comingup, love is on the minds of ev-eryone.
With Aspergers the dis-cussion is less philosophical innature. e
conversation is moreabout can we love? as opposedto the very nature
of love itself.
e question is irrelevant.Can you breathe?
We are capable of love likeany other human being. eability to
love by both Aspie, (adiminutive name for someonewith Aspergers)
and non-autis-tic alike is what makes us hu-man.
Aspies such as myself chooseto express love in a way that
doesnot fit the ordinary definitionsof love. Even those who are
not
autistic differ in the ways theyexpress love and show
affection,but it does not make the feelingsless real or less
wonderful andbeautiful. Love created the uni-verse, which is
reflected in theeyes of those we love.
Being a male student on acampus that is 64 percent fe-male does
have its advantages to which the remaining 36percent can attest but
on the
other hand ithas its disad-vantages. Letsface it, mostautistics
aremen and mostmen never re-ally understand women, leastof all
autistic.
I choose toexpress myselfthrough wordsand actions,
and I have found saying I loveyou is much more powerful
than giving out candied heartson Valentines. Words are
morepowerful than any gesture.
Yet love is something that any-one wants and deserves.
Peopleassume that whenever a disabledperson mentions the things
theydeserve, they often mistakenlyassume that we deserve
thosethings because we are disabled.In contrast, it is not because
weare disabled but because we arehuman.
As I spend my time in thiscity on a hill, the world seemsthat
much bigger and just thatmuch more isolated. Perhapsbeing such an
extreme man hashad a part in that. But that dis-cussion will have
to wait.
For those involved with the treatment of Asperger, as well
asthose who have it, loveis still a topic for dis-cussion and
thought.
The AdvocateBY Robert Moran
Love and Loneliness
Robert Moran writes a weekly column on life as a disabled
studentliving with Aspergers Syndrome. He is available to answer
any
questions and provide information and resources for those
interested.Email him at [email protected]
BY ANDREW SNYDERDaily Titan Staff
[email protected]
e big day is here and the pres-sure has been building. Should I
gether chocolate? What kind of flowersshould I get her? Does she
even likeflowers?
e pressure of Valentines Dayhas fallen upon my shoulders andI
have the responsibility of makingthis night with my girlfriend
oneto remember. Lets not forget, thememory she is left with has to
be oneof us both smiling in the end.
For whatever reason, this singleday is glorified as the day for
ro-
BY JASON KORNFELD
Daily Titan Staff [email protected]
Unlike the many Cal State Fuller-ton students who are stressing
aboutwhat to get their better halves today,I do not share this
dilemma. For-tunately, I will be busy celebratingSingles Awareness
Day.
Valentines Day is surely one ofthe most overrated holidays,
admira-bly competing with Starbucks coffeefor the biggest waste of
money. Is itnot just another excuse for womento get pampered and
achieve that at-tention they so desperately desire?
Dont get me wrong, I am allabout keeping the ladies happy. Butdo
they really need an entire daydedicated to complete worship
ofthem?
Id much rather date people withno strings attached than have to
worry about competing with everyother guy to get the most
romanticboyfriend award for a V-Day per-formance.
When you are single, you have thefreedom to talk to women
withouthaving to look over your shoulder tosee if your girl is
waiting with an axeto castrate you for your sins.
Like I said, it is important t o keepthe ladies happy, but I
think theholiday puts way too much pressureon people who already
have plentyof worries.
By staying single all you have to worry about is impressing
yourselfand not others.
I know nobody in their right mindreally wants to deal with the
pressureof surprising their significant othersor the ensuing
letdown if theyre dis-appointed with your efforts.
Which brings to mind anotherthing you can avoid: drama.
e funny thing is, everyoneseems to aspire to obtain what
theydont have. ere are plenty of peo-ple in relationships that
questionhow good of a thing they have goingon while there are also
a number ofsingle people that are jealous about what the people in
relationshipshave.
Either way, when you are single,you are ready to mingle, and
thatis a beautiful thing. is holiday isonly here to try to get you
to spendmoney, and by remaining single youare sticking it to the
man.
So tonight you can catch me atthe Slidebar celebrating my
stress-free solitude.
mance. Twenty-four hours of show-ing that special someone how
muchshe means to me.
All my single friends are givingme a hard time because Im
spend-ing money on something they defineas unnecessary. ey tease
me, tryto embarrass me and try to make mefeel like less of a man
because I amselling out to a holiday that, to some,isnt a real
holiday to begin with.
Although a holiday such as thisseems a little overrated, I know
affec-tion is expected and it is tradition.
So the one question that remains,and perhaps the most important
toa night like this, is how will all thisromance happen?
Do I send the flowers to her placewith a delivery guy or do I
deliverthem myself? Do I say that I have towork that night and then
completelysurprise her by showing up unex-pectedly? How can I make
this nightromantic and not cheesy?
Ive made reservations at her fa-vorite restaurant (which isnt
theeasiest task in the world consideringthat everyone else wants to
eat theretoo) and I know exactly what I will
surprise her with.I want to show her how I feel
and Im actually getting nervous ap-proaching this special
occasion and.Ive been planning for this day andthe anticipation of
her reaction isgiving me butterflies in my stomachand an anxious
feeling.
Will she like what I have planned?I hope so.
When the time comes and she seesthe effort I have put into this
night),all I hope is that she is happy.
To see her eyes light up and to seeher beautiful smile would
mean ev-erything.
I cant wait to make her happyand that is what Valentines Day
issupposed to be about.
Valentines Day is not aholiday for love, it is justa big
marketing ploy
Celebrating a Special Someone
Fight the System forose You Love
