It’s the end of the year, and for many of us on the Flyer staff it is our last semester here at Lewis University. And it has been our privilege to be the voice of the student body. We have taken great pride in being this University’s editorial voice. But it is time for many of us to leave, and we do so with heavy hearts.

But we leave with a request for our fellow students, as well as those who will be filling the shoes we are leaving behind. We ask that you make your voice heard.

So many times we, as the Flyer staff, hear grumblings around campus, and we pursue the story with gusto and strong standards. We try to help make people understand the topics that concern them, and we stand here with our print news to make life easier on campus. But so many times the ball stops with us.

We ask that when something bothers you pursue it till you see the change you desire. Mohandas Ghandi said, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” And that is no different here at Lewis. If the dining halls don’t fit your needs, fight for what you want. If there is not enough parking, demand more. If student services gloss over your needs make a stand. We at the Flyer want to encourage you, the student body, to make this place yours.

If you speak loud enough and long enough, your needs will be met. As journalism students, we at the Flyer are versed in our ability to use our first amendment rights. We are accustomed to making controversial stands and calling out the faculty. But we want our fellow students to join us and fight for the change we all want.

We, as students, are the end all and be all in the University. If we did not attend this university there would be no reason for this institution. We have a privilege as attendees of this university to demand certain comforts and a level of living to fit our needs.

We need to make sure that we do not come across as arrogant or spoiled. No one likes crybabies, but if we are not receiving the services that we should for the money we are paying, lets stand up and demand change. We have rights as students. We don’t have to stand up to what the faculty deems as acceptable if we feel our needs are different. We know what we need better than they do. Take a stand and fight for your rights.

It’s our right. It’s our privilege. It’s our job as students and Americans. Help yourself and those who come after you to have a better experience here at Lewis. Make change happen.

We have published many articles critizing Sodexho’s food services here at Lewis. We mostly point out the lack of healthy food choices or ridiculously high prices that we as students pay. Today, we at the Flyer, want to address the food service in general, and how it fails to meet the needs of the students who are forced to use it. And yes I mean forced.

Every resident student knows that a food plan is a mandatory part of the bill to live on campus. We are required to have a meal plan to live in the dorms. It is not an option. We have a choice, between three different levels, of how much money we want to put on our meal plan, but we must have a meal plan. That being, you would think that we would be able to use this money that we invest in our living budget at anytime to get food, right? Well those who live on campus know that is just not the way it is.

Photo courtesy of http://cliffmitchell.wordpress.com

There are many times that there are zero dining facilities open on campus. (Of course I am excluding the C-store which is open 24/7, but who wants to eat TV dinners and beef jerky all the time. I am pretty sure the FDA wouldn’t consider ice cream, candy bars and bruised apples to be a good and balanced meal.) Hours go by every Saturday and Sunday when there is nowhere that a resident student can use the meal money that they are required to have. So if we are hungry at 9 in the morning on a Sunday and want a meal we either have to wait till 11 for the continental breakfast provided in the cafe, go to the C-store for microwavable sandwiches or go off campus and use our other money, not the money we have already invested into our living expenses. It would be nice if we could cash out some of that prepaid money to go get a nice meal early on a Sunday or midday on Saturday when nothing is open. But there is a strict “no cash out” policy with the meal plans.

So many residents accumulate massive amounts of money on their meal plan by the end of the semester; there is only so much cold cereal and pre-made salads that one can eat before enough is enough, and you have to get a real meal.

Students end up with a stock pile of cash on their meal plan, even if they are on the smallest meal program. Which they can do one of three things with; one, help their starving counterpart, students with large appetites constantly go hungry because of the high prices of food on campus, Two, buy bulk amounts of Gatorade at the end of the semester, but at above retail price not at bulk rate (it hurts to pay $45 for a case of Gatorade, which would cost $6.50 at Sam’s), or the third option; just give their excess back to the university. This is what happens when you have money left on your meal card at the end of the year, because of the strict no cash out policy. Lewis just takes a nice little donation. And to say little is stretching it, some students have amounts up to $1200 left on their meal plans, which the University just absorbs into their coffers.

ur money is just going right into the hands of the University one way or the other, and we aren’t even getting a reliable service for the money that we are forced to spend. People go hungry; we are forced to eat cold/microwavable food, and to eat out even though we have already invested thousands in a meal plan on campus. And we use the money whether we spend it or not. There is a word in the English language to describe the food service here at Lewis, and that word is SCAM.

We simply are not getting what we are paying for. Since we HAVE to have a meal plan, we should be able to get a meal, not a “meal”, whenever we want. If it is required to pay the University no matter what, we require a full service for the money we have to pay.

The new Health Care Reform Act has passed giving a great victory to President Barack Obama and the Democratic Party. The greatest victory, however, comes to those thirty-two million Americans who do not have any medical coverage  and now have an opportunity for basic health coverage. Finally, insurance companies will be barred from excluding children for coverage because of pre-existing conditions.

Young adults struggling in college will be able to stay on a parent’s health plan until they reach the age of 26.

Uninsured adults with pre-existing conditions will be able to obtain health coverage through a new program. A temporary reinsurance program will be created to help companies maintain health coverage for early retirees between the ages of 55 and 64.

Medicare drug beneficiaries who fall into the “doughnut hole” coverage gap will get a $250 rebate. The bill eventually closes the gap that currently begins after $2,700 is spent on necessary prescription drugs.

Most importantly, the insurance companies will not be allowed to put a limit on lifetime benefits. No longer will insurance companies dictate medical treatment for patients based on cost rather than need. Doctors will be able to practice the medicine they were trained to perform.

This bill has given hope to many struggling individuals, but….

It costs $940 Billion over the first 10 years alone. To top it all off, it is supposedly going to “split the deficit,”  meaning that it is in fact going to bring in more money than it will cost; which clearly means that there are tax ramifications out the wazoo.

But who are these taxes going to target? Well, since the poor and underprivileged are the ones benefiting the most from this bill, we know they aren’t going to be taxed. President Obama “loves” the middle class, so fat chance that they will be targeted for these tax burdens, which leaves the wealthy to carry the burden of those who previously could not obtain health coverage for themselves.

Households making over $200,000 a year are going to be slapped with large tax hikes in 2013, as well as expensive industries such as the healthcare field and drug manufacturers.

The upper class is going to be entrusted with carrying the burden of this socialist reform.

The benefits of the reform are awesome. Injustices, for example, preexisting conditions, needed to be banned from our society; but asking the upper class to pay for the medical care of those who previously could not afford it is against the basic statues of capitalism.

Many people are starting to feel that this reform has cost Obama a second term in the white house.

It is not the poor and unfortunate that vote; it is the wealthy, and they are unhappy with the outcome of the recent bill.

The people that this bill affects the most have not even realized it yet. College students for the most part  approve of the bill, but they are only on the receiving end as of yet. Once their degrees start to kick in and they jump from the dependent or lowest tax brackets to the higher ones, the support will fall away. All of a sudden the benefits will become burdens, and the progress that seemed like such a good idea will turn to ash in their hands.

Change has come, and with it, taxes. I guess there is no price tag on hope.

When recently talking with a friend, the person said he did not like religion; because he saw the topic to be one of constant controversy, politics and even war.

I think we can all agree with this statement at times. It’s not the practice of religion that I am occasionally bothered by, it’s the arguments that regularly loom between religious officials and organizations over what is correct doctrine and belief.

Somewhere along the way, it seems that people of faith really missed the point of what religion is all about.

If I were to sum up the lessons I learned from the Bible, which many Christians claim to be the basis of their belief system, I would state;  1) Love the Lord God above all else, 2) Love your neighbor as yourself, 3) Live for justice.

Nowhere in these key points is there anything about specific beliefs, doctrine or procedures. Rather, I think the Bible can be narrowly summarized to love and justice.

If this is the basis of the Christian faith, (and huge aspects of other religions as well), why do we let little differences constantly get in the way and make us not love each other?

Parishioners think their denomination or faith group  is the only one receiving salvation. They criticize and brutalize other creeds, races and sexes, because they believe their faith allows this. They hate in the name of religion when in actuality, they hate, because they do not understand others.

From my experience, this is one of the reasons today’s youth is not going to their houses of worship with the same enthusiasm they did 80 years ago. Young people look around at their respected faith officials while they profess love for all, as they later show fault in others. Hypocrisy had tainted sacred air.

Why do we not practice what we preach? If we preach love, why do we not live a life full of it, free of judgment and hate?

If religious officials and participants do not start concentrating on what is most important (proclaiming the love of God(s), and they would rather divide than connect with others, they are only pushing people away from the beliefs they hold so dearly. They will produce people like my friend, who associate religion not with love and hope, but controversy and hate.

If that’s the case, I don’t want to be part of the club either.

That resounding statement you hear from old people seems to be ringing loudly in my ear. You know that; “Your only as young as you feel inside” crap. When you are actually young you think statements like that are said to pacify the older generation. It is when you are old that you come to realize not only is the thought process true but so is the statement.

Now I must admit we need to carefully dissect that statement. Internal youth is how you feel. The external youth comes in the form of heavy duty anti wrinkle creams. Which until recently I thought was just placebo in a bottle my mother tried selling me to convince herself it was really working.  Now I am not only a believer but a user of those anti aging creams. I have to say that those wonderful miracles in a bottle help me with my internal youth as well.

I have finally come to the realization that my youth is up to me.  I can, and quite honestly, am easily distracted by all the young students I sit with in class with on a daily basis. It makes me nostalgic for my younger years and more youthful appearance. I want to tape a picture of me at twenty on my forehead to say “Yes, I was once young”. It is never more apparent when I hear a comment made innocently by a fellow student, that a lot of my writing embraces the suburbia mom theme. I cannot really be upset about that comment though. In fact that statement is spot on when it comes to describing me.

So instead of feeling old, I have finally embraced my age as a badge of honor. I am starting to surround myself with my younger fellow students as well.  Through them I can harness some of my lost youth and theoretically turn back the clock of time on myself. By no way does that mean you will see me at an all night bender having more than my fair share of barley and oats.  But I am open to any suggestions that can further my attainment of a more youthful me.

You, Me and the Other Guy

The college relationship is a delicate thing. We as college age students are in the training for the rest of our lives. We are supposed to be becoming adults and many of us try to act like them in as many ways as we can. We take ourselves too seriously, and our lives as well. We are still young and should be making mistakes. We don’t have it all figured out, even though many of us pretend that we do. And this sense of “security” of course falls over into our romantic relationships.

Many college students feel that they have to act like adults. We stand in our relationships as if we are married. And we take little infidelities too seriously. We are young and mistakes happen. So why do we take things so seriously?

We are physical people living in a materialistic physical time, and physical infidelities happen. We will make mistakes, sometimes drunken, sometimes not, but mistakes happen, but physical cheating is not the end of the world. Especially in long distance relationships. Physical cheating is blown way out of proportion especially at our age. But there is a point when infidelity slips past the tolerable.

Most relationships at our age are either serious or borderline pushing it. And it is at this point that people start getting emotionally involved with another. And as these emotions grow so does the responsibility, because in your hands lies another’s emotional rest.

Many people feel that physical infidelity is unforgivable, and sure in some instances it is. Never should anyone cheat on there wife or even fiancé, a pledge is a pledge, but we as college students have not made a pledge and we certainly, for the most part, are not going to marry the person we are with, but we are emotionally involved.

Physical infidelity is forgivable, in most instances; emotional infidelity is not. People make mistakes and many times, in college, a physical encounter with another is either a passing thing, a thing of the moment, a mistake if you will, nothing serious, but once emotions get involved and things get messy.

People invest emotionally into their relationships, and those emotions are not something that come easily. When people disregard those emotions and start messing with them that is when a line is crossed. Emotional infidelity is far worse than physical.

People make mistakes. They get drawn together through natural chemistry, and sometimes it’s hard to resist, especially when alcohol gets involved, but when you start toying with people’s emotions that’s when people get hurt.

I am not saying that feelings don’t change. That one day you are deeply involved with one person and then over time you start to feel differently. Maybe another comes into your life and you like the way you feel for them better. They might be sweet and free with their feelings, treat you right and be right there for you to hold when you need them. If this happens, the change needs to be complete. You need to let go of the old relationship and embrace the new. Maybe it is scary because you are uncertain, but to let two people feel as if they are the only ones in your life is cruel and unusual punishment, for both of them.

People that are emotionally involved look for a certain sense of reassurance in their relationships. They look for something solid; solid enough to rest their wellbeing in. But if the person you give your emotions too is being flippant with them, there is nothing but a bed of water, where you look for limestone. Physical transgressions can be forgiven, but emotional ones lead to devastation.

Sex is simple. It is two people reacting to their bodies. Emotions are much more complicated. They stand for what we believe at the core of our beings, in fact they are a part of who we are as individuals. Our bodies can be forgotten, but our psyche is unforgettable.  It is something that is much more sacred than anything you can touch. And I feel that many people feel that just because they are not involved physically with an individual that they are not cheating on their significant other. In my opinion, emotional
infidelity is far worse than anything physical. We all make mistakes, and those can be forgiven, but emotional devastation can scar for life.

What it comes down to, I feel, is that you can feel bad in the morning, but if you lead two guys on there is nothing for you to feel bad about; take the scissors out and cut the chord. Take the risk and stop pulling at people’s heartstrings.

Don’t You Touch Her

Physical infidelity is much worse than emotional infidelity. Cheating traditionally is defined as the physical involvement with someone else outside of a monogamous relationship. There is nothing worse than being one hundred percent invested in a relationship and having the other person stray. When a person in a relationship crosses “the line” and becomes physically intimate with someone else, that is the ultimate betrayal in a relationship.

Any physical contact with someone other than a significant other that invokes a sexual reaction is cheating.  Regardless if that physical interaction is intercourse. Cheating can involve something as simple as a kiss to something as complex intercourse.

In relationships, the physical cheater is predominately male. It is in the nature of the male species to be physical and often times that physical contact with others leads to infidelity. It is almost reminiscent of the caveman possessing and protecting the cavewoman.

Wars have been fought over man’s physical need to possess a person physically. The most famous is that of the Trojan War that was sparked by Paris’ need to possess Helen, who, as we all know, was another man’s wife.

Never believe that women are not capable of infidelity on a physical level. However, when a woman cheats physically with someone else, it is usually always with relationship ending consequences.

A physical infidelity is damaging to a relationship on an emotional level as well regardless of the gender of the transgressor. Not only is the knowledge of your significant other was sexual in a physical way with someone else, but there are also the repercussions that come in the wave of trust. There is the ever present question that they were capable of doing it once and so then the cheater can definitely do it again.

My favorite reply to an infidelity is that, “It did not mean anything”. While I can partly believe that, it meant something at the time that was so powerful physically, and yes emotionally, that all thought of a significant other was abandoned. Quite frankly, it did matter. It mattered to the person who was being cheated on. The emotional and physical repercussions that follow a relationship in the wake of an affair are devastating.

Some would argue that emotional cheating is far worse than the physical cheating; however, there are no boundaries that have been crossed in an emotional situation. Emotional cheating can be defined as the intimate correspondence with someone over cell phone and the Internet in a close and personal way while in a relationship with someone else. There is absolutely no physical contact with the “other person,” and therefore, is not a form of cheating.

We share our emotions with others outside of a monogamous relationship on a daily basis. So if self disclosure with someone other than a significant other is emotional cheating, then there are a multitude of cheaters out there.

There is no justification for physical cheating, which is the ultimate betrayal in any relationship. There can be no way that emotional cheating can even come close in comparison to physical cheating.

On the day after Ash Wednesday, I overheard a student in one of my classes proclaim how bad he felt, because he didn’t receive ashes the day before. He also claimed he was going to hell or at least spending some extra time in purgatory for his actions, especially since he was Catholic.

I couldn’t help but chuckle and roll my eyes. Is this how we judge if others are religious, by if they receive ashes on Ash Wednesday or not?  Don’t get me wrong, I find it important to go to Ash Wednesday service, get ashes, and really get in the humbling mindset that is present in Lent.

However, I don’t think my fellow student and many others understand that it doesn’t matter if one goes to get ashes or even proclaims a certain religion or denomination. What matters are one’s actions during and after these events.

My questions to this student are: Did you meditate on what Lent means? Did you consider that this is a period of self-reflection and self-denial and you should be in this mindset, even if you did give up your favorite treat?

This situation really got me wondering; what did it mean when my fellow student said he was Catholic? What does it mean when individuals affliate themselves with a certain denomination or religion? Does it mean they go to their house of worship every week and for special occasions? Does it mean they pray every night? Two times a day or every hour?  Does it simply mean they give something up for Lent?

I think we’ve all met people that affiliate themselves with some religion or denomination, but you can’t help but wonder why they do. You question, what was the last time they went to their house of worship? When was the last time they prayed? When was the last time they picked up the Bible, Torah or Quran?

Should activities determine whether someone is religious or not? Should we look at how nice, truthful and just they are? What if they have all these characteristics, yet they are an atheist? Are they then any less religious?

There is not a set answer to these questions. I do have my own thoughts as I’m sure everyone else does. Even if someone was confirmed or baptized or raised a certain way, I don’t think it matters. What matters is if they practice what they preach and they believe in what they say. This is my view. Yet, who can truly say for sure what God’s opinion on the matter is.

Lewis students do not seem to have a very high level of school spirit. We receive the emails nearly every week about the results of the previous ‘”Flyer Red Friday,” but many times the student chosen was not wearing red or Lewis apparel. Does this mean there is a lack of interest in school spirit, or is this apparent decrease in enthusiasm caused by something else? The cost of Lewis’ spirit wear could be to blame.

With the economy the way it is, many college students do not have extra money to spend. They are required to pay for essentials like tuition, gas, food and car payments. With all of these important obligations, students have to look for ways to save money.  This may mean spending less on other items like specialized clothing.

The high prices of the spirit wear at Lewis discourage students from choosing to buy their apparel here, as opposed to stores where they can get more for their money.  So where do we see Lewis apparel besides the campus bookstore.  It would seem that the prices would be competitive in the bookstore if there were more places off campus to purchase the university’s items. However, a past experience with a Flyer staff member was denied the opportunity to carry the Lewis trademarked items in a family owned store would suggest otherwise.

It was told to the owner of a collegiate apparel store that an agreement with Follett Higher Education Groups did not give the university the ability to allow outside merchants the ability to sell Lewis gear.

Many items in the Lewis bookstore cost around $50 apiece, with several of the clothing found on the bookstore’s online shop range in price from $26-$52. This may cause students to not buy items from the bookstore or to buy less than what they want.

If prices of the spirit wear at Lewis decreased, students would be more likely to buy their clothing from the university bookstore. The location is convenient and most of the merchandise is sold there is something that college students, alumni and faculty would want to wear. College students like the comfortable clothing offered in the bookstore, and their school name is an added bonus.

Other students of university have multiple pieces of school attire in their wardrobe, so we continue to come back to the question at hand. What is the problem with Lewis spirit? It is the price that is the issue.

If spirit wear was more affordable for students and faculty, the school spirit around campus would definitely increase. Students would be able to wear the Lewis apparel they had wanted but could not previously afford. The bookstore would probably make more money with the increased interest in shopping due to the lower prices.

Lower costs would not only benefit the students and faculty, but the university as a whole.

Christina Brown
Guest Contributor

Interacting with children is a part of everyday life. Even if someone isn’t planning on having kids, basic skills are still needed so that they know how to interact with the children in their lives.

Parenting may seem like it is common sense, but it truly is a form of education that needs to be taken seriously. The world is filled with unfit parents who have the potential to be good parents, but are lacking the education that provides proper parenting skills.

Many pregnant women are uneducated about the prenatal care they need. Some even abuse drugs while pregnant, not knowing the harmful effects that their behavior will bring. This creates an unstable situation that babies are born into which only brings about more problems. According to the National Advocates for Pregnant Woman, “The majority of mothers using while pregnant aren’t mature enough or prepared enough to have a baby. Babies of mothers abusing drugs have potential for a healthier life if their mothers recover from their drug abuse and learn better parenting skills.”

Not everyone is born to be a parent. Many people think that parenting is common sense and that everyone can be a parent.

However, the achievement of being a fit parent isn’t that realistic. It takes a lot of time and work. That’s why parenting classes can help prepare students for the unexpected.

A lot of people shouldn’t have children or don’t know what it takes to have kids, which is why it is a good idea for schools to provide parenting classes. According to the the blog site Helium, “High Schools across the nation are filling up more and more with pregnant teenagers. Girls and guys who are going to be parents because of one or two mistakes that tons and tons of teenagers make every day.”

One solution can be parenting classes that use baby simulators to help give a realistic replication of having an infant. When I was in junior high school all students were required to use baby simulators as part of the Home Economics general education course. These simulators gave me a personal experience of dealing with an infant and it made me realize that being a parent is not as easy as it may seem. I struggled with the baby simulator, especially when I had to get up throughout the night to feed the baby. These simulators give students a realistic feel for having a baby and they can show students the effects of having a child rather then tell them.

Baby simulators are not the only helpful tool in parenting classes. Bringing in guest speakers can also be useful. Parents coming in to speak to students will give them expert information about what raising a child really consist of. In the state of Texas, parenting classes are mandatory in high school. One blog on the website Demure Thoughts explained the need for these classes stating, “Millions of your tax dollars are spent on caring for teen mothers and their children. Now the state is taking steps to prevent those pregnancies. A parenting class is now mandatory for all high school students.”

Parenting classes allow schools to kill two birds with one stone.  It not only gives students the essential parenting skills that they need, but it also helps to reduce unwanted pregnancies.

In return these classes not only help out the students, but they also help society reduce the parenting issues such as teen pregnancy, child neglect, and child abuse. Many people make the mistake of parenting their children the same way that they were raised. I’m not saying that the way everyone’s parents raised them was wrong, but I feel that some people assume that the way they were raised was correct when in actuality it isn’t.

Many people who were abused as children tend to abuse their children because that is all the parenting techniques they ever learned. To help stop unfit parenting and child abuse, parenting classes can help to ensure that students gain proper parenting techniques that aren’t always physical, but more emotional so that they help to teach the child the differences between right and wrong.

Parenting is a life skill that everyone should possess. It is a basic part of life that is very complex and needs to be handled with care. It is up to schools to teach these much needed skills to its students in order to not only ensure more fit parents, but also to better society as a whole.

In 1987 the Silicon Valley Company released version 1.0 of the now widely used program best known as PowerPoint for Macintosh computers. Three years later, the software was made available to Windows users. Since then, the face of education along with a variety of other disciplines has suffered through a significant amount of alterations as a result of new technologies.
Educational institutions ac-ross the globe encourage the use of PowerPoint as an effective tool to better communicate information to the students of today. Our generation is unique in experiencing the technology of tomorrow today. We have been exposed to an innumerable amount of both major and minor technological advances in our short life span.

Every day, at least 30 million PowerPoint presentations are given. Therefore, it is obvious programs such as PowerPoint are becoming a larger part of how we learn in the classroom. The overuse of similar programs has been shown to have a detrimental effect on how we learn to comprehend information. Edward R. Tufte, professor emeritus at Yale University, stresses that PowerPoint is designed to be speaker-oriented. This means that the layout of a typical PowerPoint is convenient for the speaker who uses the program as a way to stay focused and organized with the topic at hand.

Unfortunately, not enough room is provided in order to give the audience an in-depth look at the information provided. An audience that is often exposed to PowerPoint is exposed to information only defined by a bullet point and a word or a short phrase.

Tufte asserts that individuals begin to comprehend information in the way a PowerPoint is organized, in small and rapid fragments. “The software makes us think and speak in isolated blocks, instead of in coherent context, totalities, narratives, or linear reasoning,” argues Tufte.

Likewise, the Harvard Business Review reported that PowerPoint’s bullet point approach leads to superficial and simplified ways of thinking. We are beginning to move to a level of comprehension fueled by our overuse of technology. Therefore, it is evident that our use of such a poorly designed program is beginning to make us think like a poorly designed program.
PowerPoint has also changed the way professors are able to communicate with their students. My personal experience with PowerPoint has led me to believe that its overuse ruins not only the content presented, but also the spirit of the professor who chooses to use it.

Last semester, I had a course in which the professor exhibited a high level of enthusiasm in each of her lectures. She was vibrant and spirited until the dreaded slideshow popped up in the middle of the semester. I soon began to loose interest because it seemed as if all her excitement was absorbed into a few images and bullet points. I expressed my concerns at the end of the semester because of the fact that a wonderful lecturer became dull as a result of PowerPoint.

Additionally, I began to notice that I was no longer absorbing the information as easily. PowerPoint allows a student to be lazy because of its accessibility. Also, the content is not presented in a way that would be considered mildly interesting. Professors who have the ability to excite their students about what they are teaching do not need PowerPoint. Instead, such a program has a harmful effect on the level of communication that exists between the student and the professor.

The overuse of programs such as PowerPoint is, I feel, comparable to a man or woman who has a serious addiction to, for example, plastic surgery. The addiction begins as a simple aid in improving an individual’s aging appearance. Soon, the visits and the procedures become a routine in the life of an addict. Dozens of procedures later, the individual is destroyed both mentally and physically.

PowerPoint is similar because it is clear that educational institutions have formed a strong dependence on the program because of its high level of convenience. PowerPoint should not be banned. Instead, its constant use should be re-evaluated considering the detrimental effects of having the program as an essential teaching tool.  There is certainly nothing wrong with using PowerPoint here and there. The program may be more useful in some classes than others.

Students and professors need to stand back from the bright screen in order to rediscover classical learning styles, which seem to have a number of positive effects. Our use of PowerPoint needs to be further questioned.