Cheers and Jeers

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Posted: 9/19/08

Ernie Davis Statue Fakery
JEER: The latest in a long, long string of bad things to come from Syracuse University's football department, the new Ernie Davis statue that was unveiled during "The Express" extravaganza weekend was sporting a little bit of the swoosh. The Nike swoosh, that is.
But - whoops - the Nike logo didn't even exist until 1971, a good decade after Davis played for the Orange. Is this just another example of the incompetence of the athletic program, or some kind of elaborate marketing ploy? In these dire, dark days of SU football, anything seems possible.

More bicycles on campus
CHEER: On Wednesday, The Daily Orange reported the trend of more bicyclists on campus. It's certainly great that students are becoming more health and environmentally conscious. Riding your bike to campus is good exercise and it keeps that old ozone layer intact for at least a little longer by not driving a car or taking the bus. We should have known Freddie Mercury had it right when he said he wanted to ride his bicycle where he liked. But on the other hand…

JEER: The city of Syracuse is really ill equipped to handle a mass onslaught of students on their two-wheelers. The "bike lanes" around campus are too skinny and easily blocked by parked cars. This forces bikers to have to ride in the road, which can be dangerous, or on the sidewalk, where pedestrians are forced to dodge bikers pedaling to class. Speaking of which, can everyone realize the Quad is not a racetrack? There have been so many near collisions with bikers and pedestrians that it'll need traffic lights soon.

New Facebook
JEER: Mark Zuckerberg, what have you wrought upon innocent users of the Internet? The new Facebook, implemented this week, is liked by approximately zero percent of the population. Though approximately 97 percent of people feel the need to express their distaste in their status, which is kind of obnoxious, but hey, maybe we just have obnoxious friends.
But really, the design is just disastrous. There are creepy advertisements everywhere. You can no longer see if someone is looking for random play and who is writing on their wall in the same screen. Rough times for the Internet, indeed.

Homeland Security Recruits Elmo In Terrorist Eviction Process
CHEER: Brought to you by the letter "I" for incredulous, the Huffington Post reported that the Department of Homeland Security has teamed up with "Sesame Street" to teach our impressionable youth about how fight the terrorists.
But hey, kudos to Homeland Security for just playing the upfront card. It wants to monitor pretty much every aspect of our lives (oh hey, Patriot Act), so why not just start with the kids? We have our fingers crossed for an Elmo doll that teaches kids what they can and cannot bring on airplanes.

Sarah Palin's E-mail Gets Hacked
JEER: This whole Sarah Palin debacle has grown to such epic proportions, we will just list off the things inherently wrong with this scenario:
-Gawker, a Manhattan media blog, posted Palin's personal e-mails and contacts, including daughter Bristol's phone number.
-Palin has a Yahoo! e-mail account? Actually, that makes sense.
-Apparently, Palin was talking government issues through her personal e-mail. That seems a little suspect, and she doesn't need more things from her past coming back to haunt her.
-Why isn't Tina Fey doing her Sarah Palin impression every day? It's so golden.