The Griffin

Canisius has made the first steps toward renovating its library.   These improvements would include remodeling the main floor of the building to make it more conducive to round the clock study.

All vital services would be concentrated on the main floor, which would hopefully remain open 24 hours a day.
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samiral al-saidi

I attended the forum hosted on the Iraq War on Wednesday that was hosted by the Phi Alpha Delta, Young Democrats, College Republicans and International Affairs Society and was filled with rage at some of the ignorance that exists. There were a lot of misconceptions and terms that were used and in my opinion the men who spoke did not know the meanings of certain things. I will begin with the terms that are widely misused, which are Jihad and Islam. Islam is the act of one submitting oneself to God. The root of the word comes from salam, which means peace. We Muslims are descendents of Abraham and his teachings, just as Christians and Jews are. In regards to he second term, Jihad, I actually looked up the definition online and realized that perhaps another ignorant individual typed up the definition of Jihad. So here is the definition of Jihad from a practicing, peaceful Muslim. Jihad is the internal struggle for an individual to maintain faith and spirituality and to reach a moral state of being. It is not a concept for war, Jihad does not condone terrorist activities,and Jihad is not an act of physical aggression. Jihad is the emotional, psychological and physical struggle to maintain a healthy spiritual lifestyle and the act of striving to be better human beings.
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shauna pantano

Do you enjoy working with children? Does the thought of being happily married someday with cherubic children flocking around your white picket fence ever cross your mind? Or what about during the holidays, those pesky little cousins of yours always getting in between you and the football game that’s on television. I have an ever better question: what’s the difference between those “normal” children running around your picket fence and a child who has disabilities? None. There is no difference.
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With the debacle that tainted our pages the past couple weeks, one theme bled through the black and white rhetoric. The student body that has “leadership in our DNA” sat back and relied on others’ faults to prove their success. We cannot build our credibility on others’ lack thereof.

What happened to earning respect? What circumstances justify us waiting for others to slip up? Are the costs of diligence and the price of achieving success too high?

Our societal obsession with success has been misconstrued to rationalize the shortcuts used to reach it.  The pitiful drive to make our names memorable is causing us to lose the true purpose of our decisions.

The last few issues included a collage of distractions that made individuals’ mediocre attempts appear valiant. We cannot glorify our elected officials when their workload has included keeping their own heads off the chopping block by making personal attacks. Stones are being thrown by people who are incapable of judging.

In the moment when the curtain drops and the applauded are ushered off stage, the fame becomes fake and flightless. Those who have a chance to redeem themselves have thus far remained silent and thoughtful. We can only legitimize our efforts to turn this situation around and recover our student government from a petty pool of ashes with meaningful contributions; the fingers have been pointed and the whistles have been blown. Drained of pointless accusations and outrageous claims, our next plan of action should involve an actual idea- undeniably without a verbal battle royale.

There is no pride in waiting for our peers to fall short just so we may reap the benefits of the public’s disgust. No one celebrates the motionless parade of others failures. Shame on us.

alex kirby

Let’s be serious for just one second.  Is Canisius College not the function by which raw high school students are morphed into future leaders?  That is what the billboard said.

First, let’s look at what is asked of a leader.  A leader must take responsibility for his or her actions, and always be prepared for what lies ahead.  In most cases the future is unknown and different from anything that was experienced before.  You want to be lucky on your next test?  Study hard and you will find some luck, because as the old saying goes, luck is the residue of design.
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ashley carrow, hallie gallagher, and kirsten reppert

Wouldn’t it be nice to commemorate your experience at Canisius College by having your name and class year on a brick in the Quad forever?  Now, there is a way to make it happen.

As students, we understand that saving even a few dollars while in college can be difficult, let alone donating the money we have to someone else.  However, recent events, from 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina to our recent snow storm have shown us that people willing to give a little actually helps a lot.  
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carly czech

Who would have guessed that November would lead me to find this National Novel Writing Month RACE! In November 1999, in San Francisco, the first year of this race began. The objective of the race is to write a 175-page novel (50,000 words) starting November 1 and finishing by midnight on November 30. Any takers?

Unlike most writings, this month is devoted to quantity rather than quality. This kamikaze approach forces you to lower your standards, take risks, and write on the fly! This will mean that you will be writing a very non-traditional, unprofessional, non-academic, no-standards-whatsoever piece of crap.
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steve szramkowski

Last week was a very, very sad week for myself.  It’s not because of the Sabres losing their first game, or because I can no longer wear my jigglypuff Halloween costume.  It’s because I lost something very dear to me.  My bright shiny yellow student ID card.  Why, oh why did you have to die on me?!  You were with me through the good days and the bad, the long days and the short.  I took you everywhere buddy we had lots of good times together.  I’d be in class and you’d be content just chillin’ in my pocket, only to emerge again and let me into Frisch or Eastwood or to be swiped by any random Chartwells employee.  
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He said this, she said that.

In light of the turmoil surrounding the leadership in Undergraduate Student Association, it has become clear to The Griffin that many of its problems stemmed from a serious lack of communication.

The lack of communication is evident both among students as well as between students and administrators.
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megan kavanagh

Fraud: “a knowing misrepresentation of the truth or concealment of a material fact to induce another to act to his or her detriment”

The above text is powerful. It describes an activity worthy of legal sanction and punishment. Sadly, it’s also a term that might be applicable to a member of our student government.
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