trend story

From different tweets to facebook bumper stickers,“ Yoga pants, the man who invented them, we salute you,” yoga pants are widely known. Yoga pants are becoming more popular, but not only for women. Their main purpose may be used as a comfortable pair of pants for women to wear casually or to work out, but they also grab the attention of many men.

“ Yoga pants on girls are one of my favorite things, but it depends on who’s wearing them. If they get in the wrong hands, it can be detrimental to the team, “ said sophomore Michael Waring.

Yoga pants originated in Iran then moved to Greece before finally reaching America. They were designed with comfort in the mind and in reference to yoga. However, these yoga pants are becoming quite a trend due to the relaxed feeling of the pants and how they exenterate women’s curves.

“ They’re just so comfy and definitely cuter than sweatpants. A girl can never own too many pairs of yoga pants!” said senior Kirsten Bildsten.

Yoga pants can be purchased at many different stores and can range anywhere from 10 dollars to around 100 dollars. Lululemon is a highly popular brand of yoga pants right now, but also are more on the expensive side. Chip Wilson, a Canadian who started taking yoga, created Lululemon brand. He was inspired by the yoga and wanted to create a skin-tight pant to be worn for any occasion, not just yoga.

These well-liked, fashionable pants can be worn for all ages. A change from sweatpants, young girls can be found rocking the Victoria Secret yoga pants. The tightness of the pants makes for a better look, but also leaves for the comfortable feeling as well.

“ The stretch of yoga pants is the best. Not only do they look good, they are also comfy and keep you warm. They’re especially nice to tuck into uggs,” said senior Lauren Hura.

Yoga pants have come a long way. From originating for the purpose of practicing yoga to becoming a fashion statement and being a favorite clothing item of men.

“ Yoga pants shows off girl’s body’s. I like them a lot, probably more than anything else," said junior Jamaal Everett.

Yoga pants have it all going on. Next time you’re walking down the street, notice how many girls or women are wearing yoga pants. Chances are, there will be quite a few.

rough draft alpaca story

As Gordy lies there minding her own business, one of them kicks her right in the face leading Gordy to let out a little moan. They aren’t much bigger than Gordy, but their long necks, deeps eyes, and strong back kick could make one believe they are more harmful than not.

Laurel Shouvlin has been raising alpacas since 1997 and couldn’t be happier than where she is now. “Alpacas meet all my needs,” said Shouvlin as she explains her love to be outdoors. Shouvlin has done it all from being the college student, to scuba diving and a physician assistant. Being an animal lover, alpacas are perfect for Shouvlin,” livestock that you don’t have to kill.” Roughly 80 to 85 animals, only about 50 being hers, Shouvlin says each one has a different personality.

Alpacas aren’t the standard pet, although Shoulvin says they are no problem to take care of, however, they aren’t cuddly like a dog. Their fur may resemble the coat of a german shepherd, but alpacas don’t like to be petted on the head or shown attention as another animal would.

“ I play a game with one of the females, I’m allowed to pet her if I don’t look her straight in the eyes, but the minute I do, she’ll spit at me, “ said Shouvlin. Getting spit on by an alpaca is something no one wants to ever experience. When an alpaca is “loaded” it’s green and has a very distinct odor.

Neighbors don’t seem to mind living next to farm full of alpacas, the only reason the Bluebird Hill’s farm every gets complaints is about the dogs barking in the excitement of predators coming around the fenced in animals. Alpacas have to be with at least three to four other animals due to the stress level or becoming paranoid. They also don’t seem to mind all the cats running around the barn as if they were part of the herd.

Shouvlin’s children have grown to love raising alpacas as well, and every once and while they get a chance to name a few. Often turns out to be a name from Star Wars. Not only is the fiber from the alpacas, which is harvested every spring and then sent to a mill to be processed into yarn the only benefit, also not having to teach her children about sex education. Breeding alpacas, the Shouvlin family gets to see it all.

Alpacas have quite the sex drive and the females and males have to be kept separately. However, females tend to still think they need to breed, which it’s quite normal for you can find a female jumping on another’s back. The other female will start making a deep “orgaling” sound as if it’s moaning from resentment.

Alpacas are a part of the Shouvlin’s family and have made a great life at the Bluebird Hill’s Farm. Not every day do you get to see an alpaca, but this farm gives Springfield the opportunity and benefit of a new experience. Just make sure you don’t get spit on!

will it ever stop raining?

For the past month it has been raining non stop. Saturday, for wittfest the weather was absolutely perfect and gorgeous. However, it was such a tease. April's showers have truely made it's meaning, but April is now over, so it can stop raining anytime. It's May and I have my uggs boots on. There is clearly something wrong with this. I remember my freshmen year I was laying out at the Chi Omega house towards the end of the year at this time. Instead, I'm getting rained and completely freezing when I step outside.

I shouldn't have my heat on at the end of the year. However, supposedly it's suppose to be nice next week. I will believe it when I see it and even if it is, that doesn't mean it won't return to nasty weather. Pools are suppose to be opening up at the end of this month, so hopefully the weather pans out and that's able to happen. The sun appears to be shinning through right now and hopefully it will continue to shine throughout the day. It makes me and everyone else in such a better mood!

the end has come

It seems that summer would never get here, but it has approached sooner than I thought. It's bittersweet because I'm extremely excited for it to begin, but I don't want this year to end either. I will be going home for the rest of the month of May and June, but then returning to Witt to take a summer class. I still have yet to find a job, which my parent's aren't happy about it, but hopefully I will be able to babysit someone. My orginal plan was to get an internship, but that clearly did not happen due to fact I wasn't able to get into all the classes I wanted (See scheduling blog for my bitching about that).

Next year is definitely going to be a lot different and I'm not quite sure I'm excited about it. A lot of my close friends will be graduated and it seems that a lot of the parties that have happened this year are held by seniors that are graduating, so lets see how the party scence. It's weird to say that I'm a senior and can't believe that time has flown by this fast. I still think I'm a freshman and can't imagine going into the real world so soon. I wish luck to all the seniors and hope they have a fantastic last couple of days of Witt. They will truely be missed!

my new favorite show

The Voice is an extremely great and talented show. It could be compared to American Idol, but in my opinion is much better and isn't as annoying. The singers that are able to sing in front of the judges (Blake, Adam, Cee Lo, and Christinia) are picked because they are very talented. The singers will sing to the four judges who have their backs to them and if they are interesting on putting them on their team and coaching them then they will turn their chairs. However, if more than one judge turns their chair around, then the singer gets the choice to pick who they want to work with.

It's only on it's second episode, but I am already attached. I have never been a big fan of American idol due to the fact a lot of untalented people go on it just to try to get famous, but when I hear someone who can really sing I get excited. I was told tonight that one of the singer's on the show (who is amazing, Javier) was at Wittenberg last year. I am very upset that I missed them because he took my breath away when he sang. I recommend this show to everyone who enjoys listening to people with good voices. Tune in on Tuesday nights at 9!

the royal wedding

The royal wedding seemed to be on everyone's minds on Friday. I planned on getting up at 5 am to watch the wedding, but when it came time to it I didn't, but instead recorded it. I know plenty of people that did indeed wake up just to see the wedding. In England, it was known as a holiday and didn't have to attend classes, which I believe should have happened as well.

Many people didn't like Kate's dress, but I thought it was absolutely beautiful. She did her own hair and makeup and still looked amazing. I think it was a good thing that the Royal Wedding and the NFL draft weren't at the same time because I believe many more people would have tuned into the wedding. More so people unwillingly. It was everything that it was hyped up to be and I'm very excited for the two!

blogs

I think the blogs have been a good idea, but it would have been better if we talked about them more. It's easy to forget to about doing the blogs when we don't talk about them for weeks. Also, I think it would have been better if we were given more ideas what to write about. A lot of the blogs are just about me bitching, but if we had to write about certain topics such as the note. I enjoyed when we had to go back and read blogs and rate the tops ones. It showed a lot of us were on the same page and agreed on what we thought were good blogs. They are interesting to read, but a little bit of a hassel since I haven't been caught up on them!

hating on twitter

The new thing now a days is twitter. Many people don't understand or like anything about twitter and can't quite grasp the ideas of tweets. To me it's something that is addicting and you can find me on twitter constantly. It' s basically like making your facebook status, but doing it numerous times throughout the day.

Many people that can be found on twitter say that it's better than facebook and some have even given up facebook. You can mention people which is commenting on their wall or a post. People think "I don't want to tweet about everything I'm doing or want people to know, " but honestly it's more than that.

You can find your favorite celebrities, artist, or even shows on twitter on follow them. It's a great way to stay connected with people and learn more about people's lives. It's less creepy than facebook, where as you can't necessarily stalk people's pictures, walls, or friends. Most of the people you follow you know, but sometimes you will get a request from a random person. It's the new thing and quite addicting. Everyone should start tweeting!

wittfest approaching

Wittfest is right around the corner and many student's are looking forward to the activities that it brings. Wittfest seems like it's the one time a year that witt parties like a big school and student's from other colleges actually come to visit instead of us leaving to go to their schools. There's day drinking, parties at multiple houses, a concert, alums coming back and much more. It's one last chance to get to party with everyone before finals and graduation.

In the past, it seems that the performer's at Wittfest haven't had a big crowd, but I believe that with Girl Talk there will be a much bigger one.With this being my third wittfest, I'm hoping it's the best. It's very sad to think that this will be the last wittfest we get to spend with the senior class, so hopefully it's one we will remember, or not.

how long will this last?

I have recently been in a fight with a family member of mine, my sister. My sister lives in L.A. and is four years older than I am. You would think she would have grown up and could be mature about things, but that definitely isn't the case. Over spring break, someone commented on a picture of her dog, calling it ugly. She became very pissed off by this comment and told me to "fuck off" because I didn't stick up for my sister, but instead my "boyfriend."

My sister and I have never gotten along that great. She's the middle child and feels like since I'm the baby my mom always takes me side. However, most of the time she's in the wrong so there's a good point of why my mom is taking my side. In this case, it's absolutely ridiculous why she's even mad at me for this. I told her over and over again I told him not to say anything and to apologize, but really it's just a dog.

My brother and sister's grandmother passed away earlier this week and they both came home from L.A, and Georgia for the funeral. This was the first time in years that we all have been home together. Did my sister say one word to me? Absolutely not. I even confronted her before we came home apologizing to her for everything and I hoped we could put it behind us in a time like this. I honestly don't understand how something this horrible could happen and you still can't talk to your only sister. Life is too short and things happen way too unexpected. Hopefully she'll learn this before it's too late.

scheduling

Scheduling for classes at witt sometimes seems pointless and impossible. I understand it being a liberal arts college that we need to take gen eds, but I find it a little ridiculous when I can't even get into my classes within my major or minor. I have had this trouble since I was a freshman and i would of thought it would of gotten easier.

It seems as any other college if a student needs in class in order to graduate or be on the right track to graduate, the professor would let them in. Here, it's not the same. I have e-mailed countless professors begging for them to let me into classes, but they won't let me in since they cap them at 15. I understand it needs to be small, but open up another section.

Surprisingly, they did open up another section for a comm class for this semester, but I wish they would do so for next year. I would like to graduate on time and actually be able to fulfill my journalism minor. So please Witt, help us out!!

least favorite thing

Scheduling classes and getting into classes is always a huge problem at Wittenberg, especially for communication classes, although i'm sure others are equally as tough. It always seems the classes I want to get into fill up right about the professors aren't allowed to let anymore students in becauase there's a limit at 13 or 15 students. If they would just open it up to 20 or another class everything would work out. I don't want to take pointless classes because I need the credits when I can't get into other class. Hopefully, signing up for classes next semester won't be a problem since I'll be a senior. My fingers are crossed!

spring break

I kept getting asked by people why I would want to spend spring break with my parents when I'm a 21 year old college student. Honestly, a week in the caribbean relaxing, getting tan, and eating good food sounds a pretty damn good vacation to me. However, this year's spring break turned out to be much more than what I expected.

My parents are a very fun set of people and like to have their share of fun. While most college students were spending their breaks drinking 24/7, I was doing the same. Just more casually. Starting the morning off with some bloody mary's sounded great to me.

The last time I went to St. Marteen my freshmen year of high school, my best friend and I were stalked and harrassed quite a bit. We were told islanders were into blonde haired girls. Well, I thought it wouldn't be so much of an issue this year, which it wasn't, but instead it was the older American men. And by old I mean 28 and 35. Which is old compared to a 21 year old. So, I just went on with my break and had as much fun as I could!

my favorite thing about witt

When I first came to Wittenberg I absolutely loved it because everyone was nice to everyone and people seemed to fit in no matter what. The people on this campus seemed to be care free and not care about what grade or age you were. It may also seem different now since I am older and made my group of friends and don't really run into a lot of people that I don't know. I thought I would love coming to a small school, but some of the time I wonder what it would be like at a bigger school.

Witt definitely offers the close feeling of family since we are such a small school. It may be bad sometimes that everyone hears everything, but I think it just makes you closer as a community to the people you are closer with. At times I always say I hate Wittenberg, but in the end I think it's a great school and has a lot to offer.

big story

For my semester long story, I've decided to write about what exactly goes on in the hollow. We know that it's a tradition to go streaking sometime throughout your 4 years at witt, but I'm sure there's more nudity than that. Along with that there's smoking, studying, laying out with then weather's nice, sex, activities such as frisbee golf. All sorts of different activities that are know and not known about. I will interview students who have done or know of other's who have participated in these activities. So if anybody knows anything else they know about what goes on in the hollow or has done so themsleves feel free to let me know!

where i'm going for spring break

Most student's are spending their spring breaks (if possible) going somewhere to party. However, since my freshman year of high school, I have been traveling with my parents. A lot of people would think this would be boring, but I enjoy relaxing on my spring break. I wouldn't be able to handle a week in panama let alone all day drinking during wittfest.

Usually, we travel to Barbados (where is Rhianna is from), but this year we are changing it up and going to St. Martin. My mom loves the caribbean so we spend our spring break where we know will have great weather, food, and people. I went to St. Martin my freshman year of high school with my mom and my best friend and I'm very excited to go back this year. Barbados is my favorite island out of them all, but I think it's time for a change. I'm counting down the days until we leave and I'll be in the warm sun and eating tons of seafood!

when enough is enough

I've come to learn lately that people love to get into other people's business when it's not necessary. Who are people to tell another person how to run and live their lives. People have to make mistakes and live and learn on their own. In a recent "misunderstanding," an anonymous person was trying to tell me who I can and can't hang out with. By threatening to damagae another person's property, the anonymous thought I would give in. Instead a drunken yelling spree came out of it not to say embarrassing moments with other people. Needless to say, stay out of people's lives and let them make their own decisions.

Ice Day's Galore!

Who would of thought Wittenberg would give us three days off of school? It's been said in the past, that Witt was horrible with canceling classes. However, the ice that covered our entire campus may have been annoying and dangerous, but many students were happy with the days off. Our third day of canceled classes came to a shock for a lot of students, but it said that a male student had fallen and cracked his head open. So, with the danger of other students falling, Witt made the right choice in giving us another day off. There's still plenty of ice around the campus and students are continuing to fall, but I do have to say Witt has been better at trying to get rid of it. So thanks to the ice storm, students had a nice relaxing three days off. Maybe more to come?

spring break

What are people doing for spring break this year? Usually, the normal thing to do is Panama or somewhere in Florida. However, many students feel that they can't afford to go anywhere this year. Why waste money to go to Fl. where it won't even be that warm. Our spring break is earlier than other schools, so it's not quite that warm. So, how much are students actually willing to pay for spring break?

Waiting to plan spring break is another reason many students won't be joining the spring break fun. If you don't plan early, then it's basically a no go for the plans. They put it off until the end and then nothing gets done. That's why I always know my plans way in advanced. Some students feel that just having a week off and relaxing is good enough for them. However, I need the beach, the warmth, a few cocktails to make my spring break perfect. St. Martin here I come!

story

I thought in the beginning the story about recruitment would be easy since I had already talked ot so many girls involved, but when I told them I was doing this for a class they no longer wanted to have their names used. Instead of so much going with numbers being low with recruitment, I took a differerent lead with why so many girls were deactivating or de-pledging.

I contacted Carol Preston the current Director of Greek Life right away, but after a few days of no response I contacted Casey Stevens. Casey got back to me right away and was very happy to meet with me. Still no response from Carol I asked Casey if she could get Carol involved with our meeting. Luckily, Casey was a great help as was Carol when I finally met with her. I guess trying to meet with the Director of Greek Life during recruitment was a bad idea!