TV Trends

It started back in the day with the Real World and Survivor. Then it moved to Flavor Flav and I Love New York. Now it's Tila Tequila and Rock of Love. Reality television shows have taken over our televisions, and I think they're here to stay.

Although these delightfully tacky shows have been around for a few years, it wasn't until the writers' strike this past year that these shows became so popular, and now they have completely taken over MTV and VH1.

Each night of the week is already planned out, and viewers know that come 8 p.m. reality TV stars are the main source of entertainment.

From fighting to lovemaking, everything imaginable happens on these addicting shows, and viewers can't wait to see next week's episode.

The final episodes of each series usually control pretty darn close to half the United States' population's mind, as we all sit zombie-like in front of the TV waiting to see who he picks to be the next love of his life.

What most viewers find so entertaining about these shows is the fact that even though the star of the show says he or she found the love of his or her life, we can always expect to see another set of episodes next season.

Applied Trends

After becoming a university, Missouri Western decided to raise the bar for academics and increase the amount of applied learning the students would be doing. Although most wouldn't consider that a cool or interesting trend, the fact is that at most college campuses are doing it too. 

Students are leaving college with an increased knowledge and practice in their field of study, which is what employers are looking for. More applied learning means an increase in internships, an increase in practical knowledge and unfortunately an increase in homework.

Because of the university's drive to become better academically, students' workloads have increased greatly, which can kind of be a damper on social lives.

With the competitive nursing department ranked high in the state, nursing majors have been busy making an impact on their academic lives instead of their night lives. Each student is required to do a avery large amount of clinical hours, as well as lots of studying to pass the hard tests and practicals.

With the new convergence journalism major on it's way to Western, all journalism majors have felt a heavy load as well. The projects have increased and the hours spent working on them have too.

Aside from the amount of stress we as students go through, the truth is the new academics have given students something to appreciate. By the time we graduate, we will have way more experience and knowledge than we came here with.

Get Involved!

Aside from Missouri Western’s increase in academic performance, the university is well known for its student involvement on campus. As soon as freshman step foot on campus, they become bombarded with different organizations competing for their involvement. So as a new member to the college community, which organization should one devote to?

The answer is all of them. Of course students don’t want to over-exert themselves and burn out in the first year of their academic careers. But the fact is that students involved in some type of organization have higher GPAs, better time management skills and better social skills, all of which are important post-college.

With so many organizations to choose from, where would a new student start? Go Greek! The Greek organizations on campus have proven to make up a majority of the attendance of other organizations, whether that’s Griffon Edge/Orientation, any departmental organization, Student Government Association, and many more.

There are three branches of the student government to become involved with, and all three bring great benefits to campus. Senate, Residence Council and Western Activities Council provide entertainment, programming and student development to all students on campus.

Just about every department has a professional organization to become involved on campus, which is a way to get to know other students with similar majors.

With over 77 student organizations on campus, it isn’t hard to find a niche somewhere at Western. Freshmen and seniors alike have made becoming active on campus a trend for incoming freshmen to look forward to.

'Going Green' a Growing Trend

It’s hard to go a day without seeing a commercial about bettering the environment or a product in the supermarket that is eco-friendly. With all the talk of global warming and world pollution, it has become clear that ‘going green’ is a rising trend, which is good news for future generations.

One thing television watchers can appreciate is CWTV, a television station that’s main mission, aside from airing our favorite shows, is to promote environmental health. Between programs commercials for recycling can be seen, along with ways to decrease the amount of carbon dioxide emission from transportation.

Grocery stores have started selling reusable bags for shopping as an alternative to the everyday, plastic Wal-Mart sack. Florescent light bulbs are put on display in the middle of aisles so customers can easily see them and their benefits to the environment. And on a more local note, Missouri Western has started ‘going green’ too.

Western recently implemented a new recycling program to help cut back on the amount of paper waste. Blue bins have been placed in every department where people can recycle most types of paper rather than just throw it away.

‘Going green’ is a great trend that people can actually be proud of. And for once, our future has something to look forward to: a cleaner earth.