Economics sophomore Justin McCelvey was arrested Saturday morning after some of his friends reported apparent Virgina-Tech style threats to UTPD. This is a third degree felony with jail time ranging from 2-10 years if convicted. McCelvey is currently suspended from the UT campus and is in the process of expulsion.

McCelvey told his friend, “College ruined my life” and “I wish I could go into a classroom and shoot everybody.” I was almost the second sniper on the Tower” and “I wish I could sit on top of a bomb and let it go off and blow up everybody.” The conversation lasted 20 to 30 minutes and the friend was obviously concerned. McCelvey does owna shotgun he uses to go hunting, but never brought it on campus. This is just a few weeks after the April 15 arrest of engineering sophomore Jason Liao, who allegedly possessed a gun on campus.

The system is obviously working, but at the same time, is it too easy to report someone. I definitely think this is a case to be investigated, but to immediately work to expel the kid without an in-depth investigation? I guess the university has to do this otherwise parents and students would be outraged, but what does it take to arrest a student? It seems that you can report a threat to the UTPD hotline and get someone arrested that you don’t like, especially during a time like now, during finals. Then the student is expelled from school without a real investigation. It seems that from the comments this was definitely a case to look into, but how often do tey turn away reports? That said, it’s really irresponsible to say something like that to that depth and detail, even if it is a joke.

Also, this brings up the controversial pursuit by some groups for guns on campus. With these two cases within just a few weeks of each other, would people react to these threats as much. Would either of these students have brought weapons on campus before or more often with such a law passed and possibly acted on their alleged threats? Luckily, we won’t have to find out.

 

Last week I took an economics test that I studied hard for a week for. I had to get a 91 on the test to get an A in the class and was determined to do so. I have never studied like I did for that damn test and my hard work didn’t pay off.

I went over every question and equation repeatedly. I knew everything there was to know for that test and I still didn’t get that 91. The whole reason is because I didn’t get the time to finish 4 questions.

The professor actually ended the test 10 minutes before the class was over, with 4 questions, including one worth 5 points extra credit. The worst part is the 3 regular questions were worth double! When I went over the test tonight I got every question right, every single question except for what I didn’t have time to finish.

Those 3 questions were worth the equivalent of 6 questions, or 12 points, and I knew how to do the extra credit, another 5 points. I’m sure I would have scored a 105 on that test, but I was screwed by time.

I scored an 87, one right question short of an A in the class, and the final is optional and pretty much impossible. Hard work doesn’t always pay off…

I hear so many people shocked with admiration of someone that is able to finish college in 3 years. They automatically assume that person must be one of the smartest people because they can do it. I promise you it’s actually fairly easy because I would be able to do it if it wasn’t for my minor, and I’m definitely not one of the smartest at the University of Texas!
 
Let’s take a look at a typical degree plan. This for an Economics major:
 

 
The first thing I would do as soon as I graduate high school is register for summer class at a community college. They are so easy that you can easily get all A’s with little to no effort. I would register for 4 classes in the summer, two in the first months, two in the second month. Let’s say, following the economics degree plan, I register for 2 calculus class because they are fairly hard in college. I would also register for two foreign language classes such as Spanish, because they are very time consuming as 5 hour courses.
 

Now I have completed summer school, and let’s be conservative and say I only get AP credit for 2 courses (English and government). I’m a freshman in college with 24 hours and I’ve just registered for only 15 hours. Following the degree plan I can take: biology, 2nd English, 2nd government, history and a blow off education class to keep my GPA up.
 
I’ve completed my first semester with all A’s and am already done with English and government requirements. I have 39 hours and am classified as a stud sophomore. I’ve completed my spring registration for 12 hours taking: 2nd biology, 2nd history, psychology, economics, and another blow off education class.
 

I’m done with freshman year with 1 B and have 55 hours. Now I must register for more summer courses. I register for 1 calculus, 2 Spanish, 1 economics course, and another easy elective. 
 

After summer I come into my second year with a confident 72 hours, classified as a junior! I register for 4 more fall classes including: nutrition, architecture, art history, ECO 420K (an upper division class!), and another elective.  
 

Fall semester is done and I have 88 hours. I register for 3 upper division economics classes and a business class to start my business minor. This is my toughest semester yet, but I’m confident with my high GPA! 
 

I’m done with my sophomore year and have 100 hours, classified as a senior. I register for 2 economics courses for fall of junior year because last semester was too tough, topping it off with 2 business courses.
 

No more summer school and it’s time for a summer trip to Europe or an exciting internship!
Fall of junior year is done and I’m a knowledgeable economics student. I have 112 hours and am ready to graduate one year early! I register for my only classes left: 2 economics courses and 1 business course.
 

It’s May of my second semester junior year and I’m ready to apply for graduation. I have 121 hours, just enough to graduate, with a major in economics and a minor in business. I have a job offer through my internship the summer before and am laughing at everyone I know stuck in school. My first paycheck is gonna be big and I’m already searching eBay for a new car! 

  

 

UT student Jason Liao was arrested last week for having a concealed handgun on campus, a third degree felony. He posted bail Saturday night after spending a week in jail and reporters at The Daily Texan, the official UT newspaper, tried to reach him for an interview. Liao could not be reached so they decided to interview his friends instead. Check out these quotes from the interview:

Liao sometimes lives in a fantasy world where he is a member of a Chinese crime syndicate

Anytime he likes a girl, he makes her worry. He’s like, “Hey I’m going to go on a mission involving a gun. In case something happens to me, here’s my bank account number so you can bail me out”

I’m Rambo, I carry a minigun every day

I’m really not making fun of Jason, I just think his friends are insanely funny

Apparently, I don’t believe in myself : Last week I wrote about how sad I was, because I thought I failed an accounting test. But it turns out I didn’t fail! I actually got a 92 on that test. I stressed so much over it; every night I would think about what grade I would get. I could almost guarantee that I would really get a lower score. I’m so relieved that the exact opposite happened.

 
This just goes to prove that even if you are experiencing the darkest of days, everything will always get better. I really need to change my pessimistic outlook on life and place less value on intangible things-like grades.

 
Yeah.

 
I’m sure you guys have all drank bottle water before. Have ya’ll heard of Nestle Pure Life? There’s nothing special about the water but the labels are worth something: Collecting them can help schools get much needed equipment and give the students field trips. The only thing is, you need a lot of points to actually get something. It takes around 600 labels for a football and a 32 bottle package cost 4 dollars; that amounts to almost 19 dollars, which isn’t bad for a football.

 

I drink a lot of water-32 bottles a week. Even though it’ll take me ages to collect enough labels, I’m going to do it. It doesn’t cost me anything, besides taking out the labels, and it feels good to do something positive. I don’t think there is a deadline for these labels to be turned in, so I’ll keep collecting until around this time next year. By then I should have enough points to actually give a school something!

 
I encourage ya’ll to start drinking Nestle Pure Life water and collecting points! Bottle water all taste the same, but only Nestle gives you points that you can donate to schools. I can think of a lot of underprivileged kids-around the Austin area- that would absolutely love going on a field trip or new gym equipment! If ya’ll guys want comment here and maybe we can start a group collection of these tabs, and make a difference!

 

Yeah.