It seems to most of us that our football team being out of the national championship game was beneficial to somebody’s pockets, a product of money out of Bob Stoop’s pockets, or just a blatant piece of evidence that the world hates Texas. All the hard work we put in earlier in our struggle to reach the top seems to be irrelevant down the stretch, and this goes beyond working the BCS computers.

In the coming weeks, our knowledge of what we supposedly learned this past semester will be tested. We have memorized the flash cards, written the papers and taken the exams that have brought us to this point, maybe even at a point where the going has gotten so tough that we just feel like giving up now. We cannot let the tiring struggles of the recent past get the best of our performance such as what the ‘Horns did against Tech on Nov. 1; all of us must complete our journey at the highest level possible.

Not to put any more pressure than you surely already have, but these finals can determine whether you get into that get medical school, land that internship, or secure that job you’ve always wanted. Not enough can be said of what a simple letter grade can do to effect your life. Now, don’t freak out, just remember to keep composure and consistency. After all, if there’s one thing that hated team from that crappy state up north can teach (besides how to be classless competitors that stomp on the hearts of opponents), it is that strong finishes can right a lot of wrongs for you.

With all that said, I have to go study.

—Joshua Avelar

I remember seeing gas prices of $3.50 a gallon in mid-October at a local Shell station. In the summer, gas had gone there for about $3.89. Now gas is just $1.89 at that same station. $1.89!? Seriously? Now? When the economy is at its worst since the Great Depression, and just after so many refineries were hit hard during Hurricane Ike!?
If the corporations that run the fuel industry can afford to lower fuel prices now, why couldn’t they do this months or years ago? I remember many economists on TV a couple of years ago saying that gas would never go below $2.00 again.
Crude oil prices have dropped, but there’s no real answer as to why. Did OPEC all of a sudden feel that ripping off the world market was not as fun anymore? The Los Angeles Times theorized that the demand of gas decreased, resulting in lower gas prices. So maybe this is all a strategy to convert those that started biking and bus-riding to work and school back to their old automotive ways. Maybe this is just in time to get people to plan all those road trips home for the holidays just before the prices spike again.

Nevertheless, if something seems too good to be true, then always keep an eye on it.

—Joshua Avelar

This past week has brought a variety of emotions, but what we can learn from Saturday is that nobody is ever entitled to superiority, and what we can learn from Tuesday is that it is never too late to correct big mistakes.

So while we play close attention to where both Mack Brown and Barack Obama go from here, we can also take time to look at ourselves and see where we have failed as individuals and what we can do to make things right.

—Joshua Avelar

It proves to be enjoyable to reminisce on what sort of hell you raised in back in your middle school days while getting ready to partake in the madness on 6th. Halloween provokes an influx in candy consumption in America every year, and a great deal of that candy consumed is chocolate. But while we enjoy this commodity, devastation occurs in the cradle of civilization.

The Hershey’s Company has long had an astounding strangle hold on the chocolate industry; just go into Jester or Kinsolving Market and try to find a chocolate bar that isn’t tied to Hershey’s. According to the company’s Web site, Hershey’s gets most of their chocolate from the Ivory Coast, a nation filled with many farms being worked on by enslaved children. Hershey’s claims to be outside of the burden of responsibility when it comes to the slavery aspect of the chocolate trade, citing the fact that the farms from which they buy the cocoa are not owned by Hershey’s and what occurs there is not a product of Hershey’s wrongdoing.

Before you buy into this argument, think of how quickly the local D.A. would prosecute you for accepting a $10,000 loan from your cousin to pay your tuition, being fully aware that it was drug money. Turning a blind eye lifts the burden of responsibility off of no one.
However, there is a company out there by the name of Divine Chocolate whose chocolate, according to their Web site, is made from cocoa grown by Ghanaian farmers that are partial owners in the company, and by requirements of the “fair trade” stamp of approval, are not allowed to use exploitative child labor on their farms. You can go their Web site to order some of their guilt-free product for Halloween, or buy some of their items at the Catholic Center throughout the week.

After all, there’s no good in having Free Enterprise if it compromises others’ freedom.

—Joshua Avelar

This week, we all have an opportunity to do the same for another person we will never meet and never receiver a “thank you” from. We have the opportunity to literally give the gift of life, one that has no larger precedent. For the remainder of the week, people will ask for your money, your time, and your vote, all of which are very important and can do great things. However, if no religious belief or health condition is preventing you, please donate your blood to one of the stations at Jester, Inner Campus Drive, 24^th & Whitis, or Speedway. The trailers open at 9 a.m. and close at 5 p.m., but the Jester station is open until midnight.

Remember — blood is thicker than water, and I can’t stand the rain.

—Joshua Avelar

There were mediocre expectations for our team this year, but now standards have been raised. This all reminds me of how often we find ourselves getting a good, yet very unexpected, opportunity to seize; how sometimes all the cards fall in place for us to be “#1″ if we just show up against our nearest competitor.

The University itself could take the lessons exemplified by the football team Saturday of seizing opportunity and overcoming its opponents to heart. Some examples:

Texas A&M is giving an outstanding opportunity to students from lower-income families. UT should step up and do them one better.

The engineers at Rice University have made it possible for their campus to run on its own fuel. Why can’t Cockrell round up their forces to make that happen here?

We have the resources to be “#1″ across the board, so why aren’t we?

—Joshua Avelar

We don’t care how you register. Just register.

—Leah Finnegan

—Joshua Avelar

This poses a problem. It would take decades of time and millions of dollars to match the aesthetic beauty of say, UC Berkeley or The University of Michigan.

There needs to be something that separates this place from the other places — After all, that’s what people do to their homes; they decorate them as to say to visitors: “Yeah, this is my place … And you can tell by just looking at it.”

The Martin Luther King and Cesar Chavez statues do distinguish this campus as a place of appreciation for individuals who do their part to change the world (this idea sound familiar?), but there needs to be a better sense of character and creativity to go along with it.

Dare I say that the big metal knot in front of the CPE and the large testicle-like structures on the steps leading to the main building are good for this campus? Yep, I said it… It needed to be said, and it needs to be done more often.

—Joshua Avelar