Billie Moorehead
Editor

I am sitting here in the LOGOS office thinking of what you people want to read. All that's running through my mind though, truthfully, is winter break.

Because of winter break, and the LOGOS publication schedule, this column will not even hit the stands until after everyone returns. It's not even Thanksgiving yet.

This concept is difficult, even for me. Sometimes I get so confused I can't even remember what day it is, what holiday I'm celebrating or where my brain fell out last.

All joking aside, it's important to remember that even though the time is over to be thankful, giving, joyous and all that happy stuff, we need to keep the holiday spirit with us throughout this upcoming semester.

Winter break is a wonderful time to relax, eat food and chill with friends and family.

Sometimes, in my opinion, winter break gets to be a little too long, but I'm not complaining. Don't hate me, please.

Returning to NIACC refreshed and ready to take on another semester should be the attitude every student feels. This feeling usually only lasts for about the first day or two of the second semester.

Usually after classes get settled, students start to feel the stress and the complaining begins once again.

My point here is to always be grateful for what you have. A positive attitude is priceless. Okay, this sounds like a greeting card, I know but it is very true.

I recall from one of my classes, a teacher saying something like when you are having a bad day to remember that there are people that have it worse than you do.

A lot of people fail to see this fact.

When I'm having a bad day, I don't like my outfit, I have tons of schoolwork to do and I'm being pulled in about a thousand directions at once, I know it's time to have a reality check.

These problems will come and go. At least I have my health, I have a roof over my head and a family and most importantly a network of friends I would never trade for the world.

Be grateful for the life you have created for yourself. And if you aren't happy with where you are right now, make a change and keep a positive attitude.

I am a firm believer in the self-fulfilling prophecy. This meaning that if you believe it, you can achieve it, or some rhyming scheme of that sort.

A person, who sits around and feels bad about his or her life and feels doomed, will go on being doomed. Only you have the power to change what has happened to you.

Right now, I know a lot of readers might be wondering if I'm crazy, but I'm telling you the truth here.

It's not magic, if you are happy with your life and think positively, good things will happen because you caused them to happen and vice versa.

The holidays are a wonderful time to be joyous, giving and loving. But now that the holidays are over don't let the holiday spirit die. Keep it living.

Lindsay Kalvig
Feature Editor

Now that we've all come back to NIACC energized and renewed from break, what are you all doing to make this semester even better than the last?

It's been about three weeks since New Year's and yet it seems like nothing has changed. What types of resolutions did you make this year?

I could take a guess and say that many of you chose to resolve your issues with the "freshmen 15", others I could safely say probably resolved to study harder and get better grades.

I think I would also be safe in saying that about 99% of you won't even come close to accomplishing any of these tasks.

Are any of you holding true to those New Year's resolutions? Will any of you make it through the month of January?

Tradition has held true in my family, and every New Year's Eve my family and I sit around the television and plot out the great plans that we have for ourselves in the upcoming year.

We voice aloud our wishes to become better people in any way imaginable. These wishes include anything from weight-loss, to getting a better job, to becoming a more compassionate individual. (Corny, I know, but many of our family traditions are.)

It isn't more than a week before all of these wishes become but mere memories and we're all back to the way it was the year before.

So really what is the point of making a New Year's resolution?

Designating a day in which we pick out every flaw we have and then deciding which one is the most worthy to be changed, is not my idea of celebration.

I figure there are 364 other days in a year when we can sit and scrutinize about our insecurities, why pick New Year's to do it?

I hope all of you are doing your part to make 2003's spring semester worthwhile, but forget about all of those stupid New Year's resolutions. They'll only bring you down.

Instead, think of good things that you can do for yourselves throughout the year and use those to better your lives.

Take one day at a time and really assess yourselves as individuals.

If it's that important for you to change yourself, do it the right way.

Ashley Sindergard
News Editor

To many college students spring break is a relaxing time to sit at home and get caught up on sleep and their studies, but to others it is a time to discover new parts of the world, meet new friends and of course to party.

With spring break coming up, it is now time to start planning the vacation of a lifetime, a vacation that will be the envy of others and a vacation that you will never forget.

The first question is where to go. There are many places that students flock to such as Florida, South Padre or Cancun.

In researching my spring break, I have found these to be the most popular destinations.

The next step to planning a vacation is how you are going to get there and where you are going to stay.

To some this is not a big worry because there are beaches full of free space, but for those who would like to wake up in one piece I would recommend a motel.

I have found the best prices for airline tickets to be on the Internet. The sooner you book your flight the cheaper it will be.

If you wait until the last minute, there is a chance you will miss out on the great deals that many travel agents or online resources have to offer.

Many students decide to take an inexpensive way out of the traveling.

This entails jumping into a mode of transportation with as many friends as the vehicle can fit, taking their trusty old atlas and splitting the cost of gas.

One hint for these travelers, make sure the mode of transportation is a trusty one and the driver knows the directions well and can read a map.

This is just a word to the wise so breaking down does not happen to you.

The next step is how you are going to pay for it. If mom and dad are giving you the silent treatment for even sharing the idea of spring break with them, I would recommend getting a job.

If the word job isn't in your dictionary, then find some other way of coming up with the money, such as other family members or the best one yet, saving the bottle deposit money. This may sound a little out there, but with all the pop college students drink and other beverages, you can save a lot of money.

I hope these few little hints help you in making a good decision on where to go and how to get there on your spring break.

I hope everyone is safe and makes sound judgments on their vacations.

Ben Bramsen
Assistant Editor

Where has all of the good taste in the world gone?

I know what you're thinking, "Ben, who are you to talk about good taste? I've seen nothing but bad taste come from you."

Well yeah, if that's what you think, you're going to get more of it.

While looking at CDs in the wonderful store chain of K-Mart, I came across a great deal. I found the Backstreet Boys greatest hits for only $22!

Yeah, that's really how much that CD cost, but that's not the deal I'm talking about.

I found Eric Clapton's greatest hits for only $8.

I thought I'd seen a misprint. How can Eric Clapton's greatest hits be $14 cheaper than the Backstreet Boys?

Eric Clapton has become an extremely distinguished musician in his time. Not only is he the greatest guitarist ever (for the "stoners," that's right, he's even better than Jimi Hendrix was) but he continued to pound out hits over three decades.

But back to the point at hand.

While Eric Clapton has hits such as "Layla", "Tears in Heaven", "Sunshine of Your Love", "Wonderful Tonight", "Cocaine" and "I Shot the Sheriff" (just to name a few), the Backstreet Boys greatest hits has such wonderful songs asÉummÉoh, how about that one song with the video where they dress up for Halloween and dance around like a bunch of fruits.

Oh, NOW I understand why the Backstreet Boys album is $14 more than Eric Clapton's is. Because he doesn't choreograph dance moves, duh.

Now I may be speaking hastily because I haven't done all sorts of extensive research on this. Heck, I got this information from the one K-Mart that I went to in Ames. I don't know if it's just the K-Marts of America that have this huge price gap or if it's all stores that sell music. There's one thing I can tell you. If a store has this huge price gap of low prices for great music and extremely high prices for crap, then I think I can understand why it has money issues.