As far as Platteville goes, I feel safe here, in my room or walking the streets. Even in Madison, safety is hardly ever the topic on my mind. There have been times where I have felt uncomfortable due to a stranger’s company, and it’s always worse if this stranger seems intoxicated or extra friendly, but as a male the situation may be much lighter for me than it may for a female. As for safety for those who travel campus at night, and have an unsafe feeling, security boxes are great, but are lacked off campus. Even on campus, there are several areas that are poorly lit. Walking alone may seem unsafe, especially when passing through one of these zones.

UW-Madison has a Safe Walk program that students can use for free in order to be safely escorted to various places. A program like this would work great in Platteville. Students studying long into the night somewhere on campus could simply call the hotline and have someone walk with them to their destination.

Platteville is a much smaller campus within a small town. But that doesn’t mean safety isn’t an issue. Fires don’t only occur in larger towns, and you never know when someone could break in or attack you on a sidewalk. These are not possibilities that should be ruled out, so make yourself aware. Lock your doors, check your fire alarms and if anything seems somewhat faulty contact your landlord. I would also suggest you always have someone you can call, who could walk with you at night to deter possible violence.

We have been given the option to keep things private; we are given control of our security settings. But even security upgrades are not properly hiding what users set as hidden. A recent experiment performed by the Associated Press discovered loopholes that led to the browsing of ‘private’ posted albums, as well as an album of Mark Zuckerberg, creator of Facebook, which he posted in 2005. Despite these risks, young adults continue to publish their own private information, personal photos and other intimate information of their lives.

Privacy is a word hard to define in our global world today. It seems there are no secrets; words can fly from person to person in a matter of minutes. But even outside the cyber world, we can maintain some sort of privacy without considering the securities. When it comes to the Internet, privacy means something different, it can also be nonexistent.

When a Web site pledges that it does not allow strangers to see your private information, think twice. Even if you do raise the security options on your private information, think about others who may be publishing photos of you. There aren’t people monitoring the activity of every page on the Internet every minute of the day. There isn’t a physical body guard armed with stranger stopping weapons following your cyber image around every second of the day. Apply this to your life in the real world: if you wouldn’t show a stranger you cross on the street the pictures you keep in your wallet, why would you publish potentially incriminating information where it can be reached by anyone?

The experiences I’ve had were more than just fun, they were enlightening, educating and served as great insight to what I know about myself and others today. They will also serve as an experience that should help me find an enjoyable occupation. With this under my belt I feel like I can do anything.

Wherever you go, whomever you meet, you will learn something. It’s the people you meet that will change your life. You can learn so much about someone else’s way of life by briefly meeting them, and it’s likely you’ll keep them as a valuable contact for the rest of your life. It’s great to meet so many people from everywhere around the world, and know you have someone in an amazing place you are welcome to visit anytime. You can learn about a culture through a textbook, or through the internet, but it is nothing like being there. To truly learn about another culture you really should learn about it where the culture thrives day in and day out. Don’t go somewhere to sight-see or tour. I will never consider myself a tourist; I hate the idea. You aren’t a tourist when you take the time to appreciate and experience the various aspects of another culture.

An experience abroad will improve your résumé as well. Everything is becoming more global. If you are familiar with an area somewhere in the world other than your own your credentials set you in a much better position.

UW-P offers several programs for an experience abroad; last week’s Exponent stated various ways to get to know about the programs. But you can learn about the cultures through the upcoming international night, which will be held at 5 p.m. Saturday, April 12. That’s where it started with me, and that is what got me abroad. Explore what you are fortunate to have all around. Take advantage of the opportunity now because it will never be the same.

On campus we have a great variety of ways to stay active. We have the facilities and we have the people at them to help you. It is your responsibility to help keep these facilities clean. You cannot expect to have someone clean off every machine in the weight room for you after every use.

It may be too cold to do anything outside today, but when that snow melts, so many more options become available to us. But you can enjoy the snow too by skiing, snowboarding, and sledding.

Eating on campus, however, often leads to a poor diet. I rarely see an entirely healthy meal available. I am not an expert on healthy foods, but I have a feeling a McDonald’s-like breakfast is not the best thing for you every morning, and pizza is not the greatest lunch and dinner option either. It’s best if you make your own food if you want something healthy, and that often requires your oven over your microwave. However, without a car, your only shopping option this time of year may be the convenience store located on campus. There isn’t much in there when it comes to healthy. The renovations this summer will lead to greater space and hopefully better food, but until then you are stuck with Ramen and POWERade.

Once you’ve got your eating and activities set, there is however one more thing. Stay clean. Your parents aren’t here to pick up after you, wash your dishes or throw you in the shower. Hygiene is most important when it comes to illnesses.

You’ve probably at least noticed it if you haven’t experienced it yet. People are getting sick. There are empty seats around you in class, there are coughs and sneezes drowning out the lectured words of your professors. Illnesses surround us year round, but it seems the season to get sick is now. The easiest way to deal with the illness is of course not to get it. But that seems impossible. Just keep clean, cover your mouth, wash your hands, and not only will you find yourself not passing your cough to your peers, but you’ll find yourself feeling better, faster. If you feel seriously ill, you can always check into the Student Health Services on campus. They will be there to give you tips or schedule you for an appointment. The Southwest Health center is another great resource at our disposal.

Eat right, stay active, keep clean and you’ll find yourself, healthy and comfortable.

The causes behind such events are not easily detected. Various things take place for this kind of thing to happen. Maybe it was that he quit taking a certain type of prescription, maybe it was depression, maybe it was something else, but whatever it was it turned out the worst it possibly could have.

Similar to the events that took place in Virginia Tech last year, these shootings are all too common. Are there ways to prevent these incidents? Are there ways to protect the human lives lost in the shootings? Security measures could be taken, but is it reasonable to place an airport security system in every school? I think not. If someone has the intent to kill, there is very little that will stop them. It’s the intent that needs to be prevented. I am in no way saying that the victims of the shootings were responsible for the intent. In fact there could have been absolutely no relation between the shooter and the victims. It’s depression, drugs and various issues within oneself that causes these things. This is why it is impossible to place blame. If the shooter was experiencing psychological problems, it would be hard for them to find their own help. But you can’t place blame on others for not finding help for them. No one else knows what is going on in any other persons head.

One other way to prevent things like this is keeping weapons out of the hands of people. Gun laws have come and gone in almost every area of the United States, and the laws remain different in each area now. Gun laws are argued unconstitutional, but there is still a battle between gun control and gun rights. Did the shooters at these schools have the legal right to own a gun? Or would gun control prevent future events? Gun control would stop such events. If guns were sold to licensed people only then shootings would not happen. A gun should not be sold to just any person who has the money to buy it. Not everyone is going to use a gun for bad, but what’s to say someone else doesn’t get a hold of their gun for the wrong uses?

The psychologies, intents and causes of these events are complicated. But why it happened is not as important as the support that is still needed in those communities. No matter how you do it: Facebook groups, prayer or donations. What you do is helpful.