After the often unprofessional debates from the most recent presidential election, one would think that the art of the debate is fading away from society. Several Whitewater students have challenged that notion by creating their own style of debates.

Every Wednesday night in Tutt Hall, a small group of students organize debate nights around less professional topics as a way to take some of the stress out of the school week. The debates are structured like a classic Oxford style debates, but with a comedic aspect similar to that of Comedy Central Roasts.

These debates are not serious and often feature topics such as “Are Mermaids Real?” or the most recent one, “Does Atlantis Exist?” Two teams of students then create presentations and try to sway the crowd to their side.

Chase Lacas, one of the organizers, is greatly surprised at the amount of attention the debates have gathered. What started as a crowd of a few close friends, has turned into crowds of 30 – 40 people.

“I’m honestly amazed with the amount of people that show up on a weekly basis,” Lacas said. “We did this once as a joke, and people enjoyed it so much that everyone wanted it to be a regular thing.”

The first few debates took place in the dorm room of the debaters, but with the continued growth of the crowd, it had to be moved to the common areas in Tutt. There is even some talk about making the debates more public by advertising them around campus.

“We think it would be fun to make the debates a campus wide event,” said Lacas. “We aren’t too sure though. Making them too big may take away some of the fun and intimacy.”

Freshman Megan Talek is one of the few students who has been at every debate since the beginning. She does not think that the debate nights should become too popular.

“As nice as it would be to have large crowds, I think some of the comedy would disappear,” said Talek. “It’s more fun when everybody knows everybody because it makes the roast aspect easier and funnier.”

The comedic aspect of the debates is really what makes students want to come. It is a distraction from the stresses of school, and something fun for students to look forward to during the week.

One day, the debate nights may be a campus wide event being held in the UC. For now, all the students that attend the debates are content with it being small and personal, and consider it their own escape from stress.

The English Premier League may be the most hotly contested football league in the world. The 2016-17 season seems to show no change in terms of competition between teams.

The table has its top five contenders, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool, Arsenal, and Manchester City all within ten points of each other, and last year’s champion Leicester City in 15th. There are several other teams which could potentially reach the top, as they are not much further behind in points, and still have around five months remaining in the season.

It is interesting to see the switch of Chelsea and Leicester, as last season Chelsea finished low on the table and Leicester was in first. This is a perfect example of the fluidity within the EPL, and many teams are able to compete for the title.

As in any EPL season, the competition is fierce. One can expect the remaining several months of competition to be fierce, and the games involving the top five to be heated. Now is the time when every point matters, and no team can afford to slip up.

“Death is, very likely, the single best invention of life,” said Steve Jobs in a commencement speech to graduates of Stanford University. “It clears out the old to make way for the new.”

This advice may seem dark and dramatic for a commencement speech, however, Jobs own experience with death turns this statement into an important piece of advice for all graduates.

Jobs, now 50 years old, founded Apple Computers Inc. along with his partner Steve Wozniak. Jobs attended Reed College in Portland, Oregon for only a year until he dropped out. Like many college students, Jobs was unsure about what his future held.

Instead of attending college as a full time student, Jobs was a drop in, only attending classes that interested him. One class Jobs mentioned in particular was calligraphy.

This calligraphy class and the eventual creation of the first Apple computer was at the core of one piece of advice that Jobs offered to the graduates: connecting the dots.

Having the knowledge of calligraphy allowed Jobs to implement an attractive typeface on the Macintosh computer. What Jobs conveys to the Stanford graduates through this story is that one’s path in life is not always clear. As Jobs said, one cannot connect the dots looking forward, only looking backwards.

Jobs also discussed how love and loss and play into life, emphasizing the importance of loving what you do.

“Do what you believe is great work,” Jobs told the graduates. “And the only way to do great work, is to love what you do.”

Jobs hit the point of you must love what you do over and over again. Jobs’ love for what he did is what motivated him to continue his work after getting fired from Apple. This advice tells graduates that as long as they love the work that they do, no matter the loss they face, they will always be able to continue to do great work.

The final topic that Jobs talked about was death. Jobs’ close encounter with death came from when he was diagnosed with an incurable form of pancreatic cancer, and was told he only had a few months to live. After a biopsy, the doctors found that the cancer was treatable with surgery. Jobs had the surgery, and is now cancer free.

Jobs told the graduates is that death is a very useful motivational tool. Living each day with the idea that it could be your last will keep you wanting to always do great work.

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered,” Jobs told the graduates. “If you live each day as if it’s your last, one day you’ll most certainly be right.”

Nobody wants to die, and therefore, nobody thinks about dying as being a possibility. Jobs told the graduates to always keep death in your mind. If too many days pass and you do not feel like you have been living each day like it is your last, it is time for something to change.

Jobs’ speech dove deep into the personal struggles that he experienced during his life. His story of success through hard times is one that any student coming into the real world can learn from.

The themes of connecting the dots, love and loss and death show aspects of life that many may struggle with. Jobs also reminds the graduates that they are the new wave of thinkers in the world. In closing, with the graduates ready to move into the world, Jobs tells the graduates the bit of advice that he adheres to most; to always stay hungry and always stay foolish.

With Halloween fast approaching, there is no end to the Halloween themed social events available to students at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.

*One of the most popular of these events is the Halloween themed dance in the UC Down Under. This event was put on by UC Entertainment and took place Oct. 13, 9 p.m. – midnight. The dance was open to all students, and had all of the classic amenities of Halloween from candy to eerie decorations.

Within the dance party, there was also a costume contest. The contest was open to anyone who showed up in a costume, and the prizes for the winners ranged from gift cards to free movie passes for shows in the UC.

“I was really looking forward to the dance,” said John Mangold, a sophomore at UW-Whitewater. “It was supposedly one of the most popular dances at the Down Under last year, and over 100 people showed up.”

While last year the dance did bring out over 100 people, the numbers this year were not as impressive.

The dance floor was alive throughout the night with ghosts, goblins and superheroes, but the event itself lacked a real dance club atmosphere, as there were around only 40 people in attendance.

“It’s a shame that not many people came out,” said freshman Tyler Falk. “I was looking forward to strong competition in the costume contest.”

Falk attended the dance dressed as zombie, complete with tattered clothes and bloody face paint. Although Falk put in a great deal of time and effort into his costume, he fell short of the top five costumes by several places.

Although the attendance of this year’s dance fell short in comparison to last year, the event did accomplish its main goal of bringing students together.

Sophomore Brad Krc was one of many who walked away from the event feeling that it had brought him closer to several other students on campus.

“I hadn’t expected much from this dance,” Krc said. “But after being here for only a short time I had already made several friends that I’m sure I will be spending more of my time with.”

The main goal of UC Entertainment is to bring students closer together through campus social events like the Halloween dance. No matter the attendance, if students feel they have grown closer to their peers, the event was a success.

“I would say that UC Entertainment reached their goal,” said Tyler Falk. “I firmly believe that events like this are healthy for students, and it’s a good place to make friends you may have otherwise never met. I do plan to go next year as well.”

Falk’s plan to attend the next Halloween dance is shared by many of the other students who were in attendance this year. With better advertising and positive words from those who experienced the dance, the odds of the Halloween dance being more popular next year are high.

Financial woes bring about a controversial proposed budget for the City of Kittatinny, and many of the city’s key figures are unhappy with the mayor’s ideas.

With the closing of a blast furnace from the Susquehanna Steel Corporation removing 600 jobs, many families are struggling to make ends meet, and property values in Kittatinny are over $100,000 lower than they were last year.

“This is a financial emergency,” said Mayor Gustavus Petykiewicz. “These are not actions I take lightly.”

One notable change would be a change in the city tax rate from 4 mills, to 4.3 mills. This area is subject to debate, as Denelda Penoyer, president of the Kittatinny City Council, believes the tax rate should be nearer to 5 mills.

Another hit to the pocketbook will come from the new method of garbage pickup. Users will now have to pay for garbage removal on their own. A bill will be given to each household at the end of every month for garbage pickup. This will take garbage pickup off of the city budget and save the city money, but will add an extra $35 charge for citizens of Kittatinny.

The police early shift will no longer be covered by Kittatinny police under the proposed budget. Instead, to save money, two officers will be laid off, and the early morning shift, 4 a.m. to noon, will be given to the Schuylkill County Sheriff on a contract basis. Roman Hruska, chief of police in Kittatinny, does not support this decision.

“I cannot stand idly by, and watch a city of this size be deprived of regular police protection for one-third of the day,” Hruska said.

Having Schuylkill County Sheriff handle the early morning shift means there is no guarantee that a police officer will be near Kittatinny in the event of an emergency.

Kittatinny will also be purchasing new equipment under the proposed budget. These purchases include a new police cruiser, new mowers, a combination dump truck/snow plow and a drivable weed removal vehicle for White Deer Lake. All of these purchases would total over $325,000.

Several more of the city’s key figures were against the mayor’s proposed budget including Martha Mittengrabben, president of AFSCME Local 644, and Bjarne Westhoff, president of the Pennsylvania Police Association Local 34. Both of which will be experiencing layoffs of union workers under this proposed budget.

All figures speak of an attitude of shared sacrifice to weather the financial difficulties. Both Chief of Police Hruska and Mayor Petykiewicz have agreed to take a 10 percent pay cut, and urge other members of the city government to do the same.

It is important to note that all aspects of this proposed budget are subject to change, and that the mayor as well as the members of city council urge citizens to speak their minds about the contents of the budget. A hearing schedule will be released to the public in the coming days.

Success in the United States is often measured in money. In comparison to European nations, the United States has traded its traditional morals for wealth and material possessions.

While someone born and raised in the United States may disagree with that statement, someone born in Europe who then moved to the US does not.

Terence King was born in Burnham in West London. King lived in Burnham during his upbringing and throughout is schooling. He became involved in mechanical engineering and took an apprenticeship working in the engineering field.

King then got married to his wife, Sandra King. After getting married, the couple went on a vacation to Phoenix, Arizona. In Phoenix, King fell in love with the states. So much so, when a friend of his showed him a job offer in Chicago working for Hollister Inc., he took it.

King then moved to the Chicago-land area and began working as an engineer in the design and marketing of healthcare equipment, and the machinery that makes it.

The move to the United States was not met without challenges, however. King, along with his wife were the only members of their family that made the move. King’s family was confused and upset at first, but King wanted to find adventure.

“It was strange at first,” King said. “We left our security, and left our family. That’s why immigrants stick together. It makes their environment feel more like home.”

King also felt that the morals in the United States were far different than those of European nations. King saw that people in the United States valued money and material possessions, and used those factors to measure success, rather than basing success off of character and values.

King worked to better himself despite the conflicting morals, and increase his knowledge in the engineering field by attending UW-Madison through Hollister. King also worked two full-time jobs to help support his wife and kids at home.

After working with Hollister for around 20 years, King became the principle engineer in charge of designing, marketing, and commercialization of healthcare equipment, as well as the building of plants in Ireland, India, England, and Denmark.

“Despite all of the faults that America has, I see a great deal of potential,” King said. “This truly is a place where hard work can allow someone to make a good living for themselves and their family.”

King currently resides in Antioch, Illinois with his wife, and, although he is retired, he still works as a consultant for Hollister. He enjoys his work, and implements what he believes are the correct morals in his work. King achieved success without focusing on wealth and materials, showing that the American Dream can still be obtained with traditional morals.

After an off-season that seemed to last forever, soccer is back. From the English Premier League to Serie A, all of the heavy hitting clubs are back in action.

Not only has club soccer started again, but the race for the Champions League has also started. While it is still too soon to tell who will win the coveted title, there is one team that I hope will go all the way to the final; the German giant Borussia Dortmund.

Dortmund will play their first Champions League game against Legia Warsaw on Sept. 14. As a fan of the club, I hope to see them rise to occasion and get an important three points.

During every Champions League appearance by Dortmund, I like to remember the 4-1 thrashing Real Madrid received from Dortmund during the 2013 Champions League semi-final. Hopefully, Dortmund can recall the same magic from the game against Real this year in the face of some of the strongest opposition they have see in years.