It's that time of year again. That time when seniors are lacking the motivation to complete school assignments … when that dreaded senioritis really kicks in. And it's really no biggie, right? They've all gotten into college. It's pretty much expected out of the graduating class.

Dear Mr. Blagojevich,

I know that Uni swimming isn't the best school sports team, but I do believe we really should get more respect than we actually do. Just because our team goal isn't about winning and focuses more on personal improvement doesn't mean we don't do well.

I'm turning 17 on Friday, and while it's not exactly as exciting as a sweet 16 with a driver's license to look forward to, or the big 18 with the various new rights acquired from legally being an adult, according to various sources I should still have some reasons to turn 17.

Now that the school year is happily drawing to an end, I would like to applaud and even express my gratitude to the geniuses that set up the sophomore curriculum.

Why? Well, in addition to the fact that I obviously learned a ton of interesting stuff this year, I would just like to point out that this was really the first year where all my classes … well, kind of connected I guess.

Free are the T-shirts and pens that everyone runs over to the Siebel Center to get during career fairs. Free are the cheap products that people look forward to every year during the Engineering Open House. Free are the scrumptious samples from the yummy restaurants on Green Street.

Everyone’s talking about it if they’re not talking on it. What is there not to talk about? It’s spiffy, it’s new, and it’s awesome. It’s Facebook Chat on Facebook!

While skimming through The News-Gazette the other day I came across a short story and picture of a Champaign man who was going to celebrate his 105th birthday in a few days.

I was incredibly amazed by just reading the headline. I mean, how often do you hear of a 104-year-and-360-something-day-old man living in your community?

The approach of a three-day weekend has lifted many spirits, lightened many steps, and generally increased the jollity of the school.

I've always heard that makeup is made from some pretty nasty things. I even heard last week while watching TV that placenta is used in many shampoos. Someone I was watching the show with even confirmed this fact after relating the results of a thorough investigation of the shampoo aisle at Walgreens.

The other day I received this e-mail from Central College:

During Agora Days, I went to Taiwan to visit family, skipping the four days of student-taught classes. This meant that on the Friday before Agora started, when everyone else was looking forward to a fun week of no homework, I was anticipating a daunting 14-hour flight.

The girls basketball season ended a week ago, and since soccer doesn't start for another week, I've been able to go home at 4 o'clock for the first time since swim season ended about four months ago.

Now that Derald's has been gone for about four months, I can truly say that its absence has affected my life more than I originally thought it would.

If anyone has ever reprimanded you for keeping the water on while brushing your teeth, here is a real fact that could end this nasty habit: If you shut that water off every time you brush your teeth, you can conserve up to five gallons of water per day. If everyone did this in the United States, we would conserve more water than the amount used by New York City in a single day.