The 1st Annual Castillo Awards

The 42nd Annual Country Music Awards took place this past week and although I wanted to see Billy Ray Cyrus prove that he'll always be the biggest embarrassment in the Cyrus family, I am not much of a country music fan and missed it. Yet, I respect the country music industry and its award ceremonies.

The CMA's were not the only industry to put on an award show this past week, so if you missed it you still could've fed your appetite for award shows with the Latin Grammys, MTV Europe Music Awards, Glamour's Women of the Year Awards, The Environmental Media Awards, The BMI Country Awards, The Tech Awards or MTVu's Woodie awards ... fascinating.

It seems like there is an award show for everything nowadays, so it got me thinking: is there any reason there can't be a Castle awards show? And thus, The 1st annual Castillo Awards were born. For those of you who may be lost on why the name of my award show resembles the name of a Latin baseball player, "Castillo" is the Spanish translation of "Castle" –so it's only semi-random.

With the theme of respecting an industry whose awards show I don't pay attention to, the Castillo Awards will be honoring the things I have rarely encountered in life. All the following winners are what I assume to be of the highest quality in its category that I have, for one reason or another, never really experienced.

Best Entertainer - Danny Gans:

My first spiky-headed statuette goes to a man who is claimed to be the entertainer of the year ten years running on huge billboards all over Las Vegas, yet my unwillingness to pay $140 for a single ticket has left me in the dark on exactly what he does.

Best Movie - Citizen Kane

I don't know why, but me and this movie have never been in a room together. But I've always heard good things.

Best TV Show – "M*A*S*H"

My parents loved it and that seemed to be the unanimous opinion of their generation. Even though I can never pay attention through a full episode, I trust their opinion.

Best Music - The Rolling Stones

I apologize to their legions of fans, their sound just doesn't really do it for me, but I'm pretty sure they sent a good message and I'm in support of that. Not to mention they've sold something like nine trillion albums, so they must be doing something right.

Best Book - The Da Vinci Code

I heard the movie is outstanding, but only if you have read the book. And if you do take the time to read the book, you will feel way more intelligent, which is always beneficial to one's cultural cognizance.

Best sport - Cricket

I don't really understand it, which is saying something considering I've actually taken the time to try to figure it out. But the British can't get enough of it; they eat that cricket stuff right up.

Best food - Caviar

It's expensive, right? At least it sounds expensive ... I don't even really know, but it sounds classy enough to take home a Castillo on this occasion.

Best pet - Dog or a Jaguar

I actually never had a dog growing up, but I am a firm believer that they give the companionship a young kid needs in life. However, I now live in a home which houses two dogs. Boss and Bruce have filled that void in my life, so that disqualifies a dog's eligibility for a Castillo ... so I will give the award to the jaguar as the best pet. Think about how cool it would be to say, "I'm going to go feed my pet jaguar."

Best car - Motorcycle

If you can just sack up and get over the death-defying stunt you are attempting the entire time you're riding, you can speed through traffic paying an eighth of what every large vehicle you pass is paying for gas. Plus, I would look like a total badass.

I'd proudly rep OC State

The people are friendly, the temperature’s always perfect – even when it's not sunny – and the best cities in California are all within a short drive. Los Angeles, Anaheim, San Diego, Long Beach, Newport Beach, you name it, you can be there in a day. I’m talking about Orange County; the heart of Southern California, more specifically Fullerton; the heart of Orange County.
I love this area, and I love this school, there’s plenty of reason to have pride in it, so there’s no reason not to have a little school spirit.
Lately the issue of school spirit has been a hot button around the Cal State Fullerton campus. Some people believe the only thing that unites students is the shared disdain for this commuter campus of a university abbreviated CSUF.
Now I’m no stranger to the idea of using contempt of school as a way of bonding with fellow students, growing up, from grade school to high school that was the thing to do. After all, it is what we wake up early for everyday, spending all day in a classroom, following authority, working on tests, quizzes and all kinds of busy work. It’s not hard to sling rocks at.
But once you enroll in college, school is not a forced activity; you made the bold decision to continue your education, not to mention pay a hefty tuition just to make it happen. So as long as you’re going out of your way to continue your schooling you may as well take pride in it.
How do you display pride? Do you paint yourself with school colors and run around with a giant mascot head? No, although that works for some people. Try investing some time in your campus, see what it has to offer. Check out a sporting event and cheer on the athletes who are working their butts off to represent us – it's free and you might become a true fan. Join a club, or even see what all the fuss is with Greek life, you might meet some good people. The common trend of each on-campus suggestion is you won’t be alone in the activity, and it might just unite with fellow Titans in someway other than having spite for your university.
A wise way of upping school spirit and bringing some desired attention would be to change the name back to Orange County State, the school's original name upon its inception in 1957. I don’t know about you, but I would be just a little bit more proud to represent OC State as home. Fullerton sounds like just another city in California, not a very striking title. I realize plenty of Fullerton residents don't like the superficial imagery that comes saddled with "The OC" but think about how much more marketable it would be. Students from all over the nation would be more enticed to enroll and see what it’s about. I believe the attention our school would garner nationally if it was OC State would put us on the map.
We’ve been progressing immensely in many areas each year since I’ve been here. The school has become more physically attractive with construction additions all over campus. The majority of the athletic programs are vastly elevating in performance each year, with nothing but potential in the future. Day-by-day CSUF moves closer to becoming the top state university in California, hands down, and I think the expressive name-change would put us over the top.
What’s wrong with being proud of where you’re from? I love seeing alumni succeed from my school; anytime I hear I see a famous alumnus of CSUF do something spectacular I stand up and represent “Cal State FULLERTON!” I would love the opportunity to shout “O-C!” We could create some eye-catching OC logos, a catchy OC chant and even a cool OC stomp dance … maybe I took it too far with that.
You get from school what you put into it, and you can spend your days in college hating on your alma mater because of what it doesn’t have, or you could make the best of your time here. This is your one college experience; are you going to look back on how you rebelled against school spirit with spite for your own campus? Or would you rather create some memories today that you can look back at with fondness? The choice is yours.
GO OC STATE!

We all have different opinions, let's respect them

Let me ask a hypothetical question:

Would you shout a profanity at a person for having a different favorite ice cream flavor then you?

Would you karate kick a friend if they had a different favorite American Idol?

Would you throw a couch at your neighbor if the they didn’t think the God(dess) sitting next to the pool you've been drooling over was a 10?

Then why do people take such great offense a person with opposing political views? Before you hi-jack the discussion with a smarmy response such as “Because none of those things matter and political views are vital to our very being” or something cooler and more ass-hole like… that’s not really my forte, why would it make a difference whether a person’s differing opinion is of an important issue or not? Is it your mind? Do you know what reasons they may have for their views? Do you know what they have personally experienced that could result in a particular outlook on a subject? If not, then who are you to cast judgment on anyone’s personal opinion?

The spirit of debate is the cornerstone of politics. So I am not blasting anyone for their joy of arguing their political view to other politicians. In fact, I believe the people who get into politics are professional debaters who hold their personal views dear to their heart and absolutely relish the opportunity to educate somebody with their blessed knowledge. And that is all well and good, it is the ignorant display of rejecting another person’s assessment of an issue that I can’t stand.

“So who are you voting for in the presidential election?”

“I don’t know, I’m thinking I’m gonna go with Candidate B”

“WHAT!?!?? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? DON’T YOU KNOW YOUR SUPPORTING CAPITALSM? HE IS GOING TO DRIVE OUR COUNTRY INTO THE GROUND!!! Are you a terrorist? By supporting Candidate B you are supporting terrorism, you have a bomb on you, don’t you? Hand it over, HAND OVER THE BOMB! I swear if Candidate B gets elected I’m moving to Germany, that’ll show everybody!”

Just as important as it is that we have our own opinion, it is equally important that we let our fellow citizens have their own opinions. It is the fabric of our nation to let each person say and think as we please. Freedom of speech includes personal opinion, and we need to respect each person’s opinion no matter how different it may be because it is their right.

In fact we need to have different viewpoints from others, otherwise we would all think exactly the same and there would be no original thought. Can you imagine how boring the world would be if we all had the same opinions? That’s what makes you an individual.

Its good to hear out other people’s standpoint on a topic because you might just see their side of it and change your mind because it makes more sense. But if someone has deferring political views don’t chastise them for it, hear their case. Involvement in world matters is a good sign that you’re growing up, but what good is growing up if you can’t do it with maturity?

Pride is important, but so is respect, and if you want respect from others, you better be willing to give back.

Judgment Day

I stood in a small booth, my hands at the will of democracy. The freedom of our great nation summoned me here, allowing me to put my two cents on the makeup of our country for years to come … and I had no idea what to do.

I had browsed through the proposition packet while standing in line. Perhaps it was self-pride that brought me to this obscure voting location to fulfill my obligation as a constructive citizen. I was doing it; I was getting out to vote! P. Diddy would be so proud.

Yet I found myself looking at the choices for president and was perplexed with my options: John Kerry or George W. Bush? Was this really the best our nation could come up with to lead us?

That’s when it hit me; there is something seriously wrong with our election process.

We have the best form of government, yet our faulty election process creates a debilitated bureaucracy.

The initial red flag that our election process is rather deficient became evident with the 2000 debacle, which proved that having a greater percentage of votes doesn’t guarantee victory.

Beyond the Electoral College catastrophe, I believe politics have become far too much of a war between the left and right wing. The fact that they are nicknamed "left" and "right" wing says it all – there’s no other wing to choose. It is one side or the other and I believe it is ridiculous to think that one side has the answer on every issue. Our selection process needs to revolve more around the candidates themselves and their campaign platform rather than the party they represent.

The liberal versus conservative battle that has become the epicenter of the presidential struggle is hurting us from finding a strong leader. If the candidates were not attached to a specific party, people would have to look at more imminent reasons to give a person their vote.

I will come right out and admit that I am not a huge fan of politics. A friend of mine, who is the kind of guy who has been planning his rise to the White House since he was five, would tell me that it is essential to be educated in politics and would stress the importance of representing a specific party. I could see that his argument was battle tested enough to where I assume he’s probably right. Nonetheless, my vote counts just as much as his, and the majority of the country is as uneducated in political affairs as I am, yet we all have equal voting rights.

Furthermore, we tend to expect far too much from these presidential candidates. We not only look for a person to be a powerful leader, but an all-around flawless individual. They must have a squeaky clean record, so clean we can practically see our own reflection when looking at them. Every aspect of the the nominee’s background is brought into question - their religion, their family, their culture, what they did in college, what they didn’t do in college, whether they’re married, who they’re married to, how nice the person they’re married to is, whether or not Oprah supports them, etc.

The fact is the presidential race becomes a search for the ideal being – and that is someone who just doesn’t exist. It is important to try to estimate what the entirepotential administration of each candidate may be, rather than solely focusing on the potential Oval Office tenant. After all it is democracy, not a dictatorship.

With that in mind, we should at least be thankful that we have the opportunity to elect our leader as a nation, even if the current process is a little flawed. By the end of today we will have a new commander in chief, and whether or not your choice becomes the president, I ask that you support whoever is. Like it or not, the newly elected president will lead us for the next four years, and a nation united is stronger than a nation divided. We can complain about our election process, our president and our country, but ultimately we must live with the outcome, so we may as well embrace it. If we do this, only then can America truly begin living up to its potential.