Resolving for a better year

By Ariel Crawford Staff Writer

New Year’s resolutions: frequently made, rarely kept.

Once the holidays are over, many people turn their attention inwards and try to focus on what gifts they can give to themselves in the new year.

Most people do this in the form of making New Year’s resolutions, which is when people resolve to commit to making a change that will affect their lives for the better starting on the first day of the new year.

A recent study from The University of Scranton of 282 people found that after one month only 64 percent of people were still committed to their resolutions a month after making them and only 46 percent were still committed to their resolutions after six months.

This begs to ask many questions. Why do so many New Year’s resolutions fail? How can people make more attainable resolutions? And how can we assure such resolutions are kept?

Members of the Cabrini community had a lot to say about New Year’s Resolutions.

“New Year’s resolutions should be relevant to your life and help you; if so, kudos. But if it’s trivial and materialistic it probably won’t work,” Adrienne Keer, sophomore English major, said.

Other people also agreed that making resolutions that are practical are ultimately also more beneficial. “If it’s something easy and attainable people will stick to it,” Matt Stewart, senior communication major, said.

According to Yahoo!’s Associated Content, some of the most popular New Year’s resolutions include quitting smoking, losing weight, becoming more organized, reducing stress and finding ways to save money.

Some, like Megan Hawkinson, junior special and elementary education major, stick with these more traditional resolutions. “I always say that I’ll eat healthier and exercise and I do, for the first week or two but then I get busy and I end up going back and forth,” she said.

Still, others make more unconventional resolutions. “The only New Year’s resolutions I’ve ever kept thus far was at Christmas when my husband bought me a book filled with 365 Sudoku puzzles. I do one a night. Now if only I could incorporate exercise,” Diane Devanney, Cabrini math professor, said.

There are some people who have shunned the practice of making New Year’s resolutions all together. The same study from The University of Scranton reported that only 40 percent of Americans make New Year’s resolutions and people at Cabrini College are no exception.

“I honestly don’t have any New Year’s resolutions. I don’t have the time,” Megan Conroy, manager of the Cabrini College bookstore, said.

Lisa Ratmansky, director of the Center for Teaching and Learning said, “I don’t think I believe in New Year’s resolutions. I think instead I believe in resolving to focus on what one cares about each and everyday.”

The object of the game is for players to try to get back golden eggs that were stolen by a group of evil pigs while using a sling shot that launches the bird.

On each level, the pigs are enclosed by different structures made of things like stone, ice or wood. To get to the next level and retrieve the eggs, the gamer must destroy the structure and eliminate the pigs.

As the levels get higher, more and different types of birds are used.

For example, in the beginning levels, only the basic red bird is used but as the player advances, so does the type of bird.

It could have more powers or there could be more of them. Points are awarded for each pig defeated and bonus points are awarded for any birds not used.

Players can attempt the level as many times as they want to get a better score.

When the game was released in 2009, it had just only one episode called “Poached Eggs,” which contained three themed groups of levels each with 21 levels.

Since then, it has come out with four other episodes.

The newest one was released right before Christmas to celebrate the game’s first year in the Apple Store.

Angry Birds is free for most phones, but can be purchased for $.99 for the upgraded version.

In December 2010, in honor of the one-year anniversary of the release of Angry Birds, Rovio Mobile announced that the game had been downloaded 50 million times, with more than 12 million on iOS devices and 10 million on Android.