NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS

The ancient Babylonians have been recorded to be the first to make New Year’s resolutions about 4,000 years ago. In a religious festival known as Akitu, they would reaffirm their loyalty to their king as well as promise their gods to pay back debts. Failure to uphold their promise would result in one falling out of favor with the gods. Not too long after, Roman emperor Julius Caesar established January 1 as the start of the year in 46 B.C.. The month was named after Janus, a two-headed god sacred to the Romans. Similar to the Babylonians, they sacrificed for the divinity and made promises of good conduct for the new year. Christians also used the day to think about the year’s sins and resolve to do better. They would sing hymns and pray to celebrate and improve upon their shortcomings. Today, New Year’s resolutions are a little different; instead of a religious promise made to gods, one makes promises to themselves to improve and create new habits.

New Year, New You

“Some (of my New Year’s resolutions are) picking up old hobbies and getting better grades in classes.”

“One of my New Year’s resolutions is to stop procrastinating on all my schoolwork.”

“This year (my goals are) more (education focused) because last year (I) was a lot more relaxed about my grades.”

“(One of my goals is) just trying new things, especially since I’m a senior (and) I’m graduating soon, so just trying new things and doing more things that make you happy.”

“So my resolution is to make room for wellness in my life, whether that’s (through) meditation or exercise or just doing something that I enjoy.”

“You have to have time commitment to (accomplish your goal). So if you’re going to be healthy, that means taking time to cook and eat healthy, to exercise, find time to do those things. This is not the easiest thing, but you have to make time for yourself.”

“I (want to) finish (my) degree program, (play) the piano and stay active.”

“I think (one goal) would be to be less task-oriented, and to enjoy God more and enjoy people more.”

Lu Co-Editor-in-Chief

How much is an hour of your time worth?

To some clubs, the answer is $10. at’s right: In exchange for a monetary donation of 10 bucks to your local food drive, you can earn one hour of service time. Such opportunities to trade money for volunteer hours through service clubs are on the rise the metastasis of a phenomenon that rests on shaky ethical foundations.

e premise of paid service hours is simple. Many students lead busy lives split between sports practices, music rehearsals, homework and more. Paid hours are targeted towards those students who are employed as part-time workers, depriving them of the time to earn hours outside of school. Instead, they are allowed to exchange their hard-earned wages from bussing tables, washing dishes or babysitting nephews for volunteer hours, simulating the time commitment and impact of traditional community service activities. Despite this intention, paid hours pose obvious moral questions. On a fundamental level, paying for service hours seems suspect.

In an imperfect and unjust world, time is the great equalizer man or woman, child or adult, billionaire or blue-collar worker, all are humbled by the inevitable toll of the bell. However, by exchanging money for hours, one bypasses the limitations set by Mother Nature.

Plain and simple, paid hours are a violation of the sanctity of service. When drawing parallels to other domains, the inequity becomes blatant. Consider the world of gaming – in video games like Clash Royale or Overwatch, developers o er players the option to use real-world money to buy equipment, skills or simulated money within the game. is obvious grab for money from video game producers nearly always results in one outcome: Players with the nancial means and will to succeed can overcome those with lighter wallets, even without the same investment of time or dedication. e game is rigged; money trumps skill. Volunteer hours follow the same principle.