There is a certain art to ruining a conversation. I mean really ruining it. Not just making perverse or awkward remarks or speaking too much or too little. Often people can ruin a conversation by doing all these things or by treating the other person as merely an outlet for their ideas or someone to compete with for attention.

In the 20 minutes that it takes me to walk to campus, I can easily listen to six or seven different songs. It is simply a fact of life now that most of us here at Geneseo have some kind of technological knowledge. Computer power and the expansive reach of the Internet are amazing. Especially since one marvel merely compounds the success of the next and no one doubts that cell phones will one day become as obsolete as the telegraph.

Most of the people in the "know," meaning the intelligentsia who share a mutual concern for the fate of society, continually make the claim that certain aspects of our culture are having a negative impact on the rest.

I recently learned more about the exact nature of Mexico's political turmoil. The recent presidential election in which liberal candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador lost to conservative candidate Felipe Calderon by a margin of roughly one percent has indeed caught the attention of much of the international community, especially the United States.

It's nice to see everyone in such good spirits after the Democratic success in the elections last Tuesday. I'm hopeful, however, that while we were all so focused on the national scene we did not neglect our own campus. It seems that we, students, are priority number two. Some more jaded individuals might suggest that we rank even lower, I, however, continue to be optimistic.