TMI UMD is a new concept that will explore the pet peeves, rants, random things heard around campus and other discussions about UMD life. In case you don’t know TMI stands for “too much information.� In TMI UMD’s first article, we will explore the different pet peeves and concerns that students express about learning in the classrooms and lecture halls.

Classroom and lecture pet peeves are a common conversation starter around the UMD campus. Mention anything irritating about the people in your last lecture and you will get others talking.

Freshmen, Jodi Craven, speaks out about her classroom concerns.

“I hate when people’s cell phones go off in class. It is common courtesy and sense. Turn them off! I also hate that my laptop will pick up other’s cell phone waves and it will make this funky noise and then the person next to me will get a text. So irritating!� Craven said.

Speaking of laptops, Craven finds them distracting as well.

“I bring my laptop to strictly take notes. I turn my wireless internet off so I’m not tempted to go online. But I do find myself being distracted by other student’s laptops. When a student is in front of me playing an intense game of Solitaire, I will be behind them trying to figure the game out for them,� Craven said.

Angie DeCuffa, another UMD freshmen, feels as if she is going to catch a horrible cold when she is in class.
“I think that UMD should offer a basic course on etiquette, manners, and cleanliness. It is so disgusting when someone in a lecture just burps, farts, doesn’t blow their nose, slaps their gum around, or lets out a nasty sneeze. I wish people knew how to cover their mouths. I feel as if I need to be in a safety bubble in class so I don’t catch anything!� said DeCuffa.

It is obvious that each UMD student has their own opinion about the annoying things that go on in lecture halls and classrooms. It is also a given that all college campuses are similar to UMD when it comes to classroom courtesy. How do you know this? Everyone is going to get bored and start a pointless game of Solitaire or check their Facebook for the five-hundredth time that day.

Also, people are going to forget to turn off their cell phone ringer, talk to their friends, and cough. It is just a tough fact of life that we have to deal with. That is what TMI UMD is for- all your rants and raving.

“I had a rough night last night, want to get some coffee?� “I really want to be with you, I just don’t know…� “OK. So do you want to tell me what happened last night?!�

Is there a point when sharing information becomes too much information for those around you?

“I live in the dorms, and I hear all sorts of things,� said freshman Taylor Priem. “People talk on their cell phones like no one else can hear them. I once heard a conversation about a girl that was trying to figure out what guy she wanted to be with.�

Intimate details about post-party hookups and all together relationship drama is possibly one of the more common topics of interest for those sharing their stories with whoever is near enough to hear.

An issue that may come up is our freedom of speech. In essence, these intimate details are free to be out in the open, but where is the line that determines what information should remain private, merely for the sake of those around you? Or is that line invisible, unable to be defined. One student’s funny recollection of the night before may be another’s not-so-pleasant way to start their day.

“I think there is a place and time for everything,� said junior Greta Stangl. “When students are telling their stories of being drunk and passing out in front of teachers or their offices, I think that’s too much. You never know when you will run into that teacher again.�

So, is it the where that is the problem, or is it the what?

“I’ve heard people talking about their weekend stories in the library before,� said junior Melany Mayers. “It’s a library. I don’t think anyone needs to tell their stories in the library. They try to whisper, but it’s sometimes more noticeable.�

From hearing a cell phone conversation in the bathroom, to walking to class behind two guys talking about how much they threw up the night before from drinking so much, the stories seem endless. The question arises though, will it ever change, or should it?

Should students be more aware of what information they are putting out there, or should those that are, in a sense, innocent bystanders, act as though they do not hear a thing.

University of Minnesota Duluth students had different responses after learning about the alarming incident in the Montague 70 lecture hall on Feb. 20. Some students had frightened responses, while others were stunned and questioned the incident.

Most of the students had heard about the incident before the school had sent its official response via e-mail.

“I heard about it when a friend called me a couple hours after the incident,� said Carlson.

Some students didn’t know what to think about what had happened when they first heard about it.

“I laughed at first, thinking it was just a joke,� said sophomore Jake Marty.

Marty later went on to say that there was probably nothing that anyone could have done to stop this guy and that it was lucky that nothing more serious happened.

Every student had heard different details about what the man had in his possession. Some things were accurate, while others were far from the truth.

“I had heard that the crazy guy was carrying a sock full of nickels and he had a bloody glove like OJ,� said student Ben Bloomquist. “I also had heard that the man had escaped from the nut house and they were looking for him.�

“The first description I heard about the guy is that he was wearing a trench coat and had a baseball bat,� said Carlson.

The telephone game effect came into play with how the actual incident happened as well. Each student seemed to have heard something a little different.

“From what I had heard, the two students that were commended for their good work were the ones that stopped the guy,� said Carlson. “I heard that they tackled him and held him down until the police came to the scene.�

“The story I heard was that the dude was saying nasty things to the girls in the class and that he was Buddha,� said Bloomquist.

“When I kept hearing about this story, I kept thinking of the video of the guy getting tazed and saying ‘don’t taze me bro,’� said Marty.

Because the official statement by the school was sent out so late, there were many different deviations of the story that was traveling around the campus by the students.

“I had probably heard about five different versions of the story before the school had even sent out an e-mail,� said Marty. “It’s crazy how fast information travels by the word of mouth, or for most of us, by cell phones.�

“I think that the school should have been able to send that e-mail out a lot earlier,� said Bloomquist. “They didn’t even really put that much detail into it, so I don’t know what took them so long. This was kind of a big deal.�

The truth is…you’re talking too loud.
Have you ever heard someone talking really loudly in the hallway on their cell phone? Or tried your hardest not to eve’s drop on the two people in the library whispering not so quietly? How annoying is it when people give you a little too much information, especially when you are not expecting it?

No matter how annoying it is listening to other students talking too loudly, somehow it seems that there will always be the people who give a little too much information [T.M.I.].

“I think it’s weird that people don’t care that the people they don’t know can hear what they are talking about,� UMD senior Courtney Mettling said.

Chances are, if you’ve ever heard someone giving T.M.I., they’ve probably heard you giving T.M.I.

Think of all the random and weird things heard around campus, what are some of the strangest phrases you remember most?

“Where are you guys? I’m in Spanish class and no one is here!�
This is just one of many phrases heard outside a quiet classroom while students are trying to take a test.

“Where you at? You going to Stargate? Come get me, I’m with my girl.�
A saying heard inside a quiet computer room. This was the third time the man picked up his phone.

“Oh my god! I can’t believe she said that!�
This was heard in front of the lockers in the Sports and Health Center.

“I had a class with these two girls last semester and all they did was talk. Once they were talking about this one girl who was pregnant and saying her name and making it pretty uncomfortable for the few of us that could hear,� Vadnais said.

“One time I heard a guy in Humanities burp really loud because he thought no one was around,� senior Racheal Lybeck said.

If you find yourself sharing information that others might not want to hear, chances are there may be students closer than you think, so please don’t be that girl who fights with her boyfriend in the library, thinking she’s quiet, when really everyone can hear her. And please don’t be the guy outside the classroom telling his friend what he did last night.

“People should wait to have the conversations when they aren't around people they don’t know,� Mettling said.

A good way to avoid everyone at UMD listening in on you is to go in the bathroom to have a conversation, go outside, or even try texting the person you are trying to have a conversation with.

“I would recommend to go elsewhere. Be respectful of the other people around you,� Vadnais said.