I’m tired of lazy students. Nicholls State University does not ask much of them other than to attend class on a regular basis and do an assignment now and then.The students who complain day in and day out about having so much to do that they have no time to go out drinking and partying are the lazy ones. Last night’s speech forum was a testament to how lazy students can be and could be considered a microcosm of the campus in many ways regarding intelligence.

Many of the speakers presented garbled, misguided facts that were obviously lacking research. Although I’ve always been a fan of the speech forums, last night’s event was a spectacle rampant with ignorance and could make me think twice about attending the next one.

As the night wore on, the comments became increasingly biased and uncivil, reminding me of a child’s argument-“I know you are, but what am I?”

These lazy students would rather look foolish in front of a ballroom full of other students instead of research a few facts prior to the event-although they knew they would be forced to speak out because humans have an insatiable need to run their mouths.

This concept spills over into classrooms and around campus. Those intelligent students who should speak often don’t out of shyness, while the ones who should keep their mouths closed run around with loudspeakers attached to their faces.

Their speech is usually marred by phrases and words such as “I mean,” “um” and “like.” It’s annoying to listen to someone speak for what feels like an eternity only to realize you feel dumber for having heard what the person had to say.

It’s an event that could be prevented by one easy proverb, “It’s better to let people think you’re ignorant than to open your mouth and prove them right.”

This holds true in many respects around campus. For example, if said ignorant person took a seat in the corner of a classroom but said nothing the entire semester-even if he failed every test and turned in no assignments-none of his classmates would know his intelligence. On the other side of the spectrum, one who runs his mouth and spews nonsense all semester will likely be hated because he has nothing intelligent to say.

I hope for Nicholls’ sake that students learn to keep ignorant comments to themselves, and let people assume they are intelligent. This would make for a much less frustrated student body, and who knows, maybe keeping one’s mouth shut will allow him to actually learn something.