Whether it is checking my e-mail, researching, blogging, or Facebook and YouTube, as a college student, the Internet is a pretty important tool for me. However, there are definitely some aspects of the Internet I can do without while treading along my awesome college years. These features are so irritating that they are best left ignored.

Words cannot express how tired I am hearing about Charlie Sheen, Lindsay Lohan, and any other person in the media for that matter. Every time I sign onto AOL to check my e-mail, the newest havoc they are wreaking jumps into my face on the daily news lineup. One of Charlie Sheen’s recent headlines told me that apparently he has been fired from “Two and a Half Men” and that there is now question whom his replacement will be or if there should be a replacement. The show was also up for cancellation because of Sheen’s antics. Now CBS is desperate for Sheen’s return. I must say reading these headlines I was completely heartbroken. Please note my sarcasm.

Now, maybe it is because I am not a huge fan of the show or Sheen’s acting that this news is not affecting me much, but come on. To be quite frank, all of this foolishness going on with celebrities is annoying. I begin questioning how in the world they make the news, because nothing they do seems newsworthy to me. Why do we pay attention to these people? It is as if the media thinks that news about them, normally bad news by the way, is my oxygen, as if I can’t live without it. Thank you, media, for consistently filtering me with my life source.

It is no concern of mine whom the next cast members are on “Dancing with the Stars” either, which was another article on the news lineup. I used to watch that show, but it just seems to me that people go on there just to get attention and create more for the media to talk about, simply so we Americans can sit on the couch in front of the tube and laugh at their failures while also applaud the few who actually do the routine well. The only reason why we watch another show, “American Idol,” is to poke fun at the people who audition. Now there is a show that has overstayed its welcome. To me it’s just a waste of time. However, one positive aspect is that plenty of artists nowadays got their start from that show so for their sake I will show appreciation for it. Then there are the very worthwhile “Bachelor” updates. Who needs that information? Nothing about that fakeness contributes anything to my own life or love life for that matter.

I myself used to be entertained by drama, reality television, and entertainment competitions as I have mentioned, so why do I have animosity now? This started when I began college because back in high school I watched these shows more often. I think it has something to do with me just maturing and trying to focus on my own life and keeping my priorities in check. I also think it’s because it is so overdone. The same stuff happens over and over again and I cannot check my e-mail without being bombarded by it and most of the time it is stupidity anyway. I don’t want to see stories about people being famous for moronic reasons while we college students work hard and sometimes struggle to make it to the top. It’s baffling how the world works in that way. But I guess for me, success would be that much more sweet because of my hard work. As a successful woman, my headlines won’t be proclaiming my court sentences. Rather, instead of annoying future college students who check their e-mails, I will hopefully empower them with positive messages.

But yet, for some reason, these types of stories remain entertaining in our society. Then again, if none of this happened, I would have no reason to write about it, so I guess for that reason I am grateful.

Stefanie Sears is a sophomore English major and NSCS member at Montclair State University who often indulges in theater, writes for the school newspaper The Montclarion and Patch, an online magazine. This past January she created her own blog “Taking it One ‘Stef’ at a Time,” something of which she is very proud.