Good column ideas are hard to come by. Sometimes, they can be right in front of you – in plain sight on the cover of a DOTS brochure, even. Other times, they might be buried on page six.

A good column idea and a well structured column will keep the readers interested, and they will most likely read the whole thing. A bad column idea will cause the reader to stop reading right about … now.

The world is run on ideas. There are good ones, and there are not so good ones. Remember the slogan McDonald’s started in 2005: “It’s what I eat and what I do”? That’s right, you don’t, because it was, well, a bad idea. But of course you know the company’s current slogan, “I’m loving it!” because that was a good idea.

Good ideas and bad ideas are abundant both at this university and throughout the world. Michael Jordan’s decision to make his first comeback in the ’90s: good idea. Michael Jordan’s decision to become part owner and president of basketball operations of the Washington Wizards: bad idea. Department of Transportation Services decision to inform students about parking permit registration: good idea. DOTS’ decision to inform students about parking permit registration, with their social security numbers on the envelope: real bad idea.

It doesn’t stop there. Student Entertainment Events’ decision to team up with MTV to host last year’s Art Attack: good idea. The decision to charge students $5 to attend: bad idea. Your decision to go: even worse. The fact that Simple Plan is still around: the worst idea yet.

Changing the Dining Services director: good idea. No change in the food: bad idea. The introduction of Gmail: great idea. Everything about the university e-mail system: bad idea.

The university’s world and the business world even sometimes come together to formulate ideas. The university’s decision to enter into a soda contract to generate much-needed funds: good idea. Choosing Pepsi: bad idea.

The ways in which people perceive ideas vary greatly. Just as you may be the one person who actually likes Pepsi, some people may honestly think cutting late-night study hours in order to maintain funding for other endeavors is a great idea, while some other people may think it is a horrible idea. Sometimes, it just depends on your perspective.

Along those lines, I thought my decision to major in government and politics was a great idea. My parents and probably the rest of the world, not so much. I think we can all agree, though, majoring in something such as art history or psychology is always a bad idea.

This is the part in even the best columns where many readers will stop reading unless you offer them some compelling reason to continue. It’s kind of like the mid-semester “I can’t wake up for my 11 a.m. class anymore” attack that happens to even the best of us.

For those of you to whom the university so graciously offered the Off-Campus Housing Services phone number rather than an on-campus room phone number, getting to that 11 a.m. class could mean waking up at 8:30, leaving the house by 9, taking a bus and then walking halfway across the campus.

On that note, plans to build more housing: good idea. Only starting to plan after there’s already a problem: bad idea. Me winning the housing lottery: the best idea yet.

Congratulations! You read the entire column. But don’t blame me; it wasn’t my idea.

Joel Cohen is a junior government and politics major. He is currently accepting column ideas and can be reached at jcohendbk@gmail.com.