Column

The factors that separate us start affecting us earlier than imagined There are many social determinants of education: money, access to good teachers, extracurricular activities, school infrastructure. From the first day a child enters school, there are factors that abruptly put them ahead or behind students of the same age bracket. These discrepancies exponentially increase […]

Marvel’s newest installation sends a much-needed empowering message After most late-night movie theater excursions, I return home exhausted and only slightly emotionally piqued. However, walking out of the movie theater after watching “Black Panther” left me buzzing with excitement and incredibly squealish. I couldn’t stop thinking about the movie for days, and the soundtrack has […]

How living in the U.S. affects Latinos’ Spanish proficiency As a Mexican-American, I’ve had to traverse a weird limbo of being proud of my heritage while also embracing American societal norms. For instance, growing up, I was teased about my accent. My Mexican friends said I sounded too white when I spoke, while my American […]

Environmental fads are only good while they last You might have seen what appears to be overly enthusiastic clean-up crews — individuals running with hefty bags scouring the streets for trash. Most likely, you have witnessed plogging, a running trend from Sweden that combines jogging and litter pick-up. The activity gets its name from a […]

A relationship that requires a deeper cultural view It’s a common thread in travel writing: how we can learn about American society by immersing ourselves in a foreign culture. The relationship between Russia and America is obviously fraying, if not completely fried, so the complex web of cultural differences needs to be uncovered and hopefully […]

It’s 2018, and this is still the hill men want to die on James Damore, a former Google employee, published a scathing memo in July 2017 accusing the tech giant of engaging in discriminatory activities. Buried inside his bitter manifesto were several claims that maybe women weren’t interested in coding — which according to him […]

We need an environment where women are not pitted against each other “Mean Girls” was the movie that defined my adolescence. Every girl wanted to grow up and become Regina, Cady or Gretchen — sassy, mean, vicious and supremely self-confident. The vague, cheesy ending that attempted to somewhat reconcile the differences between the various groups […]

Being seen as a bigot or worse in the classroom Why are students afraid to voice their opinions in the classroom? Political correctness has made it almost impossible to talk about social and sensitive issues. It’s difficult to have a rational conversation about race, women’s rights or other important topics because people’s biases impede a […]

Nothing can prepare for culture-shock, and that’s okay There are those who get nervous, and there are those who say they don’t get nervous. The latter group is lying. The idea that nerves can be bought and brokered, or charged up and down at will, is also a lie. That was never made clear to […]

Femininity and masculinity should be variable for each individual instead of contribute to fixed stereotypes “I hate Black Widow. She’s a girl, and girls have cooties,” said my cousin, who was then a 6-year-old, rambunctious little boy. I stared back at him in shock and indignance. “Do you hate me, too?” I demanded, and he […]

Environmentalist and believer don’t have to be mutually exclusive — and they shouldn’t be Nature has a profound spiritual significance to me. I’m overwhelmed with admiration and respect, whether I’m watching a squirrel on campus or looking up at El Capitan — more so with the latter. No offense, squirrels. Often, though, environmental concerns and […]

The liberal arts teach life skills that science just can’t Since the advent of modern science, students who have an inclination toward the discipline have questioned the “point” of studying the arts. The argument is an old one, and for unknown reasons there will always be a back and forth on why a liberal arts […]