Column

We are lonelier than ever and our t-shirts aren’t helping   By MILES BARRY — mabarry@ucdavis.edu   Walk through any American airport, thrift store or mall, and you’ll encounter a peculiar genre of clothing: the antisocial t-shirt. To name a few: “You Read My Shirt. That’s Enough Social Interaction for today”; “Rules for Monday: don’t […]

Exploring the connection between grass and colonial history   By SABRINA FIGUEROA — sfigueroaavila@ucdavis.edu   One time during a Christmas family gathering, my aunt told us about a neighbor who had taken pictures of their outgrown, unkept lawn (they had just moved in) and posted these photos on a community Facebook page for the whole […]

Exploring New Year’s resolutions and how to make them stick   By VIOLET ZANZOT— vmzanzot@ucdavis.edu   Almost 24 full hours of life in 2026, and I already feel the effects of my resolution. It’s pretty embarrassing, actually. Deleting TikTok and Snapchat — my goal for the year — doesn’t feel like it should be novel […]

Calls for a salary cap are misguided at best and greedy at worst   By THEO KAYSER — tfkayser@ucdavis.edu    Many are arriving at the presumption that “the Dodgers are ruining baseball” after the recently concluded 2025 Major League Baseball (MLB) season. Such a conclusion has its merits on the surface, especially if one were […]

How nostalgia has become our quiet rebellion By NEVAEH KARRAKER — nakarraker@ucdavis.edu Second-hand clothing, once frowned upon, has now become aspirational — the targeted style exudes nostalgic mid-90s to early 2000s vibes. Presumed iPad-raised generations have now openly adopted flip phones, along with other forms of older technology. Everything appears to have inverted. This sudden […]

Algorithmic playlists mark a further evolution of art as a commodity   By THEO KAYSER — tfkayser@ucdavis.edu    When you open your phone in the year 2025, you instantly become the subject of a competition between every possible website, app and advertiser, all of whom are fighting tooth-and-nail for your attention. Unsurprisingly, this pattern applies […]

How cartoons satirize the current social, political and economic state of the world   By ABHINAYA KASAGANI — akasagani@ucdavis.edu   To preface this article, let me start by saying that I would not question it if it turned out that my first words were, in fact, “TV;” I might as well be making my way […]

The Internet is quick to extract political implications from album covers or lyrics — but how useful is this commentary?   By GEETIKA MAHAJAN — giamahajan@ucdavis.edu   There are more than enough reasons for the general public to dislike any celebrity. Like the rest of us, they are flawed people. But an endless well of […]

Growing more fruit trees could alleviate many common college stressors   By ANJALI IYER — amiyer@ucdavis.edu   After the gloom of Davis winters, many students earnestly await the arrival of spring quarter, as the change in seasons provides a much-needed relief from the misery of 5 p.m. sunsets. Unfortunately, the rustle of a gentle spring […]

In an increasingly online political environment, farmers market stalls provide an opportunity for in-person discussion   By SAGE KAMOCSAY— skamocsay@ucdavis.edu   Picture this: it’s a cheery Saturday morning and you’re strolling through the Davis Farmers Market with your friends for the first time. You’re checking out each of the vendors — some of them are […]

Distrust of cooking oils has become a rallying cry for conservatives   By MILES BARRY — mabarry@ucdavis.edu   In January 2025, a large group of wellness influencers, biohackers and proponents of alternative medicine descended on the Kennedy Center to celebrate Donald Trump’s election with a “seed oil-free” dinner at the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) […]