Column

I was in class in Australia as the final results for the U.S. presidential election were becoming clearer. Those few hours will be burned into my memory forever. I felt extreme despair and sorrow and frustration and was left speechless as I watched the electoral college numbers accumulate under Trump’s name. After I saw the […]

Mike Birbiglia shows how comedy can transcend the disconnect between performer, audience In a 2013 Netflix comedy special, My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend, Mike Birbiglia tells a story. The special takes place in a big, open performance hall, with a long, wide stage elevated from the ground. The audience sits around the stage, which holds a single […]

Students, tourists need to respect their host countries There’s a saying that I heard once that said “beauty is never tarnished.” Well, I hate to break it to whoever said that, but I doubt that they have ever lived in a place that has seen its natural beauty destroyed at an alarming rate. To be […]

Diverse directors will increase diversity in roles, characters on screen Just how white is the film and television industry? You don’t have to answer that. It’s become obvious in recent years just how pervasive lack of diversity is in entertainment. It seems to be the only unwavering aspect of Hollywood’s constantly changing trends (fashion, actor […]

Collaborations between designers, scientists are important for advancements in both fields As someone who stapled the bottoms of her flats everyday for nearly three months before finally buying a new pair, I might not seem like the most credible fashion source. But perhaps it’s my lack of professional expertise that makes fashion all the more […]

Prevent gun violence by closing loophole that allows indirect gun purchases My dad’s a lawyer, so I’ve grown up hating loopholes. Whether it be a sneakily thrown in one-liner about a custody agreement or working at a job that pays less to avoid spousal payments, loopholes have always irked me. So it’s no surprise that […]

America could stand to learn a few things from other nations about gun laws Controversial as the statement may seem, America is actually not the best at everything — especially when it comes to gun violence and gun laws. Our gun homicide rates are 25.2 times higher than those of other high-income industrialized countries such […]

As our world grows increasingly connected through technology, the opportunity to interact with others from different cultural, political and religious backgrounds is also increasing. Social media allows users to communicate with individuals across the globe in mere seconds, promoting civilized sharing of ideas across cultures and, consequently, building a more tolerant global environment with […]

Portlandia simultaneously celebrates and mocks liberal cliches, culture I grew up in a town called Sebastopol, located about an hour north of San Francisco. Sebastopol is small, community-oriented and quaint. Although it used to be known for family-owned apple orchards, it’s losing its charm to large-scale and invasive vineyards. What it strives for and succeeds […]

Emissions at forefront of obstacles to animal sustainability One of the most prominent issues in sustainable animal agriculture today is debunking the idea that not eating meat is the best way to reduce carbon emissions from livestock. The amount of news articles claiming that meat will be the destruction of Earth has grown dramatically in […]

President Obama spends final days in office locking horns with Putin As the American election season hits full steam, two titans are still trading blows. U.S. President Barack Obama, champion of the entrenched Democrats, and Vladimir Putin, hero-president of the Russians, have been trading blows since 2009. Now, this battle between heavyweights is in its […]

Shakespeare and company at risk of dismissal When universities finally become the diverse places they purport to be, shoot me an email. I will rejoice. For universities are not the bastions of diversity everyone claims. Their demographics prove otherwise. Look around a typical campus and try to spot Waldo: a conservative professor hidden in a […]