I think I’m pretty fun. I know how to relax, and I like beer. But I am not the "chill girl," I never will be and that’s OK.
Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont has breathed life into a campaign season that once seemed highly predictable. In an election cycle that once appeared to be a victory lap for centrist Hillary Clinton, Sanders has offered a true challenge for the Democratic presidential nomination. But Bernie Sanders faces a huge problem that could possibly be a deathblow to his campaign: his self-identification as a socialist. Before you hastily type a letter to the Alligator, I know Sanders considers himself a "democratic socialist," and it differs from other branches of socialism. From where I’m standing, however, he isn’t much of a socialist at all.
It is a familiar sight to anyone who has ever stepped foot in a lecture hall: a sea of faces looking anywhere but the center of the room. Sure, you might have 10 or so students who actually pay heed to the knowledge being imparted by their lecturer, but we’d bet dollars to doughnuts those same students are the kinds of dweebs who still take notes with pen and paper (Just kidding. For those of you that do, we have no doubt you have a bright and financially lucrative future ahead of you — please give us jobs).
I’ve always been afraid of going to the lake or the beach. First off, I identify as a male; my privilege protects me from understanding how having "the wrong body type for Abercrombie" or having a natural thigh gap might make a woman feel. Still, I’m always anxious during occasions when others might see me, or worse, when I might have to see myself.
Following national outcry, the FBI and the Department of Justice announced Tuesday that they have opened up an investigation into the violent arrest of a black high-school student by a white sheriff’s deputy in Columbia, South Carolina. Officer Ben Fields arrested the student after forcefully yanking her out of her desk by wrapping his arm around her neck. Having flipped the student and her desk, Fields then dragged her to the front of the classroom. This came after she refused to leave her seat and had already ignored requests from her teacher and other school administrators to do so. A second student, Niya Kenny, 18, was arrested soon after for taping the encounter. Her arrest was justified under the premise that she was “disturbing school.”
CNN recently published an opinion piece by Columbia University linguist John McWhorter entitled “Goodbye to ‘he’ and ‘she’ and hello to ‘ze’?” which dealt with the state of gender-neutral pronouns in the English language.
It’s been awhile since any of us have walked down a kindergarten hallway. Yet, across the country and the span of time, and as long as coloring and finger painting have been staples in the golden years of our lives, so has finishing the daunting sentence, “When I grow up, I want to be…”
The World Health Organization announced Monday it had classified processed meats as a cancer hazard. The WHO reached this conclusion after the International Agency for Research on Cancer conducted an exhaustive study of pre-existing literature on the subject. Processed meats — which include bacon (sorry, America), sausage and ham — have been labeled under the "Group 1" classification by the IARC, meaning they are established carcinogens. Under these standards, processed meats occupy a comfortable position alongside cigarettes, alcohol and, most tantalizingly, asbestos.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo: a country we tend to think of so little that many would struggle to identify it on a map. Many Americans remain unaware of the political corruption and militia violence that ravages the lives of Congolese civilians and refugees residing in the DRC. (Do not fret: I only just learned all this while producing this piece.)
It was an impressive run. Several weeks ago, my iPhone 4S remained uncased, unbent and unbroken. Hubris and the want for less cumbersome technology in my pocket drove my decision to abandon the armor that was my OtterBox. It was inevitable, then, that my iPhone’s demise would arrive with irony. Having survived the many boredom-induced lobs, flips and saturnalias, it would ultimately meet its screen-shattering end by dropping just a foot from the edge of the nightstand.
Coming back home after living somewhat independently in our college-town bubble has always been an interesting, if not perplexing, experience for me.
In 2006’s "Whoo! Alright – Yeah… Uh Huh," Luke Jenner, singer of the now-defunct dance-punk band The Rapture, bemoaned the state of club culture: "People don’t dance no more (what!)/They just stand there like this (uh huh)/They cross their arms and stare you down and drink and moan and diss (that’s right!)." If Mr. Jenner were to write this song today, we can’t help but think the refrain would be a little less cheeky and a lot more critical.
It is easy to feel detached and uninvolved in issues involving discrimination if you’re not in one of the communities affected. However, everyone has a part to play in these issues. The definition of an ally is just that: standing by a community that you are not a part of and working to support them regardless. Allies are necessary for change, no matter the issue, and they can make a sizable difference.
Katrin Sieg is a professor of German and European studies at Georgetown University. She has published three books on 20th-century German theater and performance, which explore nationality, race and gender.
While many Americans are aware baseball season is ending, football season is reaching a sort of midway point and hockey season is just starting, the nation does not seem to fully appreciate that we are currently in the thick of the presidential debate season. The nation has watched three debates — two Republican and one Democratic — and is mentally preparing itself for another Republican debate Wednesday.
Darts & Laurels? With school in high gear, more like Charts & Quarrels, are we right? But seriously, thank goodness Halloween is right around the corner, because we could all use a break. Even though we still have a week to go, in the meantime you can hold yourself over with this week’s edition of… Darts & Laurels.
On the internet, no one knows you’re not a Nazi.
Last week, a pretentious dude refused to learn about consent, thus teaching us all why consent is important.
Every year, folks in the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer communities observe National Coming Out Day in the month of October.
On Wednesday, YouTube — or Google; let’s just call it like it is — announced a new ad-free subscription service, Red. Red offers YouTube users the same convenience they experienced in the halcyon days of 2005, before content creators and public relations personnel caught on to how profitable the service really could be.
Solutions by The State News
