Humanity has shared a bond with other animals for a long time, for farming purposes, or for companionship. As time has marched forward, so has the way modern pets are taken care of and the restrictions on where they can be. It is unfortunate there are buildings and tenements all over the world where it is simply not allowed to keep a companion, and for … Continue reading On-Campus Critters
Only once in my 52 years on this planet have I been fortunate enough to live on Main Street, America. That would be my senior year at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota, living in an apartment just off Minnesota Avenue. It didn’t happen overnight and it didn’t happen without forethought and planning. Working as a bus driver for the St. Peter school district, … Continue reading An Alum Reflects on Off-Campus Living
We are at war, and Republicans are asleep at the wheel. In the past several years, Russia has mounted a war of disinformation on Western liberal democracy. It has become clear that Kremlin meddling extends far beyond the 2016 U.S. presidential election; it is an all-out assault on the West. The same toxic combination of fake news websites, social media bots, and Twitter trolls that … Continue reading Where Are the Patriots?
A month ago, our president, in his infinite wisdom, said “Nobody knew health care could be so complicated.” On the contrary, Donald—everybody knew. It seems it took 70 years for the star of the infamous Access Hollywood tapes to learn what the rest of us realize at a young age: the health care system in the United States is seriously messed up. I realized this … Continue reading Health Care: It’s Complicated
This past Sunday night, NBC Evening News opened their program: “Good evening, we begin tonight with a story we would rather not be telling.” Earlier that day, at approximately 11 am, a man uploaded a series of videos to Facebook, utilizing the social media platform’s live-streaming function. In the first video, the Cleveland man announced his intention to commit murder. In the second video, uploaded … Continue reading Violence, Voyeurism, and NBC
Global social issues like human trafficking, female genital mutilation (FGM), and child marriage are widely known about and I think there’s a worldwide consensus that they are problems and should be resolved to improve our societies. Even though the term “global” would seem to imply that every country around the world is affected by these issues in some way or another, these specific problems, among … Continue reading Uncovering “Silenced Crimes”
When the words “Habitat for Humanity” are mentioned many thoughts spring to mind like “free houses”, “decreasing homelessness”, or maybe even “fun spring break trips”. The reality is that many myths surround both the organization and the Spring Break trips, and the true value of the organization exists not in providing free houses (which it doesn’t) or in a fun experience for a week. Habitat … Continue reading Creating Habitat for Humanity
College is hard. To any college student, that is the most obvious statement of the century. Whether it’s the organic chemistry midterm that you’re pretty sure decimated your already barely passing grade, the research essay that you didn’t actually realize was a research essay until the night before it was due, or the one ten-point busy work assignment that you forgot to do that could’ve … Continue reading Maintaining Your Brain
On Monday, March 20, factions of The Gustavus Diversity Leadership Council and Bystander Intervention Committee, in cahoots with the theatre group I Am We Are, decided to pull an invisible theatre stunt. They hung up white supremacist posters on campus and then waited in secret to gauge students’ responses to the signs. When the students got upset at the signs, ripping them down, the committee … Continue reading Fake News: An Alternative Bias Incident
Anarchism is the great liberator of man from the phantoms that have held him captive; it is the arbiter and pacifier of the two forces for individual and social harmony.” -Emma Goldman Yes, that was a quote from a late nineteenth-century terrorist about how anarchy is great. No, I am not about to try to convince people to start throwing Molotov cocktails into Walmarts. What … Continue reading Anarchism for the anxious
