Opinions

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Advice From a Former Freshman

Welcome to Life

"Another Law, Another Controversy"

Letter From The Editor in Chief

Graduation Blues

Is this seriously my last week of college classes? If you're like me, someone who loved college, saying goodbye isn't easy. When I spot a UB lanyard-wearing freshmen looking frazzled in the Union, I can't help but feel envious about the remaining years they have left to enjoy being students.

My Name is Amanda

As I am leaving UB and entering the next phase of my life, I feel like this is the perfect opportunity to admit to a few things and apologize to the appropriate people, because frankly, it's too late now for the university to stop me from graduating, and I could use a little good karma. My freshman year at UB I was walking through the bus loop after an early morning crew practice, and got hit full speed by a car. As I trudged in my grey head-to-toe sweatpants in front of a Stampede bus moments earlier, I glanced over my left shoulder to see a car heading right toward me.

What I've Learned at the University at Buffalo

With graduation just around the corner, those of us who are leaving UB cannot help but look back on what we have learned in our time here. If you are a continuing undergraduate who is unfortunate enough to be cornered by a particularly drunk almost-grad at a party, you will probably hear him yammer on and on about the friends he has made here and the great experiences he has had.

Personalizing My College Experience

Over the last four years, I've sat in Knox lecture halls, Clemens classrooms, and Capen cubicles ? in front of renowned professors, starving grad students, and computer screens ? all for the purpose of learning things.

Destination: Buffalo and Beyond

When I was in the fourth grade at home in Brooklyn, our teacher asked us to write a journal entry about the one place in the world we would love to visit. I picked Buffalo. My teacher was flabbergasted.

"The Team, This Time?"

The New York Mets have won six games in a row. They're riding high after stumbling out of the gate to start the season, and fans are once again pouring through the gates at Citi Field. Talk show radio in New York is filled with optimistic listeners calling in to voice their opinions about how this team is "different" and how there's "something special going on here." However, as a lifelong Mets fan, I know better. Over the course of my 20 years as a diehard fan of the Amazin's, I've learned a thing or two about heartbreak, disappointment, and missed expectations. Let me start by saying that I truly hope this is the start of a magical summer in Queens, and I believe it very well could be. But let's not jump the gun. Six wins in a row is great, and the possibility of finishing the month of April with an above .500 record is incredible, especially when you consider the Mets sat at just 5-13 before their recent surge. However, as a Mets fan, I've seen this script before.

"""Practice Democracy in the University"""

?Dear Editor Two weeks ago graduate students voted to maintain the GSA mandatory fee and to increase it by 20%. We voted in favor of that bad word: tax. The federal and state budget "crises" hinge on that prohibited word: mutilate the body of social spending with budget cuts, and break the collective bargaining rights of public unions on the premise that "we're broke," but don't dare speak of a new tax.

The Memories

It's the memories ? not the education ? that make college a worthwhile experience. My freshman year feels like just yesterday, and it was a great precursor to the last four years. Pritchard, MacDonald and Schoellkopf Halls all look better from the outside, and that's not saying much.

Confessions of an HBIC

Thursday was our last day in The Spectrum office. I walked in to the office around 11 a.m. to find my desk decorated, topped with flowers, chocolate and a letter from next year's News Desk. To be honest, I was baffled.

"Atheist, Agnostic, or Apathetic"

This past Sunday, thousands of area Catholics attended mass to honor the death and rising of their savior, Jesus Christ. Thousands of other Catholics did not attend the same services. According to a story that ran in The Buffalo News, the estimated number of Catholics in the Buffalo area dropped 12.7 percent between 2000 and 2010?a drop four times greater than the region's general population loss during those years. In addition, the number of Catholics registered at parishes within the diocese fell by 19 percent. What do those numbers mean and why have they so rapidly declined? According to the same story in The Buffalo News, no one "has a good handle" on how many nominal Catholics are in the Western New York area, but Sister Regina Murphy, director of research and planning for the Diocese of Buffalo, said it's a huge number.

Comb-over USA

The 2012 Presidential race may turn out to be the most interesting episode of The Apprentice ever. Donald Trump has created a media firestorm in recent weeks by going on nearly every major network and talking about what he would do as president.

Letter to the Editor

Dear Editor, After reading the recent articles regarding both the salary our new president earns and the methods by which the University at Buffalo pays him, I am inclined to ask, "Where's the beef?" I mean honestly, who cares? First, I need to address the amount that the University at Buffalo is paying our new President.

Wikileaks Exposes Guantanamo

It's been two years since President Obama ordered the detention center at Guantanamo Bay to be closed.

Journalists Don't Need to Die

Reporters flood war-torn countries to do the job that few others are brave enough to do. They cross borders, aware of the risk to their lives, in a selfless attempt to get the story so that the international community may read about the conflict over morning coffee. On Wednesday, the crack of sniper fire and the hum of battle absorbed the sound of a rocket-propelled grenade fired on a Tripoli Street in Misrata, Libya.

Tripathi Privately Wins Presidency

For a public school, our university is getting awfully private. After a dimly lit presidential search spearheaded by billionaire Jeremy Jacobs, we now have a new president and the same old problems.

Letter to the Editor

Trust is not given. It is earned. Undoubtedly Dr. Tripathi, Chancellor Zimpher, President Emeritus Simpson, SUNY Board of Trustees Chairman Hayden, and the other dignitaries in the room during Monday's Board of Trustees meeting felt uncomfortable at the presence of twelve students who stood in awkward silence, gagged with tape, observing the proceedings.