Opinions

---

The Power Of My Community

I don't bleed red and blue, but I have a personal attachment to the Buffalo Bills. It reminds me of Sunday afternoons spent with my dad and imagining my mother in all of her glory in a Jills uniform in the 1980s. I barely even follow the Buffalo Sabres, but I did jump on the bandwagon when I tried to be a tomboy during their stint in the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 1999 and then again in 2007. Regardless, I am a Buffalonian. Technically, I grew up in Black Rock, but by my fifth birthday, I was living in a do-it-yourself home that my dad found just a few blocks from the Elmwood Village. Growing up, I witnessed the power of a community. In 2004, my dad forbade me from eating at Pano's Restaurant when its owner announced plans to tear down the Atwater House to expand the old diner and its parking lot. Pano's may now be two stories, but at least the protests of community members stopped similar plans to knock down homes to make room for a hotel at Elmwood Avenue and Forest Avenue, showing the power of a united neighborhood. Those who inhabit Elmwood Village make it a home, a community, and unlike any other area of Buffalo.

Buffa-Low

Remember that joke from almost all the episodes in the Charlie Brown cartoon? Lucy holds a football for Charlie to kick but pulls it away before he boots it, causing the clumsy kicker to fall on his back time and time again. That segment pretty much sums up Buffalo sports. For the past four years, I have heard Buffalonians become excited and hopeful for the Sabres and Bills, and every time they head into the offseason shaking their heads and wondering what happened. That led me to wonder: how could someone be a fan of Buffalo Bills? A friend tried to explain it to me.

Three Billion to Israel Looks Better on Paper

After having exchanged choice words with President Obama last week over the decision to freeze the construction of Israeli settlements in disputed territory, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised to persuade his cabinet to cease construction for a 90-day period. The Obama administration has offered the Israeli government a $3 billion incentives package that is contingent on a permanent territory treaty and ceasefire with Palestinians.

"British Student Protests are Legitimate Causes, Not Cheap Complaints"

University students clashed with riot police Wednesday when Conservative Party offices in the British Parliament announced that Her Majesty's government would cut state spending on education and consequently raise college tuition, in some cases, by threefold. Until the 1990s, a college education in Britain was essentially free of charge.

Registering for the Rest of Us

If only I had tried a little harder in high school, then I'd be able to take the classes I wanted. That was the thought that ran through my head this week as I went through another round of class registration.

Anti-smoking Pictures on Packs are a Good Idea

Last year, a law enabled the United States Food and Drug Administration to regulate cigarettes and other tobacco products.

American Prostitution Will Probably Remain Illegal

Prostitution, one of the oldest professions, is a practice that varies in legality from country to country and varies in morality in respective cultures.

The Bush is Back

Ever since Barack Obama became president, I've tried to think about George W. Bush as little as possible. After all, no one wants to think about bad memories.

Getting The Job Done

I'm sick of hearing people bust on Reggie Witherspoon. And before you say it, I'm not a homer and I'm not writing this because I go to UB or anything like that.

Head injuries in football gain attention

Since Austin Collie's most recent hospital run from the field and the countless annual injuries owing to the brutal game that is football, many Americans have reassessed their attitudes toward how the game should be played and how athletes and policymakers can help to prevent serious injuries in professional football. Innovations in football helmet design manifest each year with equal enthusiasm and promise for reducing cranial injuries, yet players in professional and scholastic football are still carried off the turf in greater numbers each year. Other long-term effects from head injuries are of major concern for the sport, as medical investigations into Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (C.T.E.) continue without conclusive ends.

Culture of Competition

"Two-thirds of you will either fail this class or drop out of school." For college freshmen, these words are undoubtedly startling and troubling.

Calling TT&T

Calling TT&T Trash Talk and Twitter, One Must Go ANDREW WIKTOR Editor in Chief I have a mental list of things I plan to do before I die. Tweeting is definitely not one of them, but somewhere close to the top is sitting courtside at an NBA game. I don't care to see what a tomahawk dunk looks like from 25 feet away, and I'm not at all interested in being on TV.

"Voting is Over, Now We Can Talk About Something Else"

Homosexual Hate Mongering in Africa Hits Close to Home

Children's book award progressively recognizes the presence of homosexuality

The American Library Association plans to add an award to its prizes, which already include the John Newbery medal and the Randolph Caldecott medal.

Politics as Usual

"Frisco kids, without happy meal toys, are encouraged to eat healthier"

San Francisco's Board of Supervisors passed a ban on toys that fast-food restaurants give out with their kid's meals.

Has sanity been restored?

I was one of the people lucky enough to attend Jon Stewart's and Stephen Colbert's Rally To Restore Sanity And/Or Fear on Saturday.

Zach Galifianakis blows smoke in the face of ignorance

Not many will be surprised to hear that actor/comedian Zach Galifianakis recently guest starred on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher.

Police delay supplements Buffalo Police scrutiny

It is becoming an exhausting conversation: the topic of whether or not the Buffalo Police Department can handle its job.