OPINION
Finding my way out: Final goodbyes from Spectrum editor in chief
By GABRIELA JULIA | May 11, 2017I didn’t think I would make it. I wasn’t supposed to make it.
Opinions
OPINION
Letter to the editor: English TAs express concerns over stipends
May 11, 2017What does it cost to live in Buffalo? This is a question Teaching Assistants in the Department of English here have been asking. There are different measures for what a living wage is in New York. One could turn to the Coalition of Economic Justice’s estimate that a living wage for full-time work is $15 per hour, adding up to a $30,000 annual income, a number that New York governor Andrew Cuomo has also embraced.
OPINION
Letter to the editor: Response to Spectrum’s ‘UB’s Black Faculty: Dwindling and Isolated’ article
May 11, 2017I read the front-page article “UB’s Black Faculty: Dwindling and Isolated,” with great interest, as I am a black faculty member at UB myself. And as a senior administrator charged with ensuring UB’s diversity, I thought the article was fair and balanced. Ironically, it was published the day before the Chronicle of Higher Education released a list of AAU member universities with the greatest diversity among tenure-track hires in the Fall of 2015. UB is listed at #33 of 60 universities, above Harvard, Princeton, Cornell, UC-Berkeley, and Stony Brook University.
OPINION
Life run by medication
By VICTORIA HARTWELL | May 8, 2017Anxiety? Take a pill. Nausea? Take a pill. A pill gets thrown at me for every feeling I have throughout the day. Gabapentin, Venlafaxine, Xanax, Ondansetron. It’s a never-ending cycle of taking pills and waiting for my body to feel “normal.”
OPINION
Letter to the editor: UB alumnus feels defrauded after donating to swimming and diving teams before Athletics' cuts
May 8, 2017I agreed to become a Sponsor Level Donor with the expectation of donating up to $50,000 to the University at Buffalo men’s swim/dive program, because I was led to believe that I was investing in the future of this program, a program which supported kids, like me, who spent much of their childhoods training 3-5hours a day on a pool deck in order to be able to pay for college. As this warming altruistic thought went, a nobler investment could not exist.
OPINION
Watch the throne: LeBron James is coming to dethrone Michael Jordan
By JEREMY TORRES | May 4, 2017If LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers win the NBA finals this year, James will be the greatest NBA player of all time. However, if he loses, he will never be in the same breath as Michael Jordan.
OPINION
Going beyond the cookie cutter
By LINDSAY GILDER | Apr. 30, 2017When I was 10 years old, my great grandmother would tell me “you’re so tall, you could model, if only you were a little thinner.” I spent years of my life staring at models, wanting to look exactly like them. They seemed perfect; with toned bodies that by some miracle looked good in everything they wore.
OPINION
Letter to the editor: UB should stand against hate speech
Apr. 30, 2017As your student government leaders, we do not condone hate speech. Speech is power, and that means that speech gives the power to hurt others. We encourage an atmosphere where everyone feels safe. We call on UB to continue fostering in their community members an understanding of the responsibility of speech, and the ramifications of all forms of violence. When a specific group of people are singled out to be threatened based on a shared characteristic, such as religious affiliation, the power of speech can quickly turn into targeted violence.
OPINION
Letter to the editor: Response to The Spectrum's article, ‘Questionable business practices cast shadow over UB donor’s pharmaceutical legacy’
Apr. 30, 2017As a friend of Dr. John Kapoor’s and as someone who has spent the last 20 years in the field of substance abuse prevention (currently chairing one national organization and another state-based organization dedicated to those issues), I wanted to respond to Sarah Crowley’s April 26 article, “Questionable business practices cast shadow over UB donor’s pharmaceutical legacy.”
OPINION
Well fitted: My love affair with hats
By BENJAMIN BLANCHET | Apr. 27, 2017I was in heaven and sporting my hats in school became a hobby; it seemed as if a new hat every day could boost my confidence. I was a nerd – straight A’s and all – but my hobby displayed me as a chic individual among my peers.
OPINION
The art of thrifting
By BRENTON J. BLANCHET | Apr. 27, 2017I’ve been looked down upon for purchasing used clothing, but it’s such a huge part of what brings my style together.
OPINION
Letter to the editor: Robert Spencer’s appearance on campus will bring about harm to surrounding areas
Apr. 26, 2017Robert Spencer, known bigot and Islamophobe, is coming to UB and the university is allowing his presence on our campus; a campus of diversity, where the Muslim population grows dramatically every year and Muslim students of every nationality leave their own countries to study in America.
OPINION
That girl with the red lipstick
By MADDY FOWLER | Apr. 26, 2017For me, fashion and makeup are more than just a superficial means of expression. They are the tools of my survival. When I was in high school, I never wore makeup, and did not give much thought to fashion. I dismissed makeup and fashion as a superficial waste of time, as something “other girls” wasted their energy on.
OPINION
Letter to the editor: Robert Spencer's views cause concern
Apr. 24, 2017I am writing in response to the article on the speaker Robert Spencer, invited to campus on May 1st. I share the concerns expressed for free expression even by those whose views I might find abhorrent or discriminatory. I am a strong supporter of the First Amendment, and, though I'm not a legal expert, it seems that the university may have little basis for barring the speaker. Also, since Mr. Spencer regularly portrays himself as a righteous victim of thought-policing I am wary of giving him any more ammunition for this position.
OPINION
Letter from the editor: Why The Spectrum reported on a student's suicide attempt
By HANNAH STEIN | Apr. 24, 2017The Spectrum published a front page news article on April 20 about a UB student who attempted suicide from the seventh floor of Goodyear Hall. Several students wrote to us, criticizing the article as “unethical,” “insensitive” and a breach of privacy. One student accused us of publishing the article for “shock value.”
OPINION
It’s time to fix the NHL
By JUSTIN BYSTRAK | Apr. 24, 2017Playoffs are the time of the season where every sport should shine. Then there’s hockey. Instead of moments to reflect and absorb the magic that the postseason brings, a plethora of issues are brought up. Declining viewership, branding issues and new review policies are some of the problems that plague the NHL.
OPINION
More than just a game
By DANIEL PETRUCCELLI | Apr. 20, 2017“Sports matter because they don’t matter at all,” my first sports journalism professor told me.
OPINION
Celebrating vegetarianism
By EMA MAKAS | Apr. 20, 2017The start of this year marked five years since I decided to start living a vegetarian lifestyle. I've always said that it's been one of the best choices that I've ever made. Becoming a vegetarian has given me a sense of accomplishment, a triumph of willpower, a contribution and sacrifice of my owneffort toward a greater good. This major lifestyle change was completely spontaneous.
OPINION
Come out on your own terms
By MADDY FOWLER | Apr. 20, 2017Even if you’ve known that you are LGBTQ since you were five years old, it can take years—decades even—to make sense of your unique identity and how you wish to label (or not label) yourself. I’ve known that I was bisexual since I was at least 11, but I didn’t start sharing this information until I was 18 years old. And even then, I only came out to close friends. I didn’t publicly and formally come out until last fall, when I wrote a column about coming out as bisexual for The Spectrum.
OPINION
Letter to the editor: Carl Paladino’s presence reflects hostile environment for students
Apr. 13, 2017We are writing to denounce the presence of known white supremacist and hate monger, Carl Paladino, on the University at Buffalo campus on Monday, April 3. As a diverse community of students, faculty, and staff, Paladino’s presence as an official speaker is both threatening and disturbing on our campus.
