Editor’s Note: The following column has detailed descriptions of sexual assault. I was 17-years-old the first time I felt that my body was not my own.
I’ll throw Eminem in the conversation of top 5 of all time and, no pun intended, I’m not afraid to say that. From quirky personas to upper echelon word-play, the rapper can easily box with some of the best in the field. But as a rap fan who primarily got into the genre in the late ‘00s, I, unfortunately, had to mill through the tail end of his career. Albums like “Recovery” and “The Marshall Mathers LP 2” -- with the exception of few & choice songs -- are dumpster fires.
“Slime Rancher,” a video game about ranching slimes on an alien planet, deceptively contains one of the loveliest and loneliest narratives in pop culture, as well as one of the most relatable for a generation built on new means of communication. Throughout the game, the character, Beatrix LeBeau, learns more and more about the special someone left on Earth, all while reading through a parallel love story of the man that once lived on the ranch.
UB used to have several newspaper stands throughout campus that offered students copies of The New York Times, USA Today with a quick swipe of their student ID. This semester, students returned to campus to find these stands gone. Several students including us Spectrum editors looked forward to reading these newspapers in between classes and studying.
General Manager of the Dallas Cowboys Jerry Jones spent this past Monday making himself the biggest joke in the NFL. From atop his throne in “Jerry World,” he decreed all Dallas Cowboys players who refused to stand for the anthem will sit for the game. Really?
I’m scared that I’m losing my teeth. I don’t mean that in a dream logic, “losing teeth means you’re having money problems” or whatever else. Even though I take good care of my teeth – brushing two to three times a day, using mouthwash, flossing most nights – I go about my day concerned that a cavity has started to form in my formerly pristine pearly whites. I have a sneaking suspicion that my still-present wisdom teeth have begun to stray off their God-given course, slowly but surely rendering my grill jacked up.
I was afraid to come out publicly because I was afraid people would make negative assumptions about me based on stereotypes about bisexuality. But then I realized that the only way to combat those stereotypes is to speak out against them. I realized I had the power to own the narrative about my sexuality and define my identity for myself. And in doing so, I could help change the negative misconceptions about being bi.
Dear anyone who wasn’t at UB Stadium Saturday, it sucks to be you. You missed one hell of a football game. The kind of football game you tell your kids about. The kind of football game where every other play a record is being broken. The kind of football game that makes the entire country tune into a mid-major conference game. The most exciting football game I have ever seen.
While Christopher Columbus has been a celebrated figure throughout American history, he is no hero. Columbus is responsible for the brutal deaths of hundreds of thousands of indigenous people.
Well, the football team (3-2, 1-0 MAC ) proved me wrong. I wrote a few weeks ago about how I felt there was nothing to be excited for this season and how I expected another losing record for the program.
In August 2014, I was hanging out at my friend’s house. It was an average overnight visit. My friends and I created some pretty memorable Vines; the type that would only be funny to overtired teens singing selections from Disney films. But the rest of the visit became memorable for all the wrong reasons and lasted way longer than six seconds. I checked my Twitter notifications and saw something alarming. A Twitter user with the handle @zacf*ckoff quickly followed and unfollowed me on the app. This user was using a photo of me as their avatar and essentially posing as me.
In a Sept. 26 story, “Students, faculty hold rally demanding fair graduate stipends,” The Spectrum reported that over a hundred members of the UB community marched to Capen Hall to demand that UB pay its RAs and TAs a living stipend.
At the beginning of the semester, UB Transportation Services announced that it was eliminating the weekend “drunk bus” in an effort to deter disruptive partying in University Heights. The decision was made without student input and students were angry and concerned.
It has been hard to stay in touch with family and friends as a senior. Nonetheless, like most college students, I always attempt to call home during my off-times. This past summer, in one of my many phone calls with my mother, she reminded me of a dreaded moment during fourth grade. The moment is probably nothing for most people but for myself – a self-conscious young man with an obtuse mind – it hurt. My fourth grade teacher called me out for what he liked to call “popping.” The only definition of “popping” I recognized growing up was if something looked fresh.
Suggesting there is a direct correlation between attitudes about bodies and eating disorders indicates a gross misunderstanding of how eating disorders work.
“SpongeBob SquarePants,” a show that many college-age students could quote in everyday conversation, first introduced an entire generation to societal and economic critiques through a typically leftist perspective. High-level topics, especially by children’s show standards, exposed young viewers to gender theory, socialism, the prison-industrial complex, xenophobia and environmentalism, often through capitalism-critical lenses.
The average cost of living for a student living on-campus is over $18,000 and over $21,000 for students who live off-campus. But the average TA stipend is only $13,190, according to the Graduate Student Employees Union. The UB Living Stipend Movement is circulating a petition requesting a $21,310 minimum TA stipend. This is more than reasonable, especially when considering the financial strength and means of the university.
Day drinking on your couch, neglecting all school responsibilities, grilling out and eating your weight in chicken wing dip – there's nothing better than NFL Sunday. Most people don’t think about their health when they’re five beers and two hot dogs deep, but being conscious of what you’re eating and drinking on football Sundays is important.
I’ve always had trouble sleeping through the night. One night in early August I woke with a start at 1 a.m. That’s when I saw it. Illuminated by my bedside lamp that I forgot to turn off, a little reddish-brown oval-shaped insect scurried across my pillow.
As university president, I share in your sheer disappointment and deep anger over the crimes committed by two now-former UB employees. It is only natural that we, as a campus community, would feel a collective sense of betrayal upon learning that two of our own longtime employees abused their trusted role as public servants by stealing university funds for their own selfish purposes. Their actions demonstrated a brazen disregard for our university, our students, our faculty, our employees and the many communities we serve.
Solutions by The State News
