Opinions - The Spectrum

OPINION

Letter to the editor: UB’s smoke-free policy

Apr. 13, 2017

In 1994, UB put into place a smoke-free campus policy. This is well before I came to the University, however, in my three years at the school I cannot think of a time that I have seen this policy enforced. I have lived in the dorms, the on-campus apartments, and now off campus, I have had classes on North and South campus, in Ellicott, the spine, and at nearly all of these places, I can point out cigarette butts and the places smokers go to smoke.

OPINION

Moving seven times is the charm

By CATHERINE CAMPBELL | Apr. 10, 2017

My favorite show to watch as a kid was “Recess.” The cartoon was based around a group of kids – Spinelli, T.J., Gus and more – who played together but ended up getting into more trouble than they should have. One character stuck out to me: Gus.

OPINION

UB Spring Fest 2017: A long time in the making

By BENJAMIN BLANCHET | Apr. 10, 2017

As students wait for an official announcement, this year’s Spring Fest has still not been announced as of Sunday night.

OPINION

UB Athletics’ announcement to cut four teams was insensitive, unprofessional

By Editorial Board | Apr. 6, 2017

We are grateful UB Athletics has decided to take a look at how it is spending our student fee money. But we are shocked at the callous way administrators chose to announce $2 million cuts and the disintegration of four UB teams. They lined 120 student athletes up in a room at 8 a.m. Monday and collectively slaughtered their college dreams. Is this UB’s definition of providing an education?

OPINION

Pepsi ad trivializes civil rights protests

By MADDY FOWLER | Apr. 5, 2017

Pepsi’s newest advertisement could not be more off the mark. The new ad features model Kendall Jenner clad in a blonde wig at a photo shoot as a protest hits the streets in the background. It is unclear what this protest is even about; demonstrators carry cheesy signs with messages like “spread love” and “join the conversation,” that don’t indicate what the group is fighting for.

OPINION

My life with a hundred grandparents

By KATIE KOSTELNY | Apr. 4, 2017

When I sat down for an interview with my soon-to-be boss, he told me, “This job is like having a hundred grandparents come at you all at once.” I found out pretty soon that he was right.

OPINION

We want peace, geese

By BRENTON J. BLANCHET | Apr. 4, 2017

There was once a time when I thought the snow was the coldest thing on this campus. It was a simpler time, before I encountered the most diabolical, cold-hearted creatures on planet earth: the geese. When I say “the geese,” I’m not referring to any goose. The UB geese are far from your average birds.

OPINION

Baby, put that phone down

By SARAH CROWLEY | Apr. 2, 2017

I’m proud to be from the “tech generation.” The access to constant information, entertainment, resources... life has never been easier or more complicated. And to think it hasn’t always been this way; a world once existed without Uber, streaming TV or Instagram.

OPINION

Signed, sealed, delivered: Growing up collecting autographs as a hobby

By BRENTON J. BLANCHET | Apr. 2, 2017

It was 2 p.m. on a weekday. My mom picked me up from the front of my elementary school as she usually did.

OPINION

Colin Kaepernick pays the price after using his platform to speak up on social issues

By MICHAEL AKELSON | Mar. 30, 2017

What is the cost of speaking your mind in the NFL? In the case of Colin Kaepernick, the answer is shaping up to be millions of dollars. Four years ago, it was unthinkable to imagine that not a single NFL team would want Kaepernick.

OPINION

Finding my journalistic calling in New York City

By MADDY FOWLER | Mar. 21, 2017

During her speech at the College Media Association convention in New York City this past weekend, Ann Shoket, former editor in chief of Seventeen, emphasized the importance of honoring your childhood dreams and the limitless aspirations that you dream up sitting in your teenage bedroom.

OPINION

Spectrum endorses Peter Pranata as SA treasurer, torn between three presidents and vice presidents

By Editorial Board | Mar. 16, 2017

This is the first year many Spectrum editors have seen a competitive Student Association e-board election.

OPINION

Letter from the editor: The Spectrum’s apology for printing transphobic slur

Mar. 13, 2017

Our paper made an inexcusable mistake on March 9. We printed an insensitive, transphobic slur that rightfully upset many students. I apologize profusely for the error; we made it out of ignorance and quickly corrected it online. But the damage remains in our printed paper.

OPINION

What I need to do

By DAVID TUNIS-GARCIA | Mar. 13, 2017

I gave up a life of guaranteed stability to gamble on what is, to be fair, a bit of a pipe dream. And I’m sure I am not the only one.

OPINION

Balancing act

By SARAH CROWLEY | Mar. 13, 2017

I’m a huge fan of motivational, self-improvement advice. I’ve Googled “how to not be scatter-brained,” I highlight every day, I make lists for fun, save Pinterest articles about improving memory – it’s practically in my LinkedIn bio.

OPINION

Life with fibromyalgia

By MADDY FOWLER | Mar. 13, 2017

On any given day, I experience widespread, chronic pain that ranges from mild to debilitating. I have fibromyalgia: a medical condition characterized by chronic widespread muscle pain, heightened pain response to pressure, extreme fatigue, altered sleep, poor memory and impaired concentration

OPINION

My eating disorder recovery story

By MADDY FOWLER | Mar. 6, 2017

I can remember hating my body as far back as eight years old. I remember reading my mom’s diet books late at night in middle school. By age thirteen, I had tried South Beach, Atkins and Weight Watchers.

OPINION

How my determination led to success

By TORI ROSEMAN | Mar. 5, 2017

For a student, nothing is more frustrating than thinking you’re done with homework, or a project only to figure out you messed up and need to start over. After about a semester of reporting, this is exactly what happened with my article, “Isolated: International Students not Integrated.”

OPINION

Living in a multicultural home

By CATHERINE CAMPBELL | Mar. 1, 2017

Whenever I told my peers that my mom is Dominican and that my dad is Nigerian, I received a mix of responses.

OPINION

Is Melania Trump the modern-day Marie Antoinette?

By MOLLY DIETZ | Feb. 27, 2017

Melania Trump is featured on the cover of February’s Vanity Fair Mexico in diamonds – a must see. The First Lady is wearing diamond rings and bracelets and posed as if she is “eating” a bowl of stringed jewels like spaghetti. Inside the issue, there is another photo of Melania drinking a jewel-laced cocktail through a straw. Her cover photo is being criticized as insensitive and out of touch, coming at a tense time between Mexico and the United States.