OPINION
Getting a B.S. in dishwashing
By BRIAN WINDSCHITL | Feb. 3, 2015Spectrum File Photo The following column is a satire piece and should be taken as such.
Opinions
OPINION
"Blame it on the alcohol, Dartmouth says"
Feb. 1, 2015Harumo Sato, The Spectrum As an Ivy League college, Dartmouth has long maintained a reputation for academic excellence and top-tier students.
OPINION
Capen renovations are an exercise in patience
Feb. 1, 2015?Delayed gratification? will have to serve as the motto for students using North Campus libraries this year, as ?Club Capen? shuts down in order to undergo a dramatic remodel. Longer lines and louder study spaces in Lockwood and Silverman libraries may cause some headaches, but the carefully planned and much-needed improvements to the third floor of the Silverman Library will be worth it ? eventually. As part of UB?s Heart of the Campus project, a UB 2020 initiative involving renovations on all three campuses, the Silverman Library is getting a facelift. Up until its closing in December, Club Capen served as a popular 24-hour study space.
OPINION
"Phones down, heads up "
By GABRIELA JULIA | Feb. 1, 2015Spectrum File Photo We?ve all done it: Walked seamlessly down the crowded spine with our eyes glued to our phones.
OPINION
"'Big time,' big money, big problems"
Jan. 29, 2015With barely recognizable opponents like Wheeling Jesuit and Montana State, it?s no surprise students aren?t turning out in droves to watch UB?s basketball team compete ? even though the Bulls have been winning. Because the excitement factor doesn?t seem sufficient, UB Athletics is upping its own game and offering financial incentives to students, but it won?t work. UB is raffling off not only GoPros and Beats headphones, but also ?tuition for the fall 2015 semester? in its latest attempt to lure students to athletic events ? particularly those broadcast by ESPN. It sounds a little like bribery, but even more so, this promotion reeks of desperation. Athletic director Danny White appears determined ? even desperate ? to revamp UB Athletics? image, to make the program a true ?big time? competitor. And to achieve that, UB needs to keep up with fellow Division-I schools like Ohio State and Duke, whose games are regularly broadcast on ESPN and feature shots of stands packed with screaming fans having the time of their lives. Although UB?s basketball team is doing well this season, boasting a 13-6 record, students just aren?t flocking to the games. That?s a problem, and Athletics is right to address it, but there are simpler ? and cheaper ? solutions than a master plan involving free tuition and expensive tech devices.
OPINION
Drastic weather calls for drastic measures - and reduced speeds
By Editorial Board | Jan. 29, 2015Illustration by Lauren Goetzmann
OPINION
Tossing the coffee cups
By GABRIELA JULIA | Jan. 29, 2015Spectrum File Photo Syllabus week is just about over, which means the lines at Tim Hortons and Starbucks will only get longer.
OPINION
Accepting senioritis
By SHARON KAHN | Jan. 29, 2015Spectrum File Photo I think it just goes to show that I?ve now spent the last 10 hours sitting on my couch aimlessly chatting with my roommates, occasionally snacking on something in arm?s reach knowing I had work to do.
OPINION
"Buffalo business is booming, but schools are failing "
By Editorial Board | Jan. 27, 2015At last, Buffalo?s downtown is thriving. Last year?s surge of development downtown brought Canalside to life and now, construction continues to transform Buffalo?s waterfront. From the $172 million HarborCenter, with its hockey rinks and two-story television screens, to the 120-acre medical campus and a 1-million-square-foot solar panel factory, SolarCity, it?s clear that the influence of the Buffalo Billion initiative, as well as moguls like Terry Pegula, is both welcome and unwavering. There?s no denying the many and massive benefits to this sort of development ? new businesses and new jobs are precisely what Buffalo needs to continue on its path of economic recovery. But with downtown development getting the spotlight and garnering praise, it?s all too easy to forget about the problems still plaguing Buffalo. There?s more to this area than the waterfront, and there?s more to the population than millennials flocking to the city, eager to snap up jobs. Ice rinks and sports bars are a lot more fun to discuss than affordable housing and failing schools, but education and poverty are still issues that plague this region, and it?s critical that they don?t get overshadowed. Because even as Buffalo?s RiverWorks Complex revitalizes the abandoned industrial complexes on the harbor, equally dilapidated neighborhoods all over Buffalo go ignored. It?s not a matter of money ? projects like RiverWorks are privately funded ? but rather an issue of attention and priorities. Trendy loft apartments and remodeled spaces are all the rage in Buffalo.
OPINION
Corruption charges a distraction and a disappointment
By Editorial Board | Jan. 27, 2015Illustration by Harumo Sato Even as the threat of prison looms over Sheldon Silver, the speaker of the New York State Assembly refuses to step down. It?s fair to point out Silver is innocent until proven guilty, but that argument doesn?t justify the politician clinging to political power even as his claims of innocence slowly slip from his tenuous grasp. After the FBI arrested Silver last Thursday, he waited until Sunday to even temporarily step back (he refused to fully ?step down?). He maintained his position even as he went to court to be charged with corruption, including counts of conspiracy and bribery for three days. Silver faces up to 100 years in prison for his alleged crimes. The criminal complaint in his case details that the speaker abused his power and collected approximately $4 million in political payoffs over the last decade. Silver claimed the money as income from his employment as a lawyer outside of his government position.
OPINION
A new shift
By AMANDA LOW | Dec. 5, 2014When I was younger, I wanted to be a scientist, a reporter and a basketball player. And even though I am good at free throws, I knew I would always end up choosing one path. But I never thought one childhood desire would lead me to one of the best decisions I made at UB. Before The Spectrum, I was unmotivated and stagnant.
OPINION
A source of pride ' and debt
Dec. 5, 2014When UB announced that Lance Leipold would be UB football?s new head coach, everyone had plenty to say.
OPINION
Katy Perry will always be my 'Teenage Dream' and she deserves to perform at the 2015 Super Bowl halftime show
By KENDALL SPAULDING | Dec. 4, 2014Spectrum File Photo Let?s be honest, if you?re not a football fan the only interesting part of the Super Bowl is the halftime show. We all remember in 2012 when Beyonc
OPINION
"Every new beginning, comes from some other beginning's end"
By Chad Cooper | Dec. 4, 2014A selfie I took at UB's Fall Fest 2014 where I had the opportunity to
OPINION
"Protect and serve ' but first, hit 'record'"
Dec. 4, 2014It?s an ugly truth, but true nonetheless: More needs to be done to protect members of society ? innocent and guilty alike ? from those tasked with protecting us. Though the majority of police officers do their duty in an upstanding manner and deserve nothing but praise for their actions on the job, the recent deaths of individuals like Michael Brown and Eric Garner make it clear that sometimes police officers not only combat violence, but generate it as well. And as the tragic storyline still playing out in Ferguson so painfully demonstrates, when police officers use force, it?s not always clear whether their actions were justified. The jury tasked with determining whether or not officer Darren Wilson, who shot and killed the unarmed Michael Brown, faced a mountain of conflicting evidence. When asked if Brown charged at Wilson or his car, five witnesses said no, six said yes, and others did not see.
OPINION
My evolution through journalism
By OWEN O'BRIEN | Dec. 4, 2014Spectrum File Photo I remember sitting in my first college journalism class. My palms were sweaty and legs were twitching.
OPINION
Hot or Cold: Superbowl Halftime Show Preview
By KAYLA MENES | Dec. 4, 2014Spectrum File Photo Katy Perry first appeared on the music charts in 2008 with her track ?I Kissed a Girl.? You know the song.
OPINION
From one Amherst to another
By SAMAYA ABDUS-SALAAM | Dec. 4, 2014Spectrum File Photo Between 1:30 a.m. and 4 a.m. Thursday morning I sat underneath my heated blanket, stuffing my face with Special K cereal and silently, yet hysterically, crying. If someone told me two years ago I would end up in Buffalo, I would have laughed. But when my mother hugged me goodbye after move-in weekend my freshman year, I almost told her ?take me back with you.? Something didn?t feel right.
OPINION
"'If music be the food of love, play on'"
By EMMA JANICKI | Dec. 4, 2014Spectrum File Photo I?m sure many a card writer at Hallmark has sought to use that quote to capture book nerds and quote junkies at Valentine?s Day and while the following lines, ?Give me the excess of it; that surfeiting, / The appetite may sicken, and so die,? negate the happy tone most people associate with it, the first message certainly has meaning and truth. Music, in any form, any genre, played by anyone, brings people together in a unified celebration of human creation ? EDM lovers rave about their ?family,? rude boys and girls link arms and skank together and teeny boppers will wait in line together for hours to meet a pop star. But music?s part in falling in love, being in love and staying in love is perhaps the most special of all its roles. Sunday morning, as my boyfriend of nearly five years and I got ready for a day of Christmas shopping, I put Tim Armstrong?s solo album ?A Poet?s Life? in my record player.
OPINION
Cash for books: an academic monopoly
Dec. 2, 2014The exorbitant costs of textbooks is one of the most universally reviled aspects of the university experience, but in some classes at UB it?s also ethically questionable and clearly unregulated. As reported in last Monday?s issue of The Spectrum, multiple professors on campus write their own textbooks and include them as required texts for students enrolled in their class.
