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Thursday, May 14, 2026
The independent student publication of The University at Buffalo, since 1950

Opinions

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OPINION

From one Amherst to another

By SAMAYA ABDUS-SALAAM | Dec. 4, 2014

Spectrum 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.

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OPINION

"'If music be the food of love, play on'"

By EMMA JANICKI | Dec. 4, 2014

Spectrum 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.

The Spectrum
OPINION

Cash for books: an academic monopoly

Dec. 2, 2014

The 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.

Art by Amber Sliter
OPINION

"High risk, high reward: UB football's new head coach Leipold shows promise"

Dec. 2, 2014

Art by Amber Sliter UB?s new head football coach won?t be leaving his current team behind quite yet ? Lance Leipold?s Wisconsin-Whitewater Warhawks are on a 27-game winning streak in the midst of Division-III playoffs. ?Division-III? might raise some eyebrows ? UB is a Division-I school and staunchly proud of it ? but Leipold isn?t just any D-III coach. He was the fastest college football coach to reach 100 wins at any level, and in his eight seasons in Wisconsin coached his team to an impressive 106-6 record. Considering UB would be thrilled with just breaking .500 ? much less earning the 12-0 record held by Leipold?s Warhawks this year ? this is an exciting hire. It?s undoubtedly a bold move by Athletic Director Danny White, and one that strays from his tendency to bring in big-name coaches like basketball coach Bobby Hurley.

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OPINION

White goes a different direction for next football coach

By OWEN O'BRIEN | Dec. 2, 2014

Spectrum File Photo At 6 p.m. Sunday, I received one of the worst messages you want to get while in standstill traffic on Route 17 heading back to UB from Long Island ? Athletic Director Danny White is set to announce its 25th head football coach Monday at 1 p.m. I immediately went to my phone, unable to get any official word on who the coach may be except that he was ?successful? with ?head coaching experience.? But as reports starting coming out, little by little (as I helplessly refreshed Twitter, conducted Google searches and tried my best to get information from only a smart phone in very spotty coverage) and the rumor was Lance Leipold, a D-III football coach, my first thought was: How far has this program fallen in less than two years? Yes, Buffalo isn?t a hotspot for football.

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OPINION

"New year, new mindset"

By GABRIELA JULIA | Dec. 2, 2014

Spectrum File Photo I downloaded the Yik Yak app on my phone in October. At first, I thought it was entertaining and a good way to waste time before class started.

OPINION

My Call of Duty conundrum

By JORDAN OSCAR | Nov. 23, 2014

Damnit, I bought Call of Duty again. I said I wouldn?t. I said the same thing last year, the year before that and the year before that. Luckily, I bought was a used copy that I could return to GameStop within seven days, not a new copy I would trade in for half its initial value, or less, after I got bored in a few months. Each year I say the same eight words: ?I?m not going to get Call of Duty.? And every year, I go back on my word. I?ve been saying that since Modern Warfare 2, a game that solidified the series? stagnancy for me. Stagnancy is a game franchise?s worst enemy.

The Spectrum
OPINION

Buffalo matters more than the Bills

Nov. 23, 2014

As dozens of people sat stranded, trapped and freezing in their cars all over Buffalo, buried under masses of snow and contemplating their odds of survival, the Buffalo Bills cried out for help. Still in the midst of the storm Bills officials reached out across Twitter and the media to plea for help from Buffalo?s residents. The stadium, filled with about 220,000 tons of snow, needed to be dug out. Because even as the National Guard rolled into Buffalo, even as residents sat trapped in their homes and their cars, as roofs collapsed and food ran out ? the Bills worried about their 1 o?clock game. More problematically, they expected Buffalo to care, too. It?s understandable the Doug Marrone and company would look past the storm and focus on football.

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OPINION

A black day for workers

By EMMA JANICKI | Nov. 18, 2014

Spectrum File Photo The only time I went Black Friday shopping without having to work at a retail job, I was in the Pocono Mountains in northeastern Pennsylvania with my mom.

Art by Amber Sliter
OPINION

Thanksgiving is for food and family ' not shopping

By Editorial Board | Nov. 18, 2014

Art by Amber Sliter While families carve up their turkey and break out the stuffing at Thanksgiving dinner, haggard employees will be opening their shop doors ? all because retailers don?t know when enough is enough. In recent years, the biggest shopping day of the year has slowly begun to test the bounds of ?Friday,? with shops opening earlier and some companies, like Walmart turning the day into a five-day period called ?the New Black Friday.? This is the beginning of a dangerous trend, as a day that traditionally serves as both a celebration of holiday shopping and a warning about the overpowering influence of consumerism extends its grasp. It?s a trend that benefits nobody ? no individual, that is.

The Spectrum
OPINION

"Evaluations are improved, response rate? ' that's up to the students"

By Editorial Board | Nov. 18, 2014

The now-defunct course evaluation system cost UB over $50,000 ? money that did little to encourage students to fill out the surveys, and failed to provide a university-wide method for course feedback. Now, with a new assessment program in place, UB is still shelling out $49,754, but for a system that shows much more promise. In contrast to the earlier system, which included six separate evaluations for different schools and programs, the new and improved evaluations are uniform, and will be used university-wide. Even more importantly, the upgraded evaluations can now be tailored to each course, allowing professors to get more specific feedback. That this change was not implemented earlier is surprising. UB offers a vast array of courses, which range enormously in terms of subject matter and teaching style.

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