Opinions - The Spectrum

OPINION

Unintentional victim blaming reveals more about society than the speaker

Oct. 28, 2014

Sometimes, when political officials claim to have simply misspoken, they?re not just covering their tracks, but just telling the truth. Nonetheless, Police Commissioner Daniel Derenda?s comments about last week?s murder-suicide in Buffalo?s Allentown neighborhood reveal the deeply rooted and problematic nature of societal discourse surrounding domestic violence. When asked about the events surrounding the crime, in which a man killed his wife and then himself, Derenda referenced the couple?s long history of domestic violence.

OPINION

Don't Ask Anne: Fall Break and Geese

By ANNE FORTMAN | Oct. 26, 2014

Spectrum File Photo Editor?s note: This article is a satire piece and should be taken as such. Dear Anne: It?s halfway through the semester and I feel like I?ve hit a wall.

OPINION

Long Island must accept that education is a universal right

Oct. 26, 2014

After managing to illegally cross the border into the United States, undocumented immigrants on Long Island face an equally daunting task: enrolling their children in school. Both legally and ethically, the schools preventing students from signing up for classes on Long Island ? where Suffolk and Nassau Counties rank third and fifth respectively in numbers of arriving unaccompanied minors ? are wholeheartedly and reprehensibly wrong. Legally, public schools in the United States are required to provide an education for non-citizen children of illegal immigrants.

OPINION

"After 15 years of silence, the Ralph makes welcome return to the concert scene"

Oct. 26, 2014

Tweenage fans across Western New York are convulsing with excitement at the prospect of seeing One Direction in Buffalo, and although the news of the popular boy band?s pending arrival at the Ralph Wilson Stadium may not excite too many UB students, the opportunities that this development presents should be cause for celebration. Despite the Ralph?s impressive history ? the venue has been host to performers like Eric Clapton, the Rolling Stones and Michael Jackson over the years ? the stadium hasn?t held a concert since the summer of 2001, when *NSYNC and the Dave Matthews Band came to Buffalo. This long, silent interlude at the Ralph is understandable.

OPINION

Don't judge the Bulls' 20-14 loss to Central Michigan by the score

By OWEN O'BRIEN | Oct. 25, 2014

When the Central Michigan football team was driving down the field with the opportunity to take a three-score lead, I knew this drive would dictate not only this game, but the remaining four of the season. The series could have gone one of two ways.

OPINION

Give 'em a reason

By OWEN O'BRIEN | Oct. 23, 2014

Spectrum File Photo Rule number one in business: The customer is always right. There?s a reason the student section looked more barren in Buffalo?s homecoming game against Miami Ohio than it did against Baylor. More than 7,000 students attended the Bulls? Friday night ESPN game against nationally ranked Baylor Sept.

OPINION

Letter to the editor

Oct. 23, 2014

Dear Editor, We are writing in response to The Spectrum?s editorial ?Texas?s misogyny is an undue burden on us all: State?s attempts to limit abortion are deceptive, backwards and fortunately illegal ? for now? published on Oct.

OPINION

Cheaters never prosper - but at UNC they won championships

Oct. 23, 2014

The equilibrium between academics and athletics has long been dogged by uncertainty for the NCAA and its Division I schools, but at the University of North Carolina, the scales balancing school and sports didn?t just tip ? they fell over, collapsing in a cloud of dust and disarray. UNC, a well-known Division I powerhouse with a reputation for academic excellence, has been plagued by allegations of academic deception, with scandalous revelations about fake classes and inflated grades for student athletes. Now, the details of the widespread deception, which occurred from 1993 to 2011, intentionally designed to help student athletes remain academically eligible at all costs have come to light.

OPINION

"Buffalo's homeless need assistance, not analysis"

Oct. 23, 2014

Don Warfe, a resident of downtown Buffalo worries that the presence of the homeless ?gives tourists a bad impression.? Let?s hope it does. In their recent article and newscast on Buffalo?s ?homeless problem,? WIVB News presents a cynical, coldhearted perspective on the issue of homelessness downtown. Despite publishing a solemn discussion of the poverty levels in Buffalo and the challenges faced by food banks and soup kitchens just under six months ago, WIVB News seems to have forgotten that ?eye-opening? report. In light of the many exciting developments downtown, including the just-opened high rise hotel sure to attract tourists ready to enjoy what Buffalo has to offer, the struggles of the city?s most impoverished residents have become nothing more than an unfortunate distraction to business owners, as WIVB News makes clear. As the fourth poorest city in the United States, with more than a quarter of its residents living in poverty, it?s not surprising that there are many homeless people in the area.

OPINION

"Half alive, half dead"

By SUSHMITA GELDA | Oct. 21, 2014

Spectrum File Photo For me, fall has always been a paradoxical time of the year. It?s a time of transition ? a time to embrace the coexistence and interdependence of life and death and smooth the dichotomy that normally separates them. I love the way the trees? bare branches scratch the sky and there?s nothing more satisfying than the crunch of a maple leaf?s skeleton under my shoes.

OPINION

"'It's the great pumpkin, Charlie Brown'"

By JORDAN OSCAR | Oct. 21, 2014

Spectrum File Photo Every October, my family and I drive out to Medina, New York ? a town about 45 minutes from campus, and an hour from my house. I?ve never actually spent any time in Medina, or in the various shops on its streets.

OPINION

No Halloween in the islands

By KALINA BROWNE | Oct. 21, 2014

Spectrum File Photo As we drove up the hill located on St. Vincent and the Grenadines? capital city, Kingston, the dim glow of the candles on different graves created a beautiful scene in an eerie kind of way.

OPINION

We need protection from guns - and the Cuomo administration

By Editorial Board | Oct. 21, 2014

The Spectrum is consistently supportive of the SAFE Act, and gun control at large. But although keeping guns out of the hands of criminals and unstable individuals is of crucial importance, as is the prevention of gun violence in general, safety cannot come at the expense of civil rights and social equality. Balancing freedom and protection is no easy task, but the scales have been tipped too far with the sweeping, hasty establishment of a database of approximately 34,500 New Yorkers whose mental instability is considered to outweigh their Second Amendment rights. Individuals who are legitimately mentally ill or unstable ? to the point where they?re violent or unpredictable, or a danger to themselves or others ? should not be permitted to carry firearms. That much is ? hopefully ? straightforward and logical even in the perspective of the most avid advocates for gun rights.

OPINION

There goes the neighborhood

By Editorial Board | Oct. 21, 2014

Living next door to uncooperative or unpleasant neighbors may be an unavoidable experience, but residents of Tonawanda are doing all they can to prevent a crematory from reopening in their neighborhood. It?s a legal battle that shouldn?t exist in the first place ? neither Tonawandan residents nor Amigone Funeral Home, the owners of the crematory, deserve much blame here. Instead, it was the Erie County Legislature in 1991 that set this dilemma in motion, when it gave the funeral home permission to build the crematory in the densely populated, residential neighborhood along Sheridan Drive. This original decision was an inexplicable oversight and has left residents of Tonawanda stuck living alongside the ash (and yes, that?s human ash), noise, soot and foul odors produced by the crematory.

OPINION

Learning to feel again

By Jenna Bower | Oct. 20, 2014

Spectrum file photo When I started the semester, I thought that having two part time jobs and being a full time student would be the biggest stressors in my life.

OPINION

Staying in house

By Tom Dinki | Oct. 19, 2014

Spectrum File Photo I snuck into a women?s soccer practice two Saturdays ago. No, I wasn?t there to get a quote from head coach Shawn Burke or catch a secret glimpse of the Bulls.

OPINION

"Right to die should be a given, not a rarity"

Oct. 19, 2014

Five states ? Oregon, Washington, Montana, Vermont and New Mexico ? have what are known as ?death with dignity laws,? which legalize physician-assisted suicide. The practice differs slightly in each state, but essentially, in these five states, patients with a terminal diagnosis who wish to end their own life have the right to do so.

OPINION

No laughs for Lululemon

Oct. 19, 2014

Art by Amber Sliter For a store that sells athletic gear (if see-through yoga pants can be called ?athletic?), Lululemon doesn?t seem to understand much about sports. The company, which regularly works to cater their stores to the local area, installed a mosaic on the floor of their store in Walden Galleria, which referenced two historical embarrassments for Buffalo?s sports teams. The mosaic, which was installed in July but went viral on social media this past week, spells out ?Wide Right? and ?No Goal,? referencing the Bills? missed field goal in the 1991 Super Bowl and the Sabres? loss in the 1999 Stanley Cup Final. Lululemon?s intentions appear wholesome ? trying to customize their stores to the area and show off their knowledge of the local history is a nice touch ? but somewhere along the way the company?s plan went awry and they ended up insulting an entire city. Maybe Buffalo sports fans are a little more sensitive than the average football fanatic.

OPINION

Learning to feel again

By Jenna Bower | Oct. 16, 2014

When I started the semester, I thought that having two part time jobs and being a full time student would be the biggest stressors in my life.

OPINION

Texas's misogyny is an undue burden on us all

Oct. 16, 2014

It?s unclear whether Texas or the Supreme Court has less respect for women, but either way, the state?s attempt to bypass the latter and restrict the rights of woman have been mercifully unsuccessful. Tuesday night, the Supreme Court temporarily blocked a Texas law that would have significantly cut down the number of open abortion clinics in the state. The ruling suspends the Oct.