OPINION
Mary J. Blige reinvents herself with 'The London Sessions'
By KAYLA MENES | Dec. 2, 2014Courtesy of Capitol Records Album: The London Sessions
Opinions
OPINION
"Radical study says Buffalo winters are 'perfect,' not the 'embodiment of death'"
By BRIAN WINDSCHITL | Nov. 23, 2014Matt Folaron, an undecided freshman, and Jocelyn Alvarado, a freshman pharmaceutical major, (above) share an intimate moment, keeping each other warm.
OPINION
My Call of Duty conundrum
By JORDAN OSCAR | Nov. 23, 2014Damnit, 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.
OPINION
"Bitter cold, and a bitter truth: UB handles school cancelations poorly"
Nov. 23, 2014As snow blanketed Buffalo in one of the most dramatic demonstrations of the power of the lake effect, the city and its surrounding suburbs came to grinding halt. The government shut down, fire trucks and snowplows became stranded and grocery stores ran out of food.
OPINION
Don't Ask Anne
By ANNE FORTMAN | Nov. 23, 2014Spectrum File Photo Editor?s note: The following is satire and should be taken as such.
OPINION
Raise your hand if you've ever felt personally victimized by Snowvember
By SARA DINATALE | Nov. 23, 2014Spectrum File Photo Over the past few days, I?ve grown accustomed to hearing my dad?s footsteps on my roof. I got used to having my ears attuned, listening for his distinct whistle, a piercing noise we agreed would signal an emergency.
OPINION
Buffalo matters more than the Bills
Nov. 23, 2014As 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.
OPINION
Buffalo's canceled football game was long overdue
By OWEN O'BRIEN | Nov. 20, 2014Can we take a minute to step back and look at the big picture? Yes, the Buffalo football team?s matchup against Kent State was canceled.
OPINION
"Azealia Banks is late to the party, but debuts on her own terms"
By KAYLA MENES | Nov. 18, 2014Azealia Banks
OPINION
"Azealia Banks is late to the party, but debuts on her own terms"
By KAYLA MENES | Nov. 18, 2014Azealia Banks
OPINION
A black day for workers
By EMMA JANICKI | Nov. 18, 2014Spectrum 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.
OPINION
Thanksgiving is for food and family ' not shopping
By Editorial Board | Nov. 18, 2014Art 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.
OPINION
"Evaluations are improved, response rate? ' that's up to the students"
By Editorial Board | Nov. 18, 2014The 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.
OPINION
The red cup countdown
By SHARON KAHN | Nov. 18, 2014Spectrum File Photo There?s nothing that better signifies the beginning of the holiday season than a red cup. No, I?m not talking about red solo cups ? I?m talking about Starbucks? holiday cups.
OPINION
Hip-Hop isn't dead; it's just evolving
By JAMES BATTLE | Nov. 16, 2014Spectrum File Photo There isn?t a genre of music I love more than hip-hop. It?s the reason I chose to write for the Arts Desk at The Spectrum and it makes up most of what my cohost, Cletus Emokpae, and I discuss on our WRUB radio show ?In the Booth.? It?s almost always blasting through my headphones and I can discuss it with my friends and peers for hours.
OPINION
All that glitters isn't gold
By JAMES BATTLE | Nov. 16, 2014Migos? lack of their signature style that has made them so successful is among the many disappointments in their newest mixtape. Album: Rich Ni**a Timeline Artist: Migos Label: Atlantic Records Release Date: Nov.
OPINION
Shmacked is wack
By TORI ROSEMAN | Nov. 16, 2014Spectrum File Photo Thursday, I spent $40 to get into a frat party. I stepped into the poorly lit room donning an ?X? on both my hands, ready to dance the night away.
OPINION
An illegal fraternity and a life cut short
By Editorial Board | Nov. 16, 2014Nolan Burch, a Canisius High School graduate who turned 18 earlier this month, was a ?sweet, wonderful kid,? who was well liked and popular among his classmates. Although that?s how Burch?s family and friends will remember him, it?s not how Burch will be memorialized in the media and the public eye. Because Burch, who died after drinking large quantities of liquor at a West Virginia University frat party, is the newest face of an extremely troubling trend that has cost too many young lives ? so many that Burch is not the first, but only the latest college student to represent the dangers of extreme drinking on college campuses. According to individuals present at the party where Burch fell unconscious and collapsed, the teenager was challenged to consume excessive amounts of alcohol, to the point that when police and EMTs arrived to the fraternity, he was unresponsive, had no pulse and died 36 hours later. Burch?s death serves as reminder of the dangers that can accompany extreme underage drinking ? especially for new college students, recently arrived to campus and unfamiliar to the party scene, but eager to change that. Drinking and partying is undeniably an aspect of many college students? lives.
OPINION
A first step ' but only that
Nov. 16, 2014Art by Amber Silter As attitudes toward marijuana continue to ease toward acceptance nationwide, New York City is jumping on the bandwagon ? or least, looking in its direction. Though the substance remains illegal statewide, low-level possession of marijuana will no longer result in an arrest but rather a ticket. This change would prove crucial in preventing individuals from seeing their lives needlessly upended as a result of an excessive arrest ? individuals like Anthony Welfare, who as The New York Times reported, lost his job after a police officer saw a pipe with a residue of marijuana, in a car in which Welfare was a passenger. Welfare lost his job as a result ? even now, several months later with the charge dismissed and his record now clean, he hasn?t been hired back. Such stories are too common, and too frustrating to be ignored. And fortunately, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has directed his attention at the issue. With the announcement of the new, more lenient policy toward marijuana possession, it?s clear that de Blasio and his administration have accepted that not all drug-related crimes merit an arrest ? especially when in some states, like Washington and Colorado, where said ?crimes? are now legal. It?s an important development that helps shift the priorities of law enforcement toward more pressing matters, and is a critical change in helping to equalize the treatment of minorities in the city.
OPINION
Hurley era truly begins
By Tom Dinki | Nov. 13, 2014Spectrum File Photo Let?s face it: Last season was the men?s basketball team?s best shot for the foreseeable future to win a Mid-American Conference Championship. The Bulls had all-time leading scorer Javon McCrea.
