Vindhya Burugupalli

‘We’re a secular country and we’re all equally a part of it’
Salaah Khan says she feels sick and helpless watching the news about her home country, India. She says she is horrified by the lynch mobs, the burning neighborhoods and the religious intolerance that has spread across the country in recent weeks. In the country’s capital of Delhi, at least 53 people, mostly Muslim, were killed and 200 were injured during street riots initiated by Hindu nationalist mobs. 

Stop asking women to take precautions
We’re told to carry pepper spray, to check the child lock while getting into Ubers and not to leave our drinks unattended at parties.  I’m extra cautious while traveling alone. I look back twice while walking down empty streets in the dark. 

Leading an eco-friendly life
Conversations and global movements surrounding climate change in the last few years have taken off.  Greta Thunberg, even at 16 years old, has taken the climate change movement by storm.

Behind-the-scenes with John Fiege: DMS professor and filmmaker advocates for the environment
John Fiege has been pepper sprayed by police and has watched environmental activists chain themselves to the bottom of a truck.  But Fiege isn’t an activist.  He’s an award-winning filmmaker. 

RuPaul’s drag queens ‘save the galaxy’
Sophia Scime didn’t want a new car for her sweet 16. She wanted tickets to RuPaul’s “Werq the World Tour.”  The Buffalo high schooler’s birthday got a little more fierce when she was invited on stage by hostess Asia O’Hara to take part in a game during the show. Even though Scime didn’t win the contest, she left the stage smiling, knowing it was a birthday gift she would never forget.

Buffalo’s best cafes to hang out, do work
Getting out of the house –– and your sweatpants –– can do wonders for productivity. While Capen and Lockwood can get boring, and so can hanging out in your dorm, or anywhere on campus, Buffalo has some great spots to relax on a study break.  We’ve compiled some of Buffalo’s best cafes (in no particular order) you can go to for studying, meetings or just hanging out with your friends. 

Buffalo’s best thrift shops
There’s two types of thrift shopping. There’s “vintage” shopping, which essentially consists of going to high-end antique stores, spending Depop money on a worn-out denim jacket and running home to share your “gnarly experience” with your friends who aren’t cool or trendy enough to ever understand.

Glimmers of light in lackluster Buffalo
I moved to Buffalo in January from tropical paradise in Singapore.  Of course I was in for a rude awakening, what else could I have expected? I knew Buffalo was not going to be as big, advanced or as happening as Singapore or even my hometown of Hyderabad, India but I didn’t think it would be this boring and slow. 

Say ‘More w--re:’ A celebration of feminine expression
The crowd chanted “more w--re” and dropped dollar bills as Keke Valasquez-Lord entertained the audience to “Last Dance” by Donna Summer.  Club Marcella held “Curtain Up’s a Drag” in collaboration with Shea’s Performing Arts Center at the Smith Theatre Friday night. The 237-seat Black Box Theater was nearly full –– surprisingly with an older audience. It featured individual performances from Sasha Storm, Cece Vergara, Chyna Dior, Nicky Monroe, Valasquez-Lord, Winter Storm, Bebe Bvlgari and Armani, along with a group act at the end. Reigning Miss Gay Buffalo Icon Valasquez-Lord –– an entertainer in the Buffalo drag community for the past 13 years –– hosted the show. 

No car, no problem
Are you tired of the same old food on campus and itching to expand your taste buds? Many students don’t own a car, and it becomes a hassle to access places off campus that aren’t in walking distance.  But there are a few great options off campus students can access without a car by using the UB Stampede –– a service most students pay for –– to get to restaurants around North Campus and on Main Street. 

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