Good news creates a brighter outlook
Oce Bohra, Copy Editor
October 4, 2018
Filed under Opinion, Social Issues
There were a few months last year during which I stopped reading the news altogether; strange, especially for someone taking Journalism, but I simply couldn’t bother opening up my news app every day to article after article about political controversies, forest fires, global warmings and crime. The ...
Dealing with the deaths of problematic figures
Kavin Kumaravel, Opinions Editor
October 1, 2018
Filed under Opinion, Social Issues
John McCain passed away a few weeks ago at the age of 81. He knowingly caused the deaths of thousands of Middle Eastern people. “But he was human too.” XXX passed away a few months ago at the age of 20. He domestically abused a pregnant woman. “But he was human too.” When public figures ...
Finding validation: bright screens versus black mirrors
Riya Bindlish, Opinions Editor
September 28, 2018
Filed under On-campus Perspectives, Opinion
“Just don’t compare yourself to others and you’ll be fine,” my college-bound friend said. It seemed relatively easy at the time; I didn’t truly understand the importance of that statement until my junior year, aka the one where everyone goes “I'm not going to an Ivy League!” The fi...
Plastic straw bans need to bend
Sheyda Ladjevardi, Assistant Photography Editor
September 27, 2018
With the rise of plastic pollution in the Earth’s atmosphere and water sources, environmentalists are taking steps to ban plastic straws within major cities in the United States. While banning plastic straws may be seen as a miniscule step towards environmental sustainability, the significance of indi...
Destigmatizing DV mental illness
Riya Bindlish, Opinions Editor
May 15, 2018
Filed under On-campus Perspectives, Opinion, Social Issues, Student Life
The hallways look a lot different now — at least to me. I see something that I didn’t see before. It prowls around, consuming us, slowly, and attacking us at our weakest moments. Yes, there’s a creature hidden in the shadows. One that is constantly overlooked, yet omnipresent and deadly: mental...
Ask Amanda: Crushes, college & confusion
Amanda Su, Editor-in-Chief
May 15, 2018
Filed under Ask Amanda, Opinion, Uncategorized
Everyone, Thanks to everyone who submitted questions this issue! Since April is the month right before college decisions, prom and graduation, it’s understandable that everyone is going through their own existential crises. For my second to last advice column this year, I decided to help people...
You’re missing out on the deal
Armaan Rashid, Editor-in-Chief
May 15, 2018
Filed under Opinion, You're Missing Out
Dear Reader, All this talk of a “polarized” and “divided” nation is misleading: if all politics is just a negotiation of sympathies, and it is, we’re only divided because this is the first time we really have to negotiate. Actual, capital-P Policy is just a negotiated sympathy — the...
Why we no longer empathize with the news
Sraavya Sambara, Managing Editor
May 11, 2018
Filed under Opinion, Social Issues
We watch, we purse our lips. And apart from the occasional eyebrow raise and sympathetic look, we don’t move. We scroll past, and the moment is lost in an avalanche of information it is up to us to filter and capriciously decide whether or not to care about. The pattern is a scripted maneuver we have c...
DV’s culture of comparison harms self-worth
Sraavya Sambara, Managing Editor
April 16, 2018
Filed under On-campus Perspectives, Opinion, Social Issues
A thick blanket of low-lying fog envelops students at Dougherty Valley High School. In one breath the fog enters the lungs. From there, its effects are immediate and noxious. The students jolt forward convulsively, and suddenly it’s as if everything, and everyone, is different. A classmate is n...
Viewpoint: School dances breed coercion
Miguel Dickenson, Assistant Opinions and Sports Editor
March 30, 2018
Filed under On-campus Perspectives, Opinion
Prom is just around the corner, and pretty soon prom asks will begin to inundate your Instagram feed. Generally, school dances such as prom allow wishful (and very hormonal), teenagers to go on a “date” with the person of their choosing. And due to established societal norms, it is typically the boys...
Ask Amanda: Socializing, self-worth and serious doubting of Amanda’s qualifications to run this advice column
Amanda Su, Editor-in-Chief
March 30, 2018
Filed under Ask Amanda, Opinion
Everyone, Thank you to everyone who submitted questions this issue! Based on the questions I received, it seems like March has been kind of a rough month for a lot of people. So hang in there everyone! Unfortunately, I was not able to answer all of the questions submitted due to lack of space. If your q...
Considering a ban on semi-automatic guns
Brandon Shi, Vikram Balasubramanian, Kavin Kumaravel, Sraavya Sambara, and Skyler Spears
March 25, 2018
Filed under Opinion, Political Issues, Social Issues
We hoped it wouldn’t happen again, but it did. Since the tragedy that was Sandy Hook, mass shootings have cemented themselves into routine, permeating our news feeds with periodic cycles of mourning and inaction. Most recently, in Parkland, Fla., a gunman killed 17 people in a six-minute rampage a...