Opinion | Politicization of everything bears a cost
By Matthew Krauter, Columnist
July 3, 2020
This year I was enamored by artist James Gurney’s landscape paintings on the internet and decided to pick up a brush myself. Limited in settings by the pandemic, I settled on painting the roundabout in front of my home from my porch. Once finished, I shared my work with my neighbor, a sweet elderly ...
Opinion | Juneteenth represents continued struggle for Black freedom
By Dennis Austin, Columnist
June 19, 2020
Being Black in America almost renders one to near insanity. We see their faces, we hear their pain. George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Trayvon Martin, Philando Castile, Eric Garner, Laquan McDonald, Alton Sterling and so many more. One hundred fifty-five years to the day that slaves in Texas were freed, Black peop...
Opinion | Protest momentum must become political participation
By Nick Johnson, Columnist
June 16, 2020
“He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.” Despite protests being the expected response to racially motivated police killings, this Martin Luther King Jr. quote is resona...
Opinion | Protest opposition forgets American tradition of violence | Part II
By Dennis Austin, Columnist
June 15, 2020
In any context, riots are merely a symptom of an illness inflicted onto a nation by those in authority. During the early 1990s, as many Eastern European countries transitioned from communism, Romania violently overthrew its government. Nicholas Ceausescu and his wife were put on trial for one hour accused...
Opinion | MasterClass brings joy to online learning
By Noah Nelson, Senior Columnist
June 11, 2020
Over the past several months, students across the country have switched from in-class to online learning due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. With classes on either Zoom or Skype, many college students, especially those here at the University, have struggled to acclimate to these new learning condition...
Opinion | Pritzker’s defense of religion is superior to SCOTUS
By Matthew Krauter, Columnist
June 8, 2020
As states curb the spread of COVID-19, some have begun phased reopenings with consideration of risks to public health. Governor J.B. Pritzker felt pressure through the Supreme Court to loosen COVID-19 restrictions on places of worship as Illinois enters Phase 3 of the reopening plan. As California similarly tran...
Opinion | Protest opposition forgets American tradition of violence | Part 1
By Dennis Austin, Columnist
June 4, 2020
Minneapolis has captured the world’s attention, putting the coronavirus on a temporary backburner. Over the past few days, the country has seen outbreaks of violent rioting from citizens angry over the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin. Across the country, busines...
Opinion | Inaction is complicity in police brutality
By Abril Salinas, Columnist
June 2, 2020
The unwarranted, excessive and oftentimes illegal use of force against civilians by American police officers is unfortunately commonplace. Currently, we’re indoctrinated with racism by a system that serves to protect the white people of this country. The weaponization of whiteness and the sorti...
Opinion | Validate your negative emotions
By Ellen Barczak, Senior Columnist
May 15, 2020
Sometimes, everything sucks. And sometimes, it’s OK to let yourself be sad. Our lives have changed completely in the past two months, even if many of the changes are only temporary. Though everyone’s lives are disrupted, as college students, this pandemic is interrupting a period in our liv...
Opinion | American democracy unwittingly harbors oligarchic traits
By Alice Lee, Senior Columnist
May 13, 2020
Lauded as the home of the free and the land of the brave, the dignity of America’s democracy rests upon the assurances of liberty and autonomy. A fundamental feature which ensures the preservation of democratic ideals is the mobilization of power by the masses. The prevailing sentiment is that the America...
Opinion | Self-deceptive rationalization dominates contemporary politics
By Matthew Krauter, Columnist
May 12, 2020
Too often over the last few years, many have asked me the same question: “Are you pro-Trump or against him?” The forthright question serves as a litmus test to pigeonhole you into a partisan dichotomy. But on a larger scale, it tacitly implies you must either defend the President absolutely or ...
Opinion | Print newspapers deserve a resurgence
By Noah Nelson, Senior Columnist
May 11, 2020
In a world where the likes of streaming services, online retailers and social media compete in sucking each of us into their rabbit hole of wasted time, we tend to forget one of the driving forces of society: the news. A good amount of people receive their news via social media or on television. That...
