The weather is lukewarm, the birds are chirping, and the sun is shining through a sensational pock-marked blue sky. After a brief ten minute walk down Emery, I step into my apartment with the deep reverberated drums of “When the Levee Breaks” by Led Zeppelin booming in my ears. As the front door slowly opens, [...]
I’ve always had a not-so-secret obsession with American-Soviet relations during the Cold War. So, when I heard about FX’s newest TV addition, “The Americans,” I was thrilled. “The Americans” focuses on Elizabeth (Keri Russell) and Phillip Jennings (Matthew Rhys), KGB spies living in America during the 1980s. But even with the amazing promos, I had [...]
Even if the overwhelming majority of KU students don’t plan to visit West Africa anytime soon and typically don’t check their Sahara news feed after pouring a morning bowl of cereal, the ongoing conflict in Mali matters because it reflects the types of military engagement that will likely become prevalent during their adult lives. To [...]
The deadlines for study-abroad programs will be coming up before you know it. And the good stuff in England and Australia is gonna fill up fast. So why not start learning another language? I picked up a nice German phrase book from the 1960s –“Instant German: The Follett Vest-Pocket Conversation Guide” – and I’m pretty [...]
As the spring semester starts, many seniors begin the final drive to graduation. Enrolling in the last classes they’ll ever take as college student, they teem with excitement as May inches closer and closer. The promise of graduation and the beginning of a new life seems more realistic than it ever has before, and there’s [...]
Is gender equity something we can safely assume exists? Or is it something we must vigilantly seek until reached? If you’re the University, the former seems to be the modus operandi. Why? Because despite an underrepresented faculty in terms of gender, the University is silent on gender equity in its mission statement. As the University [...]
Abandon all hope ye who enter here, you may find this column offensive. Just kidding. You probably won’t. Unless you take music too seriously, which seems to happen more often than not. Recently, my friend asked me to listen to her new favorite band. I told her I didn’t like it, and her response was [...]
Attention governments everywhere: Please stop using technology to spy on us. Seriously, get your dirty hands off of my phone. Just back off. I’m OK with the federal government wiretapping—with a warrant—a known criminal to stop a crime spree, but the government’s been pushing things way too far, with technology at least. As my prime [...]
Do you consider yourself an independent individual? Do you take responsibility for your actions? Some people say being a follower will better prepare you for the real world because you are supposed to do what you are told. But I say being a leader is what will make this world a better place. A lot [...]
During his speech in Las Vegas on Jan. 28, President Obama said, “It’s really important for us to remember history. Unless you’re one of the first Americans, a Native American, you came from some place else, somebody brought you.” The point he made came a day after a bipartisan group of senators announced they would [...]
Your college degree will expire. Just like every bit of knowledge we have now, most of what you learn in college will likely not be true someday in your lifetime. Degrees are not a guaranteed ticket to the job market anymore, and the basic structure of modern day higher education does not look like the [...]
Somewhere at Pyongyang University of Foreign Studies in North Korea, a precocious student is questioning whether his late-great leader, Kim Jong-Il, actually scored 11 “hole-in-ones” in his first ever round of golf. What if he wasn’t so great after all, but was actually a manipulative dictator who controlled every word in the newspapers? What if [...]
Now that it’s February the search for next year’s apartment has begun for several students. But if you’re looking for an apartment with your significant other, be careful. For years, research has suggested that premarital cohabitation increases the odds of divorce for couples who want to tie the knot, leading partners searching for different living [...]
I am encouraging a discussion on education, right here, right now. Over winter break, I spent a week in Chicago visiting schools as a member of KU Alternative Breaks Teach For America group. Teach For America sent most of us to charter schools created in response to the lack of confidence and ability of the [...]
In checking the most recent Associated Press top 25 poll, you’ll find Kansas sliding to fifth. Losing to Oklahoma State on your home court is obviously a bad look to the pollsters, especially when it’s the first win the Cowboys have had on the road this season. This weekend’s performance should come as no surprise [...]
Lately I have been dedicating a lot of time to myself. I decided to invest more in my looks. I have been wearing heels, more makeup, changing my hairstyle and I bought new clothes. I have not done that to look prettier; it really was to feel I was moving forward with my life. Nevertheless, [...]
