Category: Opinions

Slut Shaming and How it Wrecked my Self-Esteem

When I was fourteen, the only friend I had made in high school told me (over a phone call conversation) that she could no longer be my friend because she did not want to be associated with a slut. She did not like the rumors that classmates and members of neighboring high schools had to say about me, and did not want her reputation to be affected. This event, along with a plethora of teenage stresses, led to a downward spiral of self-loathing that eventually resulted in me having a skewed perception of sexuality and what it meant to be a woman.

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Pete Buttigieg is a Psychopath

On February 3, America looked on in horror as the dumpster fire known as “The 2020 Iowa Caucus” burned itself into the annals of American history. It was undoubtedly one of the sketchiest elections in US history. From delays in reporting the results to inconsistencies in voting tallies, the Iowa Caucus was a disaster in almost every way possible.

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Dem Debate, Primaries, and Voting

Voting is super cool! At the risk of sounding like an out-of-touch politician, voting systems are intensely important. As much as I wish there was more attention on voting systems, it’s far from most Americans’ priorities. However, the debacle that was the Iowa Caucuses has given me slight hope that such a terrible system might change.

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Toothpick Towers

Having lived near New York City for the entire 20 years of my life, I have watched the skyline change as new, unique skyscrapers are constructed, adding new characteristics to the already unique jagged skyline. Some of them are absolutely beautiful. For example, I believe One World Trade Center is an awe-inspiring sight, and the Bank of America Tower, being the first V4 Platinum LEED-certified building in the nation, is truly a marvel of modern engineering.

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Ok, Bloomer

My dear American friends, I must beg that you do not nominate Michael Bloomberg for the Democratic Party candidate for 2020. I know that the prospect of having a self-made businessman that deals with problems efficiently and without care for naive populism is attractive for many of you, but I can assure you that a Bloomberg presidency will bring you nothing but pain. I dare not repeat the common talking points regarding stop-and-frisk, Bloomberg’s senseless ad campaign, and charges of extreme sexism within his company. These are surface-level manifestations of Bloomberg’s sociopath at best.

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Hughes Hall Is Heaven but We Need New Gates

If you think of the coolest buildings on campus, Hughes Hall, the home of the Gabelli School of Business, is likely one of the first to come to mind. Even non-business students feel this way. [Name redacted], a liberal artist, says, “I’ve never been inside it but honestly when I walk by I think, ‘that’s so cool.’” It’s white and well-lit steps, dark stones, aluminum handrails, terrazzo floor, Hilton Garden Inn furniture, wood accents and futuristic trading room are a level above the rest. And let’s not forget those gorgeous sliding doors. Ooooh Aaaaah… they open, they close, they make a sexy swoosh noise…. Oh those sliding doors, they’re so cool, they’re too cool, in fact, they are cold, extremely cold.

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“The Hunger Games” Prequel Will Not Be Bad, I Promise

I’m not exaggerating when I say this—the acclaimed “Hunger Games” trilogy, despite being about the oppressive nature of a tyrannical government and kids killing each other in a sadistic televised tournament—absolutely defined my middle school years. When I say I was obsessed, I was obsessed. I read the first two books hundreds of times. (We don’t talk about “Mockingjay.” It did not happen . . . still emotionally scarred.) I invented backstories for every single tribute in the 74th Games through at least six poorly written Quotev fanfics. I pledged to ship Cato and Clove until the day I die and entered a state of depression when I discovered their love story was completely erased from the movies (still salty). Katniss Everdeen was my hero and I am in love with Finnick Odair to this day. I clearly remember that, at an eighth-grade pool party, my friends and I played Categories and my first question was: “Who’s your favorite movie character?” I leaped into the pool and screamed “Clove!” and everyone judged me for liking the knife girl. That illustrates the severity of my obsession.

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Environmental Degradation in the Modern Era

I once remember a high school history teacher of mine telling me how he did not know much about the environment. Still, he thought it was becoming increasingly worse. I then remember my AP Chem teacher, during my sophomore year of high school, confirming the fact that the environment is degrading, and that one did not need to be in an AP science class to recognize this. When I first heard about this issue, I did not know what to think, as I had grown accustomed to weather disasters such as Hurricane Sandy affecting my own area of New Jersey. I had wrongly assumed for some reason that this was natural and that these hurricanes and pollutants in the air were just some kind of byproduct of human existence. It did not take me long, however, to realize that this is not the way the environment should be and that global temperatures rising is negatively impacting the world.

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