Category: Opinion
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A Defense of Fanfiction
Written by Quynhanh Tran. Graphic by Peyton Cabaniss. – In seventh grade, I discovered the young adult series Maximum Ride. I spent a week devouring each novel, some of them twice through, and I still couldn’t get enough. After realizing there wasn’t any more to the series, I went on the internet and discovered Maximum…
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Does Social Media Hinder or Help One’s Understanding of Politics? You Decide.
Written by Yulissa Chavez. Graphic by Peyton Cabaniss. – Politics may appear problematic but being ill-informed on policies or platforms before voting is even more problematic. Social media provides users with a mass of information, opinions, and ideas in a matter of seconds; however, this accessibility can also be counterintuitive for those who may not…
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Opportunity and Proximity
Written by Hayley Wood. It’s 3:30 on a Wednesday afternoon. The Texas sun illuminates the east side of campus as students trek towards the stadium for their commute home. For those heading southbound on E 23rd Street, life at UT is strikingly different from their peers headed home to West Campus. The 680 bus becomes…
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Please Hear Us
Written by Brooke Quach. #Metoo. Aziz Ansari. Cat Person. #Timesup. Performative allyship. Consent. Sex Ed. These are only some of phrases, names, and ideas that have been thrown around social media in the midst of the movement against sexual harassment and assault. These terms embody the nuances of the movement and bring to light the…
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The South Asian Dilemma
Written by Hira Vayani. Many South Asian children’s earliest memories include their family and a stethoscope. It’s the child’s 4th birthday, and they have received a doctor’s kit as a present. This is just the beginning of the continuous career conditioning, as most people in the South Asian community have a narrow definition of success,…
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Fully Booked: College Students Don’t Have Time to Read for Pleasure
Written by Grace Schrobilgen During my first year at UT, I stopped reading for pleasure. I was so overwhelmed by assigned readings for classes that I began to forget how much I relish leafing through the pages of a book and allowing myself to become attached to a character, concept, or storyline. Reading stimulates the…
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On Cultural Appropriation
Written by Bhabika Joshi. In the commotion that surrounds events like Halloween or Austin City Limits – where it’s easy to get distracted by Young The Giant, Flume, and a chicken burrito from Freebird’s—certain things go unnoticed. There are boys with bindis on their foreheads and girls with Indian feathers adorning their bodies. There are…
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The Poet is a Man, The Woman is a Mob
Written by Samantha Bolf. America is now wholly given over to a damned mob of scribbling women, and I should have no chance of success while the public is occupied with their trash.” – Nathaniel Hawthorne In 1983, Joanna Russ published a book through the University of Texas press titled “How to Suppress Women’s Writing.”…
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Love, Sex, and Relationships
Written by Frances Molina . Want to know how to have the best sex ever? Class is in session. The amusing tagline had me hooked almost immediately. The banner advertised a conversation on love, relationships, and hookup culture. I didn’t know what to expect from the lecture since I didn’t know which campus organization would…
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A Senator, a Judge, and a President Walk Into a Bar
Written by Dylan Preston. There is nothing funny about politics. Yet when many Americans look at the state of American politics, they mistake it for a joke. From Hillary Clinton’s email scandal to the Republican debates, American politics looks more like a traveling circus than political discourse. Humor is everywhere in politics–now more than ever with the…
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