This truck will be parked here for a while

By Dmitriy Shapiro

January 21, 2010

Filed under Columns

We may never see an election more important than the special one to replace the late Ted Kennedy; it has captured the attention of every political scientist, pundit and blow hard in the country for almost a month. Even the most rabid Republican back in December would not have admitted that his party...

Unfair stigmas surround Valley’s homeless

By Chris Russell

January 19, 2010

Filed under Columns, Opinion

I met Steve Cuoco last May as he sat on the sidewalk outside Thorne’s Marketplace, eating out of a Chef Boyardee can. A sign that read “homeless vet” leaned against a coffee cup full of coins, imploring people to part with any spare change floating around their pockets. He suspected many ignore...

The 5 things you thought you did not know about Ireland

By Nick O'Malley

January 19, 2010

Filed under Columns, Opinion

When moving to a new place, it’s usually best not to cave into stereotypes. As most out-of-state students discovered, people from Massachusetts aren’t crazy liberal, angry-driving, WASPs running around yelling “chowdah.” Most people, at least. So when I first landed in Ireland, eager to start...

Journalists not dying, just changing

By Sara Cody

January 19, 2010

Filed under Columns, Opinion

As a journalism major in my final semester, I often find myself confronted with a lot of pessimism regarding my career choice. According to statistics published in the New York Times from the Audit Bureau of Circulations on Oct. 27, 2009, 21 out of the 24 major newspapers reported a significant decline...

Merit over melanin

By Leigh Greaney

January 18, 2010

Filed under Columns

The federal government wants University of Massachusetts students to slap a label on their identity via SPIRE. They’ve updated their system and now allow for students to choose more than one race/ethnicity to identify with. After logging in, SPIRE’s home page is replaced with a bubbled display of...

Photo finish for senate race

By Alana Goodman

January 18, 2010

Filed under Columns

Want to know how Attorney General Martha Coakley screwed up her lead in the Massachusetts Senate race? Look no further than the contrasting rallies she and her opponent State Sen. Scott Brown held in Boston on Friday. At the Brown rally, the Republican nominee fired up a crowd of cheering supporters...

Plans to finance new UMass law school ‘seem too good to be true’

By Evan Haddad

January 18, 2010

Filed under Columns

Last month, the University of Massachusetts’ Board of Trustees edged Massachusetts an inch closer to the creation of its first public law school in a decisive 14-4 vote. If the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education ratifies the Trustees’ vote in February, students could begin enrolling in a legal...

Harass the university; demand lower textbook prices

By Dan Rahrig

January 18, 2010

Filed under Columns

Every semester starts out the same way. During the first week of classes, thousands of students flock to the Textbook Annex to shell out hundreds and hundreds of dollars for overpriced books that they may or may not end up needing for the courses they are taking. Nobody likes having to pay such hefty...

Haiti and community service connected

By Ben Moriarty

January 18, 2010

Filed under Columns

The New York Times recently analyzed community service learning programs and even used the one operated by the University of Massachusetts as an example. They wanted to know if the system works and how to make it better.          Even more recently, Haiti was rocked by a magnitude-7 earthquake,...

Students suffer in winds chill

By Matthew M. Robare

January 18, 2010

Filed under Columns

I’ve been a student at the University of Massachusetts for two and half years now, and I’ve lived here for about a year. I can say with absolute confidence that the single worst thing about UMass is the wind. It comes down from the north; cold sub-Arctic blasts from Canada, Vermont and New Hampshire;...

Hot drinks in cold weather

By Eli Gottlieb

January 18, 2010

Filed under Columns

Let us discuss the Tea Party movement, a movement originally founded by civil libertarians and fiscal paleoconservatives. Since it began in 2007, its grassroots efforts have been watered by aristocratic Republican backers, and its enemies have ridiculed it for taking in anti-Semites, white supremacists,...

Energy Drinks: Useful or Dangerous?

December 10, 2009

Filed under Columns

Energy drinks like Red Bull, Monster and Rock Star are a visible part of many college student diets. They are so popular that, in 2005, sales reached almost $2 billion. College students use energy drinks as study aids, for general energy, for sport performance, to mix with alcohol and to treat hangovers. They...