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The Setonian
Columns

Bouquets and bleakness

Webster’s Word of the Day: fulsomeadjective \FULL-sum\1: aesthetically, morally or generally offensiveI spent my summer in a wormhole. Actually, it was an endless time of serving diners variations of sad looking chicken, watching guests enjoy the “original” yet egregiously cliché event photo ...


The Setonian
Columns

Chasing history

The Golden State Warriors have been off to a blistering start this year at 14-0 having just defeated the Chicago Bulls at home 106-94. Their 14-0 start marks the best start to a season by a defending champion since the Boston Celtics went 14-0 in the 1957-1958 season. With their win on Sunday night ...


The Setonian
Columns

Did he just say that?

Particularly when faced with poor poll numbers, politicians will say and do anything to get elected. The aftermath of the recent attacks in France is an excellent case study in this. Instead of discourse on attacks across the globe, from Beirut (this writer’s hometown) to Paris and what they mean, ...


The Setonian
Columns

Ending the world (and starting all over again)

Authors have been fascinated with the end of the world since the beginning of the world, and recently there's been a veritable epidemic of dystopian and post-apocalyptic fiction. The world has ended by way of zombies, epidemics, nuclear accidents, corporate takeovers and anything that even vaguely ...


The Setonian
Columns

Read between the lines

Someone asked me this week if NYSD was just Rebecca and me talking about our personal lives and whether that is considered an "advice" column. To this, my response was…obviously. Yes, Rebecca and I do primarily talk about ourselves, but what better way to get advice? A large part of advice ...



The Setonian
Columns

Our bodies, for ourselves

“What makes YOU feel sexy?”“What do YOU love most about your body?”I am tired of these questions. Part of me wants to say that nothing makes me feel sexy, and that I don’t really mind. Or that I don’t love my body, and maybe never will, because loving my body seems like it would require ...


The Setonian
Columns

Week 11

This week marked a new era of incompetence in quarterback play in the National Football League. While many teams … some teams … really just the Patriots, have seen exceptional quarterbacking all season long, the majority have been mired in mediocrity. Here are some names you might not expect.


The Setonian
Columns

A campus in Beijing

The first thing that struck me about my college campus in Beijing was the mix of concrete and lush gardens, which somehow looked out-of-place in the urban atmosphere. The flatness, too, was unfamiliar -- no hikes up the hill to class. Students on motorbikes zoomed through the winding streets. Some ...


The Setonian
Columns

A call for (awareness of) politicized solidarity

Those who read my column regularly will know I usually make an attempt toward humor. This week, I chose to take a more somber tone. This in part is how I deal with empathizing with loss, but it is also comes from a sense of respect. The atrocities that occurred in Paris, in Beirut and in Kenya have ...




The Setonian
Columns

United, we remain

It seemed like just another international friendly match in which France and Germany were writing yet another chapter in their sporting rivalry. The horrors that struck 83 minutes into the game, however, changed all of that.From inside the Stade de France, located just outside Paris, the blasts could ...


The Setonian
Columns

An open letter to my Everywhere-Buddy

Dear Everywhere-Buddy,You are that person that I see everywhere. You’re the one who’s always holding the door for me when I walk out of my dorm, the one who I pass at least once on any given day, the one who seems to always eat in the same dining hall as I do on the same day at the same time.  ...


The Setonian
Columns

Death in black and white

Trigger warning: This column contains graphic descriptions of violence.This summer, I saw a woman get shot. Everyone said it was a man. I maintain it was a woman. I saw her and a man struggling, and I saw her collapse to the floor, followed by three motorcycles that piled on top of her minuscule body ...


The Setonian
Columns

We are all a 'Parks and Recreation' character

Simply put, “Parks and Recreation” (2009 - 2015) is the best television show available on Netflix right now. Nicknamed "Parks and Rec" by its adoring fans, this sitcom centers on the local parks department of the fictional Pawneee, Indiana. Amy Poehler stars as Leslie Knope, deputy ...


The Setonian
Columns

They are the Lions after all

Once again, an important cog in a high-powered NFL offense succumbed to injury. This week, Julian Edelman suffered a Jones Fracture in his foot and is expected to miss the remainder of the regular season. Having already lost Dion Lewis to a torn ACL, the Patriots' deadly passing attack is suddenly ...


The Setonian
Columns

Paul-itics as usual

After the first few Republican debates, I learned my lesson. Getting ready for some fireworks at last Tuesday’s debate, I grabbed a cold drink, muted my stream of the Celtics game and sprawled on a couch in Carmichael Hall. After all, with a slimmed down field of eight, it could surely only mean ...


The Setonian
Columns

Retelling old stories for a new age

Once upon a time, in a far away land, someone told a story. It was full of magic and curses, princesses and witches, quests and dragons and was probably much darker than the inevitable twentieth-century animated Disney version. Fairytales are some of the most enduring literary traditions around. Cinderella ...


The Setonian
Columns

Sensing the stress

Merriam Webster’s Word of the Day: Equanimitynoun\ee-kwuh-NIM-uh-tee\1: evenness of mind especially under stress2: right disposition : balanceThe other day, I remembered it was November. I had obviously noticed the instantaneous switch from Halloween apparel to Christmas trees at stores, as well as ...