Columns

Column

The Policy Perspective: Fund the IRS

By Keshav Srikant | February 13

If there’s one thing that many Americans can agree on, it’s that they dislike the IRS. The Internal Revenue Service is a federal agency responsible for collecting and administering federal taxes. The IRS primarily ensures that everyone pays their taxes, often by auditing individuals or businesses, and processes requests for tax refunds. It’s understandable the IRS is not popular, especially as 56% of Americans feel their tax burden is unfair and a majority state that the complexity of the American tax system “bothers them a lot.”

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Columns

Dorms, Dishes and Delicacies: Hodgdon Hall

By Katie Hankinson | February 13

After two consecutive weeks at uphill locations, I decided to book a trip downhill this week to cook up some bean quesadillas in none other than Hodgdon Hall. Hodge is known for a lot of things — the convenient Food-on-the-Run dining location, forced triples and its disorienting floor plan all come to mind. Unfortunately, the student kitchen should not be added to the list of things that make Hodge stand out.

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Columns

Public Cinemy No. 1: Reality television in the digital age

By Sacha Waters | February 13

Compared to the rest of the world, American television is infamous for its glossiness. Whereas British soaps and Italian reality TV shows tend to feature girls-next-door and regular Joes (Giuseppes?), US shows are chock-full of toned abs, low-cut tops, gleaming white teeth and other trademarks of the young and fit.

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Columns

Extra Innings: Royals make big bet on Witt

By Henry Blickenstaff | February 13

It’s Aug. 18, 2023. My friend and I had bought last-minute tickets to see the Chicago Cubs play the Kansas City Royals at Wrigley Field. A Cubs win should have been a safe bet — they had been playing good baseball since mid-July, but more importantly, Kansas City was an abysmal 39–84. Unfortunately, Bobby Witt Jr. had other ideas.

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Columns

The Round-off Roundup: Gabby Douglas’ elite comeback

By Sarah Firth | February 9

The singular thing I’m most excited for as the elite domestic season begins in the lead-up to the Olympics is Gabby Douglas’ elite comeback. Douglas competed in the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Olympics, becoming the first Black woman to win the Olympic All-Around with her 2012 victory.

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Columns

Ruminations from Rabat: First impressions

By Chasya Cohen | February 9

I arrived in Rabat, Morocco just over a week ago. I was, of course, immediately struck by cultural differences: everyone eating out of the same dish at dinner, an immunity to Western cultural influence that I’ve seldom experienced and the sheer amount of time many people spend sitting at cafés, drinking tea. Yet the first thing I want to write about in this column is not my cultural observations but what my host mother told my roommate and I over dinner the other night. A conversation which I ruminated over and concluded must be the mindset with which I approach my semester abroad in Rabat.

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Columns

Moments ‘til Madness: Transfers or freshmen?

By Owen Short | February 9

In April 2021, the NCAA decided that first-time transfer student-athletes would be able to immediately suit up for their new schools, eliminating the one-year sit-out policy. Just a couple of months later, the NCAA suspended its prior rules on name, image and likeness that restricted players from receiving any compensation. The combination of these two significant changes to college athletics made for a whole new landscape in college basketball, along with other highly competitive sports.

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Columns

For The Culture: Don’t bite the bait!

By Paul Osmond | February 8

Hip-hop has a problem: unoriginality. Espoused by “oldheads” and hip-hop traditionalists for years, criticism of unoriginality in hip-hop is now an established sentiment within the community. Although some hip-hop artists and groups like JPEGMAFIA, Smino, EARTHGANG and Griselda maintain the experimental and innovative spirit of the genre, mainstream hip-hop is overwhelmed with strikingly stale records.

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Columns

GC in DC: Tales From the Swamp: The DC college rivalries trifecta

By Guillem Colom | February 8

It’s a frigid Saturday afternoon in the middle of a January snowstorm, and I just convinced myself that it would be a great idea to walk 25 minutes in near 15-degree temperatures to Georgetown. I planned on meeting one of my hometown friends who’s a senior at Georgetown University for coffee, and she informed me that she was bringing along another mutual friend who attended American University. He majored in international relations, and I thought that it would be the perfect opportunity to yap about the ignominious failures of Kevin McCarthy.

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Columns

In the Crease: Vezina Trophy predictions

By Zachary Gerson | February 7

This week, I will focus on the first individual award of the column: the Vezina Trophy.The Vezina Trophy is awarded to the best goaltender of the NHL season.

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Columns

Confessions of a Cooking Fanatic: Starting Sohla’s ‘Start Here’

By Elizabeth Foster | February 7

The thing I will grieve the most about leaving Boston is that I will not have access to the network of events and intellectuals that Boston ushers in. Spending a weekend at MIT’s iQuHACK? Attending Hilary Hahn’s performance with the Boston Symphony Orchestra? Listening to Sohla El-Waylly’s book conversation at the Harvard Book Store?

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Column

Diet drugs: A paradigm shift in weight management?

By Deeksha Bathini | February 7

Ever since Ozempic took center stage, it’s been hard to look away. In my family medicine clinic, it seems like every patient is inquiring about weight loss drugs. These drugs seem like little miracles stuffed in once-per-week injectable pens, boasting weight loss of up to 34 pounds after about a year of treatment. We know that obesity is dangerous. I recall the exhaustive lectures on how excess adiposity increases your risk of stroke, heart attack, Type 2 diabetes and death. Now, we have this drug that seems like a cure for obesity, an issue that ravages about 2 in 5 adults in the United States.

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Columns

Dream Works: The producer

By Halia Frishman | February 6

The unconscious mental voyages to weird places and with stranger people, the daytime rambles that are only slightly more rational — I’ve always been good at dreaming. To my chagrin, but not my surprise, I was recently informed that my biggest red flag is that my head is often off somewhere in the clouds. Yet, despite all this dreaming, in college I find myself a tad bit lost: How do people discover their dream jobs? In this column, I endeavor to not only stumble upon my future career but maybe yours too…

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Columns

Public Cinemy No. 1: Is ‘Barbie’ a feminist film?

By Sacha Waters | February 6

​​One of the most talked-about films of this past year is undoubtedly Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” (2023). The public consensus on the film’s politics is divided: In one camp, many praise it for portraying their experiences and highlighting feminist principles; in another, they complain of its attacks on patriarchy and toxic masculinity.

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Columns

Dishes, Delicacies and Dorms: Miller Hall

By Katie Hankinson | February 5

Despite Punxsutawney Phil’s prediction that spring is on its way, I headed over to Miller Hall on Friday armed with my kitchen kit to make a classic winter dish: chicken noodle soup (minus the chicken). I was suspicious of the Miller kitchen — it seemed too good to be true.

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Columns

Extra Innings: Baltimore blockbuster

By Henry Blickenstaff | February 5

News that ace pitcher Corbin Burnes was being traded from the Milwaukee Brewers to the Baltimore Orioles was about the last thing I expected to see on Thursday night. It was looking very much like the 2021 NL Cy Young winner would be in Milwaukee until at least the trade deadline. Instead, the Orioles swung one of the biggest offseason moves in franchise history.

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Columns

In the Crease: Stanley Cup and Presidents’ Trophy predictions

By Zachary Gerson | February 1

In the spring edition of ‘In the Crease,’ I will be predicting NHL awards, mostly individual awards. However, this week, I will focus on team awards: the Stanley Cup champion and the Presidents’ trophy.

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Column

Ukraine at War: Visiting ‘Flying Trajectories’ exhibition in Kyiv

By Mariia Kudina | February 1

“Attention! Attention! An air raid alert has been announced in the city! Please proceed to the nearest shelter!” We heard as we entered the PinchukArtCentre exhibition hall in Kyiv. In the middle of the room, there was an installation by contemporary Ukrainian artist Zhanna Kadyrova.

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Columns

A Jumbo’s Journey: Why I have beef with the +C in calculus

By Ben Rachel | February 1

The term +C that is pasted in the answers of indefinite integrals in calculus has always troubled me during my 1 ½ year tenure as a calculus scholar. Its anomalous obscurity. Its pestering nature. Its constant and continual reminder that we are merely specks of dust floating in an ever-growing universe.

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Columns

Moments ‘Til Madness: The seats heating up in college hoops

By Owen Short | February 1

It’s getting to that time of year when teams either separate themselves as clear tournament teams or fall below expectations. Not only is this a crucial time for teams but also for the people coaching them.

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