BUTLER | Academia Wants Impact? Black History Already Wrote the Manual

CARUSO | We Need to Negotiate Better

Senior Columnist and MPA student Paul Caruso argues that in a world of ghosting, ultimatums and world conflict, the path forward is to become better negotiators. 

KASSAM | Talking The Walk

LETTER TO THE EDITOR | Administration Should Run the University

Cornell alumnus Bradford Garrigues Sr. '77 argues that while students have the right to voice their opinions, they should not dictate university policy. He asserts that disruptive or violent protests should face consequences and emphasizes the importance of students learning life skills, including respect for authority, during their college experience.

BURZLAFF | When Everything Sounds Too Smooth

Opinion Columnist Professor Jan Burzlaff reflects on his growing distrust of fluency in an age shaped by generative AI. In contrast, he defends friction — intellectual tension, uncertainty and disagreement — as essential to learning on campus and democratic life.

WALTER | Self-Loathing: The Anti-Evolutionary Parasite of Campus Society

Which aspects of human nature are denied by modern systems? We’re encouraged to be neurotypical thinkers, to deprioritize consciousness and exploit materialism. We’re turned from the wilderness with cages that masquerade as amenities, desperate for vehicles of expression untaught to us. Onion Theory is dedicated to exposing where these denials are hosted. Based in Buddhist theology and world peace ideology, Opinion Columnist Kira Walter ‘26 shares where she sees disparities in high-competition structures defining the 21st century. As she’s navigated schizophrenia and synesthesia in her last semester, she imparts final observations and looming concerns before indulging in chapters beyond the undergraduate ledge. 

GUEST ROOM | The Solution to Late Buses Isn’t to Take Money from TCAT

Guest Columnist Sam Poole '28 discusses the relationship between Cornell University and TCAT, emphasizing how the university’s penalties for delayed bus service contribute to the system’s financial instability. He argues that Cornell's insufficient contributions, coupled with the penalty system, hinder TCAT’s ability to maintain reliable service. He calls on students to pressure the administration for increased funding and the elimination of penalties to ensure a sustainable and efficient transportation system and experience.

GUEST ROOM | Hey Cornell, Stop Supporting ICE

Guest Columnist Max Ehrlich '26 comments on the recent ICE protest on campus and the legal obligation for Cornell to enforce Student Assembly's Resolution 9 to discontinue collaboration with ICE and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). He condemns the administration's disregard for the resolution and calls for immediate action to enforce the agreement, pointing to the moral and legal implications of supporting federal deportation efforts.

JASO | Is 'Gay' Really All We Are?

Opinion Columnist Francis Jaso '28 critiques the modern categorization of male homosexuality, arguing that the overly defined "gay identity" has overshadowed individual complexity and historical nuance. Drawing on cultural and historical examples, he highlights how sexual identity, once a private matter, has evolved into a politically weaponized category and calls for a reclamation of identity beyond sexual acts, urging gay men to go beyond superficial labels and cultivate richer, more varied personal narratives.

VINK | Cornell Is Recruiting for ICE

Opinion Columnist Adriana Vink ‘27 analyzes Cornell’s complicity in ICE’s inhumane kidnappings and killings, detailing the University’s promotion of Customs and Border Patrol recruitment events and on-campus events with technology and weapons manufacturers like Anduril Industries.

COMMITTEE ON THE FUTURE OF THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY | Treat University Critics Like Reviewer #2

The Committee on the Future of the American University proposes one way to effectively respond to critics of universities, informed by their experiences as researchers and academics who have been on the receiving end of unfair criticism themselves.

TOBIN | Free Speech Until It's Uncomfortable

Opinion Columnist Lali Tobin MPA '27 looks into whether Cornell genuinely supports free expression for students, especially when speech is disruptive or politically sensitive. By examining recent protests, policy changes and campus reactions, it suggests that Cornell's approach to free speech tends to be inconsistent and conditional. The article urges the university to go beyond merely handling controversial issues and to more effectively safeguard student expression in practice, not just in theory.

GALPERIN | Cornell's Qatar Quandary

Opinion Columnist Ezra Galperin ’27 responds to the recent report on Qatari money at Cornell and calls on the University to cease its ties with the State of Qatar.

CLIFFORD | All I Want for Valentine’s Is a Boyfr–Scooter

Opinion columnist Elise Clifford ‘29 has had enough of electric scooters. Armed with pettiness and accusations, she delivers a satirical indictment of these ridiculous contraptions. On a campus where outcomes matter more than effort, even transportation can’t escape our priorities — besides, they’re aesthetically questionable. 

WALTER | In Defense of the Modern Simp: Why You Should Feel Your Feelings

Opinion Columnist Kira Walter '26 defends the commonly frowned upon notion of "simping" and argues that embracing emotional vulnerability in young adulthood is both necessary and valuable. She encourages readers to take romantic risks early, framing emotional openness as an investment in resilience, self-knowledge and connection in the name of stronger relationships and meaningful personal growth.

PETROVA | In Times of Fear and Fascism, a Sanctuary Campus Comes From the Heart

Opinion Columnist Mina Petrova '29 argues that the racist hatred of the Trump Administration and brutality of ICE agents is antithetical to the love and acceptance that one should have for their neighbors, friends and fellow human beings.

GUEST ROOM | ‘Any Person, Any Study’: Cornell University Must Reopen Dual Enrollment to Local High Schoolers

Ithaca High School junior Cornelia Ye argues that reinstating on-campus semester dual enrollment for local high school students at Cornell would strengthen both local public schools and the University itself.