Columns

KEMPFF | Creatures of the Cocktail Lounge

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The creature was nearing its wit’s end. They’d wandered campus, trying all manners of species and their study spots. All they had to show for it was a half-finished problem set and a caffeine headache. Dejected, they headed for the one place they could think of: the slope. 

Columns

MEIDENBAUER | Planning For Joy

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It’s that time in the semester when everyone seems to constantly be busy with ever-present exams and assignment deadlines looming. The fact that the weather won’t make up its mind yet isn’t helping. The beautiful warm days are almost a curse when followed by snow, or even worse, rain. It’s like Mother Nature’s teasing us, but right now it feels almost cruel.  

I’ve been determined to make the most of this, despite the weather, by spending as much time outside as possible. I typically do this by not planning the day outside of classes, letting spontaneity dictate a schedule instead.

Dining

Comfort Foods for When You’re Terrified for the Future of Our Country and the Upcoming Election

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The phrase Presidential Debate has become synonymous with “petty shouting match.” Ballot deadlines were extended and then revoked. Some Americans still haven’t received their absentee ballots, while others report “faulty” ballots that don’t list any presidential candidates at all. Everywhere we turn, it seems that there is new election news to lament and almost no way of letting out this stress while locked at home. The week before one of the most important elections of our lifetimes, Americans have never needed comfort food more. 
Logically, we all know that a bowl of chicken soup or mac and cheese can’t actually solve any of the turmoil our country is currently going through. A bag of crunchy, salty chips won’t do the trick either, yet we still turn to these familiar foods to support us emotionally when everything seems like it’s a bit too much to handle.

biodiversity

Ornithologists, Birdwatchers Uncover Staggering Magnitude of Bird Population Decline

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Correction appended. 

Cornell Lab of Ornithology conservation scientist Dr. Ken Rosenberg led an international team of 12 scientists in an analysis of decades of data on bird population — and the conclusion is disturbing. In the last 50 years, one in four birds in North America has disappeared. Pesticide use and loss of habitat to farmland are some of the most significant contributors to the decline in bird populations, according to Rosenberg. Although scientists have known for a long time that certain bird species were threatened by human activities, this study reveals that these issues apply to birds of nearly all species. “Seeing this net loss of three billion birds was shocking,” Rosenberg said.