Health Care Saved Thanksgiving — and My Family

I remember 2 1/2 years ago, down to the very taste in my mouth and the angst and nausea that followed. And it was not even I who found myself suddenly threatened by a life-altering disease. It was mid-February 2015, and my dad stood by the washing machine removing his snow-soaked outer layers in preparation for a hot bath. We had just dug our way out of the latest New Hampshire blizzard — I was on leave from school that semester — and finished clearing our long, steep driveways to allow my mom,

A Lesson from Honolulu

I doff my cap to Honolulu for passing what may be one of the 21st-century’s best pieces of legislation to-date: a law that allows police officers to fine pedestrians up to $35 for looking at their electronic devices while crossing the street. The law is a testament to intelligent lawmaking and an acknowledgement of the paradox of the latest wave of “smart” technology. Smartphones make us stupid: an over-reliance on Google Maps has sapped us of our directional intuition and travel savvy, for ins

The Golden Ticket: A Reality Check

“I quit.” Those were the last two words I heard from Natasha. It was the start of another muggy August evening in rural New Hampshire, and the grind and uncertainty of waiting tables in the restaurant industry had claimed its latest victim. I met Natasha two months prior when I began work at the local restaurant. On one night of my mandatory week training — shadowing “certified” servers; watching their every move and interaction with guests; taking notes so as to prepare for the written exam re

Amherst Privilege

I sat at Valentine several nights ago and couldn’t help but overhear two students sitting nearby: “Whoever designed this place was so stupid — I don’t even know what he was thinking.” “I know, right? Even the redesign failed miserably. Like, why would you put booths over here — you can’t get in and out of them! And then those new tables in the front room — I get the “social atmosphere” hope they were going for, but it makes it so there’s never enough seating.” “Everything about this dining hal

Good Riddance, Justice Scalia

“Better the wheels of government should stop … demonstrate itself to be a failure and find an end … than our principles, our honor be infringed upon — we have right, justice and the ‘King of Kings’ on our side.” If this sounds as though it came from the mouth of a Republican congressman this past week, many of whom refused to hold a confirmation hearing on anyone President Obama might name to fill the vacancy in the Supreme Court — let alone even meet with any presumptive nominee — well, it did

Lessons from Malheur

The irony is ripe for the picking: the armed, militant protesters at the Malheur Wildlife Refuge in rural Oregon waved American flags as they relinquished their posts after a forty-day standoff with federal officials, decrying government overreach while at the same time waving a flag that represents the institution they denounce. The four hold-outs, three men and a woman, left the refuge the same way they arrived — on roads created by the U.S. government — and the final protester conveyed his ti

Politicians or Preachers? A Look at Ted Cruz’s Presidential Campaign

Even when I lived in Illinois, I did not pay attention to neighboring Iowa. For all its virtues — corn, rolling plains, the rare Iowa Pleistocene Snail — my attentions were elsewhere. It had, perhaps, an “Iowa aura.” But since the presidential campaigns for 2016 started last year with my best friend working as a paid organizer for Hillary Clinton’s team in Fairfield, Iowa — I have dared to look deeper at that Midwestern outlier. It is at least an outlier in terms of how its population appears

Selling Politics Is Not The Same As Selling Chicken

It’s too bad Bernie Sanders isn’t related to Colonel Sanders, because he’d probably be better off selling chicken. I just can’t buy everything Mr. Sanders says and claims to stand for. I understand that politics is rife with contradiction and paradox. For instance, Republican candidates lusting for Evangelical votes tote Bibles at campaign rallies, cite the role of God in their political decisions, and describe Christian morality as playing a central role in their lives. Yet they (consider Ben

Provocations of a Bathroom Wall

Whatever your gender identity, I encourage you to venture into the larger of the two stalls in the first-floor men’s bathroom of Frost Library. There, to your left, you shall see, inked on the gray metal barrier between the toilets, a challenge, of sorts: “Top 10 Nicknames for Biddy’s House.” Before I go on, a disclaimer: I do not condone vandalism. I do appreciate, however, anything I see during the course of the day, legal or not, that makes me think. The scrawled note caught me by surprise