EDITORIALS

Until recently I hadn’t fully realized the level to which our society is medicated. Perhaps I’d been ignorant, but I’d perpetually thought of prescription medication as something reserved for the elderly and the deranged. 

When I upgraded to Windows 10 a few months ago, there was controversy brewing over Microsoft’s new privacy settings. Concerned users noted that this latest version of Windows sent and received much more personal information than previous versions, often under the guise of creating a seamless experience between devices.

Have we lost all the allure of getting to know our peers? What with Facebook, Tinder, and Myspace (still waiting for the revolution, people), we have all the information we need about a person at our fingertips. Case in point: personalized name necklaces. This is especially fingertip information if you, upon meeting the person, touch their necklace. 

Last week, while watching the Democratic debate with a group of friends, I listened to Anderson Cooper (not surprisingly) ask Hillary Clinton about her whole email situation. 

After refusing to give the two Republican debates more time than it took to read recaps online, I was criticized this week by a self-proclaimed moderate for planning to watch the first of the Democratic debates. Ignoring the fact that I was at my job when the two Republican debates occurred, I defended my lack of interest by citing the Republican Party’s existence as a bigoted entity fundamentally against progress (“s--t show” was the actual phrase I used).

It’s hard growing up in a world after the likes of Socrates, Newton, Einstein, Beethoven, and Steve Jobs have already left their mark. With so many of mankind’s greatest minds living only as artifacts and stories reminding us of a glorious past, many of today’s youth wonder if there is room for any more brilliance. Have we made all our greatest discoveries already? Is there any more progress to be made? Have we reached the ceiling that marks the end of the human capability to succeed? Is it possible to come up with an original thought anymore? The world can be a disheartening place for a genius nowadays. For people like the ones writing this column though, that’s not the case, and lucky for us, because that sounds depressing as hell.

Where's Bernie in the media? 

Earlier this week, naked photos taken of Justin Bieber in Bora Bora were leaked, and the Internet proceeded to flip its lid. The responses were numerous: Whether or not you liked Bieber didn’t matter, only that you glimpsed the photos of an eggplant photoshopped over his genitalia. 

There are many different types of students. There are those who are here because school is a natural stepping stone in their life, those here just for the degree, those who are here because their parents want them to be, and those who see college as one giant party. But at the same time, there are those who are in school simply for the love of learning; these students are here to catalyze the expansion of their minds.

 Warning: This article contains profanity.

Detroit: It’s April 2015. Wiccans are accused by militant pro-life groups of practicing satanic rituals with the “blood from dead babies” outside the Planned Parenthood clinic.

College can be — and is designed to be — an awesome experience, but few people show up on day one feeling equipped to deal with what being a UW student requires. Academically, mentally, and socially, one can easily become overwhelmed by the noise. 

We have run out of words to explain how we feel. After all, what can we say that hasn’t already been said.