Streaming is the future. You know it. I know it. We all know it. The sooner everyone accepts it, the better. I promise you that no streaming company is paying me to say this. I am just here to say the sobering truth. The convenience of binge-watching in bed has replaced the classic experience of the movie theater.
Well, as it turns out, it is in fact pronounced “diner,” like the classic New Jersey staple. I was standing in the middle of the LX bus, tightly gripping the iron pole, when I heard two first-years talking about Deiner Park.
On April 30, The Daily Targum failed to pass referendum across the Rutgers–New Brunswick campus for the first time since receiving its independence from the University in 1980. Whether it was an indictment of our reporting or a reflection of a disengaged student body, we took the referendum results as an opportunity to reorganize and refocus our efforts as an independent news organization.
Very few Americans see a prison unless they are visiting an inmate or are incarcerated. Yet, most seem to believe they have a good idea of how a prison is run and what life while incarcerated entails.
In the beginning, there was simply word of mouth. It was a tool with enough coherence to document an immense history, but it was also often missing details. Then came script, and from script came print. Our toolsets became more robust and with them so did our exchanges. But along the way, as our once-interpersonal conversations evolved into collective consumption, we lost our means of response.
For the past eight years I have been continuously bombarded — but in all truth I have bombarded myself out of sheer curiosity and a bit of philosophical masochism — with a hail of sociocultural conundrums regarding my existence as an immigrant in modern America.
It seems that every day there is a new headline about the imminent destruction of our planet. At this point in history, the matter of human-driven climate change and the ecological devastation it will cause is an undeniable reality. Last year, this issue received global attention when the United Nations (UN) published an alarming climate change report backed up by more than 6,000 scientific studies.
Each conversation can build a relationship, especially if we make a genuine effort to hear what people are trying to say. Due to this, we must make a sincere effort to not only hear what they are trying to say, but also understand the context of what they are explaining and try to understand what they are leaving unsaid.
Pulling all-nighters before final exams seems like the logical thing to do. At least in my experience. I keep hearing that sleep is important, but when push comes to shove the night before the exam and I feel unprepared, sleeping is the last thing on my mind. It just makes more sense to stay up, cram and walk into the exam knowing that I at least covered everything even if I barely got any sleep.
YouTube. Twitter. Instagram. Snapchat. Facebook. All of these platforms have birthed a wave of socially-integrated, extremely rich, young and trendy group of people who widely self-identify as “influencers.” These people regularly post videos, pictures, tweets, commercials, brand deals and more from which they are able to make a large profit as they build their way up the social ladder.
We cannot simply withdraw into a dark age of disconnection and disengagement. We are no longer just the beneficiaries of the generations before us waiting for a seat at the table, and we are no longer mere bystanders to the political discourse in this country. We are members of the Rutgers community, a microcosm of the world in which we cannot blindly inherit the corrosive trends of our declining direction.
After writing dozens of articles for this newspaper over the last three years, this will be my final column. I have written about everything from the pressing need for municipal zoning reform in major cities to how we can talk to each other about politics constructively. I am, of course, flushed with nostalgia for the memories I have made here at Rutgers and the many friends I will leave behind.
We have all heard the same tips for falling asleep from our doctors — decrease technology use before bed, do not consume sugary drinks at night and try to exercise during the day so you tire yourself out. For those of us that suffer from a little more extreme cases of insomnia, we know it takes a few further steps than a couple nighttime hacks to fall asleep and stay asleep throughout the night.
We are finally at the eagerly anticipated period of the academic year when it looks like and feels like springtime. No longer are we scurrying in and out of our rooms, off and on buses, avoiding any extra time out of the comfort of our living spaces because it is just too cold to be out and about doing anything aside from going to class and getting food.
The obstructing haze of misinformation and manipulation thickens as a means of galvanizing movements of hate. With attempts to place immigration as a centerpiece for the 2020 presidential election, the volume of fear mongering and fictitious rhetoric deployed increases. President Donald J. Trump has adopted an erroneous new message regarding migrants seeking refuge in the United States: “Our country is full.”
When we do business with a corporation, the old adage “you get what you pay for” is an accurate description of our transactions with that corporation. It is very clear that for some time, Rutgers has been moving toward a corporate model at a pace that has accelerated significantly in the last five years. So, it is not surprising that our students, who are paying more and more every year for what Rutgers provides, cannot understand why they are getting less and less.
As “Avengers: Endgame” shatters the box office with a record billion dollars grossed within just five days of its release, what better way to celebrate the end of the semester than rampant spoilers swarming our social media feed?
Last week I was part of my first rally, which as most of you know, was for the lack of equal pay for Rutgers professors on all campuses, low wages, scheduling restrictions, inequality based on gender and a lack of diversity among hired professors. Luckily, the professors have reached an agreement as of right now, but the same cannot be said for multiple facets of the University, such as the teaching assistants, part-time lecturers (PTLs) and graduate students who make up approximately 30% of the professors that teach the students.
The recent crime committed by a fake rideshare driver in South Carolina was horrifying and heartbreaking. While no words can alleviate the pain felt by the Josephson family, Uber is committed to continuing to take action to help make our communities safer.
President Donald J. Trump again reignited the debate over Confederate memorials in recent days in a somewhat vain defense of his own words following the white supremecist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. But, there has been another monument debate brewing in the world of sports.