Auld lang syne: What I learned in 2015

January 11, 2016

Reading Time: 3 minutes   2015 was a big year. War happened at home and abroad. Groundbreaking pieces of art and culture were made. Politics grew more turbulent, which I didn’t think was even possible. Though this end-of-year wrap-up is by no means an exhaustive list of everything that happened last year, I thought I’d share a few of […]

Embrace the nuance

November 16, 2015

Reading Time: 3 minutes The way the controversy involving the LDS handbook was framed, it’s understandable that people reacted to the news the way they did. Those who were outraged bring up legitimate points, but I can’t help but feel that the general public’s reaction was disproportionate to the news received. It’s nothing new that the LDS church doesn’t […]

Back to the present: 3 Technologies from ‘Back to the Future’ that are currently in their infancy

November 2, 2015

Reading Time: 3 minutes Sean Stoker | Opinions Editor | @theroyalthey In 1989 the classic Back to the Future series debuted its second installment, which featured an adventure to the distant and incomprehensible future: Oct. 21, 2015. Though Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale never intended to make accurate predictions of the future when writing the script—Gale even wanting to […]

Checking out the Library of Things

October 26, 2015

Reading Time: 2 minutes Sean Stoker | Opinions Editor | @theroyalthey For thousands of years, libraries have purely been home to written materials and the bookworms who love them. However, as technology continues to make the written word and other media more accessible to a greater number of people, public libraries are rethinking their strategy when it comes providing […]

Versus: Halloween costumes and female empowerment

October 26, 2015

Reading Time: 3 minutes Women’s attire is an overrated and outdated discussion Carrie Laudie | Editor in Chief | @carrielaudie Women are given a pile of lies when they are told that if they dress sexy it is empowering. A good litmus test for a statement such as that one is to switch the gender roles and imagine telling that to […]

Abortion: Complex, but worth discussion

October 12, 2015

Reading Time: 3 minutes   Sean Stoker | Opinions Editor | @theroyalthey The Center for Medical Progress reignited the abortion debate over the past few months by releasing a series of undercover videos allegedly showing Planned Parenthood officials negotiating the scientific use of aborted fetus tissues. Unsurprisingly, this exposé exploded on contact with the media. Those with anti-abortion views […]

Police on camera: a double-edged sword

September 21, 2015

Reading Time: 4 minutes Why the anti-police movement has got to stop Sean Stoker | Opinions Editor | @theroyalthey Not too long ago, we lived in a world where the average person did not carry a high definition camera with Internet access at all times. Having lived this way for several years now, we’ve approached a new era of […]

The FDA: A good source of irony

September 9, 2015

Reading Time: 3 minutes Why the Food and Drug Administration needs to rethink practices Sean Stoker | Opinions Editor | @theroyalthey I’m often amused—and a wee bit horrified—by the lengths food companies are willing to go to in order to put garbage in my mouth, and what the FDA allows them to get away with. Most often I see this when […]

Trump Card

September 9, 2015

Reading Time: 2 minutes The poster child of a sad era in American politics Sean Stoker | Opinions Editor Politics was never a game of purity. But the politicians used to at least pretend to care, didn’t they? It’s a sorry state of affairs when the candidates we’re saddled with in the upcoming election cycle can’t even act like they’re […]