Bearing News

What to know about the U.S. retreat from Afghanistan, expectations for the future

Anjali Noel Ramesh • October 28, 2021

As of Aug. 30, 2021, President Joe Biden successfully removed all United States (U.S.) armed forces from Afghan soil, following former President Donald Trump’s deal with the Taliban, an Islamist political and military organization.

Pumpkin chocolate chip cookie recipe

Ketti Horton • October 26, 2021

My most prominent memories of being a young child are those of fall afternoons. Perhaps it’s because my birthday is in October, or just because I love the changing colors of the trees. Even with the impending long nights and freezing temperatures, I think most people find comfort in the autumnal coziness. For me, getting off of the bus, cold air on my cheeks, wind in my hair and walking inside my house greeted with the smell of my mom’s pumpkin cookies really brought in the season. While she takes inspiration from the well known Nestle Tollhouse recipe, she has tweaked the recipe to make it her own.

Looking at the AIDS epidemic through art

Julia Kim, Editor-in-Chief • October 14, 2021

The AIDS epidemic had a significant impact on art not only with its content but how it shaped art into a sociopolitical form of protest that sought to convey emotion and also to educate and empower. In the face of constant dehumanization and systematic inequality by an oppressive government, queer artists punctured twisted ideological and political narratives to highlight the reality of the disease as well as the communities of care that grew from it.

Religious perceptions on abortion contradict America’s founding principle of autonomy

Shubha Gautam • October 12, 2021

The true reason why abortion, a purely medical operation, has become such a dividing aspect of American politics is its increased religious meaning among Christians, tearing down the traditional backbone of autonomy in American society. However, the concept of autonomy is often selectively applied, as seen in the hesitance to getting the COVID-19 vaccine in the name of autonomy and the contradictory opposition to allowing women to get an abortion by many of the same individuals.

That’s debatable: Should colleges require COVID-19 vaccines?

Multiple Authors • September 30, 2021

The widespread use of COVID-19 vaccines since last spring and recent full FDA approval of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine calls into question whether government, state and higher education entities will and can use their power to require COVID-19 inoculations.

British royal family drama exemplifies flaws of monarchy governments

Nora Crutcher-McGowan • June 2, 2021

While plenty of modern monarchs are not as oppressive as these textbook figures, we see similar ludicrous externalities from present-day monarchies that shouldn’t exist in the first place, such as the British royal family’s recent coverage regarding their family drama. Some argue that monarchies such as the United Kingdom’s are important to sustain because of tradition and glamour, but why should lower-status citizens even attempt to preserve this exclusive culture?

Colonization of sex: European norms suppress Indigenous culture

Shruti Gautam • April 22, 2021

European colonizers came to the Americas with ambition, bringing along other traits of their land. Through religion and guns, they forced their cultural norms onto the Indigenous peoples. Colonizers were...

’80s moral panics pervade society

Nora Crutcher-McGowan • April 15, 2021

Rapid social change and upheaval frightened people into clinging to the narrative of the evil stranger, allowing them to neglect or fail to realize that much of the abuse at the hands of children comes from within the home. To this day, remnants of the panic-fraught ‘80s live on.

Penpals preserve long-distance friendships

Anjali Noel Ramesh • April 13, 2021

Living in an apartment complex reserved specifically for graduate students with families like mine provided me with a plethora of playground mates. It seemed I only needed to walk to the nearest apartment to find a friend. The experience also came with the unfortunate knowledge that as soon as the graduates completed their degrees, they, along with their families, would pack up and leave, moving to wherever their job called them. Some of my neighbors moved states, while others ended up moving to countries halfway across the globe.

Reading rehabilitation: A journey back to books

Sarah Ding • March 18, 2021

The books were my safe haven, my obsession, my hobby ⁠— in fact, the books defined most of the positive pieces of my elementary school experience.

COVID-19 in indigenous reservations, lack of support and response

Shruti Gautam • February 22, 2021

As of Jan. 25, the Navajo Nation had 27,573 positive cases of COVID-19. Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) people make up 0.7% of the US population; however, the group accounted for...

Adopting self care habits helps hinder mental pressure

Anjali Noel Ramesh • February 13, 2021

before I started high school, all my older friends talked about was the torment junior year would give me. Standardized testing, high level classes, extracurriculars and mountains of homework were its challenges, and tears and mental breakdowns were the outcome. Naturally, I entered freshman year with a colossal fear of the impending 11th grade.