People materialize onto the screen for my 9:00 a.m. Greek History class. Connecting to audio, they turn on their cameras, heads bowed within seconds to stare at their phones. By 9:05, two people have turned their cameras off, and the black squares stare tantalizingly at me. I could turn my camera off right now and get my crumpling load of unfolded laundry out of the way. More faces transform into black squares, and by 9:30, half of the class is probably doing their laundry. In breakout rooms, my professor pops in and asks John, a silent black square, a question on the reading. I attempt to maintain a respectful facial expression but the situation is just absurd. “John? Can you hear us?” my professor asks. John ne...

The most recent presidential debate was a case study in the desperation of a losing president and the perils of toxic masculinity. The debate was roundly and rightfully criticized for having little substance — yet it provided the American people with an unvarnished and relatively unbiased look at what happens when an alpha-male mentality clashes with the realities of the year 2020. Trump’s ability to promote his distinctly alpha-male personality was an asset while he operated as an outsider candidate in 2016. He was not constrained by the general sense of decorum and emotional restraint that defined successful American presidents. Trump had spent decades developing a mix of narcissism, recklessness, and impuls...

When I enrolled at Oberlin, I was excited to get out of the city and spend more time outdoors. Growing up in New York City, I never had a backyard or a nearby hiking trail on which to spend my afternoons; I rode the MTA and walked city blocks instead. When I saw an internship available for the Western Reserve Land Conservancy last fall, I quickly applied for the position and soon found myself immersed in everything I love.  My mornings and afternoons — really any time I wasn’t in class or doi...

After a year of college life in the U.S., making do with Bon Appétit’s occasional and mortifying excuse for Indian food, it was a breath of fresh air to walk into Stevie and find a genuinely tasty preparation of cauliflower and potatoes, with a side of chickpea curry (gobhi aloo ki sabzi and chole). AVI Fresh has swooped in to redeem my impression of college dining options. The problem with Bon Appétit was never simply the lack of “good Indian food.” I do understand that the manner in whic...