I wrote a weekly or bi-weekly opinion column for the Arizona Daily Wildcat from August 2006 until February 2007. Below you will find some of the columns I wrote while there. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them.
When ‘Home’ Changes Without Us
When we are away from home, anything can happen. The world changes, we change, our families change. Divorce, death, the sale of a childhood home. We imagine that life would, or at least should, stay the same while we are gone. You cannot return to the same home you left. On Wednesday, Valentine’s Day, I said “happy birthday” to my father over the phone for the last time. He will not live to see his next birthday. He will die at the age of 53.
Starbucks: Not My One-Stop Culture Shop
Starbucks is the Wal-Mart of coffee shops. They are both multinational, consistently branded, revolutionary concept stores. And just as Wal-Mart wants you to buy everything through its store, Starbucks, too, is ready to equip you with coffee to drink, music to listen to, books to read and a place to ingest it all. Starbucks does well in choosing innocuous content to sell – but I fear for the content armies of highly caffeinated Starbuckians will not read or hear.
Puppy Training and Campus Security
We can all learn a lesson from puppy training books – encourage good behavior and be fair about how we punish bad behavior. And maybe with that approach, Paula Abdul will finally stop peeing on my sofa.
Presidential Speech Falls Flat
Since massive public opinion already wants a change in energy policy, the president promised unsurprising alternative-fuel initiatives. How can we trust a former oilman to run a clean, oil-independent energy policy? That’s like asking Whitney Houston to give up crack – and that rock just won’t burn.
The Truth about Sandwiches and Burritos
It’s about the degradation of interpersonal relationships. We no longer enter into marriages, friendships or business relationships – now, everything is a contract with our minds on profits and what can we gain from the relationship.