Category: Opinion
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Cray-Z for Money
Why we shouldn’t idolize Jay-Z or his hypocrisy Hip-hop mogul and businessman Jay-Z recently joined his musical counterpart Kanye West in throwing the black community under the bus to get ahead. After years of boycotting the NFL in defense of free agent Colin Kaepernick and getting other celebrities to join in, Jay-Z announced plans to…
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How NSM Shaped UTD History
I was pleased to read the story “50 years of UTD” in the Aug. 19 edition of The Mercury. I am proud to have been a faculty member for three-fourths of the time that UTD has existed and to have watched us grow in so many ways. Still, there are some important details that should…
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Previous Op-Ed Uses Defamation to Belittle Unborn Victims of Abortion
Two weeks ago, my campus organization was publicly accused of hypocrisy, dishonesty, and borderline racism. In The Mercury’s Aug. 19 opinion piece, Ruqiya Barreh made the following argument: Although Comets for the Preborn (CftP) claims to value all human life, it has never made a public statement against the abuse of women and children in…
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Burning the Straw Man
Rebuttal of Aug. 19 op-ed “Born Equal” In their latest issue, The Mercury published an opinion piece attacking the student organization Comets for the Pre-born for not openly protesting the ICE detention centers on the border and, therefore, supposedly acting in violation of their platform defending the sanctity of all life — including the unborn.…
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Bringing Color to Film
Hollywood lacks gender, racial diversity Last July, Hollywood actress Scarlett Johansson said in an interview, “You know, as an actor I should be allowed to play any person, or any tree, or any animal because that is my job and the requirements of my job.” Johansson was most likely referencing the criticism of her casting as a transgender man…
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When Dreams Shouldn’t Come True
Live-action Disney Remakes Detract from Originals “The Lion King” (2019) marks the latest film in a recent trend towards remaking original animated films in a live-action format. By bringing its catalogue up to date through live-action remakes, Disney, and several other similarly oriented studios, are leading the pre-existing cultural shift against animation as a serious…
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The ‘E’ in Esports
The ‘E’ in Esports Why competitive gaming is not a sport To some, the word “gamer” may conjure a mental image of a sickly, wide-eyed juvenile frantically hammering buttons on a controller, discarded Fritos bags littered around him, but this is hardly the case. Being a gamer requires courage to pursue a passion relentlessly, as…
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Born Equal
Exploring one pro-life organization’s selective outrage In his opinion piece, “Why We Stand for the Victims,” Michael Lockwood — the founder of Comets for the Preborn — said that he believes “all innocent human lives… are worthy of protection.” Throughout their time here on campus, CftP has constantly represented themselves as the defenders of the…
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The ‘Sport’ in Esports
Why competitive gaming is a sport Esports, short for “electronic sports,” has taken the world by storm with its lavish tournaments, millions of fans and expanding library of esports games. It’s a $1.5 billion industry, according to PC Gamer, and is growing tenfold. Even though “sports” is in the name, esports still isn’t taken as…
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This Land is Your Land
Proposed US asylum policy too restrictive As with most issues in American politics, immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border has divided the nation. Debates over policy have continued, and with the election of President Trump, the subject has taken a life of its own. However, in examining the existing immigration system, asylum policy should stand far above debates over illegal immigration…