We are reliant on the internet. There’s no debating that. Last year proved exactly how reliant we are. As the world shut down during the height of the pandemic, people turned to the internet as a replacement for in-person social interaction. Nowadays, work, school, doctor’s appointments and even concerts can be attended from the comfort of your own home, under one condition: you have access to...

I was late to the party but late is better than never.   At first, I wasn’t even sure what party to go to. I thought as a freshman that Greek life would be a good place to start and decided to pursue that. It brought me some valuable experiences and connected me, directly or indirectly, to a handful of people who are now very important to me.  Despite all the good these organizations can...

In January, the Boone Town Council created the new role of sustainability and special projects manager. The purpose of this new position is to oversee the newly prioritized goal of becoming carbon free by 2050. To achieve such a lofty goal, the city has committed to switching government owned vehicles to hybrid or electric and shifting to solar and hydroelectric power providers.  Watauga County...

Student loan debt. It’s a hotly debated topic and a serious problem. Taking out loans is, unfortunately, a necessity to afford the rising cost of college. For many students, it’s nearly impossible to get through college without taking out some sort of loan for tuition. The student loan crisis is a burden on students, parents and the American economy, but it is not the only financial hardship facing...

In App State, there is a history of race theory education. In the 2016-2017 bulletin of classes, “Unlearning Racism: Racial Literacy for Responsible Citizenship” was presented as an option for students to take. Unfortunately, no record is shown of this class being repeated in future years. There should be an option for students to further their knowledge on critical race theory.  In 1994, Roy...

There has even been a recent trend among students to take action in response to the issue of overcrowding in Boone. The phrase “Boone Sucks, Tell Your Friends” has become popular with students. There are stickers and even an Instagram page for this trend. The thought is that Boone is better with fewer people, so current students want prospective students to think Boone sucks, so they won’t come...

In May of 2021, Nikole Hannah-Jones was hired as the Knight Chair in Race and Investigative Journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill, a position which up until her appointment has included tenure. But what was it that disqualified Hannah-Jones from receiving the honor of tenure? Was it the fact that she had a doctoral degree where previous tenured Knight Chairs...

Did anyone have any of 2020 on their 2020 bingo card? A pandemic? Killer hornets? Nightly fireworks to no end? No? Me neither. But this is where we are — a pandemic, presidential election year, societal unrest — all while moving to Appalachian and starting classes. We are living in a time that, literally, is unparalleled. How do we navigate this, you may ask? Together. We are all in this together...