I made my way over to Lillis 282 on Tuesday night, Feb. 16, for an event that was advertised as a “face off” between political science professor Jane Cramer and a former brigade commander, Colonel Peter Mansoor. The two were to speak in the debate of “Containment vs. Direct Engagement: Should the U.S. invade Syria?”

I went into the event expecting drama and a heated deliberation about the Islamic State, President of Syria Bashar al-Assad, Russia, Iran and the U.S. military — and I wasn’t disappointed.

The debate was put on by the political science department and the first UO chapter of the Alexander Hamilton Society, a national organization found at universities across the country. Only 60 people were projected to come to this event, but by the time 6 p.m. hit and the debate was beginning, the 225-capacity room was overflowing with what looked like mostly students.

Professor Cramer and Colonel Mansoor were a spectacle because of how passionately they delivered each of their respective stances, their rebuttals and their answers to an audience-initiated Q&A. The arguments and responses were supported with hefty factual information and experience, but in the end, I saw a clear winner: Professor Cramer.

Colonel Mansoor, who served in the Iraq war, is a firm believer that the U.S. should put boots on the ground in Syria in a direct raid. He sees the Islamic State as America’s number one priority at the moment, and since he witnessed what he thought of as the end of Al Qaeda in Iraq, he thinks land invasions would mean the end for the Islamic extremists once again.

“ISIS is actively planning attacks on American soil and containment has already failed,” Mansoor said. “They have and continue to spread, both in people and their ideology, like wildfire. Al Qaeda had a similar narrative to what ISIS has now, but we buried them and that narrative. We need to destroy ISIS the same way, and the Obama Administration is just not committed to these efforts.”

In response, Professor Cramer hit at the colonel’s mention of the end of Al Qaeda, which she believes didn’t actually happen, but instead, has morphed into the ISIS we know of today.

Cramer went on to explain how she does not think ISIS is as threatening as people make the Muslim extremist group out to be since she sees its aim as specific to the geographic region they want to take over, separate from the U.S. Therefore, she thinks it would be illogical for the U.S. to invade Syria just as it was back in 2003 with George W. Bush and Iraq.

“People are extremely reluctant to send ground troops to Syria because it isn’t necessary,” Cramer said. “Why is containment the best option? It is the best option because it would limit ISIS through degradation and eventual elimination, but ISIS isn’t even that big of a deal. I want to go into Syria for more humanitarian reasons than for national security reasons. More than half of their country has been displaced—this is a humanitarian crisis of epic proportions.”

Professor Cramer’s rebuttal made it harder for me to accept the upfront, “Blitzkrieg-fashion” attacks Colonel Mansoor suggested when he said, “It will take the blood and the treasure of the United States, but a land invasion is in our national interest to do so.”

I would argue that keeping all Americans safe and fixing our economy is more in our national interest. Instigating a full-on war, which is how I interpreted Mansoor’s argument in the end, would be damaging in both of these aspects—hundreds of thousands of people would die, others injured and we would burn trillions of dollars in the process.

My final decision in who won the debate came down to this point that Professor Cramer made: “We could defeat [ISIS] easily. They are weaker than Saddam’s troops that we fought, and we could do that again, but then what? You get rid of ISIS and Assad, which means you’re getting rid of Iran and Russia, but it costs a lot to occupy a country. Only $1.2 trillion is needed to cover every student’s debt in the U.S. and that amount would be spent in just five years of intervention in Syria. “

Instead of jumping into a war, we should be more productive as a nation. Professor Cramer, along with many others — including President Obama — are right when they say that we should learn from the catastrophes that the war in Iraq and Afghanistan resulted in. A direct Syrian invasion is the last thing the United States needs to get involved in right now.

The EMU ballroom comes to life every time a student group ignites a cultural festivity for the campus community’s pleasure. There have been ancient dances performed, eclectic foods served, exotic animals presented and even an international comedian brought to campus – all for our enjoyment.

These cultural nights bring entertainment in ways no other outlet in town does, but there is a discrepancy. On a campus of over 24,000 students, student organizers only expect a few hundred people to attend their long-planned celebrations. More students and staff should take advantage of the various culture groups on campus and should attend these celebratory nights because of how beneficial they are.

“People get a brief snapshot of a culture through our events and that’s pretty cool to have, especially with the Filipino culture, since there’s nowhere else on campus to learn about our traditions,” Luis Palomar, director of Kultura Pilipinas, said.

Student groups start planning their culture nights months in advance; the whole process begins when they receive funding from ASUO. This year, Students of the Indian Subcontinent asked for the largest sum of money that any cultural group on campus has ever requested, all to make their heritage night more appealing to a wider audience.

“We asked for the $15,000 to bring the Daily Show’s Hasan Minhaj because he isn’t just entertaining for Indian-Americans, but he can be a real treat for the entire student body,” Meghna Agarwal, co-director of Students of the Indian Subcontinent said. “Our main goal with the culture nights has always been to share the Indian and South Asian cultures with Eugene, but every year, we try to find ways to integrate different people and bring together a larger and more diverse audience.”

Agarwal and Students of the Indian Subcontinent are hoping for a turnout of around 500 people for their 2016 spring term soirée, a number that only accounts for about two percent of all students on campus.

“It really surprises me how few people know about the culture events and groups on campus,” Agarwal said. “All of the student organizations at UO are so vibrant and we’re such an interesting community that people who just don’t have an invested interest in a specific culture never realize we exist.”

College is a busy time and incorporating extracurricular activities and events isn’t always easy. But there is a greater problem at UO that goes beyond time management when it comes to cultural awareness.

One organization that recognizes this lack of overall cultural mindfulness among our community and strives to collaborate with the various student groups is the Multicultural Center.

“The Multicultural Center is really important to have to promote cultural diversity on a campus like ours that is so famously white and homogeneous,” said Vickie Gimm, who works as outreach coordinator at the Multicultural Center. “We have to acknowledge cultural diversity and the fact that people come from different ways of life, because if we whitewash everything and promote colorblindness, then that’s not productive in the pursuit of equality and equity, in general.”

Whether it is Kultura Pilipinas, Students of the Indian Subcontinent, the African Student Association, the Vietnamese Student Association or any other group, the cultural events that get sprinkled around our campus throughout the year bring our university to life. Each celebration helps contribute to spreading a larger message of equity that is much needed.

“I think it’s so important to step out of your own culture and learn about a different group of people who don’t look like you or who you’ve never heard of because it broadens your worldview and that’s significant to becoming a better, well-rounded person,” Palomar said. “It was around the time of the Filipino-American War when Mark Twain said, ‘Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts.’ ”

And Mark Twain was right. The cultural nights on campus offer travel from one way of life to another without getting on an airplane. People can go one step further and join a student group on campus that is geared towards a specific heritage, which can reduce things like prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness, all unreasonably prominent in our world today.

What’s that I hear about people in glasshouses and throwing stones? Oh, yeah. They shouldn’t.

The Eugene Area Chamber of Commerce didn’t listen to the age-old saying and threw some figurative stones at the local community. It supported a potential revamp of Kesey Square that was proposed about a month ago. The backlash? A literal stone was thrown by a vandal late at night on Feb. 13 at the Commerce’s glass entrance door.

A copy of last week’s issue of Eugene Weekly that discusses the Kesey Square debacle was left at the scene with words such as “greedy” and “capitalist” drawn on it. Mayor Kitty Piercy has voiced that she isn’t mad; she’s just disappointed in the outward aggression on the downtown office.

A lot of anger and disapproval has been expressed by passionate locals ever since a private development group, 2EB LLC, offered to buy the public plaza area and build a multi-purpose building on it. So, there are those who are against the idea of selling Kesey Square, but there is also a good amount of people who are pro-reform and want downtown Eugene to embrace a continuous change. A City Council meeting to settle the debate is set for Feb. 22.

If UO students learn anything from local Eugeneans, Johnson Hall and its glass doors should watch out. Some more figurative stones were thrown, this time by the university administration who has made it a requirement for the 2017 freshman class to live in the campus dorms.

There are always two sides to every bad idea, and the university’s side is that 80 percent of students who live in the dorms as freshmen are able to graduate in six years, so they want to spread the RA love and all the knowledge the dorms seem to exude onto future UO students. So thoughtful. So selfless. I’m sure the fact that housing costs at least $11,000 per year per student has nothing to do with this ruling – nothing at all. The campus community isn’t disappointed in UO administration; they are angry.

Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar and Ed Sheeran, on the other hand, are far from angry. These three artists won big at the 58th annual Grammy Awards that aired on Feb. 15. T-Swift beat out Kendrick, The Weeknd and a few others to become the first woman to win Album of the Year twice. Her album 1989 was entertaining and I’m happy for her, but I must say— in the words of Yeezy circa 2009— “[Kendrick Lamar] had one of the best [albums] of all time.”

Kendrick still won big, taking home five gold gramophones for categories like Best Rap Album, Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance. He continued to exude (literal) fire in his powerful performance of “The Blacker the Berry” and “Alright,” which LL (not-so-)Cool J teased as “very controversial.” The combo of chain gangs, jail cells and his emotional lyrics ended up being a perfectly wrapped package of the black experience in America today. And I say, bravo.

Then, everyone’s favorite redhead Ed Sheeran won Song of the Year for his romantic hit, “Thinking Out Loud.” Another result I’d debate, but shouldn’t the whole concept of award ceremonies be questioned? I’m agreeing with Kanye circa his 2015 Video Music Awards speech, but that’s another story.

Other noteworthy displays of art through singing and dancing included a very well-deserved honoring of 66-year-old Lionel Richie for his epic career thus far. He got to deliver a big “hello” to his fellow Grammy attendees with the help of John (the) Legend, Demi Lovato (who killed it), Luke Bryan (for a little pinch of country), Meghan Trainor (the anti-blonde now) and Tyrese Gibson (who can apparently sing?).

The late David Bowie was also honored for his vibrant musical life, which was depicted on Monday night’s show through a performance by Lady Gaga. Her medley of Bowie’s greatest hits didn’t lag once in the six-and-a-half minutes it lasted, thanks to Gaga’s natural captivation, (and all the special effects didn’t hurt).

Rihanna would also probably be mentioned here, but she called in sick at the last minute with bronchitis. People showed just how pissed they were about this online, but then again, when are people not pissed on the interwebs these days? @badgalriri, aka Rihanna, seemed fine a few days back at #NYFW – just sayin’.

If you were wondering why, unlike every other year, roman numerals weren’t used for the Super Bowl this time around, here’s a solid answer: @NFL scared of L word #SuperBowl50 is patriarchy #FeministSuperBowl. – @blakerr

This year’s Super Bowl was a grand show, to say the least. Tom Brady was justifiably booed upon entering the Levi’s Stadium (thank you, crowd for your boldness). Lady Gaga looked like she was ready to host the Hunger Games (thank you, Internet for that meme). Peyton Manning earned his 200th career win as if he weren’t 13 years older than Panthers QB Cam Newton (thank you, HGH — oops, too soon?).

Beyoncé, Bruno Mars and Coldplay painted the halftime show every color of the wind and even included some political statements in their entertaining performance (all hail Queen B). Despite the Broncos’ 24-10 win, the real winners of the night were Candace and Toni of Portlandia’s Women and Women Bookstore skit and their Twitter page.

On the IFC T.V. show, Toni is played by Carrie Brownstein and Candace is played by Fred Armisen. Together, the two have become some of the most famous characters of the satirical sketch-comedy series about the city of Portland.

The two hyperfeminist characters controlled the show’s Twitter account and made #FeministSuperBowl trend throughout the entire game. Their hilariously clever tweets made fun of how sexual and male-centered society can be, bringing a new perspective to this ultra-masculine, American sport.

Along with all the feminism buzzing around Twitter, the commercials were also a spectacle. I was flipping back and forth between Portlandia’s Twitter page and Adweek’s to see their official rulings on each advertisement shown. The medical ads for various health conditions and medications seemed a bit odd and out of place, but there were a few entertaining commercials.

I have to say, the Heinz “Meet the Ketchups” commercial was one of my favorites this year for two reasons: all those wiener dogs (who were made into hot dogs) running through pastures of greenery and for the tiny little ketchup packet baby (that I’m planning on adopting). Speaking of babies, those “Are you a Super Bowl baby?” ads, though. I’m still uneasy about that whole campaign, especially since I was born in October.

OK, almost done with the Super (Duper) Bowl. Let’s talk about Bey a little more because, let’s be real, we are all drunk in love with her. On Feb. 6, her new song “Formation” dropped along with a tasteful-as-usual music video. This was just in time for her to perform it during the halftime show.

All of Queen B’s performances are a treat, but this one was significant in because she incorporated social commentary on the recent Black Lives Matter movement. Bey’s backup dancers were all dressed in costumes influenced by classic outfits worn by members of the Black Panther Party — a black nationalist and socialist organization that was active from the ‘60s until the early ‘80s. For anyone who thought otherwise about Sasha Fierce’s performance, Jessica Williams says it all in this Daily Show monologue. Also, the Formation World Tour announcement! Eeep!

On campus, some protesting happened on Feb. 3 when students spoke out on the administration’s proposed tuition hike of 4.76 percent for resident students and 4.46 for non-resident students. That increase could mean an extra several hundred to over $1000 more a year per student.

The common theme among the students outside of Johnson Hall was one of “enough is enough,” and I completely agree. Enough with raising our tuition costs, and also enough with making all of these decisions without student input. The lack of student input in this decision has angered several students involved in various campus organizations, and as a result this open letter addressed to the “University of Oregon campus community” was written.

Life is full of frustrating and unjustified events that are sometimes hard to conceive. I’m talking about the New Hampshire primary of Feb. 9 and just how disappointing the outcome was, not just for me, but for the future of America.

The GOP “candidate” who came out on top was Donald Trumpet (again, a name trademarked by my seven-year-old cousin, not me), and the Democratic “front-runner” was the Bernmeister. New Hampshire was only the second state primary, after Iowa, so there’s still a long road (of hope) in front of us. And in case you forgot, I am still, and will always be, #WithHer.

Raise your hand if you’ve ever been personally victimized by Betty Rizzo. *Raises hand and says,* “And I’m not even mad.”

First things first, let’s have a moment of silence for two reasons: for Greg Hudgens, who died from cancer moments before Grease: Live! took place on Jan. 31, and for Vanessa Hudgens, who gave the best Betty Rizzo performance I have ever seen, whilst having a heavy heart from her father’s passing. She conveyed  all the sass of the OG 1978 Betty and outdid her own High School Musical vocals X 1000.

Other classic Disney stars who killed it included Keke Palmer, with her performance of “Freddy My Love,” and Joe Jonas and his band the DNCE  in the place of Johnny Casino and the Gamblers. FX star Kether Donohue was an incredibly pleasant surprise to see as she played Jan. After I took my cat-lens glasses off and made sure it was her, I remembered why she’s the best part of the show You’re the Worst.

Boyz II Men were another unexpected cameo that I was very happy about. Dancing with the Stars sweetheart Julianne Hough played a very safe Sandy, the female-lead, as did Aaron Tveit in his role as Danny Zuko, the ultimate greaser. The singing and dancing were all there, but not much passion or rebellion was conveyed, à mon avis.

The rest of Hollywood got together on Jan. 30 to judge each other’s latest work in the 22nd Screen Actors Guild Awards. The SAG Awards are unique from other TV and film award shows in that the actors who are a part of the Guild are the ones who decide which of their peers get the awkwardly exposed trophies.

In contrast to what has been circulating about the upcoming Academy Awards, the SAGs were #SoDiverse. Idris Elba even mentioned how diverse the night was after he took home two awards, in addition to other actors of color who won such as Viola Davis, Queen Latifah and the cast of “Orange is the New Black.” Also, as mentioned a few weeks back, my predictions are slowly becoming reality as Leonardo DiCaprio is finally being recognized for his strong, mature, substantial… acting skills.

Speaking of strong, mature and substantial, on Jan. 25, the construction crew that is working on Oregon State University’s football stadium renovation project came across a femur bone, likely from a mammoth. Breaking news: There’s finally been a real victory at OSU’s Reser Stadium!

More touchdowns were made when the department of anthropology at the university reported that there are dozens of bones and bone fragments in the relative area. They’re going to keep on keeping on with the digging and excavating in hopes of uncovering more ancient animal remains. This sounds like a big project; I suggest they work into the fall if needed. I mean, it wouldn’t make that much of a difference football-wise.

Something that would put a dent in the football world is the potential retirement of Sir Peyton Manning. The Denver Broncos quarterback spent his week fighting allegations made by Al Jazeera back in December about him taking Human Growth Hormone. The almost-40-year-old, which is 173 in football years, will be playing in Super Bowl 50, but who knows what’s to come after that.

Manning has been hinting at a possible end to his legendary NFL career since the HGH claims, and I say go for it. Let’s give some newbies a chance to throw the pigskin around since I’m sure Papa John’s and NationWide will stay on his side.

Let’s let the rookies do the football and the veterans do the politics. The incredibly well-equipped, experienced, très élégante and New York Times–endorsed Democratic goddess, Hillary Clinton, won the ever-important Iowa caucuses on Feb. 1 in a battle against Sen. Bernie Sanders. She slid her way onto home base without a grass stain in sight. There has been talk about a coin toss deciding her win, since she did pull in at only 0.3 percent over the Bern-meister, but I believe in fate, and fate was in Hill’s satin-soft hands Sunday night.

As for the GOP, Sen. Ted Cruz trumped Trump, while Sen. Marco Rubio is petting his kitty at home and holding his pinky to the corner of his mouth because of how well he did. Rubio’s camp is probably stoked about how popular he was, as bad girl Rihanna would say, “in a hopeless place.” Hillz and Rubes in the end – I’m calling it now.

Unlike this year’s Oscar nominations, the new Duck on campus is not #SoWhite.

– On Saturday, Jan. 23, a 1,000-pound bronze monument of our school mascot was revealed to a crowd of eager spectators. The big Duck debut kicked off, or tipped off in this case, a day of exciting Oregon basketball where school spirit was abuzz. From Otis Day making an appearance during halftime to the Pit Crew, well, being the Pit Crew to playing the fight song for the reveal, Matt Knight was a spectacle. After the men’s basketball team got their selfies in with the new Duck, they then went on to play UCLA. All the baskets, rebounds and field goals the Ducks scored contributed to a victory over the Bruins with a final score of 86-72.

Warning: more sports ahead!

– Earlier in the week, on Thursday, Jan. 21, men’s basketball played a warm-up match against the USC. With a solid 89-81 win, the Trojans had to ride off in their wooden horse with the feeling of defeat. Their treacherous ways did not come in handy this time (see Greek mythology for reference).

– Other sports were positively active this week as well. On Friday, Jan. 22, women’s basketball said ‘no’ to losing anymore games and beat Colorado, 59-46. The Lady Ducks continued to win over the weekend on Sunday with 77 big ones to Utah’s mere 65. And to commemorate the start of the Australian Open, women’s tennis was the underdog in a battle against Virginia Tech and came out with a big fat W. This was a significant win for the team since it was ranked No. 60 and V-Tech was No. 30 – ouch. But they have snow to go back to in Virginia, so no hard feelings.

– Another team going home with a disheartening “L” is the New England Patriots, who lost 20-18 in the AFC Championship game on SNF (Sunday Night Football, duh). The Brady Bunch was sent home packing and Deflategate II is a no-go. The Denver Broncos will be one half of Super Bowl 50, while the Carolina Panthers will make up the rest of the Feb. 7 feast after their 49-15 slaying of the Arizona Cardinals. Broncos, Panthers, Bey and Coldplay will see you in two Sundays at 3:30 p.m. sharp.

– UCLA and USC weren’t the only two entities visiting the PNW this past week from So-Cal. My least favorite part about Pitch Perfect 2, Hailee Steinfeld, came to visit her bff, a freshman at UO, for the weekend. Not that this is important news to me personally, but this was a common topic running many people’s conversations the last few days. If I haven’t lost your attention, feel free to waste time looking through Steinfeld‘s Instagram page. You’ll see the “woes in the dirty eug,” as she captions one of her pictures, doing “Eug” things, aka Voodoo Doughnut and Taylor’s. Sew kewl.

– I’ll take “Things that are insignificant” again for 200, Alex. The recent allegiance formed between two of the most disappointing humans on Earth, Donald Trumpet and Sarah Fail-in, as my seven-year-old cousin calls them, is both comical and good for, let’s say it together, my girl, Hillary. Last Tuesday, Jan. 19, all I could think the moment Palin announced her endorsement of Trump was, I should’ve seen this coming. The dynamic-duo Trump and Palin make for an unfortunate political statement, but do so much good for the world of comedy. This video of Tina Fey doing what she does best, her spot-on Palin impression, makes my heart happy.

– This video comes in handy with all of the other things going on in the world that might make your heart cry. On Wednesday, Jan. 20, students of Bacha Khan University in Charsadda, Pakistan experienced a mass-shooting that left at least 20 people dead and around 50 others injured. The university is located just 86 miles from the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, and it has been confirmed that students were the gunmen’s specific targets. All four of the shooters were killed by army officials. The attack wasn’t carried out on accident; it was strategically planned out by one faction of the Pakistan Taliban, Dara Adma Khel, and was highly condemned by the man known as the chief (or something) of the national Taliban group, Fazlullah. All educational institutions in the city of Charsadda will remain closed until Jan. 31.

When I walk into Starbucks today, I really don’t have any decisions to make. My go-to pick-me-up is a grandé Pike’s Place with room for cream, and when I’m asked for my name, without hesitation, I spell out “Negina.”

There was a time when a trip to Starbucks raised my anxiety levels to the point where decaf was all I could handle. I hated getting a paper cup with “Nigini,” “Regina,” “Nikina” or any other variation written on it. I hated hearing my name, which translates to a precious jewel, be butchered to the point of female genitalia.

That’s when I became Nicki one day, Nellie the next and finally, Natasha.

It wasn’t just Starbucks where I’d muddle my identity just to make things easier. At the bowling alley, on the Internet and even abroad, “Negina” was rarely the name I would tell people. I wasn’t ashamed of my traditional Persian name – it was just the opposite. I became possessive over it and didn’t find everyday situations worthy enough for me to reveal my sacred name to others.

Now that I’ve gotten over that, I’m comfortable enough to correct people if they say my name wrong. I don’t mind taking the time to explain my name’s cultural background, and I don’t feel the need to be anyone but “Negina.”

Other people who live in the United States with non-traditional American names go through the same cognitive conflict as I did a few years ago. One community of individuals on campus who often need to make this decision of whether or not to use their real names or adopt a new one while in the States are international students.

For UO senior Jenny Zhang, Americanizing her name meant more to her than just making life easier on non-native Chinese speakers.

“My Chinese name is Ren and it actually ‘means to be tough,’ so a lot of people think it’s a boy’s name,” Zhang said. “I liked ‘Jenny’ so much because when I spell it in Chinese, the characters are so much more girly than ‘Ren’ and I think it fits me more as a female. That’s always something I’ve wanted in my name, more femininity.”

Ever since her middle school English class in Tian Jin, China, the accounting student felt she identified so strongly with the name “Jenny” that she eventually took it on full-time.

“The first time I used ‘Jenny’ outside of school was after I graduated from college and I was at a bar,” Zhang said. “I met this guy from France and he asked me for my name. I thought, maybe I shouldn’t give him my real name because it’s so boyish, so I just blurted, ‘Jenny!’ We ended up dating for three years after that and he continued to use ‘Jenny,’ like everyone else, even though I told him my real name.”

Unlike Zhang, other students with non-English names don’t feel the need to take on a more American name. UO architecture senior Abdulhadi Almumen has gone by a shortened version of his name, Hadi, for the entire duration of his time in the States.

“I think Hadi is pretty easy to pronounce since it doesn’t have any of the difficult Arabic letters like other names do, and because I was named after my grandpa, I’m really proud of it,” Almumen said.

Changing a name to be a more Westernized title often happens because of the ease-factor that comes with it. For Middle Easterners especially in the world today, an English name could mean more comfort in places where racial biases are apparent.

Fortunately for Almumen, throughout his time in Eugene thus far, he has yet to feel pressure from society to give up his Arabic name for reasons of intolerance.

“When it comes to racial profiling and Arab names, everyone in the U.S. has been really nice to me,” Almumen said. “I don’t feel like people treat me with any stereotypes for being Arab or for having a traditional name. It’s more like they see me and treat me the way I do them, which I totally respect.”

Zhang’s switch to an American name carried importance to her because of its significance to her identity as a woman. For Almumen, his name also feeds into his identity, but in the sense of it being both a familial tie and a symbol of his Arabic heritage.

The Dammam, Saudi Arabia native has made it known that he will definitely name his children with traditional names, similar to his own, in the future.

Aside from a few days in Washington D.C. a few years back, I had never traveled to the northeast United States until this past winter break. I’ve always known that America is full of sub-cultures within its 50 states, but the divisions didn’t actually become apparent until I got the chance to experience life outside of Oregon.

My home bases for the eight days were Philadelphia, Washington D.C. and New York City, but I did get to see bits of the in-between states while traveling from one place to the next. The cities were as unique as their people – and I know a lot can’t be derived from a short trip like mine, but here, I share with you my impressions of how the East Coast differs from life in Oregon.

There is much more of an ethnic mix on the East that you unfortunately don’t see much of in Oregon. Granted, this has a lot to do with the history of these places, which was really interesting to see in person. In Philadelphia, for example, the dominant ethnicities were Caucasian, African-American and Italian-American. If you look at Boston, there is the huge presence of Irish-Americans, which again, shows how much of an impact historical settlements made and continue to make.

There is a pool of varying cultures, but I noticed that it’s not always a melting pot. There seems to be a lot of division amongst the different ethnic demographics and sub-cultures. I’d come across a stretch of blocks that screamed “Little Italy” on one end of town, then another that was mainly African-American for miles. It’s not like the communities don’t interact – many people explained to me that the neighborhoods have always just been this way.

I noticed how a lot of people still hold onto traditions that date back to colonial times and further. That was one really fascinating aspect to East Coast culture for me: the fact that these are the cities that founded the U.S. and you can physically see traces of this.

One custom I saw for the first time was a single candle in people’s windows. While driving through residential areas in Pennsylvania, Delaware and Virginia, large houses, historical estates, small apartments and sometimes businesses have an electric candle lit up in their windows. At night, one candle’s glow after the next gave our treks through the windy roads a mysterious and chilling feeling, yet an inviting familial sense too. The history of this specific tradition goes back to colonial times when people wanted nomads and soldiers to know that they are welcome in the candlelit homes.

Because there is so much history in these eastern states, not only is sightseeing worth it, but it’s fascinating because, there were so many instances where I got to meet people who have lineage tracing back to Civil War soldiers or whose grandparents’ grandparents were alive during periods of slavery. Then there are the “old money” families who are living off of money that was made centuries ago. The right last name could really take someone far in areas of the East Coast.

People are frank. Again, this is a generalization and based off of a few interactions I had here and there over my travels, but people on the East Coast seem to be a lot more honest and straightforward with everyone. Small talk doesn’t seem to be welcomed with open arms as it is in Oregon. I witnessed a handful of tiffs and brawls that were seen as completely normal by locals. There is sass every which way. But to my own surprise, I appreciated this boldness.

And lastly the food, I gave up looking for good Mexican food, but that wasn’t an issue because of all the other delicious options on the East Coast. Basic foods that we’ve been eating in the U.S. forever now like pizza, hotdogs, pretzels and subs (or hoagies as they call them), taste so much better from the old joints and street carts I came across. It’s no joke when a New Yorker says, “A crappy slice of pizza in NYC is better than a slice anywhere else.”

When I heard that Instagram filter names are gaining popularity as names for babies, I wondered if parents were becoming more hip or just lazy.

– The famous parenting site, BabyCenter, released their list of most popular baby names for 2015 based off data that was gathered from more than 340,000 parents around the world. Two interesting tidbits that came out of their findings were that Instagram filter names like Lux, Ludwig and Kelvin for boys, and Juno, Valencia and Willow for girls, jumped higher on the list compared to last year. Lux, for example, rose 75 percent since 2014 in popularity. It seems like parents are really being influenced by mainstream media these days, and it doesn’t stop with Instragram. Other names that made a big leap on the website’s list this year are from the show Empire, which debuted in January of this year. The name Royalty jumped 88 percent in popularity for girls, while Dre went up by 77 percent and Lyon by 61 for boys. All of this makes me feel a lot less self-conscious about my own name. Go, millennial parents!

– Some names that weren’t so popular for babies this year, but did make an impression in Paris, France this week included Leonardo (DiCaprio), Al (Gore), Sean (Penn) and Arnold (Schwarzenegger). These celebrities along with over a hundred of the world’s most powerful leaders are still hashing out a climate plan at COP21, as I mentioned last week. The UN conference for climate change will go on for seven more days, which should end with a solid agreement for action by the attendees. Snapchat had a story going for the events at COP21 last week and it looked like the opposite of what I think of when I hear the words “climate” and “conference” together. Celebrity headliners, cycling for cellphone charge and smoothies, parades of bikes and recycled art galleries – Sounds more like Coachella round two than climate talks. I myself am feeling a little FOMO for not being there.

– As Paris is seeing some positive action this week, the same can’t be said for San Bernardino, California. Another violent massacre occurred in the U.S. This time, leaving 14 dead and 21 wounded. On Wednesday, Dec. 2, husband and wife Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik were identified as the shooters who were both killed after a shootout with police. Conversations about gun violence have rightfully taken center-stage because of these events, along with the topic of ISIS and if this was an act of terror or not. The NYT reported that the investigation of Farook and Malik was refocused after authorities found extensive arsenal in their home, a recent visit of theirs to the Middle East and that Malik was found to have an open allegiance to ISIS and other Islamist extremists within the U.S. and abroad.

– Who knows what will happen with American gun laws? Republicans in Senate (dimwittedly) shot down a Democratic gun control proposal last Thursday, which would’ve stopped people who are on the terror watch list from buying firearms and it would’ve intensified background checks. The GOP argued that reform within mental health would prevent all these mass shootings from happening. My question is, why can’t we have both? I think The NYT’s Editorial Board feels similarly. An column was published last week on the paper’s front page for the first time since 1920. And rightfully so, since it was an opinion piece on how illogical and immoral the U.S.’s gun laws are.

– From southern California to our own campus, guns made several unwanted appearances this week. Fortunately, nobody at UO was killed, but two separate armed robberies were reported on Saturday morning, Dec. 5. The people involved in both incidents described similar suspects who police are still searching for. Earlier in the week, we were alerted about another campus crime about a student who said she was attacked near Hamilton Hall on 13th Street. Lessons to be learned: everyone should have some pepper spray or an alternative on them at all times; don’t be hanging out outside by yourself during the early hours of the morning ever; have 9-1-1 dialed on your phone and ready to call if you are walking alone late at night; keep your eye out for the big blue emergency buttons around campus.

Please stay safe, UO, and enjoy your vacation time. More news will be pond(ered) over next term – make sure to stay afloat until then!

When I heard that Instagram filter names are gaining popularity as names for babies, I wondered if parents were becoming more hip or just lazy.

– The famous parenting site, BabyCenter, released their list of most popular baby names for 2015 based off data that was gathered from more than 340,000 parents around the world. Two interesting tidbits that came out of their findings were that Instagram filter names like Lux, Ludwig and Kelvin for boys, and Juno, Valencia and Willow for girls, jumped higher on the list compared to last year. Lux, for example, rose 75 percent since 2014 in popularity. It seems like parents are really being influenced by mainstream media these days, and it doesn’t stop with Instragram. Other names that made a big leap on the website’s list this year are from the show Empire, which debuted in January of this year. The name Royalty jumped 88 percent in popularity for girls, while Dre went up by 77 percent and Lyon by 61 for boys. All of this makes me feel a lot less self-conscious about my own name. Go, millennial parents!

– Some names that weren’t so popular for babies this year, but did make an impression in Paris, France this week included Leonardo (DiCaprio), Al (Gore), Sean (Penn) and Arnold (Schwarzenegger). These celebrities along with over a hundred of the world’s most powerful leaders are still hashing out a climate plan at COP21, as I mentioned last week. The UN conference for climate change will go on for seven more days, which should end with a solid agreement for action by the attendees. Snapchat had a story going for the events at COP21 last week and it looked like the opposite of what I think of when I hear the words “climate” and “conference” together. Celebrity headliners, cycling for cellphone charge and smoothies, parades of bikes and recycled art galleries – Sounds more like Coachella round two than climate talks. I myself am feeling a little FOMO for not being there.

– As Paris is seeing some positive action this week, the same can’t be said for San Bernardino, California. Another violent massacre occurred in the U.S. This time, leaving 14 dead and 21 wounded. On Wednesday, Dec. 2, husband and wife Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik were identified as the shooters who were both killed after a shootout with police. Conversations about gun violence have rightfully taken center-stage because of these events, along with the topic of ISIS and if this was an act of terror or not. The NYT reported that the investigation of Farook and Malik was refocused after authorities found extensive arsenal in their home, a recent visit of theirs to the Middle East and that Malik was found to have an open allegiance to ISIS and other Islamist extremists within the U.S. and abroad.

– Who knows what will happen with American gun laws? Republicans in Senate (dimwittedly) shot down a Democratic gun control proposal last Thursday, which would’ve stopped people who are on the terror watch list from buying firearms and it would’ve intensified background checks. The GOP argued that reform within mental health would prevent all these mass shootings from happening. My question is, why can’t we have both? I think The NYT’s Editorial Board feels similarly. An column was published last week on the paper’s front page for the first time since 1920. And rightfully so, since it was an opinion piece on how illogical and immoral the U.S.’s gun laws are.

– From southern California to our own campus, guns made several unwanted appearances this week. Fortunately, nobody at UO was killed, but two separate armed robberies were reported on Saturday morning, Dec. 5. The people involved in both incidents described similar suspects who police are still searching for. Earlier in the week, we were alerted about another campus crime about a student who said she was attacked near Hamilton Hall on 13th Street. Lessons to be learned: everyone should have some pepper spray or an alternative on them at all times; don’t be hanging out outside by yourself during the early hours of the morning ever; have 9-1-1 dialed on your phone and ready to call if you are walking alone late at night; keep your eye out for the big blue emergency buttons around campus.

Please stay safe, UO, and enjoy your vacation time. More news will be pond(ered) over next term – make sure to stay afloat until then!