When the Civil War got really close, all I could imagine were the little Eugene ducks throwing quacking tantrums and the beavers around Oregon nervously chomping on bits of wood.

Last week was very bird-filled as we gobbled all through Thursday, then quacked up a storm on Friday. The Civil War game was a wood-chomper to say the least that involved high stress levels after halftime – this is where I blame Matt Leinart for his excessively chipper attitude towards Oregon coming out on top. UO got the W in the end despite the jinx, and Leinart apologized for the little faith he had in Oregon State.

A couple NFL bird-teams also had wins this week, among which were the Seattle Seahawks who beat the Pittsburg Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals who dominated the San Francisco 49ers during Sunday Night Football. Unfortunately for a not-so-chipper Chip Kelly, his Philadelphia Eagles suffered from a pretty big defeat against the Detroit Lions, 14-45, on Thanksgiving Day. Cue all the sad fans eating away their feelings, one inhale of mashed potatoes at a time. Better luck next week, boys, when you play against the Cheetahs – also known as the Brady Bunch, also known as the New England Patriots.

As for Thanksgiving next year, the Eugene community will have another expensive option to get their groceries from. If you haven’t noticed, a 33,750-square-foot Whole Foods Market is being built at the corner of E. Broadway Ave. and High St. Its opening was delayed six months to fall of 2016. It was planned for it to open earlier next year, but late this summer, workers thought they came across some historical artifacts on site. They got an archaeological excavation permit back in September from the Oregon State Historic Preservation Office and everything. Anti-climactically, the only thing they found was an old brick – a very old brick that dated back to the 1880s. After getting the news, Dan Giustina, the property’s owner and local businessman, said something like, “Forget century-old artifacts and build on!”

Giustina voiced his opinion, and now it’s your turn with course evaluations! It’s time to either be your silent-self, where you just click through the online surveys to get your grades on time, or be passive aggressive and rant anonymously about your instructors, or you can actually be effective and give your teachers helpful feedback AND sign your name. Just a reminder, if you don’t sign your evaluations, your instructors and professors will not read your written comments. I think everyone should do the third option. If your teachers have been great – let them know. If they’ve made you contemplate getting a refund and scratching your eyeballs out every class – do us all a favor and comment accordingly. All evaluations are due by 7 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 7.

Now, let us go global. For the next two weeks, 120 world leaders will be discussing things in Paris, France. By “120 world leaders” I mean the big leagues: President Obama, German Chancellor Merkel, Chinese President Xi Jinping and 117 others. And by “things” I mean an international climate change plan. If their goal is met at the summit and a solid plan is birthed, then it would be the first time ever where the entire world will finally come together for the environmental crisis that we’re facing. Also, Paris – quoi? Leaders decided not to cancel or move the UN conference because of the terrorist attacks that occurred a few weeks back. As a result, security is strong and a lot of conference events were cancelled. None of this stopped demonstrations from happening, though. People in Paris and throughout the world marched and rallied to put more pressure on the world’s leaders to come up with a concrete plan to fight global warming. Yay, activism! Boo, that 200 people were arrested after clashing with riot police.

Freedom! We Americans got a little more breathing space once midnight struck Saturday night, Nov. 28, and an eerie dial tone was all the NSA heard on its end. The NSA phone surveillance program that started after 9/11 (and that we only found out about because of Edward Snowden) came to a halt after Congress said so. Now, the NSA can only get phone activity information of certain targeted people, whatever that means. I guess this can all be taken as both good and bad. We do get more privacy, but does this mean life just got a little less safe? I’ll leave you with that.

Most of my friends, classmates and colleagues whom I’ve interacted with on campus over the last three years have a vision for what they want to do in life. Some of these ideas are more general than others, but somehow, everyone wants to make an impact on the world.

There’s the environmental studies major who wants to teach the basics of sustainability to kids in school. There’s the one studying international studies who plans to go to law school to eventually practice immigration law and legally represent minority populations. There’s the human physiology major who sees a future in physical therapy, specifically with older populations. There’s even the business major who vaguely foresees traveling and participating in the world’s economy.

Whatever our passions and areas of focus may be, by some means, the work we do later in life will make some sort of impression on the world. Many will decide to leave a larger mark than others, but what I think is most important is to create action with our plans, no matter how small and insignificant it might be.

I see people holding back on their ideas and keeping their passions cooped up inside of them because of the safety net we often fall back on, which is this concept of “long-term.” But why can’t some long-term goals become short-term?

We don’t need to hold back our ideas out of fear or laziness — we can creatively take action.

Now, this isn’t your usual “how-to” list that’s fit for future-you. This is some “how-to” advice fit for present-you. For the you that’s about to get out of bed, close out of Netflix, fold your computer, unplug it from the charger since it has full battery, dust the crumbs off your chest, put some pants on and feel stimulated. Allow this list to serve as an uplifting and energy-inducing agent that lets you see the endless possibilities of the world.

Here are some ways to instantly and creatively act on big-picture ideas.

– Art. Art comes in many forms, as do our plans in life. Making pieces personal and representative of what or whom you stand for isn’t too hard. Many felt the need to make visual statements after momentous events, like the Arab Spring. Its vision for a more peaceful world shined through in its street art approach. Another example of a popular public art movement is the anonymous Banksy. But art isn’t necessarily paintings, drawings or graffiti. The concept of art as action could occur through text and music too. So many people find escape through written art, though you can deliver the message you want to be heard and find power in words.

– Research and education. Since we’re in school already, why not make an issue or a cause that you’re passionate about be the subject of a class assignment? The work you put into researching this topic and immersing yourself into the fundamentals and history of it, you are: a) gaining a deeper understanding of something you want to act on, b) getting your schoolwork done and c) equipping yourself with information to pass on to others.

– Organized groups. You can start small with this. The University of Oregon houses more than 200 student clubs and organizations that are there for you to join. From the environment, to LGBTQA matters, to multicultural topics and politics, there are a number of categories that you can find your passion within. If you don’t, start your own group! Or, go bigger. Reach out to Eugene’s regional community for topic-specific organizations. Since we belong to a very vocal, liberal city, it will be easier to find groups that tend to lean left. If the Eugene bubble feels suffocating rather than inspiring, this is when national and international efforts are worth looking into and joining. Many large scale organizations have smaller sectors sprinkled around the country — you just have to find them.

– Dialogue. Your grade school teachers weren’t wrong when they said you’d feel better if you just talk things through. It’s true. Find ways and pockets of people to discuss the topics that don’t make their way into everyday small talk. So many issues that we want to take action on, to help people or things to not suffer, are often difficult or unsettling to talk about with others. But comfortable or not, creating spoken word about the things in life you are most passionate about will raise awareness and create an impactful dialogue, nonetheless.

Most of the friends, classmates and colleagues whom I’ve interacted with on campus over the last three years have a vision for what they want to do in life. Some of these ideas are more general than others, but somehow, everyone wants to make an impact on the world.

There’s the environmental studies major who wants to teach the basics of sustainability to kids in school. There’s the one studying international studies who plans to go to law school to eventually practice immigration law and legally represent minority populations. There’s the human physiology major who sees a future in physical therapy, specifically with older populations. There’s even the business major who vaguely foresees traveling and participating in the world’s economy.

Whatever our passions and areas of focus may be, by some means, the work we do later in life will make some sort of impression on the world. Many will decide to leave a larger mark than others, but what I think is most important is to create action with our plans, no matter how small and insignificant it might be.

I see people holding back on their ideas and keeping their passions cooped up inside of them because of the safety net we often fall back on, which is this concept of “long-term.” But why can’t some long-term goals become short-term?

We don’t need to hold back our ideas out of fear or laziness — we can creatively take action.

Now, this isn’t your usual how-to list that’s fit for future-you. This is some advice fit for present-you — for the you that’s about to get out of bed, close out of Netflix, fold your computer, unplug it from the charger since it has full battery, dust the crumbs off your chest and put some pants on. Allow this list to serve as an uplifting and energy-inducing agent that lets you see the endless possibilities of the world.

Here are some ways to instantly and creatively act on big-picture ideas:

– Art. Art comes in many forms, as do our plans in life. Making pieces personal and representative of what or whom you stand for isn’t too hard. Many felt the need to make visual statements after momentous events, like the Arab Spring. Its vision for a more peaceful world shined through in its street art approach. Another example of a popular public art movement is the anonymous Banksy. But art isn’t necessarily paintings, drawings or graffiti. The concept of art as action could occur through text and music too. So many people find escape through written art, though you can deliver the message you want to be heard and find power in words.

– Research and education. Since we’re in school already, why not make an issue or a cause that you’re passionate about be the subject of a class assignment? With the work you put into researching this topic and immersing yourself into the fundamentals and history of it, you are: a) gaining a deeper understanding of something you want to act on, b) getting your schoolwork done and c) equipping yourself with information to pass on to others.

– Organized groups. You can start small with this. The University of Oregon houses more than 200 student clubs and organizations that are there for you to join. From the environment, to LGBTQA matters, to multicultural topics and politics, there are a number of categories that you can find to be passionate about. If you don’t, start your own group! Or, go bigger. Reach out to Eugene’s regional community for topic-specific organizations. Since we belong to a very vocal, liberal city, it will be easier to find groups that tend to lean left. If the Eugene bubble feels suffocating rather than inspiring, this is when national and international efforts are worth looking into and joining. Many large-scale organizations have smaller sectors sprinkled around the country — you just have to find them.

– Dialogue. Your grade school teachers weren’t wrong when they said you’d feel better if you just talk things through. It’s true. Find ways and pockets of people to discuss the topics that don’t make their way into everyday small talk. So many issues that we want to take action on, to help people or things to not suffer, are often difficult or unsettling to talk about with others. But comfortable or not, creating spoken word about the things in life you are most passionate about will raise awareness and create an impactful dialogue.

When I see the number of U.S. governors who are against Syrian refugees entering their states, I wonder if their Thanksgiving turkeys will be a little harder to swallow this year given the holiday’s history.

– The U.S. federal government passed a bill last Thursday, Nov. 19, that says if Syrian refugees want to enter America, they’ll have to go through an extensive process unlike what any other refugee population has had to do in America’s history. This legislation was rushed through the House as a result of the terrorist attacks in Paris a couple weeks ago, and because of the disunion among U.S. governors about the subject, 31 governors, 30 of which are Republican, have said they will not welcome Syrian refugees into their states out of fear that some may be or have relations with terrorists.

So, the U.S. isn’t closing its borders to refugees from Syria, but the government is making the whole vetting process a lot more vigorous and drawn out for them. Imagine filling out your FAFSA applications in January, and then waiting until May for word from the university. Now, drag that out to an 18-to-24-month process. But instead, you’re not waiting to receive your financial aid award package. For most refugees, they will be waiting on information about where and how they will live for the rest of their lives.

– Many UO students who support Syrian refugees resettling in the U.S. plan to show their solidarity in a rally on Monday, Nov. 30 at 2 p.m. outside of Lillis. The event is being organized by two student groups, Global Zero and UO Beyond War, who share interests in overlapping causes. And there I was two months ago, complaining about the lack of a student activism culture on our campus. It’s great to see how in just the last couple weeks, our UO community has stood up for important issues that needed to be heard.

– About being heard, UO President Michael Schill told a full room at Global Scholars Hall last Friday, Nov 20, that he is listening. “Lessons from Mizzou: A Campus Conversation” was a way for the president to respond to last week’s rally that showed solidarity for the University of Missouri and its ongoing issues with racism in the last few years. This week’s conversation was headed with a talk by Schill in which he addressed the obstacles that minority students and staff face on campus. He went on to say he is hopeful to meet the demands proposed by the UO community for racial equity, including the 12-item list drafted by the Black Student Task Force.

– We demand equal rights across race, ethnicity, gender and sexuality on our campus, and we demand Chipotle! EMU Renovation Manager Daniel Geiger says that Chipotle is expected to open on Jan. 24, 2016. Also in the Fishbowl area, Subway and Joe’s Burgers will be available. Geiger believes these two eateries could possibly open before the end of fall term in December. The overall construction of the EMU is not too far off schedule and has been under budget for the most part, which the renovation team has been very happy about. Because of the financial budge-room, Geiger was pleased that they could add to the revamp in extra ways, both with aesthetics and the sustainability of the building.

– For the students and staff who will be here next year and beyond that, get excited. Along with new places to eat, the EMU Expansion and Renovation project will bring a new Student Wing for people to take advantage of during their off-time from classes. The offices for ASUO and other student organizations and programs will finally be in one place again. And despite the discouraged car-culture on campus, the new EMU layout allows for 250 parking spots right in the heart of campus. Part of this parking will have meters for anyone to use, and the rest will be used as event parking.

For anyone who’s just itching to see what’s been done so far, the EMU renovation crew gives tours every Tuesday at 4 p.m. These hardhat tours are open to anyone a part of the UO community — groups on campus can even schedule separate times for private tours. Sign up happens at the EMU Administration Office. If you want to keep your toes out of harm’s way, make sure you wear close shoes during the tour.

When I heard that Friendly Hall was another building on campus that was named after a Ku Klux Klan member who donated to the school in the 19th century, I thought, well, that’s ironic and unnecessary.

– Last week, the Black Women of Achievement group, and other UO student organizations, put together a demonstration to show UO’s solidarity with the University of Missouri, in addition to other college campuses across the U.S. Schools stood in support of the #BlackLivesMatter cause, and in general, for marginalized people within American colleges. Efforts were aimed to shed light on concerns of campus safety, academic diversity and advancement and the educations of students of color. The events began with a speech by Harvard professor and racial justice advocate, Charles Ogletree, which was followed by around 500 students marching from the Ford Alumni Center to Johnson Hall. Outside of Johnson Hall was where individual testimonies were given by people who have experienced and witnessed discrimination before. There was a moment of silence as well for all the Black lives that have been lost as a direct result of racism. And boy, was it chilling. I was there this portion of the rally, which made me proud to see my peers stand up for something so significant.

– Also on Thursday, international tragedy hit when Islamic State bombs struck Lebanon’s capital of Beirut, killing 43 individuals. One day following, the world saw a Friday the 13th like no other. In Baghdad, Iraq, a funeral ceremony was the target of another IS bomb. Aimed at the Iraqi Shiites who attended the funeral. The bomb took 19 lives. And the disaster that flooded our TVs and social media feeds over the weekend was the six-scene attack in Paris, France. A total of 132 people were killed and over 350 were left injured. The Islamic State took responsibility of these City of Light events as well.

– Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat were full of controversy, more than usual, because of the catastrophes that took place around the world. There were people who showed their sadness, support and solidarity with the Paris victims by adding a filter of the French flag to their profile pictures. Others posted old vacation pictures from the touristic city with captions of grief. There was also a common symbol of recognition that circulated my news feeds, which was of a peace sign with the Eiffel Tower as the center.

Then, there were others, like myself, online who were angered and disappointed by the Internet public who only erupted because of what happened in Paris. People from various backgrounds, not just Arabs and Muslims, asked the world why is it that mainstream media and the general public don’t care when tragedy hits a non-European country, like Lebanon or Iraq. Back in April, a Kenyan university experienced a massacre of 147 people at the hands of Somali militants, but did we hear about that? People having “selective grief” and a limited definition of “humanity” angered so many that articles and poems on this crookedness went viral.

– Our academic week 7 was a heavy one with so many powerful and tragic events all happening at the same time, both locally and internationally. To make all your hearts feel a little lighter and happier, our boy, Marcus Mariota, was awarded AFC Offensive Player of the Week for his performance in the Tennessee Titans versus New Orleans Saints game. Super Mariota’s Titans were victorious with a 34-28 overtime win. Congratulations for the your victory, Titans, and for the fact that your games are actually being watched this season.

– More good sports things happened: the Ducks had a big win on Saturday night against no. 7 Stanford. It was an action-packed game and a nail-biter to the end. Our 38-36 win resulted in our getting a little number by our name – we are finally a ranked team again at no. 23 in the AP polls. Among all the game excitement, I couldn’t help but wonder why exactly is Stanford’s mascot a tree? After doing some research, it isn’t. They are the Stanford Cardinals – where “Cardinal” is their team name, which refers to the red school color. The Stanford Tree, however, is a member of the university’s marching band, and has become the unofficial mascot since a movement in the ‘70s that got rid of the old school mascot: the Indians. Good on you, Native American students and staff, who said “no” to cultural appropriation. Come on, Washington Redskins – I think it’s well past your time to change it up.

Although I grew up in a bilingual household, I still live a life of duality where it’s English and American culture outside, and Farsi and Afghan culture at home with my family. But living my childhood with two languages and two cultures didn’t stop me from experiencing a long future of international studies. How I was raised has since motivated me to take on two more languages, French and Arabic, because I’ve seen and experienced the value of being able to easily switch from one language to another and adapt from one culture to the next without hesitation.

However, the reality is that many people don’t grow up with this ingrained multilingualism as I did. But this doesn’t mean they’re not capable of taking on the challenge of studying a new language or two. In the U.S. especially, being able to speak only English is the norm, and those who can comprehend another language are often seen to have this exoticism about them. I think this is the case because traditional language learning in American schools has always seemed tedious and intimidating. Students see all the books on grammar and lists of vocabulary that they believe they need to memorize to be able to hold a conversation. They view native speakers of these foreign languages as saints who have been blessed with an unfair advantage in life because they are able to speak something other than English. This daunting system and mindset has led so many people to feel discouraged about pursuing any sort of future in language studies.

Research done by the Modern Language Association shows a decline in American college students studying a foreign language from 2009 to 2013. Before 2009, there was a jump in language enrollment, but I think it was the financial crisis that we experienced six years ago that made people want to study within the fields that are known to guarantee high-paying jobs, usually excluding liberal art degrees. At the University of Oregon specifically, the most popular majors have consistently been within Bachelors of Science, degrees that don’t require any foreign language studies.

What people often overlook is that knowing a second or third language actually provides you with more career opportunities and gives you an edge to employers that many don’t have. Director of the University of Oregon’s Yamada Language Center, Jeff Magoto, sees a great advantage to studying a language, no matter people’s degree or career choice.

“There’s no job in the world today that doesn’t have a global implication, and if you are going to be globally minded, that requires the knowledge of at least one other language,” Magoto said. “This doesn’t make learning a new language easier, but whatever image you may have from middle school or high school of language studying, that stereotype is no longer true at the U of O.”

With advancements in language studies, specifically within the university, studying a foreign tongue is becoming less of a linear hassle, and more of a rounded, enriching experience.

“I think what has changed in language classrooms is that they’ve become very student-centered, so your teacher is much more likely to ask you about what you’re interested in and design lessons around that than ever before,” Magoto said. “But I can certainly relate to people who find language learning difficult and expensive because for me, thirty years ago, the only thing that ultimately worked was going to the countries where the languages were spoken to learn anything of value.”

Coupling an abroad experience with the current academic system at UO makes becoming conversational, and eventually fluent, in a foreign language happen faster than before. Studying and living abroad definitely helps with solidifying your language skills, but it contributes to a much greater learning experience that is irreplaceable: learning a new culture.

Other than the professional gain that you can get with learning a foreign language, another huge benefit is being able to adopt a new way of living and thinking. We naturally separate ourselves from one another because of our differences, but studying an unknown language is one major way to bridge the gaps that keep us apart.

“Words like empathy and cross-cultural awareness get thrown around a lot, but they only really happen if you meet people from other places on a similar level, and that’s socially, politically and linguistically,” Magoto said. “If you can’t connect at all, with where they’re at language-wise, then there’s a big part of your lives that you can’t share or understand.”

Don’t fall behind in the race of popular culture both on campus and away from it. Stay up-to-date with what happened, what’s happening and what’s about to happen, through the lens of opinion columnist, Negina Pirzad in the first weekly installment of “The Sitch.”

When I heard Vernon Adams’ finger healed, I asked, “Can I get your digits?”

– It’s a rare time of year when the school football, soccer, volleyball and basketball teams are all having games at the same time. Seasons are overlapping, giving us more chances to support university athletics because they’re so neglected. But in reality, take a chance on a sport you haven’t gone to a game of yet, since it’s the perfect time to do so.

– The opening of Chipotle in the EMU could be interrupted by the mere 22 E. coli outbreaks that were traced back to the chain this past week, according to Oregon Health Authority. Only 43 of its restaurants in Oregon and Washington were closed because of it last Friday, so I think we can all agree that we still want our taco salads readily available at 13th and University. If Chipotle does grace us, the American-Mexican food will join forces with the American-Chinese cuisine from Panda Express and the American-vaguely-sourced-products that Starbucks offers, which will all help diversify our pallets, but keep us grounded as the Americans we are. The EMU will be full of authentic, cultural food from around the world.

– Halloweekend has come to an end. You can get rid of your fake blood-stained clothes. You can erase the memories of you or the guy dressed up as a frog being thrown out of Taylor’s. And you can kiss your optimism for being named best-dressed goodbye. The only costume that wins this year, according to our beloved POTUS, is Lil’ Pope. The almost-toddler dressed in all white, except for his bright red shoes, at the White House Halloween party on Friday. He even accessorized with a traditional mitre on his head and a popemobile to go along with it all.

– As someone who has yet to attend a Ducks After Dark film showing, I am ashamed. Their fall movie schedule is the (pitch) perfect mixture of quality, Oscar-nod films, i.e. Trainwreck, and comedies full of your favorite cameos, i.e. Mad Max: Fury Road. And minus the Mission Impossible slip a couple weeks back, this is a great way to spend a couple hours on a Thursday night, FOR FREE.

– Last call for fall photo shoots! Now that it’s November, winter is upon us and our fall scenery is on its way out. So before the trees strip down to their bland core, and before the leaves mold to the streets without any crunch-factor left in them, grab a friend; sport all your knits at the same time; and fall into a pile of leaves, praying that a squirrel might photobomb your pictures.

A few, key tourist spots to hit if you ever find yourself in New York City are the Museum of Modern Art in Midtown Manhattan and Madison Square Park located in Uptown. Once you finish browsing the Van Goughs and Picassos of MoMA, walking the infamous, urban park grounds, stopping by the museum eateries for lunch and grabbing a milkshake at the original Shake Shack afterwards are a must. You may have to take some time in the Uptown park to then recuperate from the day’s indulging, but you should feel accomplished to have eaten at some of the most famous places in NYC. You have also been helping fuel businesses that all belong to one man: Danny Meyer, CEO of the Union Square Hospitality Group.

This chief executive’s name has popped up in the news lately because of a policy that he is phasing into his New England restaurants. The new policy brings on two main changes. It bans customers from voluntarily tipping their servers and it raises menu prices. Instead of people leaving an extra amount of money for the waiters and waitresses who helped them, Meyer proposes a service charge instead – a standard fee that customers must pay on top of their increased meal costs. This system is being put to action in many joints around the U.S., and not only in Meyer-owned businesses, igniting a nationwide conversation about the way we Americans have always done things.

The discussion on tipping has gone back and forth for over a century now with people debating whether it is American to tip since we’ve always done it, or if it’s un-American because of the deep-seeded implications that come with it. The way I see it is that tipping creates a hierarchy between server and customer – a power dynamic that shouldn’t exist. Why should a hard worker have to depend on the customer for this extra bit of gratuity when studies show that the amounts people leave behind are completely random? Characteristics like race and gender play into how much someone tips more than a waiter’s actual serving performance, so the argument that tipping is an incentive for employees to work harder can be scratched.

The real motivation for servers to perform well should come from the establishments themselves. People like Meyer in New York and Yoon Shin in Eugene, owner of Sushi Station and Miso Japanese Restaurant, should pay their workers a more livable salary. It’s true that the cost of living in New York is a lot higher than in small-town Eugene, but pay equity, labor laws and the rising costs of today’s economy are becoming even harder to manage, especially when working for minimum wage.

Because of this rising cost of living, UO alum and Sushi Station waiter, Josh Adams, 22, doesn’t think restaurants in Eugene should get rid of traditional tipping, since he relies on the extra money.

“If I were to just get my minimum wage and that just be it, I would be living paycheck to paycheck with having to pay for rent, my bills and food,” Adams said. “Tips also motivate me to work harder. If they didn’t exist, I would still do my job but probably not as well, since my pay on its own is not really worth it.”

For Adams, one downside to relying on tips is that the sushi restaurant has a large international clientele, people who see tipping as a foreign concept. Adams finds himself constantly explaining the American system to his customers, hoping they grasp it.

“I have to run through this whole process more than you can imagine,” Adams said. “This entire concept that when we go out to a restaurant, we tip for service; we tip for good food; we tip for all these things that matter and make our experience in a restaurant more enjoyable is odd to a lot of those who are coming from abroad.”

In some cultures, tipping is even considered an insult, which are my thoughts exactly. Just the fact that Europeans are the ones who brought this idea of gratuity to America, then got rid of it themselves across the Atlantic shows that it is possible to phase out the tradition. But this transition doesn’t mean we need to tack on hospitality charges and up menu prices either – sorry, Danny. Instead, let’s fight for livable wages and see the disappearance of bad puns on tip jars and the end of tedious calculations after a meal.

As I browse the produce aisles of Safeway on 18th and Pearl Street, the only food I really have my eye out for is an avocado. It’s the creamy goodness I look forward to at every meal and the only fruit that I make single store trips for. I daydream about the fresh green slices that I’ll pair with my eggs in the morning and the too ripe ones that’ll turn into guacamole, all while I pick up one avocado after another, groping its widest point, seeing how deep my fingertips sink into the thick, glossy green skin. While I judge each fruit and pick out the ones I think are as close to perfect as possible, I can’t help but imagine the journey that avocados take to reach this exact Safeway I’m shopping at in Eugene, Oregon.

The store employee who was manning the produce department let me know that Safeway avocados are shipped through the distributor Charlie’s Produce and they either come from California or Mexico, but mostly Mexico. So I guess the “Avocados from Mexico” company and commercial that we all first saw during last year’s Super Bowl is true—my favorite fruit really does travel all the way from our neighboring country in the south and lands in grocery stores like this Safeway in the Pacific Northwest.

Now, I know that avocados aren’t people who can feel emotions and make their own decisions, but if they were, let’s just say, what an incredibly unfortunate way to live in their first few months of existing. They come for a better life, sure, where they will grace our supermarkets instead of roasting in the sun after falling from commercial avocado trees, but only to be used and often abused by Americans. The chosen ones are picked and packaged into crates to travel up north, while others that are bruised and unusable are left without opportunities.

And then there’s after the whole process. After the travelers make it into our stores, there’s more judging that happens with buyers. If they weren’t physically bruised when they came off those transporting trucks, emotional bruising is about to happen. Picked up and prodded, just as I did in Safeway this week, examined and contemplated, these avocados’ lives are determined for them by us. We, the American clientele, have control over the Mexican fruits and their futures. Their beauty and usefulness got them to the U.S., but at this point, it is the beginning of the end for them.

Whether they are picked up by a college student who neglects to turn them into anything, who let them rot away in their refrigerators along with moldy bread and a carton of milk they forgot to dump out, or they go home with a family of five who only wants them for a couple bowls of guacamole for Sunday Night Football, these avocados are finished for.

Mexican Avocados are food and they are devoured just as bananas from Costa Rica are and wheat from Ethiopia is, but the journeys these imported foods take often go unknown to consumers. I hold avocados very dear to my heart and I’ve developed an emotional attachment to them in recent years. Because of this, I felt the need to trace their origins and learn about their experiences before they make it onto a slice of Dave’s Killer Bread for my breakfast.

I think it’s worth it to see where the food we eat comes from and the conditions they are regulated under. So next time you’re at the grocery store, try to read a few labels and ask workers any questions you might have. Look up recipes to use your ingredients in the most delicious ways, and in the end, appreciate the food you’re able to come by.

It was April of 2015 when Clara Schneid took a chance on an organization and went to her first meeting with Global Zero: an international non-profit that focuses on the elimination of all nuclear weapons in the world.

The moment the meeting ended, Schneid deemed herself a Global Zero activist and enthusiast.

“I learned so much so quickly,” Schneid, who serves as UO Global Zero’s Action-Core leader now, said. “I knew that this cause was something I wasn’t going to let go, that I couldn’t ignore how much of an impact nuclear weapons have had on this world because it was so obviously important.”

Similar to Schneid’s adoption of an anti-nuclear mindset, for me, it was UO Beyond War that pulled at my personal ethics and emotions, and is now the basis of my passion to also work towards a more peaceful world without nuclear weapons.

Activism is not something that every college student gets involved in or exposed to. For someone to really invest their time and efforts into something effectively, it takes finding a certain cause along with developing a deep, personal connection to it.

I propose a cause for humankind: putting an end to nuclear programs around the world. I believe just about everyone, domestically and internationally, can find a deep, personal connection with this respective cause. Nuclear weapons are the reason for so many large-scale problems in the world, including past human and environmental genocide, as well as present power struggles and financial unrest.

The whole concept of nuclear arsenal was born during the Cold War era, and it all started with the U.S. in 1942 and the Manhattan Project, according to a timeline by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.

The world’s reaction to the Manhattan Project was to, in turn, create more nuclear artilleries and challenge that power.

Now, there have been movements in the past to ban certain types of nuclear testing and in specific places, and there have been other regional treaties that completely prohibit the production of these weapons, but the issue comes from the fact that they still exist. Thousands of lethal, chemical arsenals are in storage and others are on hair-trigger alert around the world.

“Hair-triggered weapons are probably of the highest concern since they can be detonated with the push of a button,” Schneid said. “They’re super instant, which leaves so much room for accidents to occur.”

People and human error, in general, are the source of all of the world’s problems, including the potential for nuclear warfare. Schneid and I both agree that the reason as to why we haven’t reached Global Zero yet is because of humans and their obsession with power.

As of October 2015, the Arms Control Association reported that there are roughly 16,000 nuclear warheads in the world – over 90 percent of which are said to belong to either Russia or the United States.

Therefore, it is crucial that our generation works to crack down on the topic of nuclear weapons, especially with it being an election year. It is important to understand candidates’ stances on this issue and hear their justifications.

“The cost and the positive alternatives of governmental funding that these candidates would control, I think, is a strong appeal for college students, in particular, to get involved with activism for a globally ‘Zero’ world,” Schneid said.

The idea of nuclear necessity is completely archaic and the U.S., for example, is at the point where it can either invest in updating and maintaining its atomic arsenal, or it can abolish it completely.

“Eliminating nuclear weapons does not mean eliminating power, and it doesn’t mean eliminating security or a means of safety,” Schneid said. “In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Without access to nuclear weapons, terrorists and terrorist groups have a lower likelihood of doing large amounts of damage. Meanwhile, without nuclear weapons, but rather more precise and logical military plans, procedures and weaponry, we would be a much more effective power source and have a stronger defensive program.”

To learn more about the fight against the presence of nuclear weaponry, reach out to UO students involved with Global Zero and Beyond War.

The two groups are coming together for a tri-series event this spring to break the silence about nuclear weapons and look at the issue from three separate angles – politically, humanitarianly and journalistically – with a knowledgeable panel to speak on each.

Events will be on April 20, 27 and May 4 at 7:15 p.m. Locations are yet to be determined.