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COLUMN | A campaign culture

By Sarah Little | Columnist | March 18

Involvement is popular and cool, even, which is a rarity. So how did it get like this? What makes Auburn different? SGA in Auburn has real power. The people in office do really matter, and can really make a change. This, in turn, encourages voters to feel like their votes and support make a difference too. Students want their voices to matter, and the voices they put in office can make huge differences.

COLUMN | The changing purpose of higher education

By James Dewberry | Columnist | March 18

Last year, Alabama passed the Alabama Act 2024-34 (SB 129), which bans not only DEI initiatives, but also "divisive concepts." The majority of these concepts concern race and sexuality in public education, including universities. Will universities continue to push for diversity of thought and method, or will education become an extension of the political climate of our country?

COLUMN | Let some figs rot

By Ally Northridge | Content Editor | March 16

Lately, my social media algorithm has been circling back to Sylvia Plath’s “The Bell Jar,” specifically her famous poem “The Fig Tree.” In the poem, Plath expands upon the seemingly endless choices in life — and how, with each decision, your path becomes more focused and equally more limited. These decisions can feel paralyzing, but I encourage you to read the poem and take its message to heart. Your future self will thank you if you let some figs rot.

COLUMN | The absurdity of censorship

By Hayes Blackstone | Columnist | March 4

Governmental censorship is on the rise in the West. Such a phenomenon raises some crucial questions: Is eradicating "hate speech" really possible, and who gets to define it? And is Western society strengthened or weakened by it?

COLUMN | Winter Olympics and selective neutrality

By Emily Boyle | Columnist | March 4

Amid the humorous incidents and competitive fun of this year's Winter Olympics, something more serious was going on in men's skeleton. Vladyslav Heraskevych, a skeleton athlete representing Ukraine, was disqualified after wanting to race in a helmet honoring 24 Ukrainian athletes and citizens who had died from the war with Russia. Even with the attention on Heraskevych this year not coming from a gold medal, his message lives past the competition.

COLUMN | The Creed speaks for itself

By Isabella Hidalgo | Columnist | March 2

The Auburn University Creed was published by the Auburn Plainsman on Jan. 21, 1944, around two months after George Petrie finished writing it. The originally published issue was brief: “We will not elaborate; the creed speaks for itself, powerfully.” The Creed's past and the people who carried it with them remain tremendously important to believing in Auburn and loving it. One such example is football coach Shug Jordan's role in one of the most strategic and costly assaults on the Axis occupation of Western Europe – and how he took Auburn with him.

COLUMN | Myths of Auburn University

By Logan Myers | Columnist | March 2

In its 170 years, Auburn has had a multitude of myths populate across campus, some more infamous than others. Nine of these have been compiled for your consumption, ranging from sports traditions to secret tunnels.

SATIRE | The last humanities professor

By James Dewberry | Columnist | February 25

In 170 years, Auburn University's only remaining English professor will retire.

COLUMN | ICE threatens our human rights

By Sam Gladden | Columnist | February 23

Operating fully funded and government-backed, U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is murdering American citizens, as well as detaining children and innocents in broad daylight. This goes beyond simple political affiliations. The divide between right and left is of no concern to ICE. Registered political party did not matter to them when killing Pretti or Good, not to mention their U.S. citizenship. Allegedly, this is of utmost importance to our government's administration.

COLUMN | The many names of Auburn University

By Chase Morgese | Columnist | February 23

Despite the University’s seemingly timeless charm, its many name changes illustrate a complex, frenetic history, which reveals just how young Auburn is in the context of its development. Nonetheless, when posterity looks back on history, it invariably finds that its ancestors tolerated — and often approved of — truly unconscionable behavior. Let us be the ones to set them right.

COLUMN | An ethical dilemma with true crime

By Emily Boyle | Columnist | February 18

If anyone today were to browse the contents of any news, streaming or podcast platform, it would not be long until some form of true crime media appeared. In our daily lives, we are undeniably surrounded by crime, and know or even experience detrimental effects that these can have. Witnessing the tragedies that happen to friends, family, neighbors and even ourselves is painful. It’s obvious to all of us that horrific crimes and the trauma related to them are nothing to take lightly. So why, then, can we not get enough?

COLUMN | I, too, dream a world

By Brychelle Brooks | Editor-in-Chief | February 16

The writing world of the past was full of political commentary, and in today's age, art and music have become a common avenue of political expression. However, while many have swapped typewriters for canvases and microphones, most have lost this in regular dialogue, claiming they're "not a political person." However, in a time of political uncertainty and unrest, we can always fall back on older texts. Langston Hughes' works, “I, Too” and “I Dream a World” both offer guidance on loving our fellow man. While I, myself, am not a poet, I undoubtedly will always have the courage to love my fellow man and accept we're all America.

COLUMN | How can you love what you don’t even know?

By Isabella Hidalgo | Columnist | February 13

Saying that you “love yourself” is nearly impossible if you don’t know anything about yourself. What you are essentially doing instead is enabling yourself to be the most convenient version possible. 

COLUMN | Art as a coping mechanism

By Cullen Emerson | Columnist | February 5

Let's try and find a moment where the chaos suffices and we can find the long lost peace of mind. Lauryn Hill spoke for all of us when she said she’s “gotta find peace of mind.” Where is the peace of mind? It’s seemingly nowhere. The chaos fills the lungs of world leaders and their spewing spit waters the soil of our moldable minds. Our minds expand with rage against the other side. That rage is oftentimes justified. What could help find peace of mind?

COLUMN | Can we ever separate art from its artists?

By Jordan Bynum Wright | Opinion Editor | January 13

Sometimes, our favorite pieces of art are created by objectionable artists. So how do we square the art that we love so much with the oftentimes unsavory individuals that make it?

COLUMN | Wanted: The art of journalism, dead or alive?

By Ella Walton | Newsletter Editor | December 22

Let me preface with: forgive me, Plainsman. I meant not what I said three years ago, on that rainy campus tour of Auburn. I don’t believe my 18-year-old self, who declared journalism’s time of death prematurely, could fathom the metaphorical home I’ve made for myself in journalism’s embrace. The art of journalism is alive in those that keep it so: in my fellow journalists, in each interviewee we come across, in our dear readers. To you all, I say, thank you for bringing a previously undiscovered part of me to life.

COLUMN | Are art heists anything like the movies?

By Isabella Hidalgo | Columnist | December 21

After the recent heist at the Louvre, it appears anyone with a ladder and angle grinder can steal some of the most valuable art in the world.

COLUMN | Memories make art meaningful

By Cullen Emerson | Columnist | December 11

Memories are what make art meaningful. Being able to experience emotion is what makes art meaningful. Being able to open your eyes and breathe brisk autumn air this fall is what makes art meaningful. The world is constantly telling you what makes art meaningful subtly in everyone's day-to-day life.