Fuck Tha Police: Great song, bad ideology
By Bradley Duncan
It has become normalized, especially among college-educated youth, to scorn the police. That isn’t to say that police should be immune from criticism — they should not. They should be held to the highest standards of conduct and transparency. Those who act against the welfare of those they are sworn to protect and serve should be rooted out, retrained, retired, or prosecuted, but the time of labeling the profession as a whole “fundamentally corrupt” should end.
Police reform is a noble and worthwhile goal. If society demonizes the profession as a tool of oppression or a cadre of unrepentant, power-hungry goons, then who will that attract? Don’t court self-fulfilling prophecies. Corruption breeds corruption, cruelty breeds cruelty, and in a society where the police are militant thugs and murderers, the worst of society finds fellowship. No moral, ethical, and empathetic individual grows up yearning to join an organization they see as tyrannical. Police need reform, training, accountability, veneration, and respect, because at the end of the day, we still want and need good cops — but to achieve that, good people need to see themselves in that uniform. Ideally, future cops will be college-educated youths who learned the value of just and empathetic policing, but not if our narratives scare them all off.
Too many books, not enough time
By Anisa Quintyne
In December, I made a goal to read 60 books in 2022. While I expected to surpass that goal, I noticed my T.B.R. list kept growing, and growing, and…
I didn’t have enough time.
Well, I do. I have enough time in the world. I was overwhelmed with the desire to read as much as I could, to read that fantasy quartet or that mind-bending novel or online web serial; I realized everything I amassed couldn’t be completed in a year, or even two. Not with school or a job, and surely not with other obligations.
Is it possible to actually read every book in the world? I think about that often. If you were hypothetically immortal, could you read every book that has ever been and ever will be written? I’m not sure what the ratio is between novels published and years one would theoretically live, but it’s interesting to think about.
Right now my interests lean towards science fiction, namely Jeff VanderMeer, Martha Wells, P. Djèlí Clark, and Arkady Martine — if I could list all of my favourite authors, I would, but like always, I would run out of time.
It’s sunscreen season, baby
Sydney Marchand
I try my best to go for a walk at least a few days a week. It is a good way to clear my head, get a little bit of exercise and get a boost of sun-induced serotonin. Of course, spring and summer are my favourite seasons to soak up the sunny rays, but as the weather warms up and summertime quickly approaches, I am here to remind you to slather on your sunscreen.
Although I am a stickler for wearing sunscreen on my face every day (even in the winter), this week I was quickly reminded to pull out the body SPF, too. There is nothing worse than coming back from a relaxing walk outdoors or a trip to the beach, only to realize you are bright red, in pain, and your skin is beginning to peel. Not only that, but wearing sunscreen reduces your risk of melanoma by 50 per cent. While I am a huge advocate for getting outdoors and soaking up your daily vitamin D, please don’t forget to protect your skin from UVB damage and pile on the sunscreen, too.
I don’t know what I’m doing with my life
By Danaye Reinhardt
When I graduated high school, I had this fear that I would end up homeless because I didn’t have a grand life plan. I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. I didn’t have a dream career. All I knew was that I wanted to go to university because, hey, what’s not to like about finishing assignments at 1:00 a.m. and forgetting to eat because the cafeteria closes at 4:00 p.m.?
Well, I just finished my degree and I have no idea what I’m going to do next. And you know what? I’m 100 per cent okay with that. Over my last year of university, I’ve done a lot of new things — I’ve moved out, drank alcohol, learned to skateboard, and gone to Ikea for the first time (crazy stuff, I know). Career-wise, I’m content to just try things out and see what I like and what I’m good at. I think that’s all we can hope for.
See you never, UFV!
Long ago, when DeLoreans roamed the earth, Brad was born. In accordance with the times, he was raised in the wild every afternoon and weekend until dusk, never becoming so feral that he neglected to rewind his VHS rentals. His historical focus has assured him that civilization peaked with The Simpsons in the mid 90s. When not disappointing his parents, Brad spends his time with his dogs, regretting he didn’t learn typing in high school.
Sydney is a BA English major, creative writing student, who has been a content contributor for The Cascade and is now the Opinion editor. In 7th grade, she won $100 in a writing contest but hasn’t made an earning from writing since. In the meantime, she is hoping that her half-written novels will write themselves, be published, and help pay the bills.
Danaye studies English and procrastination at UFV and is very passionate about the Oxford comma. She spends her days walking to campus from the free parking zones, writing novels she'll never finish, and pretending to know how to pronounce abominable. Once she graduates, she plans to adopt a cat.