What SAG and Sundance taught me about diversity

Minnie Schedeen

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Any discussion of the #OscarsSoWhite campaign at this point probably sounds like a broken record. The issue has been so heavily debated in the past seven days, but it still bears discussion. Last week, I wrote about the Academy’s possibility of inflaming industry veterans with their hasty decision to cut off members’ voting privileges if […]

All about sincerity: what is good music?

MALORIE MCCALL

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Flashback to the Land Rover battling the wind as it drove from the bright lights of L.A. into the cold night of Mammoth Mountain. The wind beat against the covering in a way that reminded me of some of Skrillex’s more disorganized works. The stereo was cranked up to its highest volume to try and […]

Asking For It needs to be mandatory reading at USC


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It’s a hot, humid day in October. Synth-pop is leaking out of hidden speakers in the Dubai Mall’s food court, where hundreds of hungry people are drowning out the music with their chattering. A 12-year-old girl is waiting in line at Subway, trying to decide between a meatball marinara and a turkey breast sub when […]

Identification anxiety: the making of a name


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Freshman year, during the initial onslaught of new people, I rarely saved real names in my phone. There was just no way to differentiate Tyler Ps from Tyler Ts, Julies from Julianas, so I saved numbers with context instead. My contacts became searchable by names like Birnkrant, Polo and GE, and remembering people got infinitely […]

Bach to basics: seeking classical love in a modern world

ARYA ROSHANIAN

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Last weekend, I went to the opera. For most people in their early-to-mid 20s, going to the opera usually invokes imagery of black-tie attire and floor-length furs. However, for a perpetual opera-goer like myself, it was a typical Saturday evening in black chinos and a button-down. Attending the opera is an outing I find myself doing […]

Academy change is indicative of larger systemic issue

Minnie Schedeen

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In an age where the internet finds deep pride in being a hotbed for political and sociological outrage, the collective Twitter and Facebook communities did not fail to disappoint this week when they voiced their complaints over the so called #OscarsSoWhite diversity catastrophe that plagued both this and last year’s homogenous Academy Award nominations. Despite […]

Let your inner emo shine: a tribute to pop-punk music

MALORIE MCCALL

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The Arctic Monkeys’ anthem “R U Mine” blared through one speaker as muffled static came through the other. The volume was on maximum to battle the wind coming in from the open window as my beat-up Acura barreled up the 101. I couldn’t help but to turn to my co-pilot and friend, Charlie, and point […]

Feminists are not man-hating females


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Beyoncé caused panic Monday when she popped up on campus to rehearse for the 2016 Super Bowl. It is only logical to begin this week’s column with Queen Bey, no matter how briefly. We all woke up on Dec. 13, 2013 and the world was a better place, because Beyoncé had released her eponymous fifth […]

A good read: reKindle-ing the fire


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I bring books everywhere. I bring them on the train, to class, to work. Even if I don’t get the chance to read, I bring them anyway, just in case. I also bring books on dates. They fill the lonely lag time between drinks or when one of us goes to the bathroom. And generally, the […]

Genre bias: bands we love to hate


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Someone higher up made the questionable decision to give me a weekly column to tell you, or rather, rant to you about my week’s musical ponderings. I could try to explain this, or I could just dive right in. Being on the lazy side, I’ll opt for the latter. There are a multitude of successful […]