Dear Reader, “Horror.” We recognize it more for its cultural implication than its emotional application: B-movie monsters, sympathetic psychotics, Kurtz’s last breaths. “Horror” in our imagination is, well, imaginative. Involuted scenarios in castles, motels, basements at undisclosed...

Dear Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, I have to say I was surprised to hear the news from you—that, out of so many others, you were interested in me. You’ve got quite a reputation … but you know that. You first caught my eye last fall. But, in a manner uncharacteristic of me, I...

For those of you who have heard that there was a 200 percent increase in caseload for the Honor Council during the fall 2012 semester, I’m here to tell you that you’re mistaken. There was a 214 percent increase. Who are these faceless delinquents, standing trial before a jury of...

“I’m a pedophile who refuses to act on my fantasies. Therefore, my sex life is non-existent.” The words stared at me through my computer screen. My fingers, which had been mindlessly clicking the down button, now hovered motionless over the keyboard. It was a Thursday night and I had...

I have a penchant for kitschy little phrases, one-liners waxing wise. I did not choose to be one of those people. In fact, I do not even like those people. Like most things in life, I thank (blame) my mother. Instead of saying, “Don’t take it personally,” my mom says, “Put on your...

Part 3: The Stone Left Unturned It’s early March and raining as I ride through the mountains of the Mad River Valley. Where white usually paints lines thicker than the lane marker, there is no snow. As I hitchhike through Vermont with two talkative strangers, I’m worried by the stories a...

There are certain animals that we have learned to fear for their real or perceived risks, yet our reaction to these fears gets us into trouble all over the world. In the West, we killed off wolves, only to see herbivore populations soar and begin to decimate primary ecosystem producers like...

Thana, a mute seamstress, tries to dispose a bag of her second rapist’s body parts along the sidewalk (the first one got away). A young Elvis-esque man catcalling indiscriminately notices her and decides to approach. She quickens her pace but he doesn’t take the hint, picks up the bag and...

“Canst thou not minister to a mind diseas’d, Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow, Raze out the written troubles of the brain, And with some sweet oblivious antidote Cleanse the stuff’d bosom of that perilous stuff Which weighs upon the heart?” -Shakespeare’s Macbeth What would your...

BREAKING NEWS: Two powerful explosions detonated in quick succession right next to the Boston Marathon finsh [sic] line this afternoon.” -@BostonGlobe Cue: fear, outrage, news anchors and the proliferation of social media. Cue: reiteration, misinformation, sensationalization and skyrocketed...

When Michele Kirby brought a framed picture of her 8-year-old daughter Emily to a meeting in Denver on April 12 and placed it on the podium before her, the members of the Colorado Medical Services Board couldn’t avoid asking why she did not bring her child with her, like the other five...

“I was wondering how you’d suggest I go about changing my password.” I have a mere six feet to pace in my miniature dorm room, but I am pacing nonetheless. Perhaps if Alicia—I believe she said her name was Alicia—and I were standing face-to-face, I would not be sweating so...

Thesis by Teddy Tinnell, comparative literature major. “I insist on this primordial truth: one must oneself discover, manipulate, tame, and construct irrational objects to be able to appreciate the particular or general value of those displayed here.”  “J’insiste sur une vérité...

Thesis by Johnny Reed, French/international affairs major. Throughout this essay I seek to develop a holistic understanding of how Barack Obama succeeds politically. Primarily, I use Obama’s memoir, Dreams from My Father, as a point of reference for comparing his experience to that of...

Thesis by Kat Teter, religion major. – When there’s nothing left to burn, you have to set yourself on fire. —Stars, “Your Ex-Lover is Dead” Existing discourse on the immolation of sati on their husband’s funeral pyres tends to fall into two overwhelmingly binary categories: the...

Thesis by Jackson Buckley, English major. The emotional genesis of my thesis boils down to a bad reading habit of mine, which is that, while reading works of fiction, I sometimes become uncomfortable moving around in them on my own. I open my laptop and do research on sites like Wikipedia or...

Thesis by Ryan Ogi, international political economy major. For my Asian studies thesis, I chose to write on the South China Sea. Through researching the debates and conflicts that have occurred in the region, I focus on three primary claimants: China, Vietnam and the Philippines. The South...

Thesis by Sam Faktorow, English major. Since the founding of the United States of America, the American identity has been circumspect. Many have tried to define what exactly it means to be American and how the country’s collective sense of identity appears, both internally and externally....