Last semester, I weighed all of the housing options available to me at Colorado State University and chose to live in a community-style triple because it would be affordable but also offer more privacy than the equally priced community-style double. But in June, after I’d already selected my room and thought housing decisions were behind me, I was notified that the triple was no longer a possibility because of an influx of new students.

They say "If something is free, you’re the product." When it comes to online data, we’re all very lucrative products.  Companies like Meta, formerly Facebook, sometimes called data brokers, are “in the business of farming your data,” according to an article from The Conversation.

The search for “authentic” ethnic food is problematic and performative. First of all, the term “ethnic” itself is a problem. The use of ethnic to describe food from nonwhite cultures is not really accurate definition-wise but too accurate in its reflection of how a lot of white people think of people of color.

On April 8, Colorado State University students got an email from Housing & Dining Services notifying us of how much damage we’ve done to residential facilities: $60,000 worth. With around 150 reported incidents of this damage, that’s $400 per incident. $60,000 is more than out-of-state tuition and board. $60,000 is more than the average American salary. $60,000 is ridiculous, and we’re not even done with this school year. Apparently, we have some pretty pathetic self-control when it comes to not breaking stuff. 

There’s a lot of variety when it comes to beer, especially in Fort Collins, where we have over 20 breweries. Depending on your personal preferences, taste, alcohol by volume, malt and other factors lift some beers above others, but the most important thing to consider when picking a drink is, of course, the packaging. I’ve examined the options at 20 Fort Collins breweries to find the best beer packaging in the area. I’m a perfectly unbiased judge of packaging because I have never had a beer in my life and don’t ever intend to. My opinions are unfettered by any knowledge about beer. 

As of April 1, all forms of headphones and earbuds will be illegal on the Colorado State University campus. This official mandate is due to a unanimous vote by every individual over the age of 65 who has ever stepped foot on campus. The mandate provides a complete list of all prohibited listening devices. It includes all wired and wireless headphones and earbuds. The archaic but effective design of two metal cans attached by a string is also outlawed.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, more people have been researching and advocating for a four-day workweek. The four-day workweek can improve productivity, engagement, recruitment and other factors in a variety of industries. 4 Day Week Global, a not-for-profit organization that researches and advocates for the four-day workweek, says employers should shift their “business away from measuring based on hours worked and towards measuring based on results.”

The Supreme Court agreed to hear the court case 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis on Feb. 22, which is similar to the 2018 case Masterpiece Cakeshop Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. Both cases host homophobic Christians trying to get the government to let them refuse service to gay couples.  Lorie Smith, the owner of 303 Creative, is a web designer who wants to expand her business into wedding sites, but she wants to decline service to any gay couple that would try to hire her because of her Christian religious beliefs. This violates Colorado’s anti-discrimination laws, so Smith is taking her case to the next level to challenge the law on the basis of the free speech clause in the First Amendment. 

In late January, I had cold symptoms and found out a friend I’d been hanging out with had COVID-19, so I filled out the symptom reporter and received an automated email that told me someone would contact me for additional information.  In the meantime, I scheduled a saliva screening for the next day. When I showed up for the screening, I was told that because I had symptoms, I had to skip the screening and go straight to the nasal swab test. But no one followed up with me on my symptom reporter, and it was impossible to schedule a nasal swab test through the Colorado State University Health Network without the public health referral I hoped to get from the saliva screening.