From basically the time I was in kindergarten, I was ingrained with the understanding that this is how the system works: you go to school, you get good grades, you go to college, you get good grades, and then one day you get a job… so your kids can do it all over again.

Ah fashion, you cruel, sadistic mistress. Unrealistic body image has always been part of the package, considering that most major designers only have a vague concept of what human anatomy even looks like, but historically they have at least pretended that their designs are created for full grown women.

There has been a lot of controversy lately over sites like RateBU, where pictures of girls are posted online and people vote on whether or not they’re hot. Yeah, I only wish I’d made that up. Regardless of whether you think this kind of thing is just fine or is a pathetic excuse for shallow douchbaggery, the question that a lot of schools are facing is – should this be allowed to happen?

This week, in keeping with my usual studious habits, I was surfing around the internet watching cute cat videos when I came across this article which posed the question; is the first date dead?

Who among us has never Facebook stalked? Anyone? Seriously, anyone? It’s easy and mostly harmless, so we all do it a little bit sometimes to see how much less awesome your ex’s new girlfriend is than you, or to find out if that cutie in you American Lit class is single (and into women). It’s not a big deal, right? But when does it cross the line?

Next Friday marks the start of the holiday shopping season with the single most anticipated shopping day of the year here in the good ol’ USA – Black Friday. A day when stores mark down items to ludicrous sale prices and people all over the nation line up in the early dawn hours to snag those bargains (and occasionally trample their fellow human beings).

Recently Kye Allums became the first publicly transgendered student-athlete in NCAA history to play as a male identifying player on the George Washington University women’s basketball team. It’s a big step for transgendered athletes everywhere and first off I have to say kudos to him.

Recently, Rachael Leigh Cook (remember her?!) spoke out against the practice of airbrushing, going so far as to say that since false advertising is a crime and photo-correcting is essentially false advertising, then photoshopping in the media should be a crime. That’s quite a statement there, Rach – let’s go to the polls!

In the words of the immortal Mean Girls, “Halloween is the one night a year when girls can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it.” It’s a time honored Halloween tradition for girls to put on their best ‘sexy’ costume and go party, right? And costume companies have certainly raised the bar on options (Sexy Elmo and Sexy Hello Kitty, really?) but is this really a good idea or are we just promoting a sexist stereotype?

When just a couple of decades ago many people couldn’t RISK coming out in college, now schools are trying to recruit applicants from the LGBT community and while I have no qualms about that, I gotta wonder if it’s fair.