Media—in whatever form that may take—influences how people see the world and act within it. Representations in media can demonize or uplift, humanize or degrade, normalize or alienate; they can reinforce stereotypes or actively fight against them. Those who produce media are, thus, in a particularly powerful position, as how they portray individuals and groups of people shapes public opinion, whether viewers consciously recognize it or not.

Since Doctor Who rebooted in 2005, 188 episodes have aired. Some were good, some…were not. While the fanbase can agree on which episodes fall into which category sometimes, I can’t say I always share the collective opinion. Excluding any episodes from the seasons I have not seen, here are the top 15 worst episodes of Doctor Who according to IMDB, and whether or not I think they belong on this list.

The ability for people to critically examine, analyze, and assess the media they come across is a skill more paramount than ever in the age of the internet. “Don’t believe everything you read online” is a sentiment ingrained into the rising generations' minds since the cradle, but it seems the heart of this mentality—media literacy—is sorely lacking in the modern age.

Do you know how to swim? Do you believe that you could survive and find help despite being stranded at sea? Have you ever felt like you were drowning even though you were on land?

Growing up in the digital era has most definitely altered how I view and navigate media. I was always advised to be overly cautious of who I spoke to, shared information with, and, most importantly, what I was consuming. This meant avoiding spam accounts on Instagram, ignoring fake chain mail, and avoiding useless arguments with people on X, formerly known as Twitter. At a young age, I had access to anything I could get my hands on.

The New York Times estimates that “3,100 people have been arrested or detained on campuses across the country” since Apr. 18, 2024, for their involvement in protesting over the inexcusable mass slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza. This comes after an Associated Press article in January of this year stated, “more than 1,230 people have been charged” for their involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, United States capitol attack. I find it astonishing and disappointing that more students/university members have been arrested than attempted insurrectionists. It is outright reprehensible that most arrests were made on peaceful demonstrators. A statement from the Human Rights Institute at Columbia University even mentioned that “The NYPD said that protesters were, ‘peaceful, offered no resistance whatsoever, and were saying what they wanted to say in a peaceful manner.’” Many of the individuals who were arrested did not violate the law. They violated unjust, undemocratic campus policies.

Every four years, I sit on the couch with my family members in celebration of around 195 countries coming together to put on some of the greatest athletic performances of their lives. This year's Olympics was legendary as athletes continued to break barriers and set new records for themselves and their countries. Some of the highlights included Sweden’s Armand (Mondo) Duplantis beating his world record in the men’s pole vault, USA’s Katie Ledecky winning four medals in Paris and becoming the most decorated female swimmer in Olympic history, and Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem winning gold—setting a new Olympic record in the process. We cannot deny that Paris had some of the most pivotal moments in Olympic history, but that does not change the fact that this year’s Olympics was a hot mess. 

People choose to be vegetarian for a variety of reasons; those most often cited by vegetarians in the United States are the desire to be healthy and a concern for the environment. The American Dietetic Association states that “appropriately planned vegetarian diets, including total vegetarian or vegan diets, are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and may provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases.” As far as environmental concerns go, livestock and dairy production contribute significantly to greenhouse emissions, and according to the Great Green Wall, livestock currently uses 45 percent of the earth’s land. Livestock for human consumption takes up 70 percent of global freshwater consumption, and one study has indicated that a worldwide reduction in animal consumption could provide enough water to sustain 1.8 billion people. 

One of my favorite childhood memories was waking up early on Saturdays to catch the newest episode of my favorite cartoon, and there was no better channel to do that than Cartoon Network. Cartoon Network, founded by Betty Cohen in 1992, is a cable television channel that airs animated television series. These series included shows produced by Hanna-Barbera Inc., such as Looney Toons (2011-13), Tom & Jerry (2014-21), & The Flintstones (1960-66). Warner Bros. Television Studios now owns the network. Over the years, Cartoon Network has produced many popular shows such as Scooby-Doo (1969-70), PowerPuff Girls (1998-2005), Regular Show (2010-17), and so many other shows that we know and love from childhood. I, however, want to bring light to a show that deserves just as much love as the aforementioned. That show is the one, the only, Ben 10 (2005-08).

For most students on this campus, it will be our first opportunity to vote in a presidential election this coming November. Regardless of your political stance, it is important to have your voice heard and vote in this election. As of September 2024, five presidential candidates are running for the White House. We are seeing candidates from the Democratic, Republican, Independent, Green, and the Libertarian political parties. It is vital that you know not only who is running as a presidential candidate but also the policies they each focus on.

The term “gatekeeping” has skyrocketed in usage recently. Simply put, gatekeeping refers to the active and intentional withholding of information—in this context, there also tends to be a specific emphasis on information pertaining to certain hobbies, activities, or franchises. The stereotypical act of gatekeeping tends to involve someone who is a long-time fan of a particular topic, such as baseball, Game of Thrones, or Magic the Gathering, choosing to trivialize, dismiss, or even full-on reject a person who is showing interest or asking questions about the fan’s topic of expertise. In doing this, the topic’s fandom serves as its own “security” of sorts, or rather, gatekeepers, preventing others from entering the fandom or setting a tone for the fandom and their behavior that might dissuade it. This allows a certain level of knowledge surrounding the fandom to be almost an expectation to “count as a real member.” 

Hot Topic prides itself on providing shoppers with “counter-culture” clothing and accessories. As someone who used to drag my parents into the store with me for school shopping and Black Friday, I feel Hot Topic has lost its significance as the store has become less atypical. Finding alternative clothing and accessories has never been more difficult than now.

In February 2014, I downloaded the infamous app Snapchat on my iPod 5 with no knowledge of how big the app would become. The app grew quickly as various unique traits were added to the app. At the time, it was one of the only social media apps consciously geared toward the younger generation. 

The idolization of celebrities encourages the public to blindly support highbrow individuals that often have few redeeming character qualities, at times frequent occurrences of being “canceled” or do not ever seem to be held accountable for their actions. When we glorify celebrities, we treat them as if they can do no wrong, as if they are gods who cannot face punishment or answer for their actions; putting celebrities on a pedestal is very dangerous for all parties.

Ten years ago, the pilot episode of The Flash (2014-2023) aired on The CW. In the episode, we met CSI scientist Barry Allen, the show’s protagonist, as he received his newfound super-speed powers, before getting a glimpse into the future towards the end. The screen read “Flash Missing Vanishes in Crisis,” while a future newspaper explained that the hero had gone missing in a time of crisis on Apr. 25, 2024. As seasons went by we crept closer to the catastrophic event, until ultimately in the 2019 five-part special “Crisis on Infinite Earths,” based on the comic issue of the same article five years earlier, came to life. 

As well as being an avid Hayday player, which you may be aware of due to a recent article, I am a Fortnite player. This is the only console game I currently play and have ever played, and I believe people are taking this stuff way too seriously. Punching holes in walls, yelling, screaming, being genuinely mad, and other common reactions people have when they lose and do not get a “Victory Royale” are too much. 

For any confused consumers out there TTPD is short-hand for Taylor Swift’s newest album, The Tortured Poets Department (2024), and the “Anthology” refers to the extended version of the album that features bonus songs. Jumping into this, picking just three songs was virtually impossible given that there are 31 to choose from but I did my best, and here are the results. 

As social media continues to be a hub with which many people get their news, there has seemed to be an increase in conversation about knowing when to disengage with certain social rights movements or stop yourself from seeing content covering particularly sensitive or difficult topics. While, of course, I would never argue that the general public should willingly sacrifice their mental health in order to keep themself as informed as possible when feeling stressed or overwhelmed, I can’t help but wonder who this mass desire to disengage and the movement towards apathy really benefits. 

Who is the rightful owner of the respective artifacts in the archaeological record? I am not any more qualified to address this topic as the next guy, however, as an anthropology student, my interest is piqued. On principle alone, my consensus is that artifacts created in a culture should remain in that culture. If artifacts are stolen, ethically, they should be returned to their culture or country of origin. The controversy begins when asked the important question: ‘What if that culture is no longer identifiable in the modern era?’