Editor's note: All opinions, columns and letters reflect the views of the individual writer and not necessarily those of the IDS or its staffers.
Jacob Spudich, co-editor-in-chief
In Nintendo’s “Mario Super Sluggers,” if you had two outfielders meet at the warning track, one of your user-controlled players would be able to propel the other — several feet into the air — to catch what would’ve otherwise been a home run for the opposing team. Assuming even the strongest athletes wouldn’t be able to throw their teammate 10-20 feet into the air at any given moment, there’s a simple way to adjust for this. Replace the sand and clay between the outfield grass and the wall with trampolines spanning the entire warning track. Imagine how much fun baseball would be if you occasionally just had players jumping to catch home run balls in midair. And why stop with just baseball? Football, soccer, volleyball and basketball would all benefit from at least one small section of the playing area to be substituted with a trampoline of some kind. We’d get unlimited highlight reels worth of dunks, spikes and catches.
Marissa Meador, co-editor-in-chief
We know Cheetos, cigarettes and sour gummy worms are all bad for us, but is anyone truly worried about the long-term effects of our new shortform content world? What are the consequences of scrolling past a video hailing the United Healthcare assassin, a slideshow of awkward experiences written on a photo of Pepé the King Prawn from “The Muppets” and a post begging for donations to pay for their child’s surgery all within a minute? It’s essentially junk food for the brain, but we tend to brush off its long-term impact. With split-second attention spans and the rise of artificial intelligence, will kids in 2100 even know how to read and write anymore?
Tory Basile, managing editor
People who eat untoasted bagels are sickos.
Mia Hilkowitz, managing editor
I really don’t like long movies. Anytime a movie reaches more than 90 minutes, I start counting down until it’s over. Most times, there’s DEFINITELY parts that the producers can cut out (for example, there were way too many unnecessary slow-motion walking montages of Robert Pattinson in “The Batman”).
Alayna Wilkening, creative director
Angel hair pasta is the worst pasta shape. Sure, it’s a classic, but it’s really annoying to eat. I don’t want to have to do fork gymnastics to take a bite of my food when there are dozens of other pasta shapes that are much easier to deal with.
Jack Forrest, news editor
Thanksgiving is the most character-less holiday around. Every other holiday does what it does better. Looking for good food? Consider literally every celebration out there. Want to reconnect with family and friends? Try any of the December holidays — most of which come with the added bonus of gift exchanges. Thanksgiving has no cultural impact, either. Try naming one Thanksgiving song. The best Thanksgiving movie, “Planes, Trains and Automobiles,” has next to nothing to do with the holiday. Contrast this with the iconic New Year’s songs or large collection of Halloween films. You might point to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade as its distinctive contribution to the cultural zeitgeist. I raise you the Rose Parade, which is just as iconic and historic and fits with the theme of its holiday far better.
Plus, who likes turkey that much anyway?
Tyler Spence, news editor
The epidemic of LED headlights must end. We have accepted the world where one starts driving at 5 p.m. and simply cannot see the road when an F-150 drives past you. There is truly nothing worse than a car with LED headlights right behind you.
Arnaav Anand, news editor
Tourism in New York City is overrated because once you’ve seen the Empire State Building, every other structure is just glass rectangles stacked in varying levels of "meh." Wander around long enough and you’ll realize that half the “iconic” spots are just office buildings with better PR. Want the real NYC experience? Stay home, play honking sounds on repeat and burn $200 on Uber Eats. It’s the city that never sleeps because it’s too busy being boring in broad daylight.
Joey Sills, opinion editor
Some people are naturally introverts and that’s, obviously, perfectly okay. On a certain level there’s little you can do about how your brain is wired, some of it is nature. But, still, a lot of it is purely social and nobody was meant to go their lives without engaging in conversation with other people. If you’re an introvert in college, it can be hard, that’s totally understandable, but a good portion of your success here and after you graduate is going to be based on your ability to talk to other human beings. It’s something you need to learn how to do — nobody naturally hates talking to people, that’s an entirely social construct, probably fueled by capitalism, that you need to ditch. We’re a social species, talking to and doing things with other humans is precisely what we’re supposed to be doing. Answer questions in class, make friends, go to parties every so often, join a club, please just do literally anything other than sit in your room and play video games all day.
Pehal Aashish Kothari, opinion editor
American fast-food chains like Dave’s Hot Chicken and Raising Cane’s don’t really taste that good. Being from India, I’m used to almost all kinds of food being filled with flavor, and while these fast-food chains are known to be packed with flavor, I personally disliked the food from both those places.
Isabella Vesperini, general assignments editor
I refuse to eat eggs and bacon for breakfast. They're way too dense for the morning, and I’ll be full all day and not eat anything else. I actually prefer to eat eggs for dinner, as they’re much more suited for a bigger, heavier meal. Pastries, such as a muffin or a croissant, even some cereal, are a better choice.
Trinity Ly, newsletter editor
Having an iPad when you have a laptop is overrated. I’d would rather kill the trees and have a hardcopy than read on an iPad. Apple Watches are lame. They can never make me hate Trisha Paytas.
Gino Diminich, arts editor
Hot chocolate is the single worst thing mankind has created and I’m counting Disney Channel original movies. I understand being young and possessing a palate as refined as crude oil, but after the age of 10 there should be no appeal for a cup of hot sugar water. You want something hot in the winter? Tea. Coffee. Heck even soup. All these alternatives are superior to a drink that makes you crash 10 minutes after drinking it. What’s fun about a drink that no matter what you do will end up staining a glove or a scarf? The answer is nothing. I’d rather have my wisdom teeth placed back in my mouth and then removed again than have a cup of hot chocolate.
Grace Romine, arts editor
I hate diet or zero-sugar soda. If I am offered a Diet Coke, Diet Dr. Pepper, even Sprite Zero — I will stick to water. I would argue I am one of the biggest soda drinkers I know, but I must also have a major sweet tooth because I just can’t do the bitter taste. Coke Zero is even made to mimic the taste of regular, sugar-full soda as closely as possible, but I can tell the difference.
Dalton James, sports editor
Deer meat is fire, as is taxidermy.
Mateo Fuentes-Rohwer, sports editor
Anticipation is better than the real thing, which is why Thanksgiving is the best holiday. It prepares you for the holiday season, and who doesn’t love a massive parade with big floats.
Vincent Winkler, assistant sports editor
I absolutely despise streaming services and the way films and shows are created as brand specific content, so you have to have that specific service to watch certain media. Your freedom of choice is actually the illusion of choice so just monopolize this industry, please.
Briana Pace, visuals editor
Cherry tomatoes are delicious. There is no better healthy snack than a nice, cold crisp cherry tomato straight out of the fridge. It’s like a yummy crunchy grape, just a little more acidic. People who like ketchup and marinara sauce yet pick the tomato off their burger are just too immature to admit they like tomatoes.
Jonathan Frey, enterprise editor
Red meat is chronically overrated. I’m not a vegetarian, and I do love a good burger, but chicken does everything better. Pretty much every pork product is okay at best. Pork chops suck, and bacon is the single most overrated food item in the world. Crispy bacon tastes like salted charcoal and limp bacon is just depressing. As for cow products, I think this new foodie trend of cooking a steak a million different ways has blinded us to how it actually tastes. Steak is a status symbol, but it’s not a great meal. You have to doctor up a steak with garlic and butter and all kinds of spices to make it taste good, and if you overcook it, you’re done for. And even if you do everything perfectly, it still falls short of any dish with more complex flavors and varied ingredients. The kicker is that red meat is bad for you. Don’t get me wrong, most foods have drawbacks, but so many people treat red meat like a health hack when in reality it’s a cholesterol monster. Chicken is so much more versatile than red meats and has significantly fewer health drawbacks.
Natalie Fitzgibbons, Arbutus editor
I do not think there should be a key combination that permanently deletes files without putting it in the trash bin or giving the user a warning. A couple months ago as I worked on an assignment, I was trying to type an “em dash” which consists of the key combination of option + shift + dash. Instead, I somehow permanently deleted most of the files in my downloads folders beside a couple of documents. After several minutes and multiple google searches, I thought I figured out the keys I accidentally selected, but as I write this and test out different deleting options I could have done, a confirmation questions pops up on my screen, which leaves me puzzled again. Luckily, all my important files were in my documents folder and not my downloads. Though three years of college work are now lost in the digital footprint. My point to all of this is delete options should not be as easy as mistyping.
Ben LeGrand, General assignment editor
Going to the movie theaters alone is great, and one of the top ways to watch movies. Whether you’ve come to grips with your phone use or not, everyone is addicted to theirs. The movie theater offers an escape from daily social media, a place where you can fully take in the movie and experience the movie how it was intended. It’s also an activity that requires no company to go to. Sure, going with a friend and discussing the movie afterwards is better than going alone, but if no one is free to go check out that movie you’re interested in, just hit it by yourself! Anyone too afraid to do this is either not a big enough movie fan or still hindered by what other people think of them. Oh no! The elderly couple or other random group of kids will not care if you’re there alone. Going to a 3 p.m. re-release of “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” opened my eyes to the joy of going to the theater alone. Break free and become a solo-movie goer like me.
