Author: kieraoneill1

Despite controversy, DU will likely continue referring to its community as ‘Pioneers’

FeaturedLeave a comment
Outside of the Centennial Halls Dining Hall. [Photo by Kiera O’Neill]

Since the late 60s, attention to professional sports and college mascots that are offensive to Native Americans has been building. Despite this attention and in some cases, change that follows— for example Seattle University changing their mascot from the Chieftains to the Redhawks in 2000—  many people chalk up the issue to over-sensitivity and excessive political correctness.

The Roper Center for Public Opinion polled people three times over the course of 22 years asking them if the Washington Redskins should change its team name because it is offensive to native American Indians. In 1992, 89% of people said that the name was not intended to be offensive and should not be changed. In 2013, 79% of people said it should not be changed and in 2014 83% of people said it should not be changed.

Pages: 1 2

After 10 years modeling in Europe, Patty Sylvia found a love for medical social work

Featured1 Comment
Patty putting on lipstick 1987. [Courtesy of Pamela Hanson Photography]
Current photo of Patty. [Courtesy of Patty Sylvia’s Facebook]

My FaceTime call connects and Patty’s face greets me with a warm smile. It’s late evening and she is in the middle of filling out documentation for a patient visit she had that day. Patty Sylvia is a medical social worker; she works for Hope Hospice in Bristol, RI, but this hasn’t always been her career.

At 21 years old, Sylvia left for London on her first international flight hoping the modeling agent she was about to meet would like her.

Pages: 1 2

Young Israeli directors of ‘Golda’ share their fascinating experience making the film

FeaturedLeave a comment
Director of the Jewish Community Center (left) interviews directors of the film “Golda,” Udi Nir (middle) and Sagi Bornstein (right). [Photo by Kiera O’Neill]

After a screening of “Golda” across the hall in the Elaine Wolf Theatre, directors of the film, Udi Nir and Sagi Bornstein, took the stage in the community room at the Mizel Arts and Culture Center in Denver Tuesday evening. Nir and Bornstein had just flown in from Tel-Aviv and sat before a modest yet engaged crowd of older folks who were eager to learn more about the making of “Golda.” 

Pages: 1 2

Colorado Ballet delivers engaging performance of Peter Pan at Ellie Caulkins Opera House

Featured5 Comments
The program for Colorado Ballet’s Peter Pan. [Photo by Kiera O’Neill]

Bundled crowds shuffle into the Ellie Caulkins Opera House in Denver Sunday to catch the matinee of Peter Pan performed by Colorado Ballet. They are eager to escape the grey and snowy February day, opting for a classic story ballet— one of Colorado Ballet’s five shows of the 2019-20 season.

Each attendee has been given a plastic light wand upon entering the theater and impatient children fiddle with the power switch now, turning them on and off again, as they squirm in their red velvet seats. 

Pages: 1 2

Some DU students know the cost of fast fashion and shop second-hand

kieraoneill11 Comment
Keeping an article of clothing in your closet for nine months longer reduces its carbon footprint by 30%. [Photo by Kiera O’Neill]

Fast fashion has a secured a center-stage spot as a major contributor to climate change— according to an article published in The Guardian in 2018, the fashion industry as a whole contributes more to climate change than the aeronautical and shipping industries combined, and much of this is thanks to fast fashion.

Fast fashion as defined by Phillip Picardi, the Chief Content Officer of Teen Vogue, is a series of chain retailers who look at what high fashion is putting on the runway and recreate those styles extremely quickly and cheaply, putting them into a “see-now, buy-now” environment. The biggest examples of these chain retailers are ZARA, FashionNova, H&M, and Topshop. And they are successful. Fast fashion is the only segment of the fashion industry that has grown in the last 15 years. 

Pages: 1 2