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spotify your SOUNDTRACK Written by David Spinrad // Photos by Yuening Jiang
Music helps galvanize different emotions. For example, in movies, the fast-paced music in a montage plays up the mood of the sequences. College students may not have their own personal montages, but they definitely live lives that can be elevated by music. Complementary music emits a gust of comfort in confusing times, rounds those last rough edges in happy times, and provides a silhouette of company in solemn times. Music shadows the positives and the negatives every semester. Surely, there will be ups and downs, so there might as well be a diverse, jammy soundtrack. Like a movie’s rollercoaster of emotions, the following semester is going to be a thrill ride. The lever is coming down on you, and your soundtrack in the front row of the Semester Rollercoaster. First, we ascend.
Heaven Only Knows – Towkio ft. Chance the Rapper
The beginning of the semester has begun after trekking back to school from a quality break. Campus air is locked with vibrancy and enthusiasm of new students and new life. Chance the Rapper and Towkio bubble through soulful spirits in, “Heaven Only Knows” with the same eagerness. Colorful and lively, its positivity is contagious.
No Sign of Life – Okay Go
The middle of the week can be the peak of productivity. People are looking to get stuff done, and fast, to make way for the weekend. A song based around a blunt and pounding rhythm will match the mid-week grind. The consistent, steady intensity of Okay Go’s jabbing guitar riffs fuel the rocking convulsions this song instills.
Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked – Cage the Elephant
Midterm season creeps up on us sooner than we’d like. Anxiety for some, cramming for most. The weary college student shall march on and combat spontaneous critical points in their classes. Just like the protagonist in “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked,” people have to push on with tough skin and wait for better days.
Dig Down – Muse
Being passionate about something is a gift. It gives purpose and it’s backed by a warmth of interest. The moments at school where your passions shine produce balance and clarity. They help provide a solid identity. Frontman Matt Belamy’s centered, vibrato vocals are the focal point in “Dig Down” and they transmit the rich sense of passion and completion.
Declare Guerre Nucleaire – The Hives
There will be some awful mornings where everything goes wrong. It’s going to happen. When it does, and the anger and frustration set in, the best thing to weather the storm is to listen to something that is just as pissed off as you are. May I present: The Hives.
Miss Primetime – Big Gigantic ft. Pell
Boredom may set in during the semester. Try not to absentmindedly fall into a six-foot, circular rut. Instead of grabbing the computer and heading to Netflix to alleviate that boredom, consider exploring something new. Something to shake the ground you live on. “Miss Primetime” can offer that new, ear-popping sound.
WOOF MAGAZINE • spring 2018
Medicated – Whiz Khalifa ft. Cherry Woods & Juicy J
The equation of college is a push and pull of stress and stress relief. Yin and yang, this party anthem combats the stresses for anyone with an ounce of school work. Yes, “Medicated” and its ironic title foreshadows the song’s contents, but in no way can it prepare you for the commanding, yet non-overpowering fluidity of the song’s beat and flow of lyrics. Mellow out or party on with this song.
Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) – Arcade Fire Many people look at school as a learning experience, but equal emphasis needs to be placed on self-growth. Each day down is an opportunity to flourish against the personal adversity that Arcade Fire’s “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)” depicts. It relates to the breaking convention and finding a path away from the all encompassing societal norms . With “Sprawl II,” its listener is reminded of the bigger picture of his or her own journey.
The Man – The Killers
The end is nigh. Finals. *Panic ensues.* Whatever knowledge is implanted in your brain by the end of the semester is what you have to work with. Move through the tests with confidence, remind yourself that you are, “The Man” regardless of sex. You have to get that confidence up in those final moments. It might be all you have.
We Don’t Care – Kanye West
Life is messy. It’s in fact one huge mess. Flip flops with socks are the norm. Wearing that pair of jeans again when you really know you shouldn’t is a daily occurrence at this point. When people drown in school, drudge through work, and still make time for the ones they love, it’s okay to say “eh” to the little things. Bless Kanye. That man certainly does not care about anything small. You’ve been through the ride. Ups and down have presented themselves and you have handled the roller coaster track with ease. Having a soundtrack of music makes the ride a little smoother. It’s not selfish to have a personal soundtrack. It’s smart. It means you understand yourself and the journey you are on. Embrace the thunderous noise of the rollercoaster and make it music.
WHY WE MARCH and why northeastern should too
Written by Delfina McNaught-Davis // Photos by Haley Holbrow On January 21, 2017, millions of women paved the streets worldwide, protesting against President Donald Trump’s inauguration. Due to statements which he had made and positions that he had taken which were regarded by many as anti-women, as well as outright offensive. The protest’s aim was to emphasize legislation and policies regarding human rights and other issues including, but not limited to: women’s rights, immigration reform, healthcare reform, reproductive rights, the natural environment, LGBTQ rights, racial equality, freedom of religion, and workers rights. Between 3,267,134 and 5,246,670 people, men included, participated in the Women’s March in the United States. In total a worldwide participation of over five million people took place in the marches. Last year floods of people filled up Boston Common and Charles Street; wearing pink hats, fierclesley holding up homemade signs from the crowd, making a stance for women and democracy. The heartfelt passion from the crowd of activists was embodied in the politicians who came to speak on Boston Common such as Senator Elizabeth Warren. The march was not solely focused on women’s issues, but also human rights, climate change and healthcare, these issues now being torn apart by the President of the United States in his tweets or monologues on TV. A deluge of revelations about powerful men abusing women lead to the #MeToo movement, which has pushed activists to demand deeper social and political change, leading to another impactful women’s march just across the river in Cambridge. Men and women, boys and girls stood up for the many issues we had come across in 2017 and sadly we are still going through now. Sexual harassment being one of the big and current issues. The fire started when the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse allegations started piling up, opening the Pandora’s Box of sexism. These allegations created a broader public knowledge of the incidents as well as mass media involvement, therefore encouraging. This has led to an outbreak of
confidence, switching on that much needed light bulb for society. Many progressive women are now eager to build on the movement and translate their enthusiasm into electoral victories in this year’s midterm elections. Not only this, but (some) men are enthusiastically supporting the women’s movement that is becoming more and more of a talked about topic. President Trump kindly decided to share that “he is not a feminist”… thank God because if he was then we would have the wrong definition of feminism. Feminism means the advocacy of women’s rights on the basis of equality of the sexes. This does not mean women need to discourage men, but instead that women should have a voice just as loud as men since we represent half of the population. Sexism occurs in every community, in every town and every country, Northeastern included. After a semester of quizzes, all-nighters and never ending research papers, college students have only one card to play: the course evaluation and “RateMyProfesor”. It turns out that most students are harder on their female instructors, stepping over that fine line of sexism. One of the most noticeable disparities occurring is when male professors are called “geniuses”, “brilliant” or “funny”; while their female counterparts are subjected to negative adjectives like “bossy”, “mean” and “pushy”. Northeastern has a ratio of 49:51 for male to female students, meaning that it is also the girls who have become benign to this stereotype. NEU girls, female professors and other female staff need to stand up for their gender, their small community, as well as female equality as a whole. We need to stand up for everything it means to be a feminist, an activist and a leader, especially since Boston is one of the most liberal cities in the US. The past year has shown the world how united and courageous the female population is. Northeastern has to be part of this courageous cultivation of people. We need to shed a light on the population at our campus and include ourselves in the Boston race for feminism, equality and humanity.
spring 2018 • WOOF MAGAZINE