Lauren Simenson

06 Dec 2017

Turning 22 gives perspective on journey from shy high schooler to confident adult

This past year was notable for a lot of reasons. I cried over the results of a presidential race for the first time. I planned my first surprise party. I began my last year of undergrad. I also turned 22.

06 Dec 2017

Little food for thought comes from SGA’s hearing on Chartwells’ food

A lot of UW-River Falls students gripe about the food on campus and how it’s served, but only one of them showed up last week at the Student Government Association’s weakly publicized hearing with officials from Chartwells, the campus’ new food contractor.

15 Nov 2017

Taylor Swift album 'Reputation' evolves from her previous work

I think I love Taylor Swift’s music again.

The latest album installment, "Reputation", has finalized Taylor’s evolution from a guitar-toting country music darling to a pop artist who expertly captures her experience in powerful beats. After searching unsuccessfully for services that could stream Reputation for free, I conceded defeat and digitally forked over the $13.99. I listened to the whole thing on earbuds jammed into my ears in the hour break between classes and concluded after just the second song on the lineup that it was money well spent.

08 Nov 2017

Awareness for Misophonia brings relief and understanding

When I was growing up, almost every night the four members of my family could be found all sitting around our kitchen table eating dinner together. There was always delicious food, thanks to my mom, and lots of conversation and laughter.

08 Nov 2017

Campus climate is chilly for women, students of color and people disabled

Students of color are 14 times more likely to report suffering racial hostility than are white students, and female students are nearly three times more likely than men to face political bias, according to campus climate survey results released last week.

01 Nov 2017

Crisis in Yemen raises questions over American spending habits

Children in bright Halloween costumes with their chubby hands clenched around buckets of crinkly-packaged candy filled the feeds of my various social media accounts this past week.

25 Oct 2017

Instagram and reading can help stave off the senior slide

Senior year has made me regret ever using the word “busy” before in my life. Up until this year, I do not think I had any idea what this word actually meant, as I have genuinely never felt this intense feeling of being so “busy” before.

24 Oct 2017

Stopping sexual violence is ‘On Us’ in this ‘Week of Action’ at UW-River Falls

“I put my trust in the wrong guy,” said Anja Gridley, the Student Government Association’s director of marketing and outreach. “I woke up the next morning, and I just didn’t know what to do.”

18 Oct 2017

New social media campaign brings awareness to sexual assault

A lot of my time this past week has been spent “liking” posts on social media, which up until recently had been a pretty standard activity. This standard activity has not been me just merely double-tapping a picture of a cute outfit or liking a post of a sarcastic and topical meme however. I have been showing support in the most basic of ways by liking every post of #MeToo that I have come across. I think I have liked more posts online in just this past week than I have every done in my time on the internet.

18 Oct 2017

UWRF Young Americans for Liberty OK with UW rule for expelling protesters

The leadership for the new student organization Young Americans Liberty, whose champion cause is protecting the right to freedom of speech, could not come up with any examples of their free speech being limited or attacked on campus. When told that the University of Wisconsin System is implementing a student policy that calls for suspending and expelling students who disrupt campus speeches and presentations, UWRF YAL Vice President Elijah Anderson’s answer did not change.