Zachary Bell

According to the Associated Press, 53.6 percent of Americans under 26 with a bachelors degree — 1.5 million — are jobless or underemployed. That could fill a lot of streets. So why are they empty?

That weekend, I tried to pair my observations of the mass actions with personal conversations — on both sides. I spoke to police and protesters, removing the blue helmets and black masks, asking whether the police are part of the 99 percent or part of a police state in which violence is the closest one can get to “dialogue.”

I began May Day eager to see a space that embodied the movement’s values. However, after 12 hours of activism, this other world that Occupy was trying to create seemed messy and racked by many of the contradictions that haunted the New Left in the 1960s.

Ironically, the knowledge I have gained from my liberal arts education is exactly what has made the reward for its completion confounding.

In general, sexual activity relies on a guy’s initiative and a girls’ acceptance. The pursuer invests time, energy, maybe even money and often wants something in return.

FOMO, or the fear of missing out, refers to the social anxiety students may feel from missing an event, falling behind or tumbling into social bankruptcy.

Walking out is not tantamount to signing an “I agree” petition — it’s deciding to engage in a discourse.

Sexism has not bled-out. It’s alive and pulses through our conversations and our body language.

Just a few months ago, I was complicit in On-Campus Recruiting. As suits traipse into interview rooms this week, I think it’s time to examine this tradition of competition through its history and recent critiques.

As a freshman, I chose the guaranteed community and the institutionalized comfort of a social calendar. I’m not saying it’s wrong, but I’m saying that I didn’t try to imagine something different.