If you haven’t given much thought to how wonderful cows are, you should. Cows are just like people; they get emotional and happy and sad. That’s why I want to pet one.  Read more

The bars are boring. Parties reek with COVID-19. What else is there to do in Maryville? After months of craving some excitement, I finally discovered the cure for the Maryville blues — bowling.  Read more

I’ve noticed people on campus not following one particular safety guideline. No, I’m not talking about the athletes that can run for days at practice but can’t be bothered to pull their masks over their noses. I’m also not talking about that one guy that ignores his assigned seat in class an… Read more

I avoided military recruiters like the plague in high school, and I thought that since I’m in college now, I wouldn’t have to deal with anyone trying to trick me into dying in the desert for a barrel of oil, but luckily for me there’s even more of them on campus. Read more

We’ve been in virtual classes for a year and some people still haven’t gotten Zoom right. It’s whatever; I know it must be difficult to understand a simple video chat program in 12 months.  Read more

Sitting at a corner table in Board Game Cafe as the large rectangular windows displayed rows of small businesses at his back, Dannen Merrill spoke of the importance of supporting them. For Merrill, the desire to serve and his experience in finances and accounting pushed him to run for a City… Read more

Though it’s barely a mile north of Maryville’s town square, Oak Hill Cemetery is easy to miss. Tucked between Main and Dewey streets, this 28.46-acre property where slimly paved roads dissect small patches of grass dotted with tombstones is not the kind of graveyard one would consider remark… Read more

In today’s world children become adults on a timeline. The first milestone is a driver's license at 16. The federal government says you are an adult at 18, and a bartender says it’s 21. Some think you are not an adult until you pay rent or other payments. I believe you are an adult when you … Read more

One of the most prevalent personality traits among the eternally boring and insufferable people in my life is their unfounded hatred of TikTok. They believe — just like the guy who peaked in high school that was too cool to dance to the wobble at prom — that their nonparticipation in popular… Read more

I suppose it all started in the election of 2016. The orange wall man with stupid hair and the “Zodiac Killer” for the republicans while the left was stuck with Hillary “Pokemon Go to the polls” Clinton and Col. “Feel the Bern” Sanders. We all were on an uneasy edge that took off in the form… Read more

If you don’t own a four-wheel-drive vehicle, you might want to make sure that your airbags are effective and your insurance is up to date.  Read more

Brittany Roberts was comfortable in a city. Showing her self-described loud and colorful personality while walking around St. Louis was second nature to her. But she gave up the comfort of a packed metropolitan area to move somewhere that made her uncomfortable — Maryville. Read more

Remember the good old days when people could smoke cigarettes in restaurants? And the even better days when they forced smoking sections into said restaurants so smokers could sip their chemical cocktails without disturbing the non-smokers? Well, I think this same concept should be implement… Read more

While college students seem amazed by the survival of a local business, the owners insist that the secret to their success -- both in marriage and in business -- is simple: work.  Read more

It’s that time of year again. The time when a bunch of guys who could barely see the field in high school try to pretend they understand what Patrick Mahomes goes through during the Super Bowl. No, by all means, Dylan, you were the third-string punter on a 40-man roster in small-town Missour… Read more

Just when you didn’t think Maryville could get any whiter, we got like eight inches of snow, and I’m here for it. Sure the pristine pale snow is already turning the color of a sewer root beer float, but even brown sludgy snow is still snow. This frozen water makes everything better. Read more

As Matt Baker sat in his office Jan. 7,  tucked near the far corner of Northwest’s Student Engagement Center on the second floor of the J.W. Jones Student Union, the University’s assistant vice president of Student Affairs described the events of the previous year in contradicting terms.  Read more

Country music has never been my cup of tea or glass of sweet tea, I guess. Get it? Because rednecks drink sweet tea. Anyway, I don’t usually like it mainly for the fact that it generally doesn’t sound good. I am somewhat of a stickler when it comes to music taste as I prefer it to be pleasan… Read more

Justin Mallett, a man who works relentlessly to help underrepresented students transition onto a predominantly white campus and community, may not feel welcomed himself. Read more

The Stroller is normally a place for satirical views of current events and trends. It’s mostly comprised of trite observations and jokes at the expense of those who care about a particular topic or believe a certain way. This stroller is not like that. This one is serious. You need to watch … Read more

The total process took around 33 months. From the outline to endless hours spent typing away on a Google Docs to countless revisions and edits. In just under three years, redshirt sophomore Northwest football player Joe Barnes completed his novel. Read more

The official holiday for gluttony is here, and it is going to look different. Out of an abundance of caution — I hear this phrase in my nightmares — my family has decided to shrink the guestlist for this year’s event. It will result in some classic Thanksgiving staples being absent from the … Read more

Northwest organizations are reacting to the 2020 Presidential election with consequences on issues like COVID-19, climate change, economy and national image.  Read more

A nameless town. An average party. An ordinary girl. All based on a real town, following a real party, involving a real girl and all-too-real events. Read more

I spend a lot of time in my car. Most of the decent things in Maryville are firmly out of walking distance, so I hop in the decade-old sedan and go for a jaunt. I also try and visit my parents, who are hundreds of miles away, rather frequently. They pay for my tuition and have supported me f… Read more

Whitnee Ice’s life has been defined by goals since she was in adolescence. At just 22 years old, Ice, a senior at Northwest, said she’s already accomplished a lot. This month she’ll be graduating with two degrees: communication rhetoric and interpersonal communication. Ice wasn’t even sure s… Read more

So, there I am in the midst of my post-Halloween slumber when I awake to a curious sound. The faint sound of Michael Buble — he’s super relevant all year round — echoes throughout my house, and I can smell pine-scented candles in the living room.  Read more

As Jasper Logan described his views on the state of national politics from the basement of the Valk Center, the building that serves as the home to Northwest’s political science department, the senior political science major was interrupted.  Read more

It’s finally here. This weekend I will finally get to enjoy the best holiday that America has to offer. I plan on having a raucous celebration with treats and costumes. I may even turn on a spooky movie late at night to celebrate. I am of course talking about daylight saving time. Read more

Waking up early on Saturday to go pick out some large orange fruit to stab with a knife in the company of loved ones is a true Midwestern tradition. I look forward to the opportunity every single fall, and this year I can’t wait to go out and waste, I mean spend, a Saturday on the hallowed g… Read more

Kirayle Jones stood before the distanced roundtables in an Oregon sweatshirt, black shorts and a mask. He was talking not only to the senators loosely clustered around the tables but to a laptop sitting on a chair that was the vessel to the online patrons of the meeting. It wasn’t the presid… Read more

With numerous social distancing measures in place, hundreds of thousands of kids are missing out on what they know as school, being taught a new way of learning. It’s now up to teachers to fill students’ days with enriching material without compromising their safety. Read more

To many, Homecoming may seem like an arbitrary celebration completely constructed to make people that pay money to have friends and know three letters of the Greek alphabet feel like their organizations are important, but to me, it’s so much more than that. Even with COVID-19, I’m still real… Read more

The Northwest Jazz Ensemble and Studio Jazz Ensemble took the jazz to the grass 6 p.m. Oct. 5. at the Raymond J. Courter College Park Pavilion, as COVID-19 mitigation efforts prompted them to host their first concert of the semester outside. Read more

Darren White tends to tell stories as he explains his campaign platforms and thoughts on policing. In fact, he tends to tell stories when he explains just about anything, outlining his views on things as pertinent as the duties of a sheriff’s office or as unconnected as the rising cost of hi… Read more

I’ve seen all I need to see after the presidential debate. Well, I didn’t actually watch the debate; I rewatched episodes of “The Office” that I have seen 11 times — it’s better than “Friends” — and then saw a highlights video on Facebook, but I am now sure in my choice for who I am voting f… Read more

Deep within the depths of the Olive DeLuce Fine Arts Building lies an artistic hub few outside the Northwest Department of Fine and Performing Arts are familiar with. Read more

It had been at least a month since Heather Simon last saw the sun. After a long string of bad air days, ash and smoke-filled skies, on Sept. 15 from her home in Valley Springs, California, she had a bit of relief.  Read more

A transistor radio on the bed of his childhood room. That’s what John Coffey estimates as the beginning of his love for sports broadcasting. That love became a career as the “voice of the Bearcats,” and now Coffey’s love vaulted him into a general manager position and a corner office. It all… Read more

You’d think that in the middle of a global pandemic and social distancing orders, being forced into random groups for assignments would take a break. Nope. Not here. Instead, some of my in-person and online courses have major group projects. Read more

Being a college student in 2020 has many challenges. Between facing uncertainty around safety, coping with financial stress and learning time management, young adults are often overwhelmed. Some have the added obstacles of parenthood. Junior Alysa Johnson’s pregnancy came as a shock to her.  Read more

It’s been almost six full months since COVID-19 first arrived in Missouri. Gov. Mike Parson held a press conference March 7 to announce the first patient to “test presumptive positive” for the virus, back when cases were still rare across the state and the country, still a full week before t… Read more

I know lots of students are stressed at the thought of going back home after just a few weeks. Thankfully, there are many social distancing steps Northwest is taking to make sure that we all get the in-person education that we already paid for. Read more

Jena Henderson woke up Aug. 18 with the worst back ache of her life, no appetite and a splitting headache. She knew something wasn’t right. The Wellness Center told Henderson, a freshman at Northwest, she couldn’t get a COVID-19 test until 48 hours after her symptoms started. She missed her … Read more

The vibrant pink walls of the Mary Lynn Auditorium seem just a little less lively this semester. Every other row of the 1,000-seat theater is clothed in black cloth, as if mourning the loss of the crowds it used to hold. As mitigation efforts drastically limit audiences, the Northwest Depart… Read more