My Work | Portfolio

Mar 26, 2017
1 min

Dueling Column: Students living in pro-expansion bubble

Michelle Marchante/ Opinion Director The bubble we live in makes it almost impossible for us to consider that FIU’s expansion to the fairgrounds might not be as beneficial to the Miami-Dade and University communities as it seems. In the last semester, we’ve run many pro-expansion columns, with valid reason. FIU is a growing university, with about 56,000 enrolled students, and needs space to continue its academic growth. To playing devil’s advocate, there is another side to th

Michelle Marchante

Mar 3, 2017
1 min

Disney has failed Hispanics

Michelle Marchante/ Opinion Director Disney has failed Hispanics. Last year, Disney debuted their first Hispanic princess, Elena of Avalor. As Avalor’s princess, she is a skilled sword-fighter, has magical powers and does not have a love interest. She is a mixture of different Hispanic heritages, cultures and legends. She sounds fascinating, except, Disney has belittled and discriminated against her. Disney has not treated her like the other princesses. All “official” Disney

Budgeting can minimize your student debt

Michelle Marchante

Nov 15, 2016
1 min

Budgeting can minimize your student debt

Michelle Marchante/Opinion Director Debt is every student’s worst nightmare. It’s the monster that hides under your bed —the Chuckie of college life— but it can be combatted and eventually defeated. You just have to play it smart. According to the University’s Financial Aid Office, the two most common loans found among students are the Federal Stafford Unsubsidized loan, where interest fees start the moment the student accepts the loan and the Federal Stafford Subsidized loan

FIU can help students find jobs before graduation

Michelle Marchante

Nov 2, 2016
1 min

FIU can help students find jobs before graduation

Michelle Marchante/Opinion Director Internships are what open the door to career “heavens” for students and is something that can separate a student’s resume from all the others. Our university is completely aware of how important this task is and has made sure to provide multiple different resources students can use during their time here to ensure that they are capable of reeling in an internship by graduation. According to U.S. news, a study conducted by the National Assoc

WikiLeaks has become the new whistleblower

Michelle Marchante

Oct 18, 2016
1 min

WikiLeaks has become the new whistleblower

Michelle Marchante/ Opinion Director WikiLeaks has done it again, doing what American journalism has failed to do this election season: uncovering secrets that could sway the people’s vote, despite its questionable operator. This time around, WikiLeaks has leaked emails from Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman, John Podesta. The new emails show Podesta, Clinton’s communication campaign director, Jennifer Palmieri and other officials not only mocking Catholi

Michelle Marchante

Apr 26, 2016
1 min

America looks to superheroes for hope

Michelle Marchante/Assistant Opinion Director Superheroes appeared around the 1930s when America had just come out of the Great Depression and was about to enter World War II. Americans were low on morale, money and hope. Then, extraordinary heroes like Superman, characterized with America’s sense of democracy and justice, were born. Superman, along with other superheroes like Captain America became America’s mascots and unofficial soldiers in the war against the Nazi’s. They

Michelle Marchante

Apr 13, 2016
1 min

Humanity to be unplugged in 2022

Michelle Marchante/Assistant Opinion Director How long do you think you could survive without technology? A week? A month? How about years? Unfortunately, the sad truth is that almost none of us would be able to survive more than a few days without aid from some type of technological advancement. With our civilization becoming more technologically dependent, even if we think we’re moving into the future, we’re actually moving backwards. We’re capable of doing far more than ou

NASA’s Kepler Telescope discovers possible extraterrestrial life

Michelle Marchante

Mar 25, 2016
1 min

NASA’s Kepler Telescope discovers possible extraterrestrial life

Michelle Marchante/Assistant Opinion Director When it comes to extraterrestrial life, many would argue it means leaving the factual realm of science and entering the world of sci-fi, but according to NASA’s chief scientist, Ellen Stofan, aliens may soon become our reality. “I think we’re going to have strong indications of life beyond Earth within a decade, and I think we’re going to have definitive evidence within 20 to 30 years,” Stofan said during a live webcast panel disc

Print books claim victory over electronic books

Michelle Marchante

Feb 15, 2016
1 min

Print books claim victory over electronic books

Michelle Marchante/ Assistant Opinion Director According to the New York Times, e-book sales skyrocketed up 1,260 percent between 2008 and 2010. By the time Borders closed its doors in 2011, experts were convinced that printed books would be obsolete by 2015. We’re now in 2016 and the publishing industry has been comfortingly rattled with the discovery that those predictions seem to be wrong-for now. According to a December analysis report by Nielsen BookScan, a data provider

Creativity holds value in this Digital Age

Michelle Marchante

Jan 26, 2016
1 min

Creativity holds value in this Digital Age

Michelle Marchante/Asst. Opinion Director One of the great things about attending a university is that even if you’re unsure of what you want to do with your life, you can take a variety of different courses to figure it out. By the same token, it’s not uncommon to find people opting to major in something that will financially secure them instead of majoring in something they enjoy. Everyone is different and everyone’s reason for studying a major is theirs and theirs alone; b

Michelle Marchante

Dec 1, 2015
1 min

The Man, The Myth, The Legend

Michelle Marchante/Staff Writer “Only his sight beat me,” Arnold Schwarzenegger said in the Mr. Olympia bodybuilding competition of 1969 when Sergio Oliva first stepped onto the stage. With a 27” waist, 58” chest and 22” arms, Oliva was a force to be reckoned with, being the only man in the world to ever defeat Schwarzenegger. It’s been three years after his death on November 12, 2012 and not only has the bodybuilding world failed to find another man that could even come clos

Companion app can make students feel safer

Michelle Marchante

Nov 19, 2015
1 min

Companion app can make students feel safer

Michelle Marchante/Staff Writer Have you ever walked alone late at night on campus and have passed by a suspicious person or heard a strange noise that sends warning bells through your mind? How many times have you thought someone should have accompanied you while walking at night? With the invention of Companion, a free iOS and Android app, you may never have to think that again. It’s common knowledge that one of the easiest safety measures someone can take to protect themse

“Lack of time” mentality forces children to grow up faster

Michelle Marchante

Oct 23, 2015
1 min

“Lack of time” mentality forces children to grow up faster

Michelle Marchante/Staff Writer It seems that no matter where you look, people are always in a rush and are never satisfied with just living in the moment. We’re all guilty of it and to an extent it’s not a bad thing. It’s good to have a goal and know the steps needed to achieve it but we tend to forget that we’re not just planning our lives but living it. Is this anxiety something that has been taught to us since birth or is it a natural inborn tendency? The answer is most l

Michelle Marchante

Oct 16, 2015
1 min

We do not need a ‘Yelp for humans’

Michelle Marchante/Staff Writer Social media is a double-edged sword. It’s a great tool for communicating with others, but if used in the wrong way, can easily damage someone’s reputation – so where should we draw the line? When it begins to affect someone’s personal life. When it’s no longer just celebrities and other public figures being judged online by complete strangers but regular, everyday people being scrutinized. An example of this would be Peeple, a brand new app th

It’s in our DNA: social circles ‘genetically similar’

Michelle Marchante

Oct 9, 2015
1 min

It’s in our DNA: social circles ‘genetically similar’

Michelle Marchante / Staff Writer How boring would life be if friends didn’t exist? They’re like your unofficial family who happen to share your exact same interests and even if they don’t, it doesn’t matter because for some strange reason you just click. It’s almost automatic how you become friends with certain people – like it’s just natural to be friends with them, but haven’t you ever wondered why? Well it turns out, it’s not just experiences and laugh worthy moments that

Dueling Column: No guns is not the answer

Michelle Marchante

Jun 19, 2015
1 min

Dueling Column: No guns is not the answer

Michelle Marchante / Staff Writer Looking through FIUSM, I came across an article questioning the Second Amendment. While I respect the writer’s opinion, I must respectfully disagree with him. Taking guns out of the home will never be the answer to make life in America safer. It will only make it more dangerous. For example, Chicago has some of the toughest Gun Control Laws in the country, yet it’s also known as the “murder capital” of the United States for having the most ho

Films of all kinds reflect women’s empowerment

Michelle Marchante

Apr 14, 2015
1 min

Films of all kinds reflect women’s empowerment

Michelle Marchante | Staff Writer Strong women have played leads in film for a long time. Just look at the 1979 movie “Alien” starring Sigourney Weaver, or Angelina Jolie’s portrayal of Lara Croft in the 2001 movie “Tomb Raider.” However, Hollywood simply has never seen so many female-led box-office hits go to the theaters in succession. If this is the case, some may wonder why a movie like “Cinderella” would be released during this time of female empowerment. Honestly, why n

Michelle Marchante

Apr 1, 2015
1 min

Superman’s Future (Part 1)

Michelle Marchante | Staff Writer There are a lot of similar superheroes, so what makes Superman’s character and story better than the others, so much as to label him as an “American Icon?” Perhaps because while he has all these extraordinary powers he tries to live life like a normal person, or his commitment to saving a planet he’s learned to call home or that he’s virtually invincible so long as he avoids having Kryptonite in his premises. I can’t help but feel curious, th

Michelle Marchante

Mar 25, 2015
1 min

Nerd culture is fake

Michelle Marchante | Contributing Writer Celebrities walking around wearing shirts with comments such as, “I Love Nerds” and stating in interviews that they consider themselves nerds is probably the reason for the word’s newfound popularity, leading to stores that target young adults selling shirts with pictures of Hello Kitty wearing glasses with “nerd” sprawled across it with other accessories used as nerdy self-identifiers. It’s like some secret campaign to stop bullying t

Man’s best friend might just outsmart us one day

Michelle Marchante

Mar 17, 2015
1 min

Man’s best friend might just outsmart us one day

Michelle Marchante | Contributing Writer The idea that animals, like dogs, while indeed having thoughts and emotions of their own, are not capable of rational thinking like humans has existed for a long, long time. Dog owners everywhere, I’m sure, would argue against that idea, claiming that not only do their pets understand them, but that they do indeed know how they feel. If you’re a person of science though, you’re not satisfied with the here say people claim, of the “proo