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Submitted opinion articles
Opinion article
Opinion: What does it say when U-Council members are blocked to vote on motions that make elections more representative?
This week the Praesidium of the University Council blocked the other 15 members from voting on a measure
Opinion
Opinion: housing corporation for student housing is the solution to the rooms shortage
Van Rooij of political party M:OED: "The rooms market in Maastricht is stuck"
Opinion article
Opinion: Another case of ‘himpathy’
Maybe the FOM protests were an opportunity for us to stop and listen
Opinion article
Opinion: “Maastricht, hurry up with your Low Emissions Zone”
The more time is wasted, the fewer benefits for public health
Opinion
Opinion: Action required, OBP in lowest salary scales cannot make ends meet
The difference between the poor and the rich has continued to grow also within the university community.
Statement
“The University Council condemns, without reservation, and in the strongest possible terms, the criminal cyber attack on the Observant”
Statement University Council
Opinion
Duma on the Maas?
"There is no difference between threatening a journalist with clenched fists (or worse) and shutting down a website"
Opinion
What kind of university do we want to be?
Opinion Jan Smits: "Especially at university you need to hear opinions you disagree with"
Opinion
Has the University Council forgotten that democracy requires a free press?
"The silence has been deafening lately after miscreants had blocked access to Observant’s online publications by launching a DDoS attack"
Opinion
Breaking the bonds with Russian researchers extinguishes the sparks of change
More than 7000 of Russian scientists and science journalists are against the war
Opinion
Why should we as (international) students care about municipality elections?
"Local politicians are largely ignoring our interests"
Opinion
"There is a total lack of historic and reality sense"
Fred Grunfeld’s opinion about the WOB request of The Rights Forum
Read More
Submitted letters
Submitted letter
An expensive introduction
The fee for a stall at the INKOM market is too high, according to Maastricht grassroots organisations
Letter
Cultural war at the UM
At least eighty per cent of the people can live with diversity, but allow themselves to be intimidated by ideological extremists
Submitted letter
The Executive Board should hang its head in shame for blindly participating in this
Jan Willems’ opinion about the WOB request of The Rights Forum
Submitted letter
Inclusive language in Observant
Feminists of Maastricht: "We advocate an inclusive understanding of gender"
Columns
Column
The jobs that don’t count, but do
"Hands red raw I learned some valuable lessons doing that work - the importance of the right tool for the job (steel wool)"
Column
Dare to dream
It took twenty years of hard work to see the seed I planted into the universe come to fruition
Column
Getting virtual mud under my fingernails
"It’s enough to make you want to hide under the duvet until spring shows up"
Column
Toilet taskforce
How do we know people squat on our toilets?
Column
Thinking about skiing
What used to seem joyfully improbable, sliding down a slope on two thin planks, now felt grim and plodding
Column
Celebrating a Sad Anniversary
Small ways to create new energy
Column
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Only democracy can give us the opportunity to think freely about dictatorship
Column
The real climate terrorists
The coal must and can stay in the ground
Column
In the shadows
Noticing what happens in the shadow reveals textures to the social fabric that is often taken for granted
Column
Act with integrity
How to stay focused and productive in a hostile situation
Column
Once Upon a Time, We Were Students
"I’ve passed into the realm of The Other, just as I once pushed some of my predecessors there"
Column
World Cup wake-up
"FIFA meant to silence the political discussion, but woke up the protester in many of us"
Read More
Letter from the editor
Editorial
High workload
"The day is still young, but my to-do list isn’t shrinking fast enough"
Editorial
A slightly annoyed tone
'You’ve made it seem like only a very small minority of UM employees support Rianne Letschert’s position’
Editorial
Cocaine, ecstasy and cannabis
One of us had snorted a line of coke once
Editorial
Blunt, impatient and irritable
Going into an interview like a bull in a china shop hardly inspires confidence
Editorial
Anxious hours and days
We were quiet, reminded of how fragile life is, and of what really matters in the end
Editorial
It sounds harsh and unkind
Our answer is almost always no, that means there are exceptions: Ukraine, Turkey, Syria
Editorial
Who is the best writer – ChatGPT or the journalist?
The result was “an acceptable first attempt”
Editorial
Cycling jersey, size XXL
A memento of the day when we climbed the Alpe d’Huez
Editorial
Talk Dutch to us
It wouldn’t be very productive to talk about Dutch-language articles in English
Editorial
First-year nerves
"I can’t remember if I slept well the night before my first Logic exam. Probably not"
Editorial
It’s all about curiosity
University Council meeting was cancelled because the Council “wanted to reflect on internal affairs”
Editorial
He closes his laptop at 8.20 PM
There’s never a good time to be ill at Observant
Read More
Blog Konrad
Blog
My boss called me to make sure I was fine
Messages started coming in: there was a shooting in the center of Tel Aviv
Blog
It feels years and years ago that I was celebrating Carnival in Maastricht
From Tel Aviv from Konrad von Klitzing