The often-competing ideals of student self-governance and tradition at the University allow for true activism, but at the expense of expediency. This creates a gap in student support of causes which so-called “slacktivism” fills nicely.
Congressional Republicans have been desperately trying to prove they can govern as well as obstruct, though their recent actions have done little to change their perception. Republicans’ rabid opposition to President Barack Obama’s recent executive action on immigration has led to their latest exercise in brinkmanship: failing to fund the Department of Homeland Security while at the same time bemoaning the national security threats of ISIL and terrorist plots in Europe.
Are we all just talking at each other? Social media forums are notoriously bad for interacting with other people. Not only are we alone when we stand on our virtual soapboxes, but Facebook and Twitter let us behave like ideological Whack-a-Moles, launching loaded statements and then retreating from any rebuttal into the depths of the Internet.
We are pleased that more Student Council races are contested this year, and hope this signifies more student interest in what our governing body does. We are confident the combination of Axler, Carré and Winsky will serve our student body well over the next year.
Essentially, the Republican Party identified every student enrolled in a public university as a dependent thinker, and they labeled every university as a factory that exclusively produces liberals. But what if the majority of college students are liberal because they want to be?
There is nothing inherently wrong with using social media. However, when the number of attendees on a Facebook event becomes the primary indicator of who is to win an election, we should be concerned. At a certain point we should question whom social media campaigns are reaching.
I will vote no for the third referendum for the above reasons, and because I think there is much more progress the Committee can make next year without spending the majority of their time considering a multiple sanction system. After nearly a year on the Committee, I believe we can improve the Informed Retraction.
Can honor be preserved at this University without the single sanction? Unequivocally, yes. Some will argue the single sanction is what distinguishes our honor from that of other schools and places. But they are mostly wrong.
While student candidates naturally have a quality of idealism, we sought those whose idealism would not overwhelm their pragmatism. The honor system’s ability to maintain relevancy to our student body can only stem from concrete reforms, and Committee members will only have a year to implement such reforms. We think these candidates have the drive and initiative to take on this challenge.
Although the referenda do not directly propose a multi-sanction model, to join the conversation is to realize that single sanction serves as a disincentive in encouraging students to honor the system. After all, the fates of accused cheaters and liars should not be determined by a moral code that was instituted following the slaughter of a professor back in 1840.
The overall effect of the campaign’s referenda would be to fabricate a mandate for abolition of the single sanction in advance, without having a concrete policy on the table. That would wait until next year, when the proposal would come with both the imprimatur of the Honor Committee and the weight of this year’s referendum behind it.
Not every person needs to be a master coder. Coding is not the only technical skill that develops mental focus, enhances problem-solving capabilities and hones creativity. However, I do agree with Obama that coding is a new literacy that must be acquired so that all people can understand computer science basics and communicate effectively to programmers who have the capacity to make their ideas a reality.
The BBG had a budget of $731 million in fiscal year 2014, which means it has the resources to do a lot of good — or a significant amount of harm. From a solely idealistic standpoint, we can all get behind the mission of the BBG, which involves protecting free speech and providing news that is “accurate, objective, and comprehensive” to countries that often do not have access to a free press.
We are pleased UJC elections are contested in the College this year, but still worry that student engagement with UJC is lacking. Austin and Mason will prove excellent at engaging the community, but we hope this effort will extend beyond simply the College.
As legal adults, students have a right to mental health privacy. For students who do not want their mental health information shared with their parents, SB 1122 is especially concerning. And according to Davis, CAPS would have to report concerning student behavior to campus threat assessment teams, as University counseling centers would not be exempt from HB 1715.
When I found out Stewart was retiring, my first reaction was a pang of nostalgia for what felt like an exciting political innocence before the cynicism of the late Obama years. When I gave it a bit more thought, my next reaction was one of relief. “The Daily Show” was once a vibrant oasis in a desert of craven television personalities, but in 2015, the American left is better off leaving Jon Stewart and his brand of satire behind.
The mechanism for the potential demise of Obamacare can be found in ambiguous wording in the original law. The claim by the plaintiffs is that the IRS illegally provided subsidies to individuals who purchased coverage through exchanges set up by the federal government. This is because the original act specified that the subsidies would be provided only for insurance bought through the state.
This process took a dark turn following the Rolling Stone article, but reveals the problems with privacy flagging directories in general: should a student wish to make her information private years into her University career — which she is able to do — the information that was previously made available will still be available. With online directories, the chance of such information remaining public is obviously heightened.
Perhaps the most frightening fact about Modi is that he is a Hindu nationalist leading a government made of Hindu nationalists. Hindu nationalism has been on the rise in the last few decades in response to political mobilizations by the lower classes in India. Note that this in not Indian nationalism, but Hindu nationalism.
Almost every University student has experienced the shock of going to buy textbooks at the University bookstore and realizing the text needed for one three credit course costs upwards of $200. With prices for a single course that high, when multiplied by several courses and stretching over eight semesters of school textbooks can add a tremendous amount of money to an already substantial final bill for college.
