Opinions - The Signal

OPINION: Ketanji Brown Jackson is not an Affirmative Action hire

By Soorin Kim | Mar. 11, 2022

When President Joe Biden announced he wanted his Supreme Court nominee to be a Black woman, he was met with overwhelming dissent. Conservatives rallied against Biden, claiming he would nominate a judge solely because of her race and gender without regard for her lesser-than qualifications, thereby admitting to thinking that a Black woman couldn’t have the same stellar education or career of the five white men who currently serve as justices. Biden nominated Ketanji Brown Jackson on Feb. 25, and since then the lawyer has received glowing endorsements from prominent Republican figures like J. Michael Luttig. Praise for her career and intellect are not unsubstantiated: Jackson is a graduate of Harvard University and Harvard Law School and served as editor of the Harvard Law Review. She has clerked for the Supreme Court and has had a successful career as a public defender and later as a federal judge.

OPINION: Putin’s ‘blood and soil’ speech revealed war was never about NATO — a breakdown

By Ethan Kaiser | Mar. 2, 2022

In the early morning of Feb. 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared war against Ukraine, phrased as a “special military operation.” Just two days before, Putin recognized two breakaway regions in Eastern Ukraine bordering Russia: Donetsk and Luhansk. These two areas have been the sight of civil war, with portions of the two regions under Russian-backed separatist control. But instead of recognizing just the separatist controlled regions as independent republics, Putin opted to recognize the whole region, even those under Ukrainian control, as parts of the “republics.”

OPINION: Doping discrimination has never been clearer

By Soorin Kim | Feb. 28, 2022

The world was in shock when fifteen-year-old Kamila Valieva was allowed to compete in this year’s winter Olympics despite testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. Sports commentators called it a slap in the face to contestants playing clean, and the Olympics committee finally conceded that should Valieva earn a medal, she would not receive a victory ceremony. This past July, a similar situation played out but received a drastically different public reaction.

The 2022 Winter Olympics showcased how China efficiently handles Covid-19 and mimizies its spread through its Zero Covid Policy. Although effective, it is very unlikely that these guidelines could work in the United States (Navya Sinha).

OPINION: Why can't China's ‘Zero Covid Policy’ work in the states?

By Soorin Kim | Feb. 22, 2022

The 2022 Winter Olympics have been threatened by disease, doping scandals and diplomatic boycotts, just to name a few. But China has managed to pull the games off relatively smoothly so far... With the nation being broadcast to millions of people worldwide, pressure was mounting to impress yet again, but this year, visitors wouldn’t be dazzled by new infrastructure and abundant wealth; those at the games would instead marvel at the strict and efficient way China has been dealing with Covid-19.

From a Basement is a satirical column written by Miss Misery. This fictional piece is about fraternities and hazing (Navya Sinha).

From a Basement: Campus fraternity proud to take a stand against hazing; emotional abuse on the other hand…

By Miss Misery | Feb. 22, 2022

Disclaimer: This is a satirical piece and does not reflect real individuals or events. Concern regarding the dangers of hazing has been on the rise in recent years. With more individuals involved in Greek life, criticizing it as an outdated and sadistic tradition, fraternities and sororities have had no choice but to respond. A clear message was being sent: get with the times or get left behind.

Tony Hawk has gotten into the NFT practice (Photo courtesy of Tony Hawk Inc.)

OPINION: What a Tony Hawk NFT says about celebrity culture

By Soorin Kim | Feb. 17, 2022

NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, have been dominating cryptocurrency news stories over the past year. An NFT is a piece of data stored on a blockchain which can be traded or sold for millions of dollars. They’re the latest development in digital art collection and can take the form of gifs, videos, tweets and now, skateboard tricks. Skateboarding legend Tony Hawk recently made the decision to retire some of his most famous tricks, converting them to NFTs and cashing in on the craze, much to the chagrin of his fanbase.

OPINION: Why aren’t book bans illegal yet?

By Delaney Smith | Feb. 8, 2022

A Tennessee school board banned the Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel “Maus” on January 10. This graphic novel details the horrific treatment of Jewish people during the Holocaust, with mice representing the Jewish people and the Nazis drawn out as cats. It is widely acclaimed as one of the greatest graphic novels of all time for its haunting storytelling, artwork and the use of cats and mice as instantly recognizable allegories.

Spotify, a popular streaming service hub, hosts political discourse as Joe Rogan spreads inaccurate information about Covid-19 through the app (Flickr / “#Spotify” / Philip Wilson, Jan. 30, 2016).

OPINION: Could Spotify become political weaponry?

By Soorin Kim | Feb. 8, 2022

The music streaming service Spotify is not the first social media platform that comes to mind when conjuring popular sites for political discourse.

From A Basement is a satirical column written by Miss Misery. This piece describes a relationship between sorority life and beauty standards on campus (Navya Sinha).

From a Basement: In an effort to prevent insecurity in young women, sorority ensures all members look the same

By Miss Misery | Feb. 6, 2022

In recent years, sororities have been under fire for perpetuating harmful beauty standards amongst their members which has led to increased insecurity and depression among young women.

SATIRE: Local voter convinced he would get stuff done if he was President

By Ethan Kaiser | Feb. 5, 2022

New Hope, Pa. - Frustrated by what is going on in Washington, D.C., local voter Jason Miller convinced himself that he would have better luck passing President Biden’s agenda than the President himself. Mr. Miller, a Biden voter, is supportive of what the President has advocated for, but thinks Biden is not trying hard enough to pass his agenda.

Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, is causing worldwide tension and distress that he will use military force to “integrate” Russia and Ukraine (Flickr / “Vladmir Putin” / Mitya Aleshkovsky).

OPINION: As Putin threatens Ukraine, 1939 comes to mind

By Derek Hubbard | Feb. 3, 2022

Eight years after annexing Crimea from Ukraine, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin is massing his forces on Ukraine’s northern and eastern borders, likely in preparation for a larger military operation against the country.

A frontline healthcare worker in Baltimore County, Md. received the first dose of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine on Dec. 23, 2020. Vaccine rollout continues with the pandemic as billions of doses are distributed worldwide (Baltimore County Government / Flickr).

OPINION: The pandemic isn’t over yet — we need to stop pretending it is

By Delaney Smith | Jan. 26, 2022

March 2020 doesn’t feel that long ago, really. I remember watching the news and hearing the spikes of cases in New York City, the then epicenter of the pandemic. Over 30,000 cases. Wow. Of course I’ll quarantine for two weeks, anything to help slow the spread of this pandemic that has already infected so many people in such a small span of time!

From A Basement is a satirical column written by Miss Misery. This piece describes officer Handy McCuffs' experience saving the campus from a car parked without a permit (Navya Sinha).

From a Basement: Campus Police save community from car parked without permit

By Miss Misery | Jan. 26, 2022

It was a normal day for officer Handy McCuffs, a longtime officer at the College. Alone in the cool light of Lot 6, he heard only the sound of his dark boots hitting the pavement as he carefully examined the dozens of cars parked.

From A Basement is a satirical column written by Miss Misery. This piece touches on the topic of inevitable icebreakers and the trauma dumping that they may sustain (Navya Sinha).

From a Basement: Student unsure where the line between ‘icebreaker’ and ‘trauma dumping’ is

By Miss Misery | Jan. 26, 2022

The start of a new semester opens the door for an abundance of possibilities — joining a new club, taking new classes, starting a new job — all of which come with the unfortunate caveat of having to meet new people. Perhaps you would consider yourself to be a “people person,” yet even those fond of meeting new people can concede that the typical small talk in “getting to know you” type conversations can be tedious.

President Biden has found it hard to unite with people who demonstrated that they would overthrow the government before letting him succeed. (White House / Adam Schultz).

OPINION: The good, the bad and Joe Biden

By Connor Carlin | Jan. 26, 2022

In 1920, a little known senator from Ohio named Warren G. Harding made a run for President with a promise of a return to normalcy. Reeling from the upheaval of World War I, the Spanish flu pandemic and the First Red Scare, America elected him overwhelmingly, hoping to go back to the way things were before, hoping to return to normalcy. Joe Biden campaigned on a similar promise in 2020, vowing to beat Trump and get America back to work. Normalcy for Harding and Biden means two very different things, but as first years go, Harding’s was much better than the one Biden had.

OPINION: Murphy hangs on, but Democrats should be worried

By Derek Hubbard | Dec. 7, 2021

Governor Phil Murphy (D) narrowly defeated Republican challenger Jack Ciattarelli in New Jersey’s governor election, but for Democrats, this win provides little cause for celebration.

POLITICAL ANALYSIS: Why represent the People when you can just represent yourself?

By Connor Carlin | Dec. 6, 2021

Congressional Democrats have a lot of big plans but limited chances of getting them out the door. Top on the agenda is President Biden's $3.5 trillion infrastructure bill, and next are bills on voting rights and immigration reform. These proposals have proven popular with the public, despite attempts by Republicans to gin up opposition. So, why aren’t they going through?

OPINION: Destabilization in Haiti is a US made problem

By Lana Leonard | Nov. 22, 2021

On June 7, Vice President Kamala Harris held a press conference in Guatemala City with Guatemalan President, Alejandro Giammattei, on immigration. In the press conference, Harris made it a point to deter immigrants looking to make the near 1,500-mile journey from Guatemala to the U.S.-Mexico border at Del Rio, Texas.

OPINION: The ‘Heartbeat Bill’ is fervently anti-women

By Delaney Smith | Nov. 16, 2021

Texas recently passed a law that bans women from getting an abortion after a heartbeat has been detected in a fetus, which normally occurs around six weeks into a pregnancy — before most women even know they are pregnant. This new law does not provide exceptions to pregnancies from rape or incest. A man could rape a minor and that minor would have no legal way to abort the resulting fetus.

OPINION: The end of Covid-19 relief structures leaves only chaos in its wake

By Lana Leonard | Nov. 15, 2021

Unemployment benefits have (in all their inaccessibility) ended with no extension in sight, along with other pandemic relief to millions of Americans in need of support while the pandemic rages on. In light of this reality, I make the argument that America’s individualism will create increasing detrimental divides in the national and global economy, while exacerbating a poor quality of life for working people in a disillusioned return to normalcy.