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Opinions

(Pexels / Brett Jordan). 

OPINION: What will it mean for Elon Musk to own Twitter?

By Soorin Kim | Apr. 26, 2022

Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk has recently expressed an interest in buying all available shares of Twitter in a massive takeover bid that has the media buzzing with the back and forth of this negotiation.  Twitter has shown its antagonism to this offer, filing a “poison pill plan” with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last week. This tactic, a common maneuver in shareholder negotiations, would make it almost impossible for Musk to expand his control of the company to over 15 percent. 

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(Navya Sinha / The Signal). 

OPINION: Climate scientists are fed up — you should be too

By Soorin Kim | Apr. 22, 2022

Civil disobedience regarding climate change has been on the rise. Last week, NASA scientist Peter Kalmus and his associates chained themselves to the entrance of the JP Morgan Chase building in Los Angeles in a quest to end climate change.  The group of researchers, known as Scientist Rebellion, was specifically protesting the investment bank’s massive funding of fossil fuels, the use of which threatens to destroy Earth.

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(Photo by Christian Wiediger on Unsplash). 

OPINION: Amazon’s revolutionary union sets precedent in employee-centric economy

By Soorin Kim | Apr. 11, 2022

The Amazon Labor Union became the e-commerce company’s first-ever union last week when former Staten Island warehouse employee Chris Smalls succeeded in his long-developing plan of organizing against the goliath corporation. In a classic underdog scenario never before seen in the company’s history, an individual grassroots campaign, totally unaided by more established labor unions, was voted into existence. 

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(Pexels).

OPINION: The slap heard ‘round the world — Will Smith really slapped Chris Rock on national television

By Connor Carlin | Apr. 8, 2022

It’s not every day that the question “did you see the Oscars last night?” has little or nothing to do with the highly deserved and monumental awards. No, the 94th Academy Awards will unfortunately not be remembered for the first openly queer woman of color winning Best Supporting Actress, or the first deaf man winning Best Supporting Actor, or that Samuel L. Jackson had an Oscar presented to him by Denzel Washington. It will be remembered for Will Smith slapping Chris Rock in front of an international audience, sitting back down in his seat and less than an hour later, going right back up to receive a standing ovation for his Best Actor speech.

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Hundreds of protestors marched around the perimeter of Disney headquarters to demand the corporation condemn the “Don’t Say Gay” Bill (Pexels).

OPINION: Disney’s reaction to ‘Don’t Say Gay’ marks a turning point

By Soorin Kim | Apr. 4, 2022

The Walt Disney corporation has often been accused of overcommercializing gay pride. While perfectly happy to rake in the earnings from selling rainbow Mickey T-shirts, the company refuses to engage in activism in any real way, merely tiptoeing around issues of substance to collect cash from conservative Christians and LGBTQ+ fans alike.  Employees in Burbank, Calif. forced the company to confront their tepid stance on issues of gay rights last week. Hundreds of protestors left the animation studio, marching around the perimeter of Disney headquarters to demand that the corporation condemn the “Don’t Say Gay” Bill. 

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Even though Travers and Wolfe are set to close by 2024, they still hold lots of memories for the College community (Alessia Contuzzi / The Signal). 

OPINION: The renovation of Travers and Wolfe is necessary yet bittersweet

By Thomas Kenny | Apr. 3, 2022

In late February, the College community was told that both Travers and Wolfe Residence Halls were going to be closing permanently by 2024 with new village-style housing as possible replacements, via an email by President Foster. The two first-year student dorms have become symbolic across campus, as they have been a place of residence for incoming freshmen at the College for 51 years. Unfortunately, occupancy levels for both Towers will decrease beginning next year as the College implements improvements to the residential experience. The Towers closing may bring disappointment, but the College can justly replace them to improve our campus, hopefully without losing the sentimental value they hold. 

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The election of Yoon Suk-yeol in South Korea threatens women’s rights (Photo from Pixabay). 

OPINION: How far will a ‘K-Trump’ set back feminism?

By Soorin Kim | Mar. 28, 2022

Yoon Suk-yeol, a former chief prosecutor, is set to replace Moon Jae-in as President of South Korea on May 10. Suk-yeol has become increasingly known in the West as a “K-Trump,” similar to Brazil’s “Trump of the Tropics,” Jair Bolsonaro. Suk-yeol is a staunch conservative, running on a platform combatting the rising feminism movement in Korea to some consternation and some heady approval.  The election campaign pitted Suk-yeol against the former governor Lee Jae-myung, a liberal candidate seen as the “lesser of two evils” by leftists. For the first time in South Korean politics, the gender conflict played a large role in debates and campaigns. The feminism movement, and the vehement backlash it received, needed to be addressed. 

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Americans must be willing to face the real consequences of supporting Ukrainians through this attack (Pexels).

OPINION: Paying more for gas will help Ukraine

By Soorin Kim | Mar. 15, 2022

The tragedy in Ukraine has been dominating the U.S. news cycle for the past few weeks. As the terror rages on against innocent civilians, Americans have come together to express their solidarity through vigils, marches and other performative means of showing support. However, on a larger, governmental level, many have wondered exactly what actions the Biden administration will take to combat this humanitarian crisis.  The answer came on March 8 when Biden officially banned the importation of Russian crude oil and natural gas. This sanction, among the multiple other Russian sanctions imposed by sympathetic countries, will hopefully be a huge financial blow to Putin’s war chest: a limitation on exports will force the country to focus on a domestic crisis rather than on the terror pressed against Ukrainians. 

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(Navya Sinha / The Signal).

From a Basement: Students realizing classmate crushes aren’t as cute without their masks

By Miss Misery | Mar. 11, 2022

Refreshed from a relaxing spring break, Harper James was eager to return to the business building. However, her excitement had little to do with the next lesson in her BUS200 class; she had instead been anticipating seeing her long-time class crush, Jerry Seinfeld, without the mask covering half of his gorgeous face. Much to her dismay, though, when Harper re-entered the classroom she could not find her dear Jerry amongst the crowd of newly exposed faces. She recalled his usual seat and narrowed her focus there where her gaze was met by that of a man she did not recognize, yet one who greeted her as though they had long been acquainted. 

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(Navya Sinha / 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. 

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(Alessia Contuzzi / The Signal)

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.”

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(Navya Sinha / The Signal)

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.

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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. 

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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.

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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. 

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 (Flickr / “Maus I and II” / Bill Smith)

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.

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