Racism not UnHeard of on Campus

The University of Oklahoma severed school ties with a national fraternity, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, on Monday, March 9, and ordered that its campus house be closed down, after several members took part in a racist chant caught on video. The video, posted online, shows several fraternity members on a bus shouting and chanting, "There will never be a ni**** SAE. You can hang him from a tree, but he can never sign with me."

The video was brought to the schools attention Sunday afternoon, and by Sunday night, SAE’s national chapter had suspended the University of Oklahoma members and threatened lifelong suspensions. SAE apologized for the video and said it did not reflect the views of its 15,000 members nationwide. However, President David Boren took it a step further. He called for zero tolerance. He issued this statement:

"To those who have misused their free speech in such a reprehensible way, I have a message for you. You are disgraceful. You have violated all that we sand for. You should not have the privilege of calling yourselves "Sooners". Real Sooners are not racist. Real Sooners are not bigots. Real Sooners believe in equal opportunity. Real Sooners treat all people with respect. Real Sooners love each other take care of each other like family members.

"Effective immediately, all ties and affiliations between this University and the local SAE chapter are hereby severed. I direct that the house be closed and that members will remove their personal belongings from the house by midnight tomorrow. Those needing to make special arrangements for positions shall contact the Dean of Students.

"All of us will redouble our efforts to create the strongest sense of family and community. We vow that we will be an example to the entire country of how to deal with this issue. There must be a zero tolerance for racism everywhere in our nation.

President Boren”

The video was first brought to Boren’s attention by Unheard, an African American student group at the University of Oklahoma. Their group is devoted to fighting and ending racism on campus. A large crowd of students attended a protest at the university, some of them arriving with tape over their mouths with, “Unheard” written across it. Members of the Oklahoma football team, and head coach Bob Stoops also protested, instead of going to practice. Boren also took part in these protests.

Boren has expelled two students identified as leaders of the chant in the video. All of the members have been evicted from the house, and the Greek letters have been removed from the house. The University has cut all ties with the fraternity.

Since the incident, there has been an outpouring of tweets saying, “Racism is alive at the University of Oklahoma.” The harsh reality of the situation is that racism is alive at universities across the country. There have been an uncountable number of racial incidents across campuses. Oklahoma Universities immediate response and reaction sets the standard for other universities. President Boren and the University have stood for zero tolerance when it comes to racism, and that’s exactly how it should be.

Oscars So White

This year’s Oscars were the whitest Oscars since 1998. There was some uproar after the nominees were announced. That day, the twitter hashtag #OscarsSoWhite started trending, with 95,000 tweets per hour. It was obvious that many people weren’t happy about it.

Last year, 43 million people watched the Academy Awards. This years ceremony reached more than 200 countries around the world. It’s supposed to be a celebration of filmmaking. Regardless of how unintentional, it puts the message across that certain voices matter more than others. So who’s in the academy? White people. The Academy is 94% white, 76% male, and the average member age is over 60.

It would be safe to say that everything about the Oscars is white. Since the first Academy Awards were held in 1929, just 7% of winners in the Best Actor category have been black men. Halle Berry won it in 2002, making her the first, and currently the only, black woman to win the Best Actress award. That same year, Denzel Washington received the Best Actor award. Before him, the only other black actor to have won it was Sidney Poitier, 39 years earlier.

Not only are most of the awards given to white males, most of the nominations for awards are for films centered on white male protagonists. The Academy has overwhelmingly awarded the Oscars to white male-centric films in its 87-year history. So you could argue that the oscars are white and male. It’s an issue that african americans aren’t represented, but it’s also an issue that almost every other race, and women, aren’t equally represented.

The host of the 87th Oscars, Neil Patrick Harris, opened the night with a cringe-worthy joke. “Tonight we honor Hollywood’s best and whitest — sorry, brightest,” Harris said. However, the lack of diversity in the Oscar’s is no laughing matter. Instead of using the diversity issue as a source of humor, it should be seen as a serious issue. The Academy Awards reaches many viewers, and they have the ability to influence people around the globe. This awards show had the opportunity to address diversity and face it head on with a positive, and forthcoming attitude, and they failed to do so. 

How to Avoid the Freshman 15

As summer ends, fall is right around the corner and thousands of soon to be college students are packing their bags, eager to finally have their first taste of freedom. As the leaves start falling, these students are partying, snacking, pulling all nighters, and about to pack on the infamous Freshman 15.

Although it is called the notorious Freshman 15, this doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll gain 15 pounds. In fact, there is nothing significant about the number 15, it somehow, just kind of stuck. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that you won’t gain any weight. It could be called the Freshman 5, 10, 20, or 40. Many students gain less than fifteen pounds, while many also gain more than fifteen pounds. And, you’re most likely going to gain weight throughout your entire college career. So, you could possibly even call it the Sophomore 20, Senior 40, etc. But is the dreaded Freshman 15 really inevitable?

It’s all about finding a balance. Between sports, activities, clubs, work, fitness, and diet, skipping out on your diet seems to be the easiest. Sometimes it feels as though there aren’t enough hours in the day, and between school, work, activities, and sports, it seems easiest to grab whatever food is available to move forward with your day.

Dixie Robinson, sophomore, saw the effects of being busy, “I didn’t notice when I was a freshman in college, since I was out doing stuff all the time with school and work,” she said, “It wasn’t necessarily that I was eating so much, but what I was eating was so crappy.”

It’s easy to eat crappy. It’s been a long and stressful day, and you have to finish your homework, the last thing you want to do is cook a healthy meal. Sometimes crappy is the easiest. And when most of us are broke college students, crappy seems to be the cheapest. 

“I don’t pick good food,” Robison said, “there was a distinct time where I ate two mcdoubles a day every day for lunch. All bad. But it was cheap and it was good.”

In college it seems easiest to grab whatever is hot and ready. In between games, in between classes, and even in between studying. And on top of that, let’s face it, a lot of us eat when we’re bored. While many college students seem to gain a few pounds, there are ways to avoid gaining excessive weight. Changing your eating habits and trying to stay active can keep your body healthy and keep you from gaining excess weight. However, changing your eating habits and staying active could make you gain weight too.

“I gained 10 pounds,” Madi Johnson, freshman basketball player, said, “but that’s mainly because I was working out and that was muscle from the weight room.”

The Tunnels

You’re about to finish high school and you’re considering going to Avila University, so you arrange a tour. The campus is nice, a bit smaller than you were expecting, but it’s refreshing. Then your guide turns to you and says, “have you seen our tunnels?” You get confused and think to yourself, “your what!?” Next thing you know you’re walking around under the school in the somewhat intimidating, yet eerily enchanting tunnels.

They may seem confusing at first, but navigating through them is fairly simple. The West Tunnel connects Blasco Hall, O’rielly Hall, and the Whitfield Center. The East Tunnel connects the Marian Center, Hodes Hall, and Dallas Center. However, while the tunnels are extremely useful, many students agree that it would be better if the two tunnels eventually connected.

“The two tunnels don’t connect to each other, “ Gracyn Reed, freshman, said, “you can’t go from one tunnel to the other tunnel.”

However, there’s not much to complain about. Avila University’s campus is 50 acres. That’s less than a square mile. To put that into perspective, the University of Kansas is over 1,000 acres. So, while we all complain about walking across campus when it’s cold, it’s nothing compared to other universities. However, the tunnels come in handy when the weather is bad. Especially when Missouri decides to have brutal winters with low windchill’s. 

“I use them quite frequently,” sophomore Joy Branch said, “when it’s cold, or raining!”

If you don’t know much about the tunnels, they can be confusing and after taking them, you may think you’re headed towards one building, and end up on the other side of campus. Don’t worry, the tunnels have arrows. And as a last resort you could always just turn around. Whatever the case may be, I’m sure many students can recall the first time they stumbled upon them.

“The first time was by accident,” Branch said, “I hit the ground floor on the elevators in the dorms and I thought they went to the first floor but they actually went underground. I had no idea where I was and then I figured out they were tunnels.”

We told Brittany Maynard that it was okay to Kill Herself, and She did.

When it comes to the Brittany Maynard situation, I can’t keep quiet much longer. I have sat back and watched her receive endless support. I have sat back and watched her be called brave, and courageous. I have sat back and shut my mouth, but I just can’t do it anymore. I am appalled by the reactions and the reporting surrounding this case.

Can you imagine what the world would be like if everyone got their choice to die with dignity? Not everyone has the “pleasure” of choosing when they want to end their own life, so why does she get the luxury to do so? What about the children and adults in the United States, and in various other countries that die of starvation? They, too, suffer, but they don’t have the luxury of asking a doctor to hand them pills. What about those that are diagnosed with Alzheimer's? What about all of the people that are suffering? They don’t have the choice to meet death on “their own terms” and “free of pain.”

When Maynard fights for “dying with dignity,” I don’t think anyone understands what that means. Dignity relates to nobility, majesty, and regality. It is a sense of pride in oneself; self respect. Dignity also relates to pride, self-esteem, and self-worth. And quite frankly, Brittany Maynard represents none of those things.

Now before you go off on telling me that I’m ignorant and heartless, and don’t understand the situation, let me plead my case. I do understand the other side of it. So, while I am completely one sided when it comes to this situation, it’s not because I’m ignorant and don’t understand the other side of it. No one wants to suffer, I absolutely understand that. I can’t imagine what her and her family are going through. I am so incredibly sorry that it has happened. I can’t imagine the fear, panic, and misery that she experienced. But no matter how hard I try to convince myself, I will never agree with it. I lost my mother to suicide when I was eighteen years old. So yes, I understand that I am extremely sensitive and partial to the subject. However, a lot of what I feel is fact based. I am a suicide prevention advocate, and I have studied and researched suicide, and assisted suicide, inside and out.

If my mother had come to me and said, “Casey I am suffering, I have decided that I am going to end my life on May 28.” I wouldn’t have told her how brave she was. I wouldn’t have applauded her and told her that she was strong and courageous. If I had any say, or any power in the situation, I wouldn’t have let her do it. I have spent the last year and a half wondering what would’ve happened if I could’ve done something to stop her. Wishing that it had never happened, and wishing that there had been something that I could have done. I wouldn’t wish this on anyone. I wouldn’t wish it on Brittany Maynard and her family.

I don’t applaud her, I don’t admire her, and I don’t think she’s brave. Blogger Matt Walsh posted a blog titled, “There is Nothing Brave About Suicide.” And while I don’t always agree with Walsh and his opinions, I agree with everything he has said in this blog. He makes a valid point.

— “If you are saying that it is dignified and brave for a cancer patient to kill themselves, what are you saying about cancer patients who don’t? What about a woman who fights to the end, survives for as long as she can, and withers away slowly, in agony, until her very last breath escapes her lungs? Is that person not brave? Is that person not dignified? I thought we applaud that kind of person. I thought we admire her courage and tenacity. Sorry, you can’t advance two contradictory narratives at once. If fighting cancer is brave then it is brave PRECISELY BECAUSE she is fighting it rather than giving up and choosing death. In other words, if struggling against cancer until the bitter end is an act of courage, then it can’t also be an act of courage to opt out and ‘leave on your own terms.’ What makes one courageous is that it is not the other. What makes one commendable is that the other choice exists, yet the heroic individual takes the more admirable route.” —

We’re applauding the wrong person for the wrong reasons. My mother killed herself. And yet, when she did, all I heard about was how selfish and cowardly she was for doing so. And I’ve read and seen the stereotypes and stigmas surrounding suicide. It’s considered selfish, cowardly, and the “easy way out.” What changed? Why do you look down on my mother and put Maynard up on a pedestal? The stigma and the stereotypes didn’t go away so why did our feelings towards suicide suddenly change? After Robin Williams died, many people criticized how the media responded. They said that we were glorifying suicide. Assisted suicide is still suicide, and calling it brave and courageous is glorifying it in every possible way that I can think of. The world was heartbroken when Robin Williams killed himself, but the world supported Maynard’s decision to kill herself. The world is letting everyone know that it’s okay to kill themselves. For the first time in the history of our existence, suicide is okay. And we should be ashamed of this.

So to those of you that praised Brittany Maynard, shame on you. Do you, in fact, have any knowledge of suicide at all? Did you form your own opinion or did you just go along with what everyone else was saying? Did you even listen to what you were saying? Brittany Maynard killed herself. Everyone has been impressed and inspired by a woman’s plan to commit suicide. We are celebrating suicide. As a society, we have been fighting and advocating for our right to kill ourselves. As a society, we told Brittany Maynard that it was okay to kill herself, and she did. Did you even listen to what you were saying?

Trouble on the Turf

Trouble on the Turf

By Casey Lee

The FIFA World Cup is the most watched sporting event in the world. The Cup’s final game is the single most viewed sporting event on earth. This event has been going on every four years since 1930. For the first time in the Cup’s history, FIFA is allowing artificial turf to be used during the Women’s World Cup, taking place in Canada next year. 

Many athletes and soccer players have expressed their disapproval of using the artificial turf. Many of the women participating in the Cup think it’s gender discrimination. The players sent a letter to the Canadian Soccer Association and FIFA trying to negotiate with them about the fields.

“The best players in the world deserve premier playing surfaces. Simply put, artificial turf is not a premier surface in the soccer world. Singling out this women’s tournament for substandard treatment is a mistake. … If your organizations will not engage in a meaningful dialogue on how to correct the discriminatory treatment of women players, we are prepared to pursue legal action which we are confident should succeed,” the letter stated.

CSA and FIFA never responded to the letter. Because of this, a group of over 40 of the top women’s soccer players from across the world have sued the Canadian Soccer Association and FIFA. 

Artificial turf has been blamed for increased injuries on the field, including sprained ankles, concussions, turf burns, and an injury known as “turf toe.” The American Academy of Neurology recently reported that concussions appear to be more prevalent for certain athletes playing on artificial turf, and that women athletes appear more likely to experience concussions in soccer than in other sports. Temperatures on the turf can be much hotter than on natural grass. Turf also alters the speed of the ball, and the speed of play on the field.

Grass seems to be the better choice. Men have never had to play the World Cup on artificial turf, and probably won’t for many, many years to come. And unfortunately, the gender discrimination seems pretty clear. 

“If the men’s World Cup didn’t allow it, and they built brand new stadiums—not even put in grass fields, they built brand new stadiums with a couple billion dollars,” United States National women’s soccer player Alex Morgan said, “you’d think we’re worth the couple million to put in grass fields.”

Along with Alex Morgan, United States National Woman’s soccer player Abby Wambach has been leading the movement, and has become the speaker for all athletes.

“Even if this World Cup doesn’t get changed over to grass,” she said, “I want to make sure that we’re loud enough and we get heard by all the countries with women fighting this fight, so that it never happens again.” 

Neither CSA or FIFA have given any indication that they’re going to change the artificial turf to grass. Everyone seems to agree that if this was a men’s world cup, this wouldn’t happen. It’s not only a fight for women, it’s a fight for what is right. 

Should Goodell Resign?

By Casey Lee

According to ESPN back in February, Baltimore Raven Ray Rice was charged with simple assault after hitting his then fiancée, Janay Palmer. A few days after the incident, TMZ released video footage of Rice dragging her body out of an elevator. In late March, Rice was indicted by a grand jury on a charge of third-degree aggravated assault. In early May, he plead not guilty to the aggravated assault charge and in late July, the NFL announced a two-game suspension for Rice. After major criticism and backlash, in late August, the NFL announced more severe punishment for domestic violence incidents. Months later, TMZ released footage of Rice striking Palmer in the face and knocking her unconscious. Hours later, Rice was cut from the team and received an indefinite suspension from the NFL.

Since then, the NFL has been plagued with one bad incident after another. Back in July, Carolina Panther Greg Hardy was found guilty of assaulting his former girlfriend and threatening to kill her. This past week, nearly two months later, Hardy was put on the NFL’s exempt list and has been ordered to sit out while his domestic violence case is appealed. On top of that, Minnesota Viking Adrian Peterson was indicted for reckless or negligent injury to a child. Nearly thirty minutes later, the Vikings deactivated Peterson for their week 2 game. By September 15, it was believed that Peterson would be allowed to play in the week 3 game. Later that day, a previous allegation of child abuse by Peterson is reported. Finally, on September 17, the Vikings placed Peterson on the NFL’s exempt list.

The NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell are now in hot water. Goodell, who hadn't been heard from in nearly two weeks, held a press conference on Friday. Almost everyone, from the media to current players and former players, agreed the conference lacked substance and sincerity. During the press conference Goodell announced that the league will develop a new personal conduct policy, establish a conduct committee to monitor off-the-field issues, and brought up the Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson incidents several times. "I disappointed myself," said Goodell. "I disappointed the NFL. I disappointed our fans."

From the looks of it, few were impressed by Goodell. Since the press conference he's received harsh criticism for what was said during the conference, and how he's handled this situation overall. "In my personal opinion, being a former player," former New England Patriots and ESPN analyst Tedy Bruschi said on the air, "I want a new commissioner to lead my league." Several players also voiced their disapproval. Baltimore Ravens Torrey Smith tweeted, "what Roger just said is the exact same thing that players say when they make a mistake and plead their case." Retired American football wide receive Sidney Rice followed up with, "I know some people that got it wrong and don't have a job anymore. Does this mean it's okay to get it wrong? You gain 0 yards on an [incomplete] pass!" It seems as though many were hoping Goodell would resign. Unfortunately for him, it doesn't sound like this controversy will be going away any time soon.