Letter to the Editor: one student’s take on the new library quiet space
Editor’s note: During the inter-semester period between J-Term and Spring Semester, the MC library staff created a new quiet zone in the ground floor annex space. This space previously held several tables and was often used by student group-study leaders to host group study sessions. The library staff chose to designate this area as a quiet zone in an effort to give students more opportunities to study uninterrupted. On the first day of Spring Semester, I walked into Thaw Hall heading towards the back to my usual study spot. I was shocked to find it gone and replaced with a quiet area. The tables were moved up front and there were small study carrols where the tables used to reside. Coming back from J-term and ready to start the Spring Semester, my favorite study area was gone. It was...
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The Fourth Wave: There should be no more witches
Throughout history, gender issues and the patriarchal society in which we live have created conversation and social change. Fourth Wave is meant to address the issues and topics most pertinent to modern feminism. In today’s culture, with everything being posted on social media and talked about world-wide, women’s rights issues are unavoidable. Pieces from our past that have been brought forward coupled with rising tensions, have led to the fourth wave of feminism. This column will attempt to make sense of the never-ending and controversial discussions over feminism as well as the effect the long-running patriarchal culture has on everyday life. In honor of Women’s History Month, which lasts the entire month of March, I wanted to revisit a tragic and fascinating piece of history, the Salem Witch Trials. More importantly, I will focus on how we can learn...
Read MoreGun Violence, Gun Control, and the Dickey Amendment
As debate over gun violence and proposed gun control initiatives continues in the wake of the Feb. 14 Stoneman Douglas High School massacre, an add-on to a federal spending bill first passed over 20 years ago has, increasingly, become part of the conversation. The 1996 Dickey amendment effectively prohibits the Center for Disease Control (CDC) from conducting research into gun violence. The controversy the provision sparked at its inception has continued and intensified over the intervening years. The amendment was championed by the National Rifle Association (NRA). In the early ‘90s, a study released by the “New England Journal of Medicine” found a correlation between gun ownership and homicides committed with the aid of firearms, sparking anxiety among members of the gun lobby, which increased still further when the then-director of a CDC injury prevention program compared the negative...
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Meet the Editors: David Peters
“I hope we can get out of here before we get arrested,” David Peters said to me as we walked out of the graveyard. It was 9:30 p.m., an uncommon hour to visit and take pictures of the dead’s resting place. I didn’t wince when David asked me to go with him that night. This isn’t uncommon etiquette for our relationship, and going to a graveyard in the middle of the night isn’t the craziest place I have gone with him. Although most of the residents of MC may not find themselves visiting a graveyard with him, most will recognize David as a near-permanent fixture of the campus. With his long beard, fire-red hair and exceptionally extroverted gregariousness, David is an easily identifiable character on the Maryville campus. David Peters was born in upstate New York in the village...
Read MoreDodge-Chrysler marches to the beat of the wrong drum major…
Super Bowl Sunday, that time honored tradition of football, wings and the ever-anticipated commercials. Rarely has a Super Bowl gone by that has not seen some controversy, or at least some element that invoked the ire of viewers, whether it was player performance or behavior, ill-performed half-time shows or commercials that fell short of the mark. During this year’s Super Bowl, Dodge managed to garner itself a place among those advertisers who united many against their marketing campaign. It began with the best of intentions. Dodge, like many companies, wanted to use the Super Bowl to market their products. They also wanted to use the opportunity to bring attention to their new #BuilttoServe campaign, highlighting Dodge’s self-service initiatives. They approached Intellectual Properties Management (IPM), Inc. which is currently run by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s son Dexter and is...
Read MoreFact checking Water.org & Stella Artois controversy
Speculation has been circling for the past week regarding Matt Damon’s ad in the Super Bowl involving beer company Stella Artois and nonprofit group Water.org. Damon himself is a co-founder of Water.org. The mission of this non-profit, according to their website, is to provide access to clean water and sanitation in the developing world, as well as empowerment to natives through affordable financing. Previously, nonprofits trying to fix a community’s water problem would provide short-term solutions by building wells and then disappearing. However, this wasn’t really solving the problem, as the wells would often malfunction or become contaminated within a few months. Locals without the knowledge or tools to fix the wells would have to return to walking several miles a day to retrieve water. Water.org uses a different approach when solving the drinking water issue by placing the...
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