This article discusses the experience of the MIT delegation at the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) which happened in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The conference occured from Nov. 30th to Dec. 13th last year. The MIT delegation consisted of students, faculty, and staff, which later held a meeting held Jan. 17th to discuss and reflect on their experience at the conference. At this reflection meeting, they discussed financial means of incentivizing renewable energy and agriculture, as well as biodiversity, sustainability technologies, and environmental justice. It was said that the experience the students had was fruitful, both in networking opportunities, but also in the capacity of sharing technical knowledge of climate change solutions and providing technical knowledge to the delegates in attendance. The article then goes on to interview multiple attendees about their experience and impressions of the conference, with some stating that it was amazing opportunity and that they learned a lot from the experience.
This article focuses on a profile/interview with the current president of MIT, Sally Kornbluth. It goes into how she previously held the position of Provost at Duke University for 8 years, and she noted the difference between her experience at Duke, which focused on humanities primarily, to MIT, which focuses on technical subjects. She stated that she sought the position of president due to MIT’s position as the preeminent STEM university in the world. Responding to questions of climate change and artificial intelligence ethics, stating that the Institute has plans in place to address this, using “climate hubs”, which seem to be research groups addressing different concerns. She also mentioned that MIT is involved in meeting with members of Congress in regards to AI ethics and legislation. She also addressed concerns about student life, including dining, graduate housing, and dorms on campus. She stated that the dining at MIT was worse than her previous experience at Duke, but could be improved. Lastly, she addressed a question about campus unity, stating that she has been trying to listen and proactively implement measures to combat hate, as well as addressing the Institute’s partnership in Israel, stating that collaboration is still occurring.
An opinion piece by Jose Garcia on the role of AI in the classroom opens by looking to past historical moments that had instilled similar anxieties, such as the Industrial Revolution and technological advances, such as calculators and modern weaponry, to highlight the age-old ebb and flow of expanding our world. Through these examples, he can argue that against the worst scenarios of their time, the calculator didn’t replace the student, modern rifles didn’t replace soldiers, and AI will not replace students/education. Garcia moves into the specifics of AI where he explains the differences between general AI, which attempts to solve previously unsolvable problems that appear scary and unknown to us, and narrow AI, which is confined to limitations set by human code writers. Harkening back to his previous historical comparisons, he claims humans have always aimed to improve how we process information. Just as it was with mathematical technologies like calculators, the tools helped people excel. Moving into some hard data, we see that 56% of college students use AI within their studies, and 53% have actual coursework that requires it. Rounding out this information, the argument ends in a call to action. While individual preferences or opinions may be opposed to AI, it cannot alter the fact that it is already here, being used, and has become a tool like many other technologies to grow our scope of knowledge. Citing Harvard, a prestigious leader in education, as an example of those who welcome change rather than fight against it in chaos, Garcia’s ultimate claim ends with looking to a future where AI is inevitable but harnessed for good.
This article by Angelina Li explores the controversial topic of free speech on college campuses. Li offers authoritative sources such as law professor Kent Greenfield and professor and former Supreme Judicial Court in Massachusetts Roderick Ireland to frame the story. For instance, Greenfield feels that the status quo of college campuses’ take on free speech creates something like a hostile work environment that disproportionately affects the most marginalized members of a college community. Ireland alleges that structure and rules can allow for more constructive dialogues on the limitations of free speech. Li also adds a personal anecdote from a philosophy professor, Andrew Leong, that helps the reader resonate with realities for minorities such as immigrant children who face school bullying. As an educator, he wishes to create a learning environment where control is given to stop those situations. Another law professor, Andrew Sellars, broadens the scope of the conversation and examines the power dynamics that go hand in hand with hate speech on how personal identity plays into how one has more or less power. Ending on a cautionary note, Li allows both sides of this debate to weigh in and reminds readers that protecting students is complex and calls into question who can define hate speech and censor that speech.
The paper I chose to follow over the course of this semester was an independent student newspaper from Boston University known as The Daily Free Press. Upon my reading their latest edition from December for their winter edition, a story that stood out to me was one titled Home Alone: From solo cups to going solo this holiday season. This story is by Anna Welsh, a contributing writer who took a fun twist off of her favorite holiday movie which we have in common, Home Alone. Welsh covers the often busy and crowded lives of college students that live on campus and how she has recently transitioned to off campus living and how it has become way more quiet and independent. With this in mind Anna wants to encourage those who are alone to embrace it. Not to be mistaken for isolating oneself but to embrace the peaceful moments you do have to yourself. Welsh goes on to explain some ideas to help embrace this time alone with a positive attitude and an appreciation for time with yourself.
For my Blog Proj student newspaper I choose to follow the University of Mississippi’s paper called The Daily Mississippian. One very interesting article I found on The Daily Mississippian was headlined “ASB addresses the future of students’ academic, physical and mental well-being” written by Jordan Isbell. The ASB is the Associated Student Body of UM. This article captured a senate-like town hall meeting. Which followed the issues of having extremely large incoming freshman classes as well as a major housing crisis. Most of this is because the university is tuition based and it is good in the eyes of the school to accept as many students as possible without counting rooms. What I personally found interesting about this was that the senate can actually propose bills which can make Greek life and clubs follow them. One of the bills was for giving Greek life leaders Narcan administration training. And that all of the bills for this last meeting got passed, and put into place with the rest of the university. Here is the link if anyone wants to read it.
The paper that I chose to talk about this semester is called “The Lantern”. The Lantern is the award-winning student newspaper at Ohio State. When looking at the activity and the articles written on the Lantern this week there was a heavy emphasis on what sports were going on and what teams were playing this week. Between their men’s lacrosse team beating number 15 Utah in the season opener or their 8th ranked women’s basketball team defeating the number 10 ranked Indiana Hoosiers it’s safe to say that the people on campus have a deep care for the sports at Ohio State. What I liked about the Lantern’s website was how easy it is to navigate the different topics and stories that one might want to read about. They have everything from stories about what’s happening on campus to food and drink reviews of places on campus. A story that I found interesting from this week’s edition is a story called “Student organization reinstated after suspension, sparks pro-Palestine protest”. The article was about a student club on campus that was recently reinstated after they were suspended for allegedly using PFLP logos which has been deemed a terrorist group by the US. The article was interesting because it allowed me to see what student life is like a much bigger institution than UNE and to see how things are handled on a broader stage.
The heading of this article is, “The Chronicle’s Duke men’s basketball 2023 rivalry edition” written by multiple staff reports. This article highlights the 2023 college men’s basketball season for Duke. It goes into the main rivals and their biggest triumphs that season. Throughout the article the author talks about different games and even dives into the biggest stories that were also previously talked about. They also use previous years states that helped to show a more importance of different games. An example of this is when the author talks about the history of wins for the Blue Devils in Chapel Hill with even stating a previous article that was writing on the Chronicle about a game form this pasted year. The authors also end the article in a way that helps leads the reader to wanting to know what’s next by stating the big game that’s coming up the next Saturday and promising it to be the biggest game of either team’s seasons so far. https://www.dukechronicle.com/article/2024/02/duke-mens-basketball-the-chronicle-rivalry-edition-unc-north-carolina-landing-page
This articles heading is “5 observations from No.7 Duke men’s basketball first half against No.3 North Carolina” by Johnathan Levitan. The author first goes into a mini paragraph about of the game is going between North Carolina and Duke. He then goes into 5 different aspects to the game that he noticed in the first half and what to potentially look at in the second half. The first is ‘Battle of the Bigs”, which goes into the match up of the two of Armando Bacot and Kyle Filipowski, even going into how the previous matchup between the two was. The next two. “At the line” and “Rolling in the deep”, talk about of the team is doing at the foul line and tree point line. The next, “All that and more”, talk about the previous matches and how this matching is shaping to be. That last is the player of the half which highlights the player Jeremy Roach and talks about the great game he is currently having. https://www.dukechronicle.com/article/2024/02/duke-mens-basketball-unc-north-carolina-halftime-observations-filipowski-roach-bacot-davis
The headline of the first article that I decided to take a look at from UCLA’s student run paper The Daily Bruin was “It’s just a fact: Understaffed CAE office fail to meet student needs.” So first of all we need to know what CAE stands for CAE stands for the (Center for Accessible Education). The article’s lead states “Out of the nine total disability specialist positions the Center for Accessible Education typically maintains, only three were filled at the start of the 2023-2024 academic year.” This automatically sets the tone and gives some context for the article. Now we know that this is not an issue that is normal for the CAE and they are usually able to fill and maintain those positions. Therefore this issue is unprecedented on the UCLA campus. After the lead the nut graph explains why the CAE is so important for the success and wellbeing of the disabled students. The CAE is supposed to be a tool that is supposed to help disabled students flourish.
When properly staffed the CAE is supposed to provide the medically necessary academic accommodations students need to succeed and learn. The office’s disability specialists are also supposed to guide students through the process of selecting and applying for the classroom. Staffing shortages have left students to fend for themselves. There is a lot of really interesting data provided in the article and one point that really stands out to me is the ratio of 1,281 students per specialist when the national average is 133 students per disability specialist. Another shocking piece of the data from the article was how underpaid the disability specialists are the average pay for a disability specialist at UCLA in 2022 was $35,788. In comparison, the average pay for disability specialists was $54,607 at UC Berkeley and $79,600 at UC Davis.” Wouldn’t you think because they are so understaffed they would have more money to the few employees they do have left.
The article also goes into many different student testimonials. They have testimonials from Nina Zamora, Quinn O’Connor, Katie Bogue, Hilary Wu, Madelyn Kelly, Julia Alanis, Gwendolyn Hill, Megan Borella who are all either current students or alumni of UCLA and also a few different faculty members. Being able to see all of the different perspectives and to hear all the stories of the frustrated students really gives you a new perspective and is helpful to comprehend what a wide scale problem it is and why it’s so important. One of the quotes from a student that I think wraps up the ending of the article is that “Fier said she only sees two viable solutions: a coalition-based approach to educate more students about disability issues or a class action lawsuit.” The only way these problems are ever going to change is if legal action is taken. Overall when the CAE office is understaffed the disabled community of UCLA suffers.
The headline from the second article that I decided to focus on from the Daily Bruin this week states “USAC unanimously passes resolution endorsing 100% clean energy at UCLA by 2035”. The news article starts off with some of the challenges they faced when trying to transition UCLA to clean renewable energy. One of the main challenges that they faced was the fact that there is less room for infrastructure because their population size is larger than the campus. There are some direct quotes from the campaign coordinator of the 100% clean energy campaign that talk about how we need to invest in long term safety and the fact that climate change is a very pressing and urgent issue. This is why UCLA has made decarbonization a bigger priority in the last few years and has set their date for complete decarbonization by a whole 10 years earlier than what they thought was originally possible.
The 100% clean energy campaign came up with the resolution draft that identifies UCLA as both a model on environmental issues and a polluter responsible for hundreds of thousands of metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents. But there are many things on the UCLA campus that contradict this statement, the power plant on campus being the biggest. Nurit Katz, the chief sustainability officer at UCLA and co-chair of the Decarbonization Task Force, said in a statement that “the effort to reach carbon neutrality was challenged by a reliance on carbon offsets, while decarbonization will require substantial financial resources but ultimately encompass broader goals.” I think this statement embodies the main problem that is dealt with in this article. The fact that there are many challenges that the 100% clean energy campaign faces financially and socially but they are working through them and good progress is being made.
The paper I decided to cover for the blog project was the independent student newspaper of the University of Michigan called the “Michigan Daily”. While reading this week’s edition there were two stories that caught my attention, the first being, “Comedian Alex Edelman visits UMich for ‘ ‘The Campus Tour ‘’” by Eva Bard. Edelman is a jewish comedian who finished his tour performing shows at colleges, at the University of Michigan. He started the show with his usual stand-up routine talking about his parents’ relationship and past employment. Then he allowed the audience to ask him questions about his jewish Identity. He then shared his story of his jewish upbringing and rise to fame. He said his tour was partially motivated by the increased attention of the Israel-Hamas war. The University believed this show was a great way to get the community involved because Edelman can connect with students of Jewish and every background. The second story was, “DPSS responds to firearm threat at Markley Residence Hall” by Claudia Minetti. There was a firearm threat reported at Mary Markley Residence on Thursday. A suspect was arrested who is not affiliated with the school for having a firearm on campus. It was reported that there is no threat to the community.
I chose to follow Syracuse University’s very own Daily Orange, a nonprofit, completely student-run paper. For our first week of Blog Proj, I chose to focus on an opinion piece entitled “White feminism ignores the importance of intersectionality”, written by Sofia Aguilar. The article digs into a prevalent issue in recent pop culture, concerning intersections within modern feminism, and how some of these more privileged viewpoints neglect the priorities and generally the greater good of many marginalized communities. The author points out the hypocrisy behind many tendencies of modern white feminism, and cites current events in pop culture, like Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig being snubbed at the Oscars, to make the point that white feminism forgets the core values of intersectionality. I chose this article because I found it really interesting to see the discourse that happens on college campuses other than our own, and even how pop culture affects other college communities.
The paper I chose to follow was University of New Hampshire’s “The New Hampshire”, which is a student-run newspaper. I specifically chose to write about an article called “Dover Clothing Library provides first-hand looks at second hand attire”. The story, written by Sophia Schlichtmann in December of 2023, details a clothing library created by graduate student Stella McShera. Basically, people can go into the clothing library and check out clothes to wear for two weeks before returning them in a completely biodegradable dryer sheet provided by the library itself. The library’s main goal is sustainability, aiming to keep used clothes out of the trash and remain in circulation. Recently, the library hosted a fashion show to raise awareness for itself, with librarians acting as the models, with various categories made to show off the sheer selection of clothes and the versatility that the library offers. Local stylists and makeup artists also pitched in to create the stunning outfits that the librarians wore. I chose this article because I really like selecting my own outfits (as shallow as that may be), and I enjoy learning about the ways we can reduce our environmental impact at the same time. A library where you can go and check out clothes is a fantastic idea that I’d love to experience, and it’s a wonderfully original way of do both of those things.
The article I chose to write about was called “Dover Clothing Library provides first-hand looks at second-hand attire”, written by Sophia Schlichtmann of University of New Hampshire’s, The New Hampshire. The article details a runway event held at Dover Public Library’s brand new clothing library: a place where you can check out used clothes for two weeks. The event was a runway, hosted by the library, which used local librarians as the models. Not only this, the library recruited multiple stylists and designers to put together various outfits to be used by the models, as well as a walking coach to teach the librarians their model walk. The library aims to help with clothing sustainability, and attempt to fight against fast fashion. It was initially set up by graduate student, Stella McShera, and all clothing items inside are second hand, and cleaned by the library itself. Stella had wanted to create a space where people could access clothing without necessarily having to purchase the item beforehand. I chose this article because I love creating outfits for myself, as vain as that is, but I don’t really have enough clothes to get a good repertoire of outfits going. The idea of a library where you can just check out clothes you like, see if you like them on your body, and then find a way to purchase them if you like it enough is wonderful to me.
Week 1:
Theme Houses Houses Open Doors to Students https://concordiensis.com/4964/news/theme-houses-houses-open-doors-to-students/
This article advertised the many themed houses that Union College offers. These on and off-campus houses offer a place for people with similar interests to gather over events and activities. The article then goes on to quote students who have joined these houses. Such as a current member, Max Van Dijk ’24 of the Serenity House stated he felt the environment fit who he was and some of his friends already lived there. Having a place where you feel like you belong in college is so important. For example, the Iris House acts as a safe space for LGBTQ+ members to express themselves creatively through event planning. A current member, Emma expressed she feels they haven’t run out of things to do yet! The article highlights many positive aspects as to why students should look into themed housing and some of the basic living arrangements in each household. At the end, the passage shares information on how to apply to the houses and an email for further questions.
Union College Corrects Names of Transgender Students on Dean’s List https://concordiensis.com/4949/news/union-college-corrects-names-of-transgender-students-on-deans-list/
This piece was very honest and forward by calling out the school’s public Dean’s List of 2022 – 2023 where they dead-named several transgender students. Quotes from the students expressed this wasn’t great and had apparently been happening for years. Katie Boermeester ‘24, president of Union Pride immediately reached out to the college’s LGBTQ+ Committee for guidance, they immediately took action. The article goes on to share that the school does offer a form titled “ Union’s Chosen Name, Preferred Name, and/or Gender Identity Change Request Form”. This is where newly enrolled students can make these name requests whether it’s a legal change or a preferred name. However, it is unclear whether the dean’s list uses legal, preferred, or chosen names. After making the school aware of their mistake, they swiftly corrected the list and reached out to those affected. The quoted students couldn’t have asked for a quicker response from everyone involved in the situation. The piece closes with the Change Request Form linked and a school email to connect for further questions or appointments.
This story was very much short and to the point, including all of the necessary information to understand the story. The story explains that Sandell, the current provost of Suffolk University, is planning on retiring. Sandell is widely respected after starting at Suffolk in 2019, and leading the school through the COVID-19 crisis. The article includes a quote from the president of the university, building the writer’s credit. This information was obtained in an email by members of the journal, and I am curious as to who that email was intended for.
This is an opinion article describing the author’s opinion about the brand Brandy Melville, and how the store’s one-size-fits-all model does not work, in the author’s opinion. She uses her own personal experience of feeling jealous, as well as feeling like she needs to be able to fit into these clothes to feel beautiful. As a woman, this article is relatable, and I enjoyed it very much. The author received a few comments critiquing her writing, but I found myself disagreeing with both comments, as I thought her point was very well explained.
A recent news article discussed the recent development from the American Lung Association regarding the state of Washington’s efforts to diminish Tobacco use. Their efforts were given an “F” indicating the state’s lack of work on trying to solve this issue. Carrie Nyssen, senior director of advocacy for the American Lung Association reminds citizens of the effects this has on the children who must be inoculated due to the overuse of tobacco on a daily basis by Washington residents. Nicotine is an addictive substance users utilize in a variety of ways, but attempting to restrict its use becomes a financial problem. The profit for the State of Washington is said to be around $460 million while only $4.6 million is allocated to the prevention of illnesses produced by tobacco products. In order to thwart this issue, Washington must take more measures to ensure the safety of upcoming generations from secondhand smoke that may inhibit their development. Nyssen relays the prominence of the removal of marketing towards children particularly in the vaping community, where products are created to be flavorful and enticing to younger generations.
The project, “W Housing Four Properties (UH4) project” has been in progress since before the summer of 2022 has been approved on November 8th of 2023. Its goals are to lease four of the housing properties owned by the university, accessible to graduates and students with families to a private company known as Greystar. This change will allow lower rent prices, and authorize renovations to UW residence halls. This project will additionally increase the availability of housing with the ever-growing student enrollment rates, and aid in paying off debts for food and housing. Current residents will be relocated during construction to a nearby town. Students have rallied against the buy-out of the private company, accumulating 786 signatures from students in protest. Tiffany Jewel, a low-income graduate student at UW finds this news troubling as she moved with her family in order to obtain subsidized housing, only for this project to be put into action. Existing residents are forced to either accept the terms or vacate their homes. Housing Justice UW seeks financial assistance from the university due to this swift relocation act.
For week one of the blog project I read an article titled staff recommendations: 2024 Ins and Outs published on February 2nd 2024. This was a fun article centered around the new years trend of what was In for the year and what was Out, all giving ny the staff of the Cynic. A lot of the Ins were quite silly and nice giving a light hearted and cheerful feel to the start of the new year and the beginning of the spring semester. Many of the “Ins” were things like joyfulness, things to improve mood like watching pet videos, or things to help the environment like bird bikes. The outs were similarly light hearted and definitely a bit more silly, such as minimalism being out, and overhead lighting. Overall this article was a fun nice way to start the new year and have a good outlook on the upcoming semester.
15 thoughts on “BLOG-PROJ WEEK 1”
MIT’s UN Climate Change Conference delegation reflects on proposed resolutions | The Tech
https://thetech.com/2024/01/25/mit-cop28-reflections
This article discusses the experience of the MIT delegation at the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) which happened in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The conference occured from Nov. 30th to Dec. 13th last year. The MIT delegation consisted of students, faculty, and staff, which later held a meeting held Jan. 17th to discuss and reflect on their experience at the conference. At this reflection meeting, they discussed financial means of incentivizing renewable energy and agriculture, as well as biodiversity, sustainability technologies, and environmental justice. It was said that the experience the students had was fruitful, both in networking opportunities, but also in the capacity of sharing technical knowledge of climate change solutions and providing technical knowledge to the delegates in attendance. The article then goes on to interview multiple attendees about their experience and impressions of the conference, with some stating that it was amazing opportunity and that they learned a lot from the experience.
Reflecting and Looking Forward: President Sally Kornbluth | The Tech
https://thetech.com/2024/01/25/kornbluth-interview-jan-2024
This article focuses on a profile/interview with the current president of MIT, Sally Kornbluth. It goes into how she previously held the position of Provost at Duke University for 8 years, and she noted the difference between her experience at Duke, which focused on humanities primarily, to MIT, which focuses on technical subjects. She stated that she sought the position of president due to MIT’s position as the preeminent STEM university in the world. Responding to questions of climate change and artificial intelligence ethics, stating that the Institute has plans in place to address this, using “climate hubs”, which seem to be research groups addressing different concerns. She also mentioned that MIT is involved in meeting with members of Congress in regards to AI ethics and legislation. She also addressed concerns about student life, including dining, graduate housing, and dorms on campus. She stated that the dining at MIT was worse than her previous experience at Duke, but could be improved. Lastly, she addressed a question about campus unity, stating that she has been trying to listen and proactively implement measures to combat hate, as well as addressing the Institute’s partnership in Israel, stating that collaboration is still occurring.
Story 1: “Control Over Chaos: Why AI Needs to be Implemented Inside the Classroom” by Jose Garcia
https://www.bcheights.com/2024/01/30/control-over-chaos-why-ai-needs-to-be-implemented-inside-the-classroom/
An opinion piece by Jose Garcia on the role of AI in the classroom opens by looking to past historical moments that had instilled similar anxieties, such as the Industrial Revolution and technological advances, such as calculators and modern weaponry, to highlight the age-old ebb and flow of expanding our world. Through these examples, he can argue that against the worst scenarios of their time, the calculator didn’t replace the student, modern rifles didn’t replace soldiers, and AI will not replace students/education. Garcia moves into the specifics of AI where he explains the differences between general AI, which attempts to solve previously unsolvable problems that appear scary and unknown to us, and narrow AI, which is confined to limitations set by human code writers. Harkening back to his previous historical comparisons, he claims humans have always aimed to improve how we process information. Just as it was with mathematical technologies like calculators, the tools helped people excel. Moving into some hard data, we see that 56% of college students use AI within their studies, and 53% have actual coursework that requires it. Rounding out this information, the argument ends in a call to action. While individual preferences or opinions may be opposed to AI, it cannot alter the fact that it is already here, being used, and has become a tool like many other technologies to grow our scope of knowledge. Citing Harvard, a prestigious leader in education, as an example of those who welcome change rather than fight against it in chaos, Garcia’s ultimate claim ends with looking to a future where AI is inevitable but harnessed for good.
Story 2: “Dialogue and Action” Panelists Weigh Free Speech and Hate Speech on University Campuses” by Angelina Li https://www.bcheights.com/2024/01/31/dialogue-and-action-panelists-weigh-free-speech-and-hate-speech-on-university-campuses/
This article by Angelina Li explores the controversial topic of free speech on college campuses. Li offers authoritative sources such as law professor Kent Greenfield and professor and former Supreme Judicial Court in Massachusetts Roderick Ireland to frame the story. For instance, Greenfield feels that the status quo of college campuses’ take on free speech creates something like a hostile work environment that disproportionately affects the most marginalized members of a college community. Ireland alleges that structure and rules can allow for more constructive dialogues on the limitations of free speech. Li also adds a personal anecdote from a philosophy professor, Andrew Leong, that helps the reader resonate with realities for minorities such as immigrant children who face school bullying. As an educator, he wishes to create a learning environment where control is given to stop those situations. Another law professor, Andrew Sellars, broadens the scope of the conversation and examines the power dynamics that go hand in hand with hate speech on how personal identity plays into how one has more or less power. Ending on a cautionary note, Li allows both sides of this debate to weigh in and reminds readers that protecting students is complex and calls into question who can define hate speech and censor that speech.
The paper I chose to follow over the course of this semester was an independent student newspaper from Boston University known as The Daily Free Press. Upon my reading their latest edition from December for their winter edition, a story that stood out to me was one titled Home Alone: From solo cups to going solo this holiday season. This story is by Anna Welsh, a contributing writer who took a fun twist off of her favorite holiday movie which we have in common, Home Alone. Welsh covers the often busy and crowded lives of college students that live on campus and how she has recently transitioned to off campus living and how it has become way more quiet and independent. With this in mind Anna wants to encourage those who are alone to embrace it. Not to be mistaken for isolating oneself but to embrace the peaceful moments you do have to yourself. Welsh goes on to explain some ideas to help embrace this time alone with a positive attitude and an appreciation for time with yourself.
For my Blog Proj student newspaper I choose to follow the University of Mississippi’s paper called The Daily Mississippian. One very interesting article I found on The Daily Mississippian was headlined “ASB addresses the future of students’ academic, physical and mental well-being” written by Jordan Isbell. The ASB is the Associated Student Body of UM. This article captured a senate-like town hall meeting. Which followed the issues of having extremely large incoming freshman classes as well as a major housing crisis. Most of this is because the university is tuition based and it is good in the eyes of the school to accept as many students as possible without counting rooms. What I personally found interesting about this was that the senate can actually propose bills which can make Greek life and clubs follow them. One of the bills was for giving Greek life leaders Narcan administration training. And that all of the bills for this last meeting got passed, and put into place with the rest of the university. Here is the link if anyone wants to read it.
https://thedmonline.com/asb-addresses-the-future-of-students-academic-physical-and-mental-well-being/
The paper that I chose to talk about this semester is called “The Lantern”. The Lantern is the award-winning student newspaper at Ohio State. When looking at the activity and the articles written on the Lantern this week there was a heavy emphasis on what sports were going on and what teams were playing this week. Between their men’s lacrosse team beating number 15 Utah in the season opener or their 8th ranked women’s basketball team defeating the number 10 ranked Indiana Hoosiers it’s safe to say that the people on campus have a deep care for the sports at Ohio State. What I liked about the Lantern’s website was how easy it is to navigate the different topics and stories that one might want to read about. They have everything from stories about what’s happening on campus to food and drink reviews of places on campus. A story that I found interesting from this week’s edition is a story called “Student organization reinstated after suspension, sparks pro-Palestine protest”. The article was about a student club on campus that was recently reinstated after they were suspended for allegedly using PFLP logos which has been deemed a terrorist group by the US. The article was interesting because it allowed me to see what student life is like a much bigger institution than UNE and to see how things are handled on a broader stage.
The heading of this article is, “The Chronicle’s Duke men’s basketball 2023 rivalry edition” written by multiple staff reports. This article highlights the 2023 college men’s basketball season for Duke. It goes into the main rivals and their biggest triumphs that season. Throughout the article the author talks about different games and even dives into the biggest stories that were also previously talked about. They also use previous years states that helped to show a more importance of different games. An example of this is when the author talks about the history of wins for the Blue Devils in Chapel Hill with even stating a previous article that was writing on the Chronicle about a game form this pasted year. The authors also end the article in a way that helps leads the reader to wanting to know what’s next by stating the big game that’s coming up the next Saturday and promising it to be the biggest game of either team’s seasons so far. https://www.dukechronicle.com/article/2024/02/duke-mens-basketball-the-chronicle-rivalry-edition-unc-north-carolina-landing-page
This articles heading is “5 observations from No.7 Duke men’s basketball first half against No.3 North Carolina” by Johnathan Levitan. The author first goes into a mini paragraph about of the game is going between North Carolina and Duke. He then goes into 5 different aspects to the game that he noticed in the first half and what to potentially look at in the second half. The first is ‘Battle of the Bigs”, which goes into the match up of the two of Armando Bacot and Kyle Filipowski, even going into how the previous matchup between the two was. The next two. “At the line” and “Rolling in the deep”, talk about of the team is doing at the foul line and tree point line. The next, “All that and more”, talk about the previous matches and how this matching is shaping to be. That last is the player of the half which highlights the player Jeremy Roach and talks about the great game he is currently having. https://www.dukechronicle.com/article/2024/02/duke-mens-basketball-unc-north-carolina-halftime-observations-filipowski-roach-bacot-davis
Week One:
Article One:
https://dailybruin.com/2024/02/02/its-just-a-fact-understaffed-cae-office-fails-to-meet-students-needs
The headline of the first article that I decided to take a look at from UCLA’s student run paper The Daily Bruin was “It’s just a fact: Understaffed CAE office fail to meet student needs.” So first of all we need to know what CAE stands for CAE stands for the (Center for Accessible Education). The article’s lead states “Out of the nine total disability specialist positions the Center for Accessible Education typically maintains, only three were filled at the start of the 2023-2024 academic year.” This automatically sets the tone and gives some context for the article. Now we know that this is not an issue that is normal for the CAE and they are usually able to fill and maintain those positions. Therefore this issue is unprecedented on the UCLA campus. After the lead the nut graph explains why the CAE is so important for the success and wellbeing of the disabled students. The CAE is supposed to be a tool that is supposed to help disabled students flourish.
When properly staffed the CAE is supposed to provide the medically necessary academic accommodations students need to succeed and learn. The office’s disability specialists are also supposed to guide students through the process of selecting and applying for the classroom. Staffing shortages have left students to fend for themselves. There is a lot of really interesting data provided in the article and one point that really stands out to me is the ratio of 1,281 students per specialist when the national average is 133 students per disability specialist. Another shocking piece of the data from the article was how underpaid the disability specialists are the average pay for a disability specialist at UCLA in 2022 was $35,788. In comparison, the average pay for disability specialists was $54,607 at UC Berkeley and $79,600 at UC Davis.” Wouldn’t you think because they are so understaffed they would have more money to the few employees they do have left.
The article also goes into many different student testimonials. They have testimonials from Nina Zamora, Quinn O’Connor, Katie Bogue, Hilary Wu, Madelyn Kelly, Julia Alanis, Gwendolyn Hill, Megan Borella who are all either current students or alumni of UCLA and also a few different faculty members. Being able to see all of the different perspectives and to hear all the stories of the frustrated students really gives you a new perspective and is helpful to comprehend what a wide scale problem it is and why it’s so important. One of the quotes from a student that I think wraps up the ending of the article is that “Fier said she only sees two viable solutions: a coalition-based approach to educate more students about disability issues or a class action lawsuit.” The only way these problems are ever going to change is if legal action is taken. Overall when the CAE office is understaffed the disabled community of UCLA suffers.
Article Two:
https://dailybruin.com/2024/02/01/usac-unanimously-passes-resolution-endorsing-100-clean-energy-at-ucla-by-2035
The headline from the second article that I decided to focus on from the Daily Bruin this week states “USAC unanimously passes resolution endorsing 100% clean energy at UCLA by 2035”. The news article starts off with some of the challenges they faced when trying to transition UCLA to clean renewable energy. One of the main challenges that they faced was the fact that there is less room for infrastructure because their population size is larger than the campus. There are some direct quotes from the campaign coordinator of the 100% clean energy campaign that talk about how we need to invest in long term safety and the fact that climate change is a very pressing and urgent issue. This is why UCLA has made decarbonization a bigger priority in the last few years and has set their date for complete decarbonization by a whole 10 years earlier than what they thought was originally possible.
The 100% clean energy campaign came up with the resolution draft that identifies UCLA as both a model on environmental issues and a polluter responsible for hundreds of thousands of metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents. But there are many things on the UCLA campus that contradict this statement, the power plant on campus being the biggest. Nurit Katz, the chief sustainability officer at UCLA and co-chair of the Decarbonization Task Force, said in a statement that “the effort to reach carbon neutrality was challenged by a reliance on carbon offsets, while decarbonization will require substantial financial resources but ultimately encompass broader goals.” I think this statement embodies the main problem that is dealt with in this article. The fact that there are many challenges that the 100% clean energy campaign faces financially and socially but they are working through them and good progress is being made.
The paper I decided to cover for the blog project was the independent student newspaper of the University of Michigan called the “Michigan Daily”. While reading this week’s edition there were two stories that caught my attention, the first being, “Comedian Alex Edelman visits UMich for ‘ ‘The Campus Tour ‘’” by Eva Bard. Edelman is a jewish comedian who finished his tour performing shows at colleges, at the University of Michigan. He started the show with his usual stand-up routine talking about his parents’ relationship and past employment. Then he allowed the audience to ask him questions about his jewish Identity. He then shared his story of his jewish upbringing and rise to fame. He said his tour was partially motivated by the increased attention of the Israel-Hamas war. The University believed this show was a great way to get the community involved because Edelman can connect with students of Jewish and every background. The second story was, “DPSS responds to firearm threat at Markley Residence Hall” by Claudia Minetti. There was a firearm threat reported at Mary Markley Residence on Thursday. A suspect was arrested who is not affiliated with the school for having a firearm on campus. It was reported that there is no threat to the community.
I chose to follow Syracuse University’s very own Daily Orange, a nonprofit, completely student-run paper. For our first week of Blog Proj, I chose to focus on an opinion piece entitled “White feminism ignores the importance of intersectionality”, written by Sofia Aguilar. The article digs into a prevalent issue in recent pop culture, concerning intersections within modern feminism, and how some of these more privileged viewpoints neglect the priorities and generally the greater good of many marginalized communities. The author points out the hypocrisy behind many tendencies of modern white feminism, and cites current events in pop culture, like Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig being snubbed at the Oscars, to make the point that white feminism forgets the core values of intersectionality. I chose this article because I found it really interesting to see the discourse that happens on college campuses other than our own, and even how pop culture affects other college communities.
The paper I chose to follow was University of New Hampshire’s “The New Hampshire”, which is a student-run newspaper. I specifically chose to write about an article called “Dover Clothing Library provides first-hand looks at second hand attire”. The story, written by Sophia Schlichtmann in December of 2023, details a clothing library created by graduate student Stella McShera. Basically, people can go into the clothing library and check out clothes to wear for two weeks before returning them in a completely biodegradable dryer sheet provided by the library itself. The library’s main goal is sustainability, aiming to keep used clothes out of the trash and remain in circulation. Recently, the library hosted a fashion show to raise awareness for itself, with librarians acting as the models, with various categories made to show off the sheer selection of clothes and the versatility that the library offers. Local stylists and makeup artists also pitched in to create the stunning outfits that the librarians wore. I chose this article because I really like selecting my own outfits (as shallow as that may be), and I enjoy learning about the ways we can reduce our environmental impact at the same time. A library where you can go and check out clothes is a fantastic idea that I’d love to experience, and it’s a wonderfully original way of do both of those things.
The article I chose to write about was called “Dover Clothing Library provides first-hand looks at second-hand attire”, written by Sophia Schlichtmann of University of New Hampshire’s, The New Hampshire. The article details a runway event held at Dover Public Library’s brand new clothing library: a place where you can check out used clothes for two weeks. The event was a runway, hosted by the library, which used local librarians as the models. Not only this, the library recruited multiple stylists and designers to put together various outfits to be used by the models, as well as a walking coach to teach the librarians their model walk. The library aims to help with clothing sustainability, and attempt to fight against fast fashion. It was initially set up by graduate student, Stella McShera, and all clothing items inside are second hand, and cleaned by the library itself. Stella had wanted to create a space where people could access clothing without necessarily having to purchase the item beforehand. I chose this article because I love creating outfits for myself, as vain as that is, but I don’t really have enough clothes to get a good repertoire of outfits going. The idea of a library where you can just check out clothes you like, see if you like them on your body, and then find a way to purchase them if you like it enough is wonderful to me.
Week 1:
Theme Houses Houses Open Doors to Students
https://concordiensis.com/4964/news/theme-houses-houses-open-doors-to-students/
This article advertised the many themed houses that Union College offers. These on and off-campus houses offer a place for people with similar interests to gather over events and activities. The article then goes on to quote students who have joined these houses. Such as a current member, Max Van Dijk ’24 of the Serenity House stated he felt the environment fit who he was and some of his friends already lived there. Having a place where you feel like you belong in college is so important. For example, the Iris House acts as a safe space for LGBTQ+ members to express themselves creatively through event planning. A current member, Emma expressed she feels they haven’t run out of things to do yet! The article highlights many positive aspects as to why students should look into themed housing and some of the basic living arrangements in each household. At the end, the passage shares information on how to apply to the houses and an email for further questions.
Union College Corrects Names of Transgender Students on Dean’s List
https://concordiensis.com/4949/news/union-college-corrects-names-of-transgender-students-on-deans-list/
This piece was very honest and forward by calling out the school’s public Dean’s List of 2022 – 2023 where they dead-named several transgender students. Quotes from the students expressed this wasn’t great and had apparently been happening for years. Katie Boermeester ‘24, president of Union Pride immediately reached out to the college’s LGBTQ+ Committee for guidance, they immediately took action. The article goes on to share that the school does offer a form titled “ Union’s Chosen Name, Preferred Name, and/or Gender Identity Change Request Form”. This is where newly enrolled students can make these name requests whether it’s a legal change or a preferred name. However, it is unclear whether the dean’s list uses legal, preferred, or chosen names. After making the school aware of their mistake, they swiftly corrected the list and reached out to those affected. The quoted students couldn’t have asked for a quicker response from everyone involved in the situation. The piece closes with the Change Request Form linked and a school email to connect for further questions or appointments.
Story 1: https://thesuffolkjournal.com/42419/news/provost-julie-sandell-announces-retirement/ “Provost Julie Sandell announces retirement”
This story was very much short and to the point, including all of the necessary information to understand the story. The story explains that Sandell, the current provost of Suffolk University, is planning on retiring. Sandell is widely respected after starting at Suffolk in 2019, and leading the school through the COVID-19 crisis. The article includes a quote from the president of the university, building the writer’s credit. This information was obtained in an email by members of the journal, and I am curious as to who that email was intended for.
Story 2: https://thesuffolkjournal.com/40468/opinion/opinion-brandy-melville-one-size-fits-small/ “OPINION: Brandy Melville: One size fits (sm)all”
This is an opinion article describing the author’s opinion about the brand Brandy Melville, and how the store’s one-size-fits-all model does not work, in the author’s opinion. She uses her own personal experience of feeling jealous, as well as feeling like she needs to be able to fit into these clothes to feel beautiful. As a woman, this article is relatable, and I enjoyed it very much. The author received a few comments critiquing her writing, but I found myself disagreeing with both comments, as I thought her point was very well explained.
Story 1: Washington receives an “F” in its efforts for tobacco and nicotine prevention By Meha Singal https://www.dailyuw.com/news/washington-receives-an-f-in-its-efforts-for-tobacco-and-nicotine-prevention/article_f20c15d6-c3c5-11ee-bdff-9f56eeb73348.html
A recent news article discussed the recent development from the American Lung Association regarding the state of Washington’s efforts to diminish Tobacco use. Their efforts were given an “F” indicating the state’s lack of work on trying to solve this issue. Carrie Nyssen, senior director of advocacy for the American Lung Association reminds citizens of the effects this has on the children who must be inoculated due to the overuse of tobacco on a daily basis by Washington residents. Nicotine is an addictive substance users utilize in a variety of ways, but attempting to restrict its use becomes a financial problem. The profit for the State of Washington is said to be around $460 million while only $4.6 million is allocated to the prevention of illnesses produced by tobacco products. In order to thwart this issue, Washington must take more measures to ensure the safety of upcoming generations from secondhand smoke that may inhibit their development. Nyssen relays the prominence of the removal of marketing towards children particularly in the vaping community, where products are created to be flavorful and enticing to younger generations.
Story 2: UW begins officially handing off four apartments to private developer By Julia Park
https://www.dailyuw.com/news/uw-begins-officially-handing-off-four-apartments-to-private-developer/article_6aa6e08e-bfb1-11ee-ad29-23e554cf3fc7.html
The project, “W Housing Four Properties (UH4) project” has been in progress since before the summer of 2022 has been approved on November 8th of 2023. Its goals are to lease four of the housing properties owned by the university, accessible to graduates and students with families to a private company known as Greystar. This change will allow lower rent prices, and authorize renovations to UW residence halls. This project will additionally increase the availability of housing with the ever-growing student enrollment rates, and aid in paying off debts for food and housing. Current residents will be relocated during construction to a nearby town. Students have rallied against the buy-out of the private company, accumulating 786 signatures from students in protest. Tiffany Jewel, a low-income graduate student at UW finds this news troubling as she moved with her family in order to obtain subsidized housing, only for this project to be put into action. Existing residents are forced to either accept the terms or vacate their homes. Housing Justice UW seeks financial assistance from the university due to this swift relocation act.
For week one of the blog project I read an article titled staff recommendations: 2024 Ins and Outs published on February 2nd 2024. This was a fun article centered around the new years trend of what was In for the year and what was Out, all giving ny the staff of the Cynic. A lot of the Ins were quite silly and nice giving a light hearted and cheerful feel to the start of the new year and the beginning of the spring semester. Many of the “Ins” were things like joyfulness, things to improve mood like watching pet videos, or things to help the environment like bird bikes. The outs were similarly light hearted and definitely a bit more silly, such as minimalism being out, and overhead lighting. Overall this article was a fun nice way to start the new year and have a good outlook on the upcoming semester.