The University of Washington is set to implement student-led emergency medical services alongside the Seattle Fire Department. On February 6th, the ASUW Senate, a legislative body for the school run by students, discussed and voted on the introduction of an emergency program put into practice by over 250 other universities. The vote passed 65-0-5, effectively permitting the EMS program to proceed. The program would result in certified student EMTs responding to on-campus 911 calls. It is estimated that student EMTs would arrive on the scene four minutes faster than the Seattle Fire Department, actively cutting response time down from the current practice UW utilizes. In a life-or-death situation, these four minutes become exorbitantly valuable, and students in crisis will ultimately benefit from the changing system.
Another suggested advantage of a student-run EMT service is the willingness to call for help when students are in distress, knowing it will be a peer responding to the scene first. The bill’s sponsor and current EMT, Tristan Jafari, indicates, “It removes a barrier of hesitancy.”
The meeting also discussed activity fees and service prices, welcoming presenters from the advisory board of U-PASS. Presenter Shrayes Bhagavatula from the board enlightened the ASUW Senate on how prices are established, advertising plans, and exemptions from such costs.
The services and activities fee committee chair Mitchell Klein states, “We’re trying to show you where your money is going.” Klein presents the fees, proceeding to forums with various UW campus locations and councils to show the Senate what units their funding goes to.
Story 2: “The Daily Editors’ Book Club January: Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s ‘Before the Coffee Gets Cold’” By Piper Davidson
This article discusses the University of Washington’s Newspaper Editor’s January Book Club pick, “Before the Coffee Gets Cold” by Toshikazu Kawaguchi. In a personal piece from writer Piper Davidson, she discusses her and her peer’s reactions to the translated fiction. They illustrate the variety in how people chose to read or struggle to get invested in a book, while the writer was entranced almost immediately by Kawaguchi’s work. Despite the challenging beginning for some, each completed the book within a day or two and celebrated its ability to illustrate our relationships and dynamics with friends and family through the use of (spoiler!) time travel. The Daily’s editors found the book cozy in times of poor weather over in the state of Washington, and they recommend it to readers of the paper who are looking for a comforting story.
The first story I reviewed this week was on BC professor Hristina Nikolova’s lawsuit against BC’s Board of Trustees regarding gender and pregnancy discrimination. Nikolova raised a multitude of issues, from breach of contract, retaliation, sex and pregnancy discrimination, parental leave, and family and medical leave. The answer from the Board was that none of the arguments Nikolova raised have standing for relief and that BC’s denial of tenure was based on legitimate non-discriminatory and non-retaliatory reasons.” Starting at BC in 2014 and on the tenure track, the tension between her accounts and the Board surrounding her excellent job performance and family life became an area of interest for both parties. A battle of who said what ensued, with Nikolova claiming multiple gendered remarks were made about her pregnancy during tenure reviews, which the university denies on all counts. Ultimately, Nikolova is left with a severed contract, no job, and a refusal for damages. The 1.7 million in damages Nikolova has brought to the university has thus been rejected.
Story Two: “BC Law Professor Investigates Court-Mandated Programs Forcing Victims to Work With Their Abusers” By Annika Engelbrecht
Another story from BC’s The Heights this week looks to the work of Claire Donohue, assistant clinical professor of Boston College Law School, regarding court-mandated parenting program therapy, which requires both victims and alleged abusers to complete the program. In examining these high-conflict cases that result in parenting classes, Donohue notes how there are vital misunderstandings surrounding family dynamics and says these sessions create “a rigid definition of what it means to be a good parent, and its assignments created an unsafe environment for anyone escaping an abusive relationship.” Above even the specifics, she and her colleagues also bring into question the effectiveness of court mandates, especially in family matters, and how beneficial being entangled in the court system is for prolonged periods of time when people, even with their best efforts, won’t comply to forced requirements that they feel are at odds with their values or children’s best interest. Donohue and Margie Palladino, BC Law Alum and co-founder of Mass Family Advocate Coalition (MFAC), also raise concerns on how these mandates affect nuanced and dangerous situations of domestic abuse where in efforts to remove themselves and their family from an abusive partner, victims are then forced to go through a highly confrontational and emotionally charged program with them.
The first article taking about Durham public schools superintendent, Pascal Mubenga resigning after multiple weeks of protest over pay cuts. The author, Zoe Kolenovsky, leads with the announcement of the resign as well as the broad appointing DPS deputy Superintendent, Nicholas King, becoming the interim superintendent until another can be appointed. She then goes in the history and context of this situation. Zoe states how on January 31, twelve schools, then later seven more on February 6, called out of work do to the district withdrew raises from workers as that said they “accidentally overpaid its workers due to an accounting error”. The author then goes more how this moment was just the nail in the coffin, stating there has been issues with pay sense COVID, that took workers over the limit and began to protest because of it. She ended the article with a quote from the Umstead that said all decisions have our students in mind. There’s also a meeting set in place with the teacher’s union next week to talk about the protests. https://www.dukechronicle.com/article/2024/02/duke-university-durham-public-schools-nc-superintendent-pascal-mubenga-resigns-pay-cuts-protests-board-of-education-interim-appointed
The second article was about Nobel Peace Prize winner, Maria Ressa talking about journalism as well as how technology has played a role. This was a retelling of the interview that took at a Rubenstein Distinguished Lecture writing by Amy Guan. Amy first goes into who Ressa is, where she comes from and here current company, Rappler. Rappler is a Filipino news site who Ressa has is the CEO of as she founded the company in 2012. The author then goes into the interview and some of the information that Ressa gave. Some of the topics that Ressa talks about that Amy includes in the article are social media, impacts of social media being used to display information to a larger audience, rise of the internet, and advantages of different news. Amy ends with talking about Ressa’s goals and end it off with a powerful quote from Ressa about journalism. https://www.dukechronicle.com/article/2024/02/duke-university-maria-ressa-nobel-peace-prize-laureate-journalism-technology-rappler
This article discusses the “pod semester”, which was the semester(s) in which the college was going through the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. The article, written by a MIT student named Arun Wongprommoon, catalogs his experience of the pandemic as a MIT student, made more unique by his home country being Thailand. He was a freshman at MIT, and details March 9th, when the institute announced it would be responding to COVID-19 by cancelling classes and going remote. He details the paranoia of early COVID, as well as his anxieties, as it seemed like he would need to get a flight back to Thailand on short notice. After arriving home, he explains the isolation, boredom, and fear of isolation we all experienced during the early days of COVID. He then details the start of the “pod semester”, which started on November 2nd, 2020. It was called the pod semester, because after the initial stages of online learning all students experienced, there was a move to regain on-campus living and learning for the students. However, this necessitated the creation of pods, which were 6 person groups which the participants could take off their masks/spend time with. He then speaks of the aftermath, with him mentioning the future careers of his podmates and his thoughts in reflection.
Putting the pieces together https://thetech.com/2024/02/08/justin-yu
This article is a feature on Justin Yu, who is a class of 25′ students from Dallas Texas at MIT who became the world champion of Tetris. It is in a Q&A format. He described his history with Tetris, mentioning he’s been playing for 5 years, and goes on to talk about strategy, stating that Tetris is more about survival than aesthetics of the board. He talks about the differences between classic and modern Tetris, as well as “rolling”, a technique that allows pieces in the game to be moved much faster than normal by rapidly pressing the direction keys with all 5 fingers of the hand. He then speaks about applying principles of mathematical solving of Tetris as well as advice for people getting into the game. He then speaks a bit about his personal life, in regards to balancing school and extracurricular activities with practicing Tetris, his opinion on the future of Classical Tetris, and his goals for the future in relation to the game and it’s presence at MIT.
This week on Syracuse University’s Daily Orange, one of their news story’s made national news. This article entitled “Former SU employee Conrad Mainwaring pleads guilty to sex abuse charges”, documents the case of a former Residence Hall Deputy Director who has recently admitted to abusing young children while working both on and off the Syracuse campus in the 1970’s and 80’s. This admission comes 4 years after Josh Shapiro, one of Mainwaring’s 400 alleged victims, filed a lawsuit against the university and the Board of Trustees. This lawsuit was only the first of many other lawsuits and legal actions against Mainwaring, SU, and other institutions where Mainwaring was accused. Many victims came forward to testify during this trial, documenting where they experienced abuse from Mainwaring, and various other details concerning the events. Robert Druger, one of the alleged victims, describes the guilty plea as “a step in the right direction”, but also thinks that there’s a long way to go, considering the myriad of other alleged victims who are continuing to come forward. Many of the victims have expressed their interest in continuing this investigation into the Syracuse University and other complicit institutions where Mainwaring was allowed to continue the abuse, and they would like these places to step up and take accountability.
This article was about a student organized group at Suffolk University called the Students for Justice in Palestine, who organized a walkout along with a few other schools, such as Emerson and Berklee. The students gathered outside of an academic building on January 25th and moved through the campuses of all of the schools involved. A solidarity vigil was also held by this organization on December 7th for everyone who has lost their lives in the current war. The reasoning for the walkout was in protest of the silence of higher ups at Suffolk, who have only released one statement two months ago claiming the institution is neutral.
This article is meant to inform the reader about Suffolk University’s spring showcase, which is currently in the works. The showcase will be taking place this weekend and will feature a collection of student written works meant to act as individual shows. Matthew Killion and Grace Kelley, two Suffolk students, go on to describe their one act plays that will be included in the showcase. They describe the writing of their plays, both focused in grief from each of them. Both writers also explain the effort that their plays took to produce, and how excited they are that they have the opportunity to have their play preformed for their student body.
For this week Blog Proj. a story that peaked my interest from the The Daily Free Press by Boston University was the story titled “Meet Zachary Taub, filmmaker behind viral ‘hi, mom’ video” by Mara Mellits. This story particularly stood out to me because our class Friday was focused on a video editing demo and in ways relates to this student as a filmmaker. This stories structure was split between a feature and a profile. The author Mara Melltis shared a bit about the viral video itself but also found it important to bring it back to how the filmmaker Zachary Taub got to the positions he’s in. Overall I found this to be a very easy and light read that had some connection to what we had just experienced in class.
This story from LSU’s The Reville was titled ” What does Louisiana’s congressional redistricting mean for LSU?” This article looked into the changing of the districts in the Baton Rouge/ LSU area. There is a lot of changes to the LSU area through this district change which is the first time in 30 years. One of the things that is a promint change is ” Formerly in District 6, LSU now lies in District 5, represented by Rep. Julia Letlow from Monroe, LA. She is the first woman to represent Louisiana in the House of Representatives in 30 years. ” (LSU’s the Reville) on eof the major concerns is how this efefcts the voting climate and what that has to do with race. For example, “Louisiana’s total population is just under 4.66 million people, 1.46 million of those people being Black, according to the 2020 Louisiana Census, which is roughly a third of the state’s population. When districts are gerrymandered, it limits the ability of the public to hold representatives accountable, Dohrenwend said.” ( LSU’s the Reville)
The headline of the first article that I decided to take a closer look at this week from UCLA’s student run paper The Daily Bruin was “Student entrepreneurs can explore their passions while pursuing higher education” This article debates the belief that starting a traditional business and pursuing higher education is not attainable. The article takes us through how that belief is evolving with students on the UCLA campus. The article goes into how important the undergraduate programs are to help grow and cultivate this new attitude towards entrepreneurship and higher education. Students now have access to various university resources, connections and experiences, which make student entrepreneurs more likely to find themselves not only succeeding, but thriving in their endeavors.
The first student that was interviewed for the article was Mark Lin, a second-year cognitive science and economics student, who founded a company called Sliimeyhoney that crafts intricate food-inspired slimes. Lin describes how grateful he is to the UCLA community because he feels that they really helped him on his entrepreneur journey. Lin was able to earn $1 million dollars in 2023. “By following his passion and doing what he loved, Lin was able to develop a sustainable income for himself.” This is just one of the success stories that would not have been possible if it weren’t for the courageous entrepreneurs in the new generation that have taken on pursuing their dreams while still being in school and all of the new programs and opportunities that allow them to do so.
Some quotes that stood out to me from the article were “Investors are now looking at undergraduate students as the next generation of innovators”. I think that this is a really great idea and that undergraduate students are really benefiting from this mindset. Because investors are spending more time and money on undergraduate students, they now have the ability to gain practical knowledge and skills in entrepreneurship, management, finance, marketing, and other relevant areas. Another quote that resonates with me was “Despite societal assumptions, education attainment does not always determine one’s ability to excel in their career. Some of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world dropped out of college.” Although college does put you at an advantage in most cases this statement is definitely true. I think this should be kept in mind because it is better to know yourself and know that school is not for you than to end up trying to push yourself to do something you hate and spend thousands of dollars. Everyone learns differently and for some it might be easier to self teach through trial and error.
In conclusion, the rise of undergraduate business programs highlights the increasingly intertwined nature of education and entrepreneurship. While starting a business and pursuing higher education may once have been seen as mutually exclusive, today’s aspiring entrepreneurs can access the resources, networks, and learning opportunities offered by colleges and universities to enhance their entrepreneurial journey.
The headline of the second article that I decided to take a closer look at this week from UCLA’s student run paper The Daily Bruin was “Opinion: Students can mitigate seasonal depression by embracing weather, taking precautions”. I chose this article because I thought the tips and advice would definitely help out students living in Maine. The article starts off by talking about how the cold temperatures and shorter days can have effects on students’ daily lives. The author of the article Danielle Taylor believes that “it is important to establish positive, healthy habits to beat the winter blues.” In the article it gives a definition of seasonal depression and lists some of the symptoms including fatigue, loss of interest in previously enjoyable activities, difficulty concentrating, increased appetite and anxiety.
Danielle Taylor then goes on to describe the seasonal depression she went through moving from L.A to Seattle. She said that “The activities that I usually loved to do, like sports, were a tremendous struggle. I slept more hours, lacked motivation in my classwork and ate one to two extra meals every day.” This is something I can definitely relate to because I moved from California to Massachusetts in the beginning of eighth grade and it took a lot of adjusting. My favorite things to do in California were go to the pool and go to the beach. In Massachusetts there is a small window of two months where you can participate in those activities and then you’re back to counting the days until warm weather again. In my opinion this can definitely have an effect on my wellbeing not only emotionally but physically as well. It becomes harder and harder to be active outside. Being outdoors was my favorite way to take care of my physical health, swimming running, yoga all way better when you do it outside in a quiet and clean environment.
The article then lists some suggestions of what students can do to better prepare themselves for seasonal depression.
1.)Invest in warm, waterproof winter clothes.
2.)Make special winter traditions.
3.)Try your best to stop complaining.
4.)Don’t cut out healthy habits.
5.) If you believe you may have seasonal depression or anxiety symptoms, seek out resources and get support
6.) Turn your face toward the rain.
I believe this article has some good advice and it would have been helpful for me to read an article like this when I first moved. I think learning to be grateful for all the time we do have in the sun and not to wish away the days that don’t is an essential skill for keeping seasonal depression at bay.
For my Blog Proj 2 week. I found this article titled “Personal Finance Education is Lacking in American Schools.” by Liv Briley. February 7th 2024. It is an opinion piece. Liv speaks about how they teach in high school no actual skills that go into finances in adult life. Like budgeting, or accounting type courses. My high school did have a personal finance class which was required to graduate which is rare in the US. It was also a private school. Liv says that in the public universities and school systems they do not teach such ideas and skills to their students. “but in a nation that prides itself on its financial systems, shouldn’t we be more concerned that 77% of Americans are financially anxious? Financial issues contribute heavily to divorce rates, depression and even suicide, yet we are somehow still okay with the fact that the average American household is in over $100,000 worth of debt. And that’s just the average.” (Briley, The Daily Mississippian). She talks about how much of an impact not educating people in the US about finances is hurting the country and how it compare to such education in other countries. Which have a better system in that regard. I found it interesting because it isn’t being addressed and even going to a high school for me that addressed it, it was the bare minimum. https://thedmonline.com/personal-finance-education-is-lacking-in-american-schools/
Lights, Camera, Activism! https://concordiensis.com/5406/opinions/lights-camera-activism/
Union College is back with another trimester, meaning new journal articles are produced for the school paper. This piece covers the college’s most recent theater production, “Patriot Acts: A Suffrage Pageant For Our Times.” It reflects on the history of suffrage and discusses human inequality. The play also addresses intersectionality, when social identities overlap and often result in discrimination. Students who watched the performance like, Evie Tilison ‘27, were left in awe. The production was impressive with technical lighting and powerful speeches on very current topics but what stood out was the minimalistic approach to the set. It allowed the audience to connect with the actors and actresses on a personal level. The dedication the cast put into the show didn’t go unnoticed, every prop was meaningful and cue on time. However, none of this could have been accomplished without the director, Cheryl Black. She projected these challenging subjects with respect and acknowledged all sorts of diverse backgrounds. This performance was enlightening and impressive to many who watched.
Nikki Haley Calls Out Donald Trump on Proposed Tariffs https://concordiensis.com/5382/world/nikki-haley-calls-out-donald-trump-on-proposed-tariffs/
While Unions’ newspaper highlights current events at the school they also report on current political happenings. Nikki Haley, former United States Ambassador to the United Nations, opposed her former alliance with Donald Trump by challenging his proposed tariffs. On CNBC, Haley said, “This is a man who now wants to go and put 10% tariffs across the board, raising taxes on every single American”. She understands that if Trump raises household expenses, middle-class families won’t be able to afford it. Haley previously agreed with Trump on the value of tariffs. She saw the need for fair trade and agreements while advocating for America’s interests. At the end of the article, it’s revealed that Union students got the opportunity to assist in Haley’s campaign this past December. Shriya Biswas ’26, a Political Science and Neuroscience major expressed that seeing a woman compete against so many male candidates was inspiring.
The article I chose for this week’s Blog Proj is called “The Shortest Coastline in the U.S. Under Threat; UNH Researcher’s Work on Projects to Adapt to Changing Weather Patterns”, by Sarah Donovan of University of New Hampshire’s, The New Hampshire. The title of the article is a little bit of a mouthful, though it is quite descriptive and provides a great introduction into the article, the subheadline more than summarizes the paper on its own. I feel like it could be reduced to make the article more attractive to readers.
The article opens with discussing the annual revenue New Hampshire received from tourism in 2021, which amounts to almost two billion dollars. The article then leaps into the impact of climate change on the coastal environment, and the work of scientists on trying to document and prepare for the incoming effects of climate change. Due to increasing rainfall caused largely by worsening climate change, coastal and inland flooding is becoming more and more frequent. As the world gets warmer, the oceans evaporate faster, which of course causes more rainfall. Not only this, a warming earth creates something called a feedback loop in the poles. Snow and ice reflect the sun’s rays to keep the planet cooler, but as the ocean heats up, more of the snow melts. This causes more of the sun’s heat to be absorbed by the earth, causing the globe to warm, and melting more ice caps. In coastal areas like Hampton Beach, New Hampshire, these rising tides can cause not only hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of property damage caused by coastal erosion and flooding, but also reduce the amount of tourism these places attract. Not only is the local tourism industry in danger, but coastal roadways are also facing potential destruction due to the rising tides. However, scientists are trying to work on a way to reduce coastal erosion with the implementation of stronger sediments, or soils, to soak up higher tides and king tides, which are simply incredibly high tides. They’re also attempting to restore coastal marshes, which are a natural way to protect coasts.
For week two of the blog project I read a news article titled, City Council keeps pro-Palestine ballot measure from ballot. This article was published on february 6th and updated on the 7th to correct the description of jewish action. This news article covered the Burlington city council’s vote on a pro-Palentinse ballot measure, the vote was 7-5. This article was very interesting because this was very much a hard news article, whereas last week the article I read was more of a sweet trend piece, overall the article does an excellent job of covering the who-what-when-where and why for the events discussed. The paragraphs are all short and sweet and the information was given very diligently. It was also nice to see the editors note and sort of own up the responsibility of their being an error and publicly fixing it. It really re-affirms my trust with this news outlet, and it makes me feel like I can trust the information that I am being given.
13 thoughts on “BLOG-PROJ WEEK 2”
Story 1: “ASUW Senate discusses student-led emergency response service” By Harper Gould
https://www.dailyuw.com/news/asuw-senate-discusses-student-led-emergency-response-service/article_85bcaa3e-c6ff-11ee-9e9d-bf684eb725cb.html
The University of Washington is set to implement student-led emergency medical services alongside the Seattle Fire Department. On February 6th, the ASUW Senate, a legislative body for the school run by students, discussed and voted on the introduction of an emergency program put into practice by over 250 other universities. The vote passed 65-0-5, effectively permitting the EMS program to proceed. The program would result in certified student EMTs responding to on-campus 911 calls. It is estimated that student EMTs would arrive on the scene four minutes faster than the Seattle Fire Department, actively cutting response time down from the current practice UW utilizes. In a life-or-death situation, these four minutes become exorbitantly valuable, and students in crisis will ultimately benefit from the changing system.
Another suggested advantage of a student-run EMT service is the willingness to call for help when students are in distress, knowing it will be a peer responding to the scene first. The bill’s sponsor and current EMT, Tristan Jafari, indicates, “It removes a barrier of hesitancy.”
The meeting also discussed activity fees and service prices, welcoming presenters from the advisory board of U-PASS. Presenter Shrayes Bhagavatula from the board enlightened the ASUW Senate on how prices are established, advertising plans, and exemptions from such costs.
The services and activities fee committee chair Mitchell Klein states, “We’re trying to show you where your money is going.” Klein presents the fees, proceeding to forums with various UW campus locations and councils to show the Senate what units their funding goes to.
Story 2: “The Daily Editors’ Book Club January: Toshikazu Kawaguchi’s ‘Before the Coffee Gets Cold’” By Piper Davidson
https://www.dailyuw.com/arts_and_culture/community/the-daily-editors-book-club-january-toshikazu-kawaguchi-s-before-the-coffee-gets-cold/article_9bb7eb14-c650-11ee-92d7-b3eac4d88811.html
This article discusses the University of Washington’s Newspaper Editor’s January Book Club pick, “Before the Coffee Gets Cold” by Toshikazu Kawaguchi. In a personal piece from writer Piper Davidson, she discusses her and her peer’s reactions to the translated fiction. They illustrate the variety in how people chose to read or struggle to get invested in a book, while the writer was entranced almost immediately by Kawaguchi’s work. Despite the challenging beginning for some, each completed the book within a day or two and celebrated its ability to illustrate our relationships and dynamics with friends and family through the use of (spoiler!) time travel. The Daily’s editors found the book cozy in times of poor weather over in the state of Washington, and they recommend it to readers of the paper who are looking for a comforting story.
Story One: “BC Files Defense Against Sex and Pregnancy Discrimination Lawsuit Made by Former Professor” By Lucy Freeman
https://www.bcheights.com/2024/02/08/bc-files-defense-against-sex-and-pregnancy-discrimination-lawsuit-made-by-former-professor/
The first story I reviewed this week was on BC professor Hristina Nikolova’s lawsuit against BC’s Board of Trustees regarding gender and pregnancy discrimination. Nikolova raised a multitude of issues, from breach of contract, retaliation, sex and pregnancy discrimination, parental leave, and family and medical leave. The answer from the Board was that none of the arguments Nikolova raised have standing for relief and that BC’s denial of tenure was based on legitimate non-discriminatory and non-retaliatory reasons.” Starting at BC in 2014 and on the tenure track, the tension between her accounts and the Board surrounding her excellent job performance and family life became an area of interest for both parties. A battle of who said what ensued, with Nikolova claiming multiple gendered remarks were made about her pregnancy during tenure reviews, which the university denies on all counts. Ultimately, Nikolova is left with a severed contract, no job, and a refusal for damages. The 1.7 million in damages Nikolova has brought to the university has thus been rejected.
Story Two: “BC Law Professor Investigates Court-Mandated Programs Forcing Victims to Work With Their Abusers” By Annika Engelbrecht
https://www.bcheights.com/2024/02/09/bc-law-professor-investigates-court-mandated-programs-forcing-victims-to-work-with-their-abusers/
Another story from BC’s The Heights this week looks to the work of Claire Donohue, assistant clinical professor of Boston College Law School, regarding court-mandated parenting program therapy, which requires both victims and alleged abusers to complete the program. In examining these high-conflict cases that result in parenting classes, Donohue notes how there are vital misunderstandings surrounding family dynamics and says these sessions create “a rigid definition of what it means to be a good parent, and its assignments created an unsafe environment for anyone escaping an abusive relationship.” Above even the specifics, she and her colleagues also bring into question the effectiveness of court mandates, especially in family matters, and how beneficial being entangled in the court system is for prolonged periods of time when people, even with their best efforts, won’t comply to forced requirements that they feel are at odds with their values or children’s best interest. Donohue and Margie Palladino, BC Law Alum and co-founder of Mass Family Advocate Coalition (MFAC), also raise concerns on how these mandates affect nuanced and dangerous situations of domestic abuse where in efforts to remove themselves and their family from an abusive partner, victims are then forced to go through a highly confrontational and emotionally charged program with them.
The first article taking about Durham public schools superintendent, Pascal Mubenga resigning after multiple weeks of protest over pay cuts. The author, Zoe Kolenovsky, leads with the announcement of the resign as well as the broad appointing DPS deputy Superintendent, Nicholas King, becoming the interim superintendent until another can be appointed. She then goes in the history and context of this situation. Zoe states how on January 31, twelve schools, then later seven more on February 6, called out of work do to the district withdrew raises from workers as that said they “accidentally overpaid its workers due to an accounting error”. The author then goes more how this moment was just the nail in the coffin, stating there has been issues with pay sense COVID, that took workers over the limit and began to protest because of it. She ended the article with a quote from the Umstead that said all decisions have our students in mind. There’s also a meeting set in place with the teacher’s union next week to talk about the protests. https://www.dukechronicle.com/article/2024/02/duke-university-durham-public-schools-nc-superintendent-pascal-mubenga-resigns-pay-cuts-protests-board-of-education-interim-appointed
The second article was about Nobel Peace Prize winner, Maria Ressa talking about journalism as well as how technology has played a role. This was a retelling of the interview that took at a Rubenstein Distinguished Lecture writing by Amy Guan. Amy first goes into who Ressa is, where she comes from and here current company, Rappler. Rappler is a Filipino news site who Ressa has is the CEO of as she founded the company in 2012. The author then goes into the interview and some of the information that Ressa gave. Some of the topics that Ressa talks about that Amy includes in the article are social media, impacts of social media being used to display information to a larger audience, rise of the internet, and advantages of different news. Amy ends with talking about Ressa’s goals and end it off with a powerful quote from Ressa about journalism.
https://www.dukechronicle.com/article/2024/02/duke-university-maria-ressa-nobel-peace-prize-laureate-journalism-technology-rappler
Ode to Pod Semester
https://thetech.com/2024/02/08/ode-to-pod
This article discusses the “pod semester”, which was the semester(s) in which the college was going through the initial stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. The article, written by a MIT student named Arun Wongprommoon, catalogs his experience of the pandemic as a MIT student, made more unique by his home country being Thailand. He was a freshman at MIT, and details March 9th, when the institute announced it would be responding to COVID-19 by cancelling classes and going remote. He details the paranoia of early COVID, as well as his anxieties, as it seemed like he would need to get a flight back to Thailand on short notice. After arriving home, he explains the isolation, boredom, and fear of isolation we all experienced during the early days of COVID. He then details the start of the “pod semester”, which started on November 2nd, 2020. It was called the pod semester, because after the initial stages of online learning all students experienced, there was a move to regain on-campus living and learning for the students. However, this necessitated the creation of pods, which were 6 person groups which the participants could take off their masks/spend time with. He then speaks of the aftermath, with him mentioning the future careers of his podmates and his thoughts in reflection.
Putting the pieces together
https://thetech.com/2024/02/08/justin-yu
This article is a feature on Justin Yu, who is a class of 25′ students from Dallas Texas at MIT who became the world champion of Tetris. It is in a Q&A format. He described his history with Tetris, mentioning he’s been playing for 5 years, and goes on to talk about strategy, stating that Tetris is more about survival than aesthetics of the board. He talks about the differences between classic and modern Tetris, as well as “rolling”, a technique that allows pieces in the game to be moved much faster than normal by rapidly pressing the direction keys with all 5 fingers of the hand. He then speaks about applying principles of mathematical solving of Tetris as well as advice for people getting into the game. He then speaks a bit about his personal life, in regards to balancing school and extracurricular activities with practicing Tetris, his opinion on the future of Classical Tetris, and his goals for the future in relation to the game and it’s presence at MIT.
This week on Syracuse University’s Daily Orange, one of their news story’s made national news. This article entitled “Former SU employee Conrad Mainwaring pleads guilty to sex abuse charges”, documents the case of a former Residence Hall Deputy Director who has recently admitted to abusing young children while working both on and off the Syracuse campus in the 1970’s and 80’s. This admission comes 4 years after Josh Shapiro, one of Mainwaring’s 400 alleged victims, filed a lawsuit against the university and the Board of Trustees. This lawsuit was only the first of many other lawsuits and legal actions against Mainwaring, SU, and other institutions where Mainwaring was accused. Many victims came forward to testify during this trial, documenting where they experienced abuse from Mainwaring, and various other details concerning the events. Robert Druger, one of the alleged victims, describes the guilty plea as “a step in the right direction”, but also thinks that there’s a long way to go, considering the myriad of other alleged victims who are continuing to come forward. Many of the victims have expressed their interest in continuing this investigation into the Syracuse University and other complicit institutions where Mainwaring was allowed to continue the abuse, and they would like these places to step up and take accountability.
https://thesuffolkjournal.com/42753/news/suffolk-sjp-leads-walkout-in-solidarity-with-palestine/
This article was about a student organized group at Suffolk University called the Students for Justice in Palestine, who organized a walkout along with a few other schools, such as Emerson and Berklee. The students gathered outside of an academic building on January 25th and moved through the campuses of all of the schools involved. A solidarity vigil was also held by this organization on December 7th for everyone who has lost their lives in the current war. The reasoning for the walkout was in protest of the silence of higher ups at Suffolk, who have only released one statement two months ago claiming the institution is neutral.
https://thesuffolkjournal.com/42718/ac/artscampus/theatre-departments-spring-showcase-takes-the-stage-in-sullivan-studio-theatre/
This article is meant to inform the reader about Suffolk University’s spring showcase, which is currently in the works. The showcase will be taking place this weekend and will feature a collection of student written works meant to act as individual shows. Matthew Killion and Grace Kelley, two Suffolk students, go on to describe their one act plays that will be included in the showcase. They describe the writing of their plays, both focused in grief from each of them. Both writers also explain the effort that their plays took to produce, and how excited they are that they have the opportunity to have their play preformed for their student body.
For this week Blog Proj. a story that peaked my interest from the The Daily Free Press by Boston University was the story titled “Meet Zachary Taub, filmmaker behind viral ‘hi, mom’ video” by Mara Mellits. This story particularly stood out to me because our class Friday was focused on a video editing demo and in ways relates to this student as a filmmaker. This stories structure was split between a feature and a profile. The author Mara Melltis shared a bit about the viral video itself but also found it important to bring it back to how the filmmaker Zachary Taub got to the positions he’s in. Overall I found this to be a very easy and light read that had some connection to what we had just experienced in class.
This story from LSU’s The Reville was titled ” What does Louisiana’s congressional redistricting mean for LSU?” This article looked into the changing of the districts in the Baton Rouge/ LSU area. There is a lot of changes to the LSU area through this district change which is the first time in 30 years. One of the things that is a promint change is ” Formerly in District 6, LSU now lies in District 5, represented by Rep. Julia Letlow from Monroe, LA. She is the first woman to represent Louisiana in the House of Representatives in 30 years. ” (LSU’s the Reville) on eof the major concerns is how this efefcts the voting climate and what that has to do with race. For example, “Louisiana’s total population is just under 4.66 million people, 1.46 million of those people being Black, according to the 2020 Louisiana Census, which is roughly a third of the state’s population. When districts are gerrymandered, it limits the ability of the public to hold representatives accountable, Dohrenwend said.” ( LSU’s the Reville)
Week Two:
Article One:
https://dailybruin.com/2024/01/30/opinion-student-entrepreneurs-can-explore-their-passions-while-pursuing-higher-education
The headline of the first article that I decided to take a closer look at this week from UCLA’s student run paper The Daily Bruin was “Student entrepreneurs can explore their passions while pursuing higher education” This article debates the belief that starting a traditional business and pursuing higher education is not attainable. The article takes us through how that belief is evolving with students on the UCLA campus. The article goes into how important the undergraduate programs are to help grow and cultivate this new attitude towards entrepreneurship and higher education. Students now have access to various university resources, connections and experiences, which make student entrepreneurs more likely to find themselves not only succeeding, but thriving in their endeavors.
The first student that was interviewed for the article was Mark Lin, a second-year cognitive science and economics student, who founded a company called Sliimeyhoney that crafts intricate food-inspired slimes. Lin describes how grateful he is to the UCLA community because he feels that they really helped him on his entrepreneur journey. Lin was able to earn $1 million dollars in 2023. “By following his passion and doing what he loved, Lin was able to develop a sustainable income for himself.” This is just one of the success stories that would not have been possible if it weren’t for the courageous entrepreneurs in the new generation that have taken on pursuing their dreams while still being in school and all of the new programs and opportunities that allow them to do so.
Some quotes that stood out to me from the article were “Investors are now looking at undergraduate students as the next generation of innovators”. I think that this is a really great idea and that undergraduate students are really benefiting from this mindset. Because investors are spending more time and money on undergraduate students, they now have the ability to gain practical knowledge and skills in entrepreneurship, management, finance, marketing, and other relevant areas. Another quote that resonates with me was “Despite societal assumptions, education attainment does not always determine one’s ability to excel in their career. Some of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world dropped out of college.” Although college does put you at an advantage in most cases this statement is definitely true. I think this should be kept in mind because it is better to know yourself and know that school is not for you than to end up trying to push yourself to do something you hate and spend thousands of dollars. Everyone learns differently and for some it might be easier to self teach through trial and error.
In conclusion, the rise of undergraduate business programs highlights the increasingly intertwined nature of education and entrepreneurship. While starting a business and pursuing higher education may once have been seen as mutually exclusive, today’s aspiring entrepreneurs can access the resources, networks, and learning opportunities offered by colleges and universities to enhance their entrepreneurial journey.
Article Two:
https://dailybruin.com/2024/01/28/students-can-mitigate-seasonal-depression-by-embracing-weather-taking-precautions
The headline of the second article that I decided to take a closer look at this week from UCLA’s student run paper The Daily Bruin was “Opinion: Students can mitigate seasonal depression by embracing weather, taking precautions”. I chose this article because I thought the tips and advice would definitely help out students living in Maine. The article starts off by talking about how the cold temperatures and shorter days can have effects on students’ daily lives. The author of the article Danielle Taylor believes that “it is important to establish positive, healthy habits to beat the winter blues.” In the article it gives a definition of seasonal depression and lists some of the symptoms including fatigue, loss of interest in previously enjoyable activities, difficulty concentrating, increased appetite and anxiety.
Danielle Taylor then goes on to describe the seasonal depression she went through moving from L.A to Seattle. She said that “The activities that I usually loved to do, like sports, were a tremendous struggle. I slept more hours, lacked motivation in my classwork and ate one to two extra meals every day.” This is something I can definitely relate to because I moved from California to Massachusetts in the beginning of eighth grade and it took a lot of adjusting. My favorite things to do in California were go to the pool and go to the beach. In Massachusetts there is a small window of two months where you can participate in those activities and then you’re back to counting the days until warm weather again. In my opinion this can definitely have an effect on my wellbeing not only emotionally but physically as well. It becomes harder and harder to be active outside. Being outdoors was my favorite way to take care of my physical health, swimming running, yoga all way better when you do it outside in a quiet and clean environment.
The article then lists some suggestions of what students can do to better prepare themselves for seasonal depression.
1.)Invest in warm, waterproof winter clothes.
2.)Make special winter traditions.
3.)Try your best to stop complaining.
4.)Don’t cut out healthy habits.
5.) If you believe you may have seasonal depression or anxiety symptoms, seek out resources and get support
6.) Turn your face toward the rain.
I believe this article has some good advice and it would have been helpful for me to read an article like this when I first moved. I think learning to be grateful for all the time we do have in the sun and not to wish away the days that don’t is an essential skill for keeping seasonal depression at bay.
For my Blog Proj 2 week. I found this article titled “Personal Finance Education is Lacking in American Schools.” by Liv Briley. February 7th 2024. It is an opinion piece. Liv speaks about how they teach in high school no actual skills that go into finances in adult life. Like budgeting, or accounting type courses. My high school did have a personal finance class which was required to graduate which is rare in the US. It was also a private school. Liv says that in the public universities and school systems they do not teach such ideas and skills to their students. “but in a nation that prides itself on its financial systems, shouldn’t we be more concerned that 77% of Americans are financially anxious? Financial issues contribute heavily to divorce rates, depression and even suicide, yet we are somehow still okay with the fact that the average American household is in over $100,000 worth of debt. And that’s just the average.” (Briley, The Daily Mississippian). She talks about how much of an impact not educating people in the US about finances is hurting the country and how it compare to such education in other countries. Which have a better system in that regard. I found it interesting because it isn’t being addressed and even going to a high school for me that addressed it, it was the bare minimum.
https://thedmonline.com/personal-finance-education-is-lacking-in-american-schools/
Lights, Camera, Activism!
https://concordiensis.com/5406/opinions/lights-camera-activism/
Union College is back with another trimester, meaning new journal articles are produced for the school paper. This piece covers the college’s most recent theater production, “Patriot Acts: A Suffrage Pageant For Our Times.” It reflects on the history of suffrage and discusses human inequality. The play also addresses intersectionality, when social identities overlap and often result in discrimination. Students who watched the performance like, Evie Tilison ‘27, were left in awe. The production was impressive with technical lighting and powerful speeches on very current topics but what stood out was the minimalistic approach to the set. It allowed the audience to connect with the actors and actresses on a personal level. The dedication the cast put into the show didn’t go unnoticed, every prop was meaningful and cue on time. However, none of this could have been accomplished without the director, Cheryl Black. She projected these challenging subjects with respect and acknowledged all sorts of diverse backgrounds. This performance was enlightening and impressive to many who watched.
Nikki Haley Calls Out Donald Trump on Proposed Tariffs
https://concordiensis.com/5382/world/nikki-haley-calls-out-donald-trump-on-proposed-tariffs/
While Unions’ newspaper highlights current events at the school they also report on current political happenings. Nikki Haley, former United States Ambassador to the United Nations, opposed her former alliance with Donald Trump by challenging his proposed tariffs. On CNBC, Haley said, “This is a man who now wants to go and put 10% tariffs across the board, raising taxes on every single American”. She understands that if Trump raises household expenses, middle-class families won’t be able to afford it. Haley previously agreed with Trump on the value of tariffs. She saw the need for fair trade and agreements while advocating for America’s interests. At the end of the article, it’s revealed that Union students got the opportunity to assist in Haley’s campaign this past December. Shriya Biswas ’26, a Political Science and Neuroscience major expressed that seeing a woman compete against so many male candidates was inspiring.
The article I chose for this week’s Blog Proj is called “The Shortest Coastline in the U.S. Under Threat; UNH Researcher’s Work on Projects to Adapt to Changing Weather Patterns”, by Sarah Donovan of University of New Hampshire’s, The New Hampshire. The title of the article is a little bit of a mouthful, though it is quite descriptive and provides a great introduction into the article, the subheadline more than summarizes the paper on its own. I feel like it could be reduced to make the article more attractive to readers.
The article opens with discussing the annual revenue New Hampshire received from tourism in 2021, which amounts to almost two billion dollars. The article then leaps into the impact of climate change on the coastal environment, and the work of scientists on trying to document and prepare for the incoming effects of climate change. Due to increasing rainfall caused largely by worsening climate change, coastal and inland flooding is becoming more and more frequent. As the world gets warmer, the oceans evaporate faster, which of course causes more rainfall. Not only this, a warming earth creates something called a feedback loop in the poles. Snow and ice reflect the sun’s rays to keep the planet cooler, but as the ocean heats up, more of the snow melts. This causes more of the sun’s heat to be absorbed by the earth, causing the globe to warm, and melting more ice caps. In coastal areas like Hampton Beach, New Hampshire, these rising tides can cause not only hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of property damage caused by coastal erosion and flooding, but also reduce the amount of tourism these places attract. Not only is the local tourism industry in danger, but coastal roadways are also facing potential destruction due to the rising tides. However, scientists are trying to work on a way to reduce coastal erosion with the implementation of stronger sediments, or soils, to soak up higher tides and king tides, which are simply incredibly high tides. They’re also attempting to restore coastal marshes, which are a natural way to protect coasts.
For week two of the blog project I read a news article titled, City Council keeps pro-Palestine ballot measure from ballot. This article was published on february 6th and updated on the 7th to correct the description of jewish action. This news article covered the Burlington city council’s vote on a pro-Palentinse ballot measure, the vote was 7-5. This article was very interesting because this was very much a hard news article, whereas last week the article I read was more of a sweet trend piece, overall the article does an excellent job of covering the who-what-when-where and why for the events discussed. The paragraphs are all short and sweet and the information was given very diligently. It was also nice to see the editors note and sort of own up the responsibility of their being an error and publicly fixing it. It really re-affirms my trust with this news outlet, and it makes me feel like I can trust the information that I am being given.