News Articles for the Week of April 26^th

Wong, Curtis. "Students At Pennsylvania's McGuffey High School Organize 'Anti-Gay Day' And Allegedly Target LGBT Classmates." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com. Web. 26 Apr. 2015. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/20/mcguffey-school-anti-gay-day-_n_7101046.html

            The title of the article says it all: students at a high school in Pennsylvania spread the news to wear flannel shirts and write the word anti-gay on their hands in protest after the school’s Day of Silence activities.  Participants in the organized protest wrote notes to students in and out of the LGBT community, pushing them around and calling them names. The school has been quiet about their response, however the superintendent has said that she has taken note of the harassments and wishes that all students at the school may be educated in a discrimination-free environment.

            I think this organized protest is practically a hate crime and these students should never have been able to go through with this. The Day of Silence is an important day for members of the LGBT community to spread awareness about the effects of bullying of LGBT students and allies. These students harassing classmates because of their association with the community completely defeats the purpose of the Day of Silence and goes against the promise of a safe and equal learning environment at school, “without discrimination.” Regardless of whether one even agrees with the motives of the LGBT community, bullying in general is major problem in many schools and these students should be made to realize that what they did is wrong and can not simply be organized and done to their peers without consequences.

Novogrod, James. "Nepal Earthquake: Major Aftershock Hits Kathmandu as Toll Climbs." NBC News. Web. 26 Apr. 2015. http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/nepal-earthquake/aid-arrives-nepal-after-devastating-earthquake-n348431

            On Sunday April 26^th, after Saturday’s 7.8 magnitude earthquake, which left over 2,500 people dead, a major aftershock hit Nepal’s capital, Kethmandu. Locals were in the process of digging out survivors       and were terrified as the entire earth shook with the tremor. Thousands slept outside in Nepal, and Sunday morning rescuers dug through the rubble, searching for anyone who was alive, and anyone who was not.

            This is, in short, an environmental catastrophe and I believe information about these kinds of disasters needs to be spread and educated, because one never knows when something like this can happen to them. My own cousin happened to be in Nepal at the time of this earthquake; luckily he was unharmed, but many others were not so lucky. Spreading awareness of these natural disasters is vital not only so that those in the devastated area can receive aid, but so that people become curious about the dangers of nature and want to learn more about how to protect oneself in case of these sort of situations. Spreading information about how to protect oneself during an earthquake can save countless lives in the future, and finding ways to support and give aid to the victims of the quake can save lives now. As we live halfway across the world it is difficult for us to perceive that what we see on the news is actually happening to real people, but it is important for us to realize that these people are humans that are in desperate need of help, and we need to be able to have a way to support them as fast as possible, and plan for protection for the future.

Armour, Nancy. "Armour: Applaud Bruce Jenner for Bravery in Opening up." USA Today. Gannett, 25 Apr. 2015. Web. 26 Apr. 2015. http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2015/04/24/bruce-jenner-woman-transgender-diane-sawyer-abc-2020/26340799/

            Olympic gold medalist Bruce Jenner came out as transgender in a Friday night interview with Diane Sawyer. He says that he had taken growth hormones for five years in the 1980’s and underwent other physical procedures in his transformation, but never went through with it out of fear. He admitted his struggle to the world in his interview, and the article highlights the dangers of the media’s misinformation on transgender people.

            I commend Jenner’s bravery in his decision to open up,  and I think it’s very important for well-known celebrities within the LGBT community to open up about their experiences to let the world know what it is like to live as a transgender person. Because Jenner is an athlete, this also made me think about how different athletics would be with the inclusion of transgender people, regarding the classification of “men’s” and “women’s” sports. I think this opens up a whole new field of possibilities in the world of sports, as well as other gender-related fields, such as fashion. The acceptance of LGBT celebrities and athletes such as Jenner is an important step in integrating transgender people into the modern world of athletics, fashion, social media, etc.

            

Chuck, Elizabeth. "Ohio Cop Refuses to Resort to Deadly Force: 'I Wanted to Be Absolutely Sure'" NBC News. Web. 19 Apr. 2015. http://www.nbcnews.com/news/crime-courts/officer-refuses-resort-deadly-force-i-wanted-be-absolutely-sure-n344011

“Ohio Cop Refuses to Resort to Deadly Force: ‘I Wanted to Be Absolutely Sure’”

            Last Thursday, a man accused of killing his fiancée and his best friend confronted Ohio police officer Jesse Kidder, who had only been on force for a year. The man ran to the officer, shouting for the cop to shoot him, but the officer refused to take his life and instead told him to back up. The officer’s nonviolence became a positive example of what a police officer should do in this type of situation. The controversy surrounding officers’ use of force being the prevalent issue here, Kidder is praised for handling the situation well, despite being a rookie cop.

            I was glad to come across a positive cop encounter story, and one that didn’t involve a victimized African-American and a white policer officer deemed racist. Gun control is a huge issue in America and the world, and so is controlling police officers’ use of force. Some people believe that it simply cannot be done, than cops are all trigger-happy and racist and will shoot the first suspect they see, but this article proves differently. The video in the article is absolutely terrifying—the suspect could have pulled a gun out of his pocket and shot Kidder at any moment, yet Kidder held his ground and refused to shoot in defense of himself just so that he did not have to shoot the suspect without being sure that he was armed. A major issue with police officers shooting unarmed or cooperative men is that they, as anyone would be, fear for their life and would not risk being shot over ensuring the safety of the suspect. This article is important for anyone concerned with safety around police officers, as it shows that not every cop encounter is bad.

"Atheists: In Godlessness We Trust." CBSNews. CBS Interactive. Web. 19 Apr. 2015. . http://www.cbsnews.com/news/atheists-in-godlessness-we-trust/

“Atheists: In Godlessness We Trust.”

            Neil Carter, a former Sunday school teacher in Jackson, Mississippi, converted to atheism after college. After this, his wife left him, and he was transferred from the middle school where he taught history. He has joined a group called “Openly Secular,” a sort of support group for atheists. The article discusses the discrimination American atheists face, in society, politics, etc.

            I firmly believe that one should not be discriminated whatsoever based on their religion; religion is a belief and no one can justify that their religion is better than someone else’s, or that members of a certain religion will have a worse life than others. Unfortunately, the situation in America today is that there is much religious discrimination, whether conscious of unconscious. Muslims are insulted and even killed just because some radical members of the religion were the terrorists behind 9/11, and atheists aren’t in a much better situation. I’ve seen news documentaries and such where people talk about how difficult it was to “come out” to the world as atheists; this in no way should have to be the case for anyone of any religion. The article states that fifty-three percent of Americans say they wouldn’t be very supportive of an atheist president, which is just as ridiculous as not supporting a woman or gay president because they could be the president that save’s America’s economy and does the most for unemployment, yet they wouldn’t get elected just because they don’t believe in an all-powerful deity that no one can even prove exists.

Boyle, Alan. "45 Years of Earth Day: How Environmentalism Has Evolved." NBC News. Web. 19 Apr. 2015. http://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/45-years-earth-day-how-environmentalism-has-evolved-n343886

“45 Years of Earth Day: How Environmentalism Has Evolved.”

            This article discusses the history of Earth Day, and how since its start is has grown into a global phenomenon with over 1 billion participants. There is information showing how our work to help protect and better the environment has brought major positive changes in every environmental field, encompassing the entire planet with our human aid to animals and nature. It also discusses the looming problems of climate change and pollution, and the hunt for cleaner energy sources.

            I believe that working on saving our environment is the most important issue in the world, since if we do not protect our planet there will be no one left to discuss other issues anyhow. We are quickly draining our oil supplies and other natural resources, and by 2040 the world population is estimated to be twice as large as it is now—we cannot possibly keep up with our own consumption and reproduction, and it is a very real concern that we as a species may no longer be able to live on Earth. In the current day, our planet and the nature around us has been a constant since the beginning of humanity, so it is very difficult to realize the situation at hand. Earth’s nature is now just an exponentially decreasing space of land we have not yet built a city on, and I believe events and movements such as the ones brought about by Earth Day are the most important thing any human could commit themselves to, and the mission of saving our planet, while sounding completely sci-fi and ridiculous, really does matter for the future of our species.

Articles for the Week of April 12th

Konner, Melvin. "The End of Male Supremacy." The Chronicle Of Higher Education. Web. 12 Apr. 2015. http://chronicle.com/article/The-End-of-Male-Supremacy/228769?cid=megamenu

“The End of Male Supremacy”

            This article provides a rare view on gender equality: that women are actually superior than men. Melvin Konner argues that it is not simply cultural or environmental, but in fact genetic and scientific that women are the superior sex. He shows actual factual evidence to support his claim of female superiority. He also brings up and shows multiple scientific and social aspects of his main point, that women are the stronger and more powerful gender in the ways that matter the most in the modern world, and when looking towards the future.

            Frankly, I found the most interesting thing about this article was that it was written by a male; he basically trashes the entire male population of Earth multiple times throughout the article, asking why men were even created in the first place, showing the major problems that they have caused socially in a global aspect, and arguing that male dominance is slowly going to disappear globally. He even went so far as to call the male gender a disease, a birth defect; I thought this was rather interesting, considering the author himself would then be a birth defect. This article shows the much rarer pole in the gender equality issue; all you typically hear about now is how men think they are superior, and women are fighting to be equal to them. This third opinion, that women are in fact superior, is much harder to find, considering women have unfortunately been the suppressed gender since basically the beginning of time. But this article, and ones like it, provide a unique point of view that definitely opens one’s mind to not only the social aspects of gender equality, but the scientific ones. And, most effectively, it leaves you wondering who’s really right in the end; I found it to be interesting, but I do not think one can say that one gender is overall superior to the other.

Kolpack, Dave. "Shop: Ban of Those Who Nixed Gay Rights Bill Served Purpose." ABC News. ABC News Network. Web. 12 Apr. 2015. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/shop-ban-nixed-gay-rights-bill-served-purpose-30261954.

“Shop: Ban of Those Who Nixed Gay Rights Bill Served Purpose”

            Joe Curry, a worker-owner at a coffee shop in Fargo, North Dakota, recently created a ban on North Dakota lawmakers in response to them opposing a bill that would have prevented discrimination against members of the LGBT community. He announced the 55 Republican state House members that opposed the bill in the newspaper, along with making a sign saying that they were banned from his shop unless they were accompanied by a member of the LGBT community. Many people, including government representatives, responded positively to the ban, commending Curry for protesting discrimination of the LGBT community; others were upset by it and continued to stand by their view on the bill. The ban and coffee shop gained a lot of attention and support on social media, particularly receiving praise and commendation from the LGBT community.

            I thought this article was a great way of promoting LGBT rights, because instead of a protest with people yelling on the streets, demanding equality, Curry created a ban for his own shop in protest of the rejection of an anti-LGBT bill, posted it publicly, and many got a good laugh out of it in the end. No one was severely hurt, no one did anything illegal; it was simply a way of peacefully promoting LGBT rights. I think this article highlights one of the most important things to remember when taking a stand on a social issue, especially this one: one should always try to solve the problem with love, not hate. As cheesy as it may sound, I think that what Curry did was a great way of receiving positive attention and support in the media, and it was by all means a thousand times better than standing in the representatives’ front lawns, demanding that they change their minds. I fully support the LGBT community, but I think there is a right way to go about the fight for gay rights, and many resort to violence and angry protests, which really just makes them worse off than they started, and no better than the people on the other side of the street yelling that being gay is a sin. Even a tiny coffee shop peacefully promoting LGBT rights made the news across the world; this article hopefully opens the reader’s mind to realize that violence and angry protests are not the most effective way to fight for equality.

Dann, Carrie. "Hillary Clinton: 'I'm Running for President'" NBC News. Web. 12 Apr. 2015. http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/hillary-clinton/hillary-clinton-says-shes-running-president-2016-n340011.

“Hillary Clinton: ‘I’m Running for President’”

            The event discussed in this article is exactly what you think it is: Hillary Clinton’s recent announcement that she is running for US President in 2016. The article includes a video posted on Clinton’s website, in which she appears, announcing at the end that she will be running for president. She immediately received tons of positive support from all over social media, and President Obama himself said that she would be an excellent choice for president. Clinton’s announcement also brought criticisms from a few Republicans, who pointed out flaws in her foreign policy.

            Despite the fact that this article’s main purpose was to focus on the political aspect of Clinton’s announcement, I think that is interesting that not once in the article was it mentioned that Clinton, if successful, would become the first woman President of the United States. There is a good side and a bad side to this, and I think the bad side is very rarely discussed but still could emerge as an issue, if it hasn’t already. The clear pro is that Clinton’s presidency would bring in a huge push for women’s rights in America, and because of our nation’s massive sphere of influence, the entire world. But one has to be careful when predicting the outcome of Clinton’s presidency; every woman, and quite probably every man, in the United States will want to immediately vote for Clinton based only on the fact that she is a woman, even though her policies might be terrible and her presidency could make the US economy plummet. After the announcement was made, I heard my mom telling my younger sister how she was going to vote for Clinton, “because imagine how amazing it would be to have a woman President.” I have no idea what kind of politician Clinton is, but this could become a general issue with elections: the “oppressed” candidate takes the win, solely because they are generally favored by the politically oblivious public. We have our first African-American president now, and I don’t think anyone (especially me, being the least politically-involved person in America) can accurately say how much influence Obama’s race had on him winning the election, but it is impossible that his race had no influence whatsoever on his campaign. It is a similar scenario with Clinton, and I can imagine it will be the same when the first LGBT presidential candidate emerges. Political efficiency as president aside, I believe Clinton already has quite an advantage over the other candidates, simply because 50% of the American population are females that want equal rights, and most of the other 50% are male advocates for those rights.