Category: Opinion
Recently, there was an ExxonMobil oil spill in Arkansas, according to NPR. However, there was very little media coverage on it. ExxonMobil threatened to arrest journalists who enter the area of the oil spill, because they didn’t want media coverage of the damage the oil spill has done. From Exxon’s point of view, it makes [...]
In 1997, the United Kingdom enacted strict legislation effectively banning almost all firearms across the country. This was in the wake of the Dunblane school massacre, which sent the entire nation into a panic over gun control. So, how did this ban affect gun crime in the United Kingdom? It rose, dramatically. The number of [...]
People are more likely to use a gun for harm if it is available to them. The easy accessibility of firearms, rather than people themselves, causes rising gun violence. Think of corruption in government. Politicians are more likely to abuse power because of their position. Their actions are not necessarily malicious. They are presented with [...]
Recently, a sequester passed in Congress which will negatively impact U.S. students and workers. The sequester is part of the Budget Control Act that will cut $1.2 trillion in spending starting this year. A sequester is a budget cut across the board; every division of government gets their budget cut by a certain percentage. One [...]
The sequester was a proposal that was never meant to actually be put into place. It’s not a policy that will be beneficial to our state or its residents. Those who will be feeling the effects the hardest and worst will be the elderly, the young, the disabled, and the poor. Maybe more than 15,000 [...]
The idea that a single state dictates what is included and excluded from public school textbooks around the country is a frightening one. What is even more frightening is the idea that those who determine this discourse are elected officials, members of political parties with their own distinct agendas—a single state, dictating what is taught [...]
Over the years, I have been party to a variety of winter-based holiday celebrations. These include Christmas, Yule, Hanukkah, and Winter Solstice. While I’ve taken part in many others, these are the four I feel qualified to talk about. My family’s diverse background when it comes to religion has given me a great deal of [...]
Each year, stores start decorating for the holiday season earlier and earlier. By the time Christmas rolls around, I’m always tired of the music and the marketing. Don’t get me wrong, though; I do enjoy the holidays, but we have gone too far. Many stores this year started putting up holiday advertising before Thanksgiving, and [...]
Finally, much of the buzz from the most recent election is beginning to die down. Most American citizens have moved on and gotten back to their day-to-day lives. But there is one interesting issue that while previously overshadowed by Obama’s re-election, is starting to be reported on by the media. It is an election result, [...]
As someone both privy to the early political maneuverings of the Occupy movement, and one of the reporters tasked with keeping up to date on the state of our own homegrown protest, Occupy Olympia, I feel qualified to talk about the Occupy movement. It began as an idea floated around by the Canadian website adbusters.com [...]
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Student Spotlight: Hongna Svay
Hongna Svay, 29, is currently studying computer programming at South Puget Sound Community College. He came to Olympia from his native country Cambodia to attend college and to be near his friends and relatives in the Olympia area. Svay first came to America in Aug. 2010. He started attending SPSCC right away, enrolling in English [...]
Student Spotlight: Hal Schrieve
After two years of frustration, new Running Start student, Hal Schrieve begins school in the hope that SPSCC will provide a more realistic transition into adulthood. “I felt as if I deserved more autonomy within my own education,” said Schrieve. Schrieve’s decision to participate in Running Start spawned, in part, from previous conflict with his [...]
After experiencing challenges at SPSCC, student Rebekah Hutson turns things around
Rebekah Hutson faced and overcame many challenges while at SPSCC. Graduating with an associate of arts this quarter, she said she started at the college unenthusiastically, feeling isolated as a black student on a mostly-white campus. Hutson said since then, she gained a passion for making the school more diverse and became very involved [...]
Mainstream media: biased and skewed
Recently, there was an ExxonMobil oil spill in Arkansas, according to NPR. However, there was very little media coverage on it. ExxonMobil threatened to arrest journalists who enter the area of the oil spill, because they didn’t want media coverage of the damage the oil spill has done. From Exxon’s point of view, it makes [...]
In 1997, the United Kingdom enacted strict legislation effectively banning almost all firearms across the country. This was in the wake of the Dunblane school massacre, which sent the entire nation into a panic over gun control. So, how did this ban affect gun crime in the United Kingdom? It rose, dramatically. The number of [...]
People are more likely to use a gun for harm if it is available to them. The easy accessibility of firearms, rather than people themselves, causes rising gun violence. Think of corruption in government. Politicians are more likely to abuse power because of their position. Their actions are not necessarily malicious. They are presented with [...]