Mark Linker

The federal government shouldn't be the priority Mark Linker Opinion Editor    When sitting on my couch at 5:30 on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, we have yet to know what the outcome of the 2024 presidential election will be. However, regardless of the results, there’s an undeniable truth that can be taken from this election cycle as a whole. Since 2016, there’s been an uptick in voter turnout for each following presidential election. Along with the prominence of advertising through social media, presidential elections have become a staple of American culture. You’ll see people posting their “I Voted” stickers on social media, and sometimes actively promoting which side they voted for. This much emphasis on federal elections that are bound to disappoint at least half the country is bound to be unhealthy for a country as diverse as ours.  Giving the federal government this much power and cultural influence creates division, as there’s no way one entity can fulfill the needs of a country with such a large and culturally diverse population. The American experiment works when it is conducted in small communities spread across the country. In many ways, the branding prompted by the 2008 Obama campaign and (to a certain extent) the 2024 Kamala campaign has been one of attempting to create a party for all Americans. However, I think this vision and expectation for America is bound to fail. The founders of this country conceptualized us as a melting pot of many ideas and cultures that were united under one banner, not with the cultural homogeneity of smaller European countries where strict alignment in values is more realistic.  A conception of the United States of the future is one where the realization of our differences as a nation is concentrated in local elections and communities where our differences in values can be put to use and where tangible results from voting can be more accurately felt. However, this also requires a stronger emphasis on local communities which have been in decline for the past few decades. Local community spaces have been largely replaced with online social spaces and the movement of people away from rural communities to suburban communities. The decline of a religious ethic in America has ripped a common virtue from the American soul. This has caused an effect of failing to look at fellow citizens with the same humanity and empathy as was once the case. Even if two Americans came from separate parts of the country, and had different cultural, economic, and geographic backgrounds, they could still have a similar ontological commonality.  This destruction of local communities in favor of larger online spaces has created a system where the average American looks to the federal government and party affiliation as one of the only commonalities with fellow Americans. The problem with this system is that both parties are beginning to represent an America that aligns with very few common values anymore. A possible solution to this is redrawing and putting more focus on our tangible communities where we can effectively make change and where we have more in common with our fellow Americans. It is unrealistic to expect American citizens to become less divided when there is so much stake and attention on federal politics. Federal politics are bound to oscillate back and forth and very rarely represent the in […] “The federal government shouldn’t be the priority”

Donald Trump didn't win. The Manosphere did. Michael Keehan Staff Writer      Let me make something clear: Trump supporters are not inherently bigoted. While the last few months have shown very ugly sides of MAGA rhetoric, as I discussed in another piece two months ago about the cat-eating hoax, there are still many reasons one would’ve voted for Trump, and the last thing I want to do is lump all of his supporters into one reason. Still, it’s hard to comprehend how America, as a collective nation, chose Trump as their president again. And it’s not the idea of him being president as much as it is the idea of him winning. The Harris campaign, while not perfect, did the best they could with what they had, while the Trump campaign had everything going against it. Criminal charges, national embarrassments, and the fear of an authoritarian presidency looming over the election set the stage for a Harris victory.  But then a massive rightward shift hit America, one no campaign could’ve prepared for. Trying to understand this, I turned to the reactions from online right-wingers and saw multiple of them celebrate the idea of putting women who were at the front of the Harris campaign in their place. It hit me right there that the rightward shift in our country is the result of open misogyny and toxic masculinity. I know I’d seem like a stereotypical “Social Justice Warrior (SJW)” who hates masculine men and feminine women, but that’s because the term “toxic masculinity” is misleading. It has nothing to do with gender expression, but rather the subjugation of women and enforcement of gender roles. We’ve seen an increase in online influencers promoting an “alpha male” mindset that views women as beneath them and queer people as degenerates. You might’ve heard of some of these people: Andrew Tate, Joe Rogan, Fresh and Fit. They’re known as the “Manosphere,” and they prey on isolated, impressionable young men who are without active male influences in their lives. They’re less likely to connect to female influences, so the manosphere fills the role of a male influence, taking advantage of a parasocial relationship to feed misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, and even racism in some cases. There’s a lot of variation and disagreement, but no matter what a manosphere influencer may preach, they all share the same goal: gradually ending feminism and reinstating gender roles in society. And gradually it is, as the manosphere has been active since 2014 with GamerGate, where a false claim about game developer Zoe Quinn led to her and many other women in the video game industry being harassed and threatened. While the harassment died quickly, SJWs became a prominent target for young conservatives like Ben Shapiro and Charlie Kirk, elevating the misogynistic rhetoric of Donald Trump to the White House. Think about how the two people Trump defeated were both women. It isn’t rocket science to believe that the idea of a woman in the country’s highest office sparks fear and disgust in many men. Tell me, would the country constantly slutshaming women elect one president? And don’t get me started on Elon Musk, who promoted ideas that “women and low t men” can’t think freely as he turned Twitter into a stomping ground for the manosphere to spread monetized lies. Now he’s being considered for Trump’s cabinet.   There are other things that could be responsible. The Great Recession spawned populism on both sides of the political spectrum, while COVID-19 negatively impacted Trump’s 2020 chances and distorted perceptions of his term that helped him in 2024. But the manosphere wins regardless and can continue to gain the widespread sexism in society. It’s a societal issue that the Manosphere benefits from, and anyone on its opposing end needs to counter its influence on society […] “Donald Trump didn’t win. The Manosphere did.”

The death of higher education Mark Linker Opinion Editor    A few weeks ago, I wrote a column about the decline of traditional humanities degrees in universities. This is a shift that has been happening over the past couple of decades with factors such as the increased cost of living, ideological capture of many humanities fields, and free access to information being the main contributing factors towards the gradual move away from these subjects. However, the shift away from humanities and towards STEM and “hands-on” professions isn’t just crouping up within the universities but is also one of the primary trends that are killing universities in general. Over the past 10 to 15 years, the cost of attending college has made it a luxury that only the wealthiest people in our country can afford without any debt. If someone comes from a family that isn’t financially stable, they will inevitably be suffocated with massive amounts of payments upon graduating from a school that they spent four years attending. This is four years where one isn’t able to work full-time and begin saving their finances.  This has caused a substantive preference for two-year programs that are significantly more affordable and usually offer apprenticeships. This apprenticeship gives the individual field experience and allows them to make some money. The rising cost of attending college is pushing young people, particularly men, away from college. This trend is likely to continue, and if it does we face a situation where colleges and universities will only be attended by the most financially elite people in our society. This trend has been reinforcing itself for the past few decades, whereas the price of college has gone up and the population of college students has been selected for a smaller and wealthier subset of the general population. This has also had a reinforcing behavior, where the culture surrounding universities has become further disconnected from the values of everyday Americans making them less appealing. Why attend a costly school that for the first quarter of your twenties never helps build wealth, and for many degrees, does not even help one learn a particular skill that can be applied in the workforce? With this environment, it is completely reasonable to assume that the death of higher education for the general public is inevitable.  With this collapse looming over our country, there will likely be ramifications felt. For one, it’s entirely possible that fewer men getting degrees and therefore better-paying jobs will exacerbate the already growing gender divide we see playing out. In this situation, women will continue to get better-paying jobs and climb the economic ladder, while the men choosing to not attend universities will likely move toward social conservatism. It’s also the case that although most college graduates are women, the more selective and expensive higher education gets, many women will also be left by the wayside but without having the selection of two-year programs that men do. What we find ourselves with is a youth population that in 20 years will be vastly less educated than decades prior. If the government cares about inculcating a culture of great education to the widest possible margins, we need to rethink our higher education system. One solution could be offering some of these two-year programs at major universities while adding some requirements for mathematics, science, and history. Another could be cutting a huge number of required classes from most universities, thus reducing the price and time spent at college. Along with the cutting of classes and reducing the cost, every program should have at least one semester of built-in internship work. Although some programs do this nationwide, it’s not always a requirement. If we can reinvigorate the notion of higher education, we can heal many of the social ills that are infecting our stability as a nation. Making college more affordable and practical will bring young people together and fulfill the goals that college was originally meant for. To allow every citizen to expand their knowledge both through experie […] “The death of higher education”

What was once Twitter is now a propaganda machine. Bluesky is the future. Michael Keehan Staff Writer    I write a lot about social media in these opinion pieces, particularly the way unsavory characters use it to spread propaganda, and the worst example is easily the site once known as Twitter. Since its acquisition by tech billionaire Elon Musk, the site has undergone a new name and branding. You will never hear me refer to it under its current name, though. To me, that name represents legitimizing the hijacking of a platform that brought social change into a right-wing propaganda machine that not only allows misinformation but allows people to profit from it. Plus, he deadnames his transgender daughter, so why should I feel guilty about deadnaming his site? Since the founding of Twitter in 2006, it has been, in short, chaotic. But amidst all that chaos, there was power. Activists across the globe, from the Arab Spring to the Black Lives Matter movement, used it to bring worldwide awareness to social issues and elevated demands for change. News was able to spread quickly from a variety of sources. Leaders could directly communicate with their people, and anyone could share their voice in ways unseen. This wasn’t something unique to Twitter, but it was something Twitter did best. But there was still a need for moderation to filter out bigotry, harassment, and disinformation, so Twitter’s moderators tried their best. However, a few prominent targets, particularly those of conservative backgrounds, have put Twitter in Musk’s crossfires. In 2022, he bought the site for a head-scratching $44 billion, and quickly implemented changes that angered users and advertisers on this site. But I doubt any anger gained or money lost will make Musk change his mind. He has the money to burn, and his actions show very clear intentions. Nowadays, when you go on Twitter, you frequently see users with a blue check, way more than those without it. This isn’t because there are just more users with them, only one percent. Rather, it’s because the algorithm favors those who pay the $8-a-month subscription to monetize tweets. Twitter now has its own breed of influencers that, more than any other platform, are incentivized to say outrageous things to rack up thousands of likes without fear of being suspended. And they can say anything, even if it violates the terms of service. Anything except the word “cis,” apparently. Many users voiced their anger but still stayed on the site for years without many other options. This changed with two things. One was a change in terms of service that limited blocking and allowed AI to be trained off of tweets, angering many artists. The other was the election, which caused an uptick in harassment from the worst of Twitter, including white supremacist Nick Fuentes, who spread the catchphrase “your body, my choice” shortly after Trump’s victory. It’s believed that with the victory of Trump and Musk’s involvement in the “DOGE” advisory board, the right-wing propaganda machine Twitter has become will only grow stronger. This prompted millions of users, myself included, to emigrate over to a website called Bluesky, designed to be similar to Twitter in the early 2010s. New users found it to be a breath of fresh air, free of attention-seeking influencers and an abundance of right-wing nonsense. A lot of progressive users, the kind that sparked Twitter’s activism in the last decade, are thriving on the site, feeling much safer and freer with a new community, not under the Silicon Valley tech bros that run sites like Twitter and Threads. The latter is a mess while the former is a wasteland, as Bluesky retains the soul and spirit that brought Twitter to its peak. It’s arguably a rebirth for the famous site, and I would recommend keeping your […] “What was once Twitter is now a propaganda machine. Bluesky is the future.”

Bring back sea shanties Kaitlyn Leister Associate Arts & Culture Editor   Back in 2021, there was a rise in a popular sea shanty-style song that made its way around the internet. The song “Wellerman,” gained multiple covers all over the internet in that short amount of time before it was on to the next trend. The song just appeared on my music feed and I gave it another listen to see if it was as good as it was over three years ago. The popular cover by Nathan Evans is a nice tune to sway your head to, the beat being kept by a constant percussion instrument. I was led back down the rabbit hole of sea shanties and got hooked on songs I had not listened to in years. The Decemberists’ “Mariner’s Revenge Song” and The Longest Johns’ “Santiana,” “Spanish Ladies,” and “Haul Away Joe,” are some of my personal favorites in the genre.  Sea Shanties are formatted as one person sings and a group sings back in response, traditionally being used as working songs. The range of the songs is vast, with some being happy, sad, hopeful, or even a warning. Some play instruments to accompany them, others perform them a capella. These songs have been kept alive for decades, if not centuries, being kept alive through oral tradition. It is diversity in the songs that is exactly why sea shanties should make a comeback again. They are just nice to tap your foot or sway along to; getting stuck in your head for a few days. They are great to listen to when doing school work, exercising, driving around, and belting the lyrics with your friends at the top of your lungs. Artists today should consider writing new tales of the seas for the modern audience. Just because the seas might not be sailed today does not mean they cannot be written today. A modern tale of voyages and sea beasts would be great for the music industry, and it is open for any genre of artist to bring something new. A challenge between friends to write a song together, musical rivals making sea shanty diss tracks about each other, the possibilities are endless. Sea shanties are just a perfect genre to bring back into the spotlight and they need a resurgence now more than […] “Bring back sea shanties”

Bernie Sanders has been betrayed by the Democratic Party   Sevan Sinton Associate News Editor   Bernard “Bernie” Sanders was born on Sept. 4, 1941 in Brooklyn, to Jewish-Polish parents Eli and Dorothy Sanders. His father, Eli, found modest work as a paint salesman, managing to sparingly provide for his two sons, Larry and Bernie. “It’s not that we were poor, but [there was always] the constant pressure of never having enough money,” said Bernie to the Sanders Institute, “the money question to me has always been deep and emotional.” His mother, Dorothy, was a homemaker who passed away when Bernie was only 18. She had instilled the message of working hard in school to achieve more than she had growing up, a sentiment that Bernie would carry into his political career.  However, witnessing his family struggle financially was a stark reminder to Sanders that working hard may not guarantee financial success. Many families, still struggling today, have been relegated to financial comeuppance for generations, struck down by the same system that promises “The American Dream” to all who take advantage.  After graduating from James Madison High School, he attended Brooklyn College. In 1960 he enrolled at the University of Chicago and switched his major from English to political science. “My mom had died the previous year,” said Sanders, “I felt it was time to leave the neighborhood and see what the rest of the world looked like.” During Sanders’ years in Chicago, he became a leader in civil rights and pushed for housing desegregation within the university. In August of 1963, he was charged with resisting arrest while protesting against the segregation of schools in Chicago, two weeks later, he attended the March on Washington where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his renowned “I Have a Dream” speech. In 1964, he graduated from the University of Chicago with a Bachelor’s degree in political science.   Fast forward to July 2016. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) was hacked, and thousands of emails and attachments were leaked to the public which showed favoritism to Democrat nominee Hillary Clinton over Sanders. The emails included numerous attacks against Sanders intended to destabilize his campaign, which was against the DNC’s proposed neutrality in selecting a nominee. The emails between high-ranking DNC staff and DNC chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz included statements such as calling Sanders’ campaign “a mess” and “[The Sanders Campaign] never had its act together.” The controversy even forced Wasserman Schultz to resign in the midst of the Clinton campaign.  So why was Sanders, a lifelong politician, preacher of democratic ideas, a fighter for racial equality, an experiencer of financial struggle, and promoter of keeping large corporate interests out of politics, cast aside by the DNC in 2016? There is no one correct answer. However, it is true that the political machine that fostered Sanders failed him in 2016. Despite his backing of Democrat presidential nominees such as Clinton, President Joe Biden, and Vice-President Kamala Harris, the same party that promotes worker rights and equality has never explicitly backed the Vermont Senator.  The 2020 election saw Sanders end his Democrat nomination bid against Biden in April, which was exacerbated by former President Barack Obama routinely campaigning on behalf of Biden. The Democrat strategy of ‘keeping it in the family’ proved successful in 2020 by defeating Donald Trump, but quickly saw doubt as questions over Biden’s mental aptitude were raised. Still, Sanders remained staunch in his support of the Party.  Now, in the wake of the 2024 Presidential Election, which saw President-elect Trump soundly defeat Vice President Harris, Sanders has starkly come out against the failed Democratic bid.  “It should come as no surprise that a Democratic Party which has abandoned working class people would find that the working class has abandoned them,” wrote Sanders in an official statement on Nov. 6, “Will the big money interests and well-paid consultants who control the Democratic Party learn any real lessons from the disastrous campaign? . . . Probably not.” Sanders has even gone on to condemn the Party, calling for Democrats to stop “hanging their hats” on identity politics. “Trump had his vision. It was incorrect, it was dishonest, it was in many cases racist and sexist,” Sanders said on “The Daily” podcast. “He had a vision. He had an explanation. In my view, Democrats really did not.”  Sanders, 83, will look to use the time he has left to enact change in a Senate that saw Republicans win 53 seats in 2024. This time, without the backing of any major Democrat interests.  Bernie Sanders trusted the System, but the System di […] “Bernie Sanders has been betrayed by the Democratic Party”

Millersville wi-fi is a frustrating and tedious chore   Michael Keehan Staff Writer   Are you a human living in the year 2024? If so, there is a high likelihood, especially in the U.S., that you frequently use the internet. As much as older folks complain about how kids are always on “those darn phones,” it’s undeniable personal technology is a necessity these days. Despite that, it still seems like many public areas are slow to adopt dependable Wi-Fi, and Millersville is no exception.  Millersville sort of has campus-wide Wi-Fi, but it’s very complicated. There are not one, not three, but six separate Wi-Fi networks. The first is Marauder Guest, which is, as it says, for guests on campus. Then there is Marauder BYOD and Marauder, which are for student-bought and on-campus devices respectively. Finally, the most complicated of all is the three different My Res-Net networks. These are intended to be used at the dorms. First is a “Start Here” network, which is necessary to log into the other networks, the My Res-Net 2G and 5G networks. With that, I have to ask, does anybody use the 2G network? I get that security is important, and you need certain networks to cater to convenience while others can be stable for long-term devices. But I highly doubt it requires that much time both to explain the Wi-Fi here and connect all your devices to it. And it’s not just the initial connection that is the problem. For dorm residents, walking around campus while staying connected is way more of a mess than it has any right to be. For example, if you’re like me and like listening to music while you walk or run, then you’ll know that once you leave your dorm, you lose connection with the Res-Net network and don’t automatically connect with Marauder Guest or BYOD. And even once you’re connected, you’re likely to disconnect and either switch to data, which may do the same thing, or fiddle around with the Wi-Fi to get it back. Now, to be fair, I am a new student. It’s almost certain that new students have some issues adjusting to campus, and perhaps my troubles with the Wi-Fi are just a growing pain of adjusting. I’m also sure that the Wi-Fi ten or so years ago was an absolute mess, and what we know is likely much better. Still not dependable, but it’s a relatively new technology for an institution older than electricity. It likely took a while for Millersville and other institutions to adjust, which will almost certainly be the same Wi-Fi. So I hope in the coming years, Millersville will make Wi-Fi convenient, secure, and usable for all students wherever […] “Millersville wi-fi is a frustrating and tedious chore”

Dry-walls lead to dry minds   Jake Long Associate Opinion Editor    As students, we spend the majority of our time learning in and out of the classroom the necessary skills that will impact our future success in the industries of our desire. Learning begins from the moment we are born and is instantly full of wonder and possibility. We learn how to function on the most basic level from our parents and relatives, but then something happens around the age of five. We enter the classroom for the first time, and our institutionalized learning begins. Most, if not all of us, have persevered through the education system, surely with a few bumps in the road, thanks in large part to our teachers. They showed up every day with smiles and can-do attitudes that inspired, and continue to inspire, us to reach for new heights. And they did so much more than just teach. They were companions and mentors and, most importantly, interior decorators. Remember the days when the classrooms themselves were dressed to the nines and full of personality? The teachers were the ones who made those classrooms exciting. They would dedicate their dwindling summer days to laying out the mood of their rooms, with special emphasis on making learning fun. And without the pizazz, learning has become a stagnant, rigorous process devoid of the simple wonders found in our old classrooms.   When days began with posters that have cats on them and sayings like “keep on trucking” or skeletons hanging from the walls wearing two-piece suits, learning came with a side of fun. It was a fun that was encouraging and comforting, as if the walls were saying “We may be rigid cinderblock, but we have a soft side too.” Especially when the going got rough, and those decorations would be there to offer a brief reprieve from the pressure cooker that is learning and then the encouragement needed to refocus. Those were the days when rooms had personality, when they were interactive and engaging and a part of the learning process. When they brought learning to life. Decorations were more than just for show. They offered the opportunity to create spontaneous analogies and make connections from material to décor that otherwise would have been overlooked. They set the cogs of your mind in motion and got you thinking about how the world worked, especially when it came to the esoteric combinations some posters displayed. Why could this cat, this one normal-looking orange cat, play accordion and wear a beret? Posters such as these, provided a window into a world where anything was possible, and when looked closely enough, a mirror that showed anything was possible in this world too. Now, let’s leave the nostalgia behind and discuss the practicality of the matter. When you think of a room in any context, at home, in restaurants, the airport, you realize that the walls of the rooms are filled to the brim with paintings, tapestries, and other wall ornaments. These decorations give us something to occupy our minds as we sit or wander to our respective tables, benches, or chairs. They are there to showcase artwork and the conscious effort an artist took to create. Then, how come, that some of the most important rooms in our lives, the college classrooms, are akin to walls of a prison, barren? It could be as simple as the fact that multiple professors use the rooms to teach their classrooms. The professors don’t feel an emotional attachment to their room either, so feel no need to add their personality. This is completely reasonable, but would it be so hard for someone over the summer to go from room to room and hand a poster here and there, or even better, student-made artwork? The point is, just because learning becomes an investment does not mean it has to lose the creative provocation, which is often communicated through classroom decoration. Without that central element of the classroom, college classrooms can be bland and lacking external motivators that give the extra kick needed to get excited about lea […] “Dry-walls lead to dry minds”

Why medicare for all is the only moral healthcare system   Mark Linker Opinion Editor    The modern world, specifically capitalism, has alleviated many scarcity problems that characterized the pre-modern world. This is a great good that has lifted millions of individuals from poverty and starvation. Getting mass supply at a cheap cost to as many people as possible in a lot of ways brings the collective society away from the natural world. Not to say that the same biological factors that govern human behavior aren’t a factor anymore, but many of the struggles that affected man in the natural world aren’t an issue due to the problem of scarcity of food and other products being solved by the market. However, there are still issues and certain sections of modern economies that capitalism can’t solve. One of the issues that throws man back into a pre-modern world is the need for health care.  Having a for-profit model for medicine certainly has its benefits. Competition drives the price for cost lower and leaves room for medical innovation in the market. With that being said, some products are so essential for human life that competition may be far more immoral than one would think. For products such as water and food, the cost is cheap enough that the vast majority of people can afford such necessities with little hindrance to their everyday lives. Medical care is a different story, with very little prominent insurance companies, the cost for essential medical care can often drive the prices so high that no lower-class or middle-class individual would be able to afford such things and still live a life where they’re able to buy other essential items. One surgery or cancer treatment procedure alone can throw someone of a lower class into financial chaos. Then, there’s the whole other issue of people who have very real chronic illnesses that require lifetime medical care, thus making the individual or family slaves to medical bills and debt for their entire lives.  Many proponents of “free market” ideals love to talk about the role of personal responsibility and how poverty is simply a factor of personal life choices that have gone awry. By this logic, the prospect of being saddled with a chronic illness or injury that is completely outside the domain of free choice only to be forced to spend half your yearly income on medical bills throws the individual back into a premodern society without the concept of personal responsibility. This is why medicare for all is one of the most pressing and important issues of our time. If we truly believe that we have moved beyond the cruelty and privation that characterized life in the natural world, then it is only morally right that a new social contract is formed around the notion of free medical care. In my view, the West can’t claim to be the provider of peace, justice, and rights without c […] “Why medicare for all is the only moral healthcare system”

The foundations of religion within the psyche Mark Linker Opinion Editor   There are a few ways one can analyze through the lens of psychology. The most widely used method is through the individual landscape. Behaviorism and psychoanalysis are two of the most common branches of psychology that aim at treating the individual when in a therapeutic setting. Nevertheless, humans are social animals, and much of what affects our own psyche often stems from the external world. This is often a balance, we interpret new events in conjunction with our social history and biological makeup to facilitate new behavior. What’s fascinating about our individual psyches is that our social capacities shape each other’s individual worlds, thus dictating change in our society and common ways of thinking across time. On a broader scale, this can create an effect where large numbers of people are changed in their psychological outlook over time. Plato was one of the first to talk about the psyche of the individual extending outward and affecting politics and the broader culture. Throughout human history, the process of each person and community affecting one another can lead to a change in what’s valued depending on the culture. Religion, specifically Christianity, was the ethic that led the West for hundreds of years. Not only did this shape many of the guiding principles that lead our institutions, but this ethic also led us on a communal and individual level.  America’s founding documents held the idea of a God as one of its guiding principles that justified the rights given to individuals. This begs the question as to what a society does when one of its key justifiers for legislation and values begins to lose weight amongst the people who govern the democracy, the people. In a similar fashion to how one individual can mold another’s behavior, we all have some broad conception of what we value in accordance with where we are in life and the community we live in. Whether one is a critic of Christianity and religion as a whole, there’s no doubt that there’s some sort of utility in having a uniform system of values that extends from the individual psyche to the border culture. It creates a sense of unity and aim that each citizen can take part in.  Without the guiding light of an all-encompassing ethic, secular America may have a separate set of problems to contend with. Although making a correlation error is certainly a possibility when linking modern problems to the decline of religious practice, one of the primary components of religion was the framework that laid the foundations for a path through life. An individual who believed in God and lived in a community that had the same ethic within a country whose foundations were rooted in this same ethic inextricably linked the individual soul to the soul of the nation. It is clear that many individuals are experiencing a crisis of meaning and purpose that leads to events like suicide, mass shootings, and a crumbling of our institutions. Again, the point isn’t to claim that Christianity or any other organized religion has no flaws or is a perfect system but to claim that the broader West on an individual and societal level may be going through a process of reorganizing itself and finding how to deal with a Godless world. This broad secularism seems to be causing greater unhappiness and mental health crises that may not be wanted and we might have to build a substitute for religious practice for the health of our nation. The obvious problem with this is the fact that in an age of science and high levels of skepticism, it may have to be a system of practical principles rather than an […] “The foundations of religion within the psyche”

The meaninglessness of ancient art   Jake Long Associate Opinion Editor   Art is an ever-changing medium of personal expression. Art is an attempt to capture a moment and idolize the moment forever. Art hangs from our walls and blasts in our ears. Art carries us on the road and keeps us comfortable sitting or lying in our homes. The question is, is art supposed to last? Or is it supposed to slowly degrade as time separates the artwork from the moments the artists hoped to capture? Supposedly, the correct answer to this question is that it depends on the artist, on the art, and on the moment. However, if we take one of the main goals of art, to reflect life, and put that into our focus lens, we will see that art that stands the test of time transcends life, not reflects it. This is a blatant contradiction that has plagued art enthusiasts for generations when asked to define art, and the most aberrant part is that they cannot. Questions are supposed to be answered in art, but if the question “what is art” cannot be answered clearly, then how are any clear answers supposed to be found in art? Perhaps that is the answer; that art is meant to be subjective to the point of becoming obsolete, and if art can become obsolete in this sense, then surely it can become obsolete over time. But for some reason, art from centuries past has held onto fame and brought fortune to people so far removed from the artist that they would roll in their graves knowing the wealth their death defiance has raked in. Certainly, every commercial artist is hoping to make a buck or two outside of their waiter job at the local diner, but can we really say that Michelangelo or Leonardo da Vinci still want their art to gather crowds large enough to fill double-decker buses when they have been lying in their graves for centuries? The general consensus is that they would call us fools and ask us to clear them from our pygmy white walls with discolored rectangles from the forever-mounted paintings. There are plenty of answers in the past, to learn the past is to be prepared for the present, but art is an immediate representation of the current state of the world and therefore belongs in the present. So, if we continue to keep our focus on ancient art, instead of giving modern art and artists our full attention, then we will completely miss what the artists of today are trying to say; and what they are trying to alert us of. Perhaps that is why tourists flock to the oldies but goodies instead of getting their perceptions of the world challenged, they rest easy in the classics. Then there is the question of whether both modern and ancient art can be appreciated for what they are. And this is a certainty because ancient art is as much a part of our cultural heritage as modern art is. A world without the “Mona Lisa” seems incredulous, but why not next door do we have an exhibit showcasing the millions of frames that artists create for our favorite animated movies and TV shows? Why is the same appreciation for “The Last Supper” not shown for the hand-painted landscapes in “Star Wars,” one of the most successful film franchises in history? Like art, your answer is for you to discover f […] “The meaninglessness of ancient art”

Trump’s cat-eating claims aren’t just lies, it’s an age-old tactic of normalizing racism Michael Keehan Staff Writer   If you’ve seen or heard about the debate, you’ve probably heard former president Donald Trump’s claim about Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio eating cats and geese. Obviously, it’s false, and a single search can debunk this multiple times. But to Springfield’s residents, it’s unsurprising this big lie appeared, and even less it’s about them. Springfield’s welcomed Haitians for a little under a decade, but strain on public resources and increasing nationalism has caused white nationalist uproar, both against Haitians and native black people. Various conspiracy theories regarding the Haitians were first brought to the mainstream days before the debate. Trump’s running mate purported these claims, including lying about a Haitian migrant murdering an 11-year-old boy, when it was really a bus accident. They spread across X from multiple right-wing accounts and Trump at the debate. Despite being proven false almost immediately, he and his base still lie. Now, the aftermath rears its ugly head. Bomb threats lurk across Springfield. Haitians report their property attacked. Proud Boys marched the streets and even KKK flyers were spotted. But with the danger posed, the Trump campaign has refused to back down. Regardless of your stance on immigration or politics in general, it’s hard to see this as anything but an evil rivaled only by the Nazis. Calling people you disagree with Nazis is often an exaggeration, and I far from believe all Trump supporters are Nazis. However, the Trump campaign’s recent rhetoric, like the recent demonization of Haitians, echoes past uses of racism to push political means. Eating pets? Said about the Chinese to pass the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act. Spreading diseases? Used by German doctors to spread Nazi propaganda. And the lead-up to the Holocaust wasn’t instantaneous. It was a gradual process of dehumanizing various groups and encouraging violence through indirect means such as stochastic terrorism. That term often describes right-wing accounts like LibsofTikTok, who attacked the queer community similar to how Hatians are now. Comparing the rhetoric of Trump and Hitler, there are clear and alarming similarities, but I don’t think Trump’s a racist, nor that he wants concentration camps. He only wants to deport immigrants, regardless of legal status, in a violent way ala 1954’s Operation Wetback. But the fascist-adjacent rhetoric has other benefits, ones I think Trump cares about more. It brings blind loyalty and provides scapegoats, but only if people accept it. Whether you like him or not, you should call him and his allies out on this rhetoric, or else the rhetoric will only get stronger and more dangerous. As Martin Niemôller once said, “T […] “Trump’s cat-eating claims aren’t just lies, it’s an age-old tactic of normalizing racism”

The new democratic hero of rural America   Mark Linker Opinion Editor  PHOTO COURTESY OF FREERANGE STOCK With the addition of Tim Walz to the Harris presidential campaign, the Democrats are making a statement. The statement being made in some ways is an admission of defeat and mistake on the part of the party for much of the past decade. Since the 1960s, the Democratic party has claimed to represent a vast swath of the population but staked its case and laid the foundation to become the party of minorities in the country. The party has been at the forefront of civil rights issues for the past 60 years and in the 1990s the party started catering to the business class.  However, with both the Republican and democratic parties focusing on its technocratic wing throughout the ‘90s and early 2000s, there was a huge margin that neither party was speaking to: the white working class demographic that had been steadily losing jobs and opportunities since the turn of the digital age and the decline of factory work. Rural areas of the country that used to be staples of the American economy no longer functioned. Therefore the thousands of working class families from these small towns were left behind by the American economy and government.  This market was filled, intentionally or not, by Donald Trump during his 2016 campaign run where he was able to pick up thousands of votes from those forgotten American towns. Hillary Clinton made the mistake during her run of often deeming people from these areas purposely painting herself as a “coastal elite.” Trump was then just divisive enough to lose by a close margin in 2020 to Joe Biden, where it seemed as though the average American was longing for a return to normality. Still, the problem stood that the Democrats had lost an entire section of working-class Americans to the Republicans. The party that once stood for the common American was still the party of coastal elites.  However, the addition of Walz is, at least, optically making it seem as though Democrats are on the side of the working class. If the rest of America feels this way then the Republicans will be in the position to lose most presidential races for the foreseeable future. Although a lot of what makes a good politician is purely optical as opposed to the policy being at the forefront,  Walz is just that, a politician who represents the optics of Middle America straight to the core. Only time will tell if Walz’s pull on the heartstrings of this demographic will be enough to possibly get some return from lost Trump supporters, but it’s clear that the future of the Democratic party no longer plans to leave out the vote of the white working class. Tim Walz is the political embodiment […] “The new democratic hero of rural America”

Why ascending the stairs should give you angst Jake Long Associate Opinion Editor  We’ve all been there, running out the door, halfway to our cars, when we realize we left our keys in our upstairs bedroom. We bolt back into the house, dodging the jumping dog, and begin scaling the stairs. About halfway up, a loose shoelace presents itself to the bottom of your other shoe, and boom, you’re down, face flat, mouth full of stair dust, with a broken nose. From sprained wrists to broken ankles to fractured pelvis’, stairs are the bane of many peoples’ ascent existences. Despite their infamy, stairs are an absolute necessity and provide safe passage for many of the same people who fear what they are capable of. The question is whether stairs are the most dangerous tool used for vertical ascension. Is the ladder more dangerous, does the rope have a say in the matter, and how can we forget about the trusty backyard fence, there when you need it, invisible when you don’t? I would like to begin by stating that stairs are inaccessible to some people and pose greater challenges than a satirical article such as this is able to express. Anyways, our first matter of business is defining what makes a stair a stair and then the potential risks stairs pose, from injuries to cave-ins to rugburns. The most obvious characteristic of a stair is that it aids in vertical transportation, usually at an angle, equipped with a handrail, and is typically up a straight alley. Now there are spiral stairs, rickety stairs, hardwood stairs, and so on and so forth, so to keep this article a reasonable length, we’ll stick to a standard seven-inch carpeted staircase, about twenty stairs high with a lower banister and a sturdy handrail. This stairwell is not just used for personal traffic, people yell up and down the stairs to pass on that dinner is ready or that there is a large, hairy spider closing in and a person upstairs needs a person downstairs to bring their sturdiest newspaper and vanquish the beast. Now that we have our staircase defined, let’s get into the potential risk of the staircase and how that risk comes about. Factually speaking, humans have a poor track record facing any sloped surface. Over a 23-year testing period, Blazewick, D. H. et al. (2018) reported an estimated 24,760,843 stair-related injuries, with 67.2% being from people between 11-60 years old. That statistic alone shows the danger of scaling a manmade surface and proves that we may be safer remaining on level ground. Sadly, not everyone can own a one-story ranch on an acre plot, some of us must brave the ascent. The problem is we do not fear the ascent, we see ourselves as equal to the intimidating opponent that is the stairs. We don’t think about the one misstep going down and next thing you know you’re fending for your life as you rollie polie to the floor below, hoping that you stay intact at impact. Or the minor heart attacks that go along with thinking you are on the last step and suddenly the rug burn on your face gets you unwanted attention at the office. Before that, however, there is that weightless feeling, like falling in a dream, that makes you rethink your decision about leaving the safety of your bed. Simply, stairs are too dangerous for us to just sit around and pretend like we are not living under death traps, so here are a few options that can turn the tides against humanity’s gripe with stairs. Logically, our first option is a ski-lift-like mechanism that boasts handlebars for people to hang from, providing an upper body workout, and a cushioned mat in case they lose their grip. Then, there is the trusty hoister, a hydraulicly powered engine that requires you to be able to strap yourself into a harness and enjoy the ride to the second floor. And of course, there’s the ever-handy rappel line, all you need is your suction cup boots, a firm grip, and a can-do attitude, and you’ll be up in no time. Now, you’re probably thinking, “How am I supposed to carry my belongings upstairs,” and the answer to that is to get creative, we are talking about the safety of our ankles, hips, and wrists here, not whether you’ll have a harder time hauling your daily baggage upstairs. The likelihood of such a change arriving in the near future is unlikely, so until then, be wary when scaling, cautious when descending, and ev […] “Why ascending the stairs should give you angst”

Modern psychology fills a religious hole Mark Linker Opinion Editor With being a psychology major, one would think that I’m biased towards defending the practice. In many ways I am, the advent of psychotherapy and psychopharmacology emphasizes some of the strongest aspects of modernity. However, there was a time not too long ago when individuals had other avenues of consoling their consciousness with no material cost. Organized religion inculcated an environment of meditation of one’s thoughts and a higher ethic to strive towards. I suspect that this submission to a higher cause and a set of moral and ethical codes helped many individuals cope with the struggle and suffering that life can often bring. Added to this was the relationship between the religious leader and the individual. In many senses, these religious leaders acted as modern-day psychotherapists that individuals could go to for guidance in their personal lives. Along with giving guidance surrounding their individual lives, they specialized in helping console feelings of nihilism and struggle for meaning.  A lot of these aspects have since been lost in our culture due to a sharp decline in religious practice throughout the West. This also may be a contributing factor to a noticeable decline in the mental health of young people. For many of the flaws that religion impressed upon so many, it did give the common person ethical and moral guidance to abide by throughout life. The goal of giving oneself to something greater imbues life with a sense of purpose that no material possessions can fill. This may be what our generation is currently struggling with; the problem of oversaturation with objects that temporarily fill our fixation for immediate pleasure.  We have partially alleviated this crisis of mental health by giving thousands to paid professionals, however, these professionals don’t offer the same ontological saving grace and community that religion once did. To avoid sounding too much like a religious apologist, I should point out that there are a lot of problems with organized religion (and the church specifically).  However, many of the scandals the church has faced in the past two decades point to a problem of corruption which is a uniquely human problem, not a religious one. We have yet to fill the hole that religion has left us with and the materialist trappings of modern society are likely not the solution. This along with the for-profit business that therapy has created where you have to pay for soul searching, doesn’t seem like a great long-ter […] “Modern psychology fills a religious hole”