Voter ID laws cleverly discriminate
By Andrew Prozorovsky, Columnist
February 14, 2019
Filed under Columns, Opinions, Opinions Top Stories, Top Stories
The vote is an inalienable sacrament to our democracy. The principles of this system of government are rooted in every citizen’s inalienable right to vote. An unimpeded ability to vote. An unobstructed path to vote. In the past, America has rejected hindrances to voting such as poll taxes, grandfat...
California utility company powers fires
By Fred Shoaff, Columnist
February 13, 2019
Filed under Columns, Opinions, Opinions Top Stories, Top Stories
After playing a role in deadly wildfires several years in a row, a California utility company is showing just how dangerous and unfair the modern utilities system is. Utility giant Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) has been the topic of national scrutiny for months as their careless busine...
Navigating fake news through awareness
By David Lee, Columnist
February 12, 2019
Filed under Columns, Opinions, Opinions Top Stories, Top Stories
Irresponsibility by celebrities, news outlets and Twitter users has butchered the Nick Sandman story, leaving space for many valid accusations against mainstream media. From this, we can further understand the nature of “fake news.” There is some merit to accusations against Covington Catholi...
English fluency is crucial to careers
By Guzi He, Columnist
February 11, 2019
Filed under Columns, Opinions, Opinions Top Stories, Top Stories
A professor at Duke University was dismissed earlier this month after sending a mass email in which she urged students from China to use English “100 percent of the time.” Megan Neely, former director of studies at Duke’s biostatistics master’s program, went so far as to say the students were b...
Patriots’ sixth Super Bowl win offers lessons
By Cole Timmerwilke, Columnist
February 11, 2019
Filed under Columns, Opinions, Opinions Top Stories
Once again, to the chagrin of many Americans, the New England Patriots are Super Bowl champions. After an inconsistent regular season which prompted many to predict an end to their lengthy dynasty, the Patriots went on to beat three playoff opponents with better records en route to their sixth Super Bowl...
Violence against women normalized in mainstream media
By Kaitlyn McCann, Columnist
February 8, 2019
Filed under Columns, Opinions, Opinions Top Stories
Recently, five women were shot and killed by a gunman in a Florida bank. After entering the bank, 21-year-old Zephen Xaver forced the women down onto the lobby floor and shot them in the back of the head. He then called the police on himself, but would not allow anyone in the building to medically treat the women unti...
Media fails to take accountability
By Ajay Dugar, Columnist
February 7, 2019
Filed under online, Opinions, Opinions Top Stories, Top Stories
“Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?” This Latin phrase, “Who watches the watchmen?” is attributed to the Roman poet Juvenal. Over the centuries, this expression has been invoked to underscore the responsibility and necessity of scrutinizing those in power. This has typically been the job of the media — t...
Climate change threatens profit
By Sandhya Sivakumar, Columnist
February 5, 2019
Filed under Columns, Opinions, Opinions Top Stories, Top Stories
Last week shaped up to be one of the coldest in Champaign-Urbana’s history, and it’s all thanks to the polar vortex. It’s crazy to think that it’s colder in Champaign than it is at the North Pole — even crazier is the fact that it’s all because of global warming. Maybe it’s unexpected tha...
Do great businessmen make great politicians?
By Joseph Dillier, Columnist
February 4, 2019
Filed under Columns, Opinions, Opinions Top Stories, Top Stories
Let’s assume Donald Trump truly is a great business person. There have been some reports against it, but ignore them for the sake of this argument. From there, Trump and his supporters will say he is a good president because they believe the rarely questioned assumption that being good at business equa...
Give R. Kelly justice on a cold platter
By Jaime Watts, Columnists
February 1, 2019
Filed under Columns, Opinions, Opinions Top Stories
The “Surviving R. Kelly” docuseries premiered over winter break and created a conversation about sexual assault, separating the art from the artist and accountability. The docuseries interviewed close friends of R. Kelly, psychologists and the women who survived his actions. The allegations against h...
Musicians should be honored to play Super Bowl show
By Noah Nelson, Columnist
January 31, 2019
Filed under Columns, Opinions, Opinions Top Stories, Top Stories
In early February each year, fans from across the nation gather around any TV screen they can find to watch the two best NFL teams collide at one of professional sports’ most monumental stages, the granddaddy of them all, the Super Bowl. The event also includes the famous halftime show, which has b...
Put your money where your mouth is
By Ellen Barczak, Columnist
January 28, 2019
Filed under Columns, Opinions, Opinions Top Stories
Put away your megaphone. Throw away that poster board with a catchy slogan on it. You don’t have to march in the cold for hours to persuade a company to change its practices. Your wallet can shout louder than your voice ever could. Money talks. You will learn in any economics class that businesses r...
