BINGHAMTON REVIEW Contents Editor-in-Chief
P.O. BOX 6000 BINGHAMTON, NY 13902-6000 EDITOR@BINGHAMTONREVIEW.COM
Founded 1987 • Volume XXIX, Issue V
Jordan T. Raitses
Copy Desk Chief Antonia Mallozzi
Publishing Manager Patrick McAuliffe
Communications Manager Kayla Jimenez
Business Manager Alex Carros
Editor Emeritus Sean Glendon Dan Kersten
Staff Writers
Thomas Casey, Howard Hecht, Aditi Roy, Zachary Borodkin, Luke Kusick, David Keptsi, Dylan Klein, Max Newman
Special Thanks To:
Intercollegiate Studies Institute Collegiate Network Binghamton Review was printed by Gary Marsden We Provide the Truth. He Provides the Staples
2016 Memes In Review
PAGE 8
5 Reflections and Resolutions by Patrick McAuliffe 10 Real Fake News
by Thomas Casey
11 Technology Debate
by Zachary Borodkin and Jordan Raitses 12 College, Cynicism, and Wallace’s Up, Simba by Dylan Klein 14 Islamofauxbia
by Aditi Roy
Departments
3 Editorial 4 Campus Presswatch 6 What You Missed/Year in Review
TELL US WHAT YOU THINK! Direct feedback to editor@binghamtonreview.com 2
BINGHAMTON REVIEW
Vol. XXIX, Issue V
EDITORIAL
Dear Readers,
H
From the Editor
appy New Year! Yes, I am a few weeks late, but unless you saw me in Boston or Long Island during break and you didn’t say ‘Hi,’ this is our first interaction of the year, so I think it counts. I wish you the best and hope the new semester brings you success. Our inaugural issue of the semester is here, in your hands, and you’re probably the first person to actually read this editorial. Congratulations on your exceedingly good taste. This issue is chock full of great content as we wrap off the last year and bring in the current one. Our What You Missed/ Year in Review covers some of the biggest events of 2016, while our 2016 Memes in Review brings you up to speed on all of the greatest internet humor from 1 million (internet) years ago. Patrick writes on the same theme in his Reflections and Resolutions, providing his thoughts on the past arbitrary 12-month span as well as his hopes for the next one. Thomas discusses his plans to become a multimillionaire sinner in by evilly disseminating fake news stories in his Real Fake News. Aditi covers a similar topic in her article on false reports of islamophobia or, as she calls it, Islamofauxbia. On the philosophical side, Dylan writes his own essay-review on a piece by David Foster Wallace. College, Cynicism, and Wallace’s Up, Simba
covers all three of those topics and might just give you a new way of looking at your own education. And, believe it or not, we’re having a real debate in our pages! That’s right, Zachary and I debate the merits of technology and its effect on culture and society. To participate in one of these “debates” feel free to write in your own opinion on a topic and we’ll try to match it up. That brings me to my favorite topic: writing for the Review. It’s the beginning of a brand new semester and you, a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed student, fresh from bumming around your house for a month and hungry for free GIM pizza, are ready to do something really intellectual. If any of the above words might be construed as applying to you, then you should come to our meetings. We will be having GIMs all month (Tuesdays at 7 in UUW B05) and we’d love to see you there. If you can’t make it this month, but want to join anyways, no problem! Email us at editor@binghamtonreview.com and we’ll do our best to accommodate. We’re looking for writers, editors, designers, artists, and you. That’s cheesy, but you get the idea. Hope to see you there!
Sincerely,
Jordan Raitses
Our Mission
Binghamton Review is a non-partisan, student-run periodical of conservative thought at Binghamton University. A true liberal arts education expands a student’s horizons and opens one’s mind to a vast array of divergent perspectives. In that spirit, we seek to promote the free exchange of ideas and offer an alternative viewpoint not normally found on our predominately liberal campus. It is our duty to expose the warped ideology of political correctness that dominates this university. We stand against tyranny in all of its forms, both on campus and beyond. We believe in the principles set forth in this country’s Declaration of Independence and seek to preserve the fundamental tenets of Western civilization. Finally, we understand that a moral order is a necessary component of any civilized society. We strive to inform, engage, and perhaps even amuse our readers in carrying out this mission.
Views expressed by writers do not necessarily represent the views of the publication as a whole. editor@binghamtonreview.com
BINGHAMTON REVIEW
3
CPampus resswatch I truly wish I had the space to comment on all of the terribly leftist things said on our campus this last month (during break!). Unfortunately, I don’t. The following commentary on a particular Pipe Dream article will have to suffice. We normally quote sections and then make comments, but just our comments seemed appropriate for this article. “Editorial: Fall 2016 report card” Editorial Board, Pipe Dream Instead of quoting the arbitrary and leftist grading scheme Pipe Dream uses to rank our school’s major internal organizations and individuals (and sports for some reason), I will just give the same organizations my own grades.
SA: B-
While the SA did a good enough job not fucking anything up this semester (let’s be real, that’s their main purpose), I will agree with Pipe Dream’s Editorial Board that the “VPAA election... revealed a lot of area for improvement.” Instead of handling a matter of unprofessionalism internally, the members of the special election committee managed to let leak a fairly stupid, though innocuous (and in no way racist), statement made by one of its members in a group chat. The issue escalated and instead of presenting a united front against outraged students, the SA E-board fractured and lost ground against a ridiculous protest. Shameful.
SAPB: A
The family weekend comedy show was hilarious (though I was drunk at the time, so who knows) and the headliner, Fetty Wap, was actually famous in this decade. Well done SAPB. On a side note, I’m not personally into Fetty Wap (or any rap), but anyone who can draw leftist protesters in the rain wins points in my book. (Though he is a terrible person).
4
BINGHAMTON REVIEW
Binghamtonreview.com
Written by our Staff
Stenger/Administration: C+
I get it, Stenger, you have to appeal to the student body; but the outrageous statement released after the election really pushes this whole “liberal campus” thing a bit too far. Couple that with the poor response to our “Stop White People 2k16” session coverage and the generally lackluster performance of the administration becomes apparent. Come on, Pipe Dream, Binghamton isn’t a real Ivy League school, we don’t get their grade inflation and neither should the administration.
Sports: D
Maybe we did well this semester. I don’t know and I don’t care. There’s your problem, Binghamton! No one cares and no one is about to start caring any time soon. Better luck this semester.
OCCT: B-
Pipe Dream is right about OCCT making a good move in undoing its shitty decisions (converting the DCL to the DCR). However, corrections on a test aren’t worth the full grade and neither is fixing your mistakes after making them in the first place. The ETA SPOT app is pretty good actually, no complaints there (when it works). But I don’t think scanning IDs before boarding is quite as seamless as you believe. Bringing my visiting friends around Binghamton got a whole lot harder, but hey at least we’re keeping track of who got on what bus when.
Off Campus Housing: B
I honestly cannot see these problems as being all that bad. Sure, U Club is under construction and that’s not pretty, but we also got an Insomnia Cookies so… net equal? And Hayes is having trouble expanding? So what? Unless you’re the manager of that particular community, you can live somewhere else so I don’t really see the issue. Growth can be good, full stop. It doesn’t matter if it’s done sustainably or carefully.
Sodexo: B+
Pipe Dream is almost on the money with their analysis, but I think they’re missing a few key issues. The opening of Chick-n-Bap in the marketplace is truly glorious for all except my colon--so keep that in mind. And the sushi station is cool and all, but I wouldn’t trade the C-store for low quality preservative-filled sushi (seriously, read the ingredients on those). Adding a real Starbucks is actually a great step forward. But why Hinman? Seriously, why does the furthest possible point on campus get the only bearable coffee option?
Vol. XXIX, Issue V
Binghamtonreview.com
Reflections and Resolutions
Reflections and Resolutions By Patrick McAuliffe
I
don’t know if you, dear reader, have had the chance to reflect on what’s happened to you personally, to our nation, or to the world this past year. You might think 2016 was the worst year of your life or the worst year holistically for most people, and in some respects, I might agree with you. But so many amazing things happened this year that made it simultaneously the best year of my life so far. Does that make sense? Maybe. I hope you’ll indulge me as I take this opportunity to reflect. The seemingly never-ending parade of dead celebrities, national tragedies and international attacks may have got you down. Watching as the country chose Donald Trump as our president could have been a shock. Looking on helplessly as people grow distant, or as friendships and relationships are torn apart and fading away could’ve put a damper on your year. I’ve had personal distress this year, and – in the tradition of being as vague as possible because this is the written word and it’s easy to be misunderstood (also I don’t know many of you) – it was sometimes my fault, sometimes the fault of others. Sometimes it was just how things played out. You can learn to deal with tragedy or loss, but it certainly doesn’t get easier right away. The lack of a third season
editor@binghamtonreview.com
of Rick and Morty was a huge bummer as well. However, in lots of other ways, 2016 was a year in which so many wonderful doors opened for me. The opportunity to work and to do it well, and enjoy doing it well, is a thrill I hope I never lose. I forged new friendships, strengthened old ones, and fought for the ones I love. I became more emotional, more open with my feelings (when I have them). I watched as the “culture war” took a new turn with the global resurgence of the political right, and chose to have civil discussion about it with the “other sides” instead of resorting to ad hominems or violence. It’s a new, huge, frightening world out there, and my times in 2016 have, I hope, started to prepare me for it. I hope for you, dear reader, that the trials you went through in 2016 strengthened you too, and that your good times gave you a taste of amazing things to come. The following are a couple closing remarks (if you managed to be bored or sentimental enough that you stayed until the end of my reflection). First, 2016, an arbitrary unit of time invented by Pope Gregory, had no causal impact on any of the events that unfolded within it. I know most of you know that, and it’s fun to make jokes about
how “Damn, 2016 took another one”, but I just wanted to make sure. Second, in 2017 hopefully the celebrity worship won’t be quite so extreme. They brought a lot of beauty to the world with their art, of course, but it seems to me that unless you’re a personal friend or loved one it should be more like how most people probably reacted to the death of the inventor of the red Solo cup: “Huh, that’s a bummer. A pretty cool dude (or dudette) just died. They won’t be able to produce their consumable entertainment for me anymore.” Although for my Rogue One bros, that can be easily fixed, am I right? Third, if you’re not Catholic and/or don’t know the Serenity Prayer, I suggest you take a look: “Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” Whether you’re religious or not, it’s helped me through life. Some things are out of our control and others are not. Trying as best we can to distinguish between the two in an objective a manner as possible could help reduce unnecessary stress or provide encouragement to achieve one’s desired goals. It takes effort, though. As well put by Jerry Smith, “Life is effort and I’ll stop when I die!” I wish you all the best of luck in 2017.
BINGHAMTON REVIEW
5
Binghamtonreview.com
WHAT you missed Iran Nuclear deal goes into effect Inspections confirmed that Iran dismantled all weapons as required by a nuclear deal. The United States and other European nations in return lifted both oil and financial sanctions on Iran. We’ll see how that goes for them...
6
Antonin Scalia Passes Away On February 13, Justice Antonin Scalia passed away at the age of 79. He was a solid conservative voice on the Supreme Court, and the following debate about Justice Scalia’s successor led to tension between President Obama and the Republican Congress over the President’s lame-duck nomination Merrick Garland.
Obama Lifts Vietnam Arms Ban At the end of May, Obama lifted the decades-long ban on arms sales to Vietnam. He believes removing the ban will improve international relations, though I’m not sure exactly how.
Pulse Nightclub Shooting On June 12th in Orlando, FL. Omar Mateen attacked the gay nightclub in the name of radical Islamic terrorism. He was killed in shootout with police, his father Seddique Mateen later attended a Hillary Clinton rally in August. 53 dead, 50 wounded.
North Korea Tests Nuclear Warheads
Boko Haram Releases 21 girls
North Korea tested a nuclear warhead, proving their persistence in developing a lighter and higher impact nuclear weapon, despite international sanctions. Many countries have encouraged North Korea to end nuclear weapons development. South Korean officials reported the testing generated the largest explosive yield yet.
Boko Haram, a militant terrorist group in Nigeria, released 21 of the 276 young girls who were kidnapped in April of 2014. This is the first mass release of the captured girls, after international calls for action. Michelle Obama developed and popularized the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls, which went viral and aided in raising awareness.
BINGHAMTON REVIEW
Vol. XXIX, Issue V
Binghamtonreview.com
Year in Review Terror Attacks in Brussels Brussels attacks on March 22. 32 civilians killed by three suicide bombers, 300 injured. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Panama Papers Leaked Over 11 million confidential documents disclosing details of money laundering and other suspicious activities were leaked. Many big names were exposed by this leak. Awkward!
Dallas Gunman Kills Five On July 7, five Dallas police officers were killed and nine others were wounded by a lone gunman after a peaceful protest for the killings of unarmed black men in Louisiana and Minnesota. He explicitly stated that his goal was to kill white police officers as retaliation.
Russia Launches Airstrike in Syria Russia launched an airstrike on Syria from an Iranian air base. The United States was particularly butthurt about this because it may be in violation of the U.N. security council resolution 2231 and also because it was Russia.
Trump Wins Presidential Election
Ceasefire in Syria
In November, Donald Trump was elected President of the United States on Election Day when Hillary Clinton conceded. Did Russia help? We’ll find out next season!
Putin confirmed that the Syrian government and opposition rebels reached an agreement to cease fighting the country’s long-standing civil war. Putin also said that peace talks are underway to end the six years long conflict. However, he described this agreement as “very fragile.”
editor@binghamtonreview.com
BINGHAMTON REVIEW
7
Binghamtonreview.com
8
BINGHAMTON REVIEW
Vol. XXIX, Issue V
Binghamtonreview.com
editor@binghamtonreview.com
BINGHAMTON REVIEW
9
Real Fake News
Real Fake News
Binghamtonreview.com
By Thomas Casey
T
he boogeyman of phony news reporting is haunting America. This pervasive, nationwide, deeply ingrained existential threat began, according to Democrats, on Wednesday, November 9th, 2016. Liberals everywhere are crying foul that some made up news stories toppled their otherwise unblemished presidential candidate. Of course, nobody’s got any specific headlines or direct ties to voting outcomes, but that doesn’t matter because any published proof disproving the theory would just be fake news anyway. You really have to be careful out there with all this fake news floating around. I can’t even bring myself to trust the very magazine I’m writing for anymore. Still, I consider myself an outside authority on all this fake news business. You see, my reading habits have spared me from the scourge. I get all my news from 1776redconservativepatriotveteranreagan.com, one of the few remaining truly unbiased bastions on the internet. If the good boys at 1776RCPVR have taught me anything, it’s to spot the liars right from the headline. I remember the early days of fake news, reading tabloid captions in the supermarket checkout line. Good times such as when the Global Enquirer would report that Paris Hilton and Dracula had given birth to a three headed alien baby. Then the checkout clerk would keep the fake news rolling when she’d tell me my coupons were expired. Then fake news got kind of serious. In 2004, Dan Rather made up a story about how George W. Bush didn’t fly his military plane enough times. Then in 2012, Harry Reid spun a tale about how Mitt Romney didn’t pay any taxes. Finally, in 2016, I told a cashier in C4 that I had water in my cup when it was actually Moutain Dew. The lesson here is that fake news is most prominent in years that are evenly divisible by 4. Probably the fakest news I’ve seen
10
BINGHAMTON REVIEW
in some time is Huffington Post’s election prediction. The Post confidently pegged Clinton’s victory at 99%. That means that Huffington Post asserts, with either a 95% or 90% confidence interval, that Clinton will reach 270 electoral votes. Clinton’s end result of 232 puts her a bit off the projections. Curious, I ran a fake two-sample t-test and found that they lied. At least they were better than greenrevolutionnaturedefender.org, which had posterchild Jill Stein grabbing 655 EVs. The crazy thing is that Huffington Post got away with it! They even have the gall to post news stories criticizing other fake news reporters. A classic case of the pot calling the kettle calling the panther calling a piece of coal a fake news website.
Pope Francis made a brief statement explicitly indicating the sinful nature of fake news reporting. I got this tidbit right from the Vatican, so I’ll toss this in the true category. All of this led me to consider opening my own fake news industry. There are literally no repercussions to doing so and I could collect tons of money. I would first need to choose the side of the political spectrum I would cater to. For example I could choose a Republican platform, just because that’s vogue nowadays. A right-wing site would have headlines like “Shameful! Obama just outlawed the National Anthem during Colorado Rockies games!” That’s actually all it would have. Fake news sites don’t need anything more than headlines. Nobody on the Internet clicks to read the actual article. The best part about right-wing sites is that I’d grab a big demographic. I’d get the older, conservative crowd who shares my imaginary head-
lines in outrage. At the same time, liberals would share them to make fun of crazy conservatives or as an example of the fake news that made Clinton lose. I don’t care who shares it, because a liberal like or share gets me the same amount of that sweet, sweet Google AdSense money that the conservative ones do. On the other hand, I could be an industry leader in the liberal fake news arena. This would mean betraying my ideology. But to be honest, I would sell out my beliefs if it meant getting a quick buck. Liberals are more sensitive to outright lies, so I’d need to be a bit more covert. I’d take the route of skewing actual events to provoke liberal outrage. For example, “35 U.S. Companies Earned a Profit Last Year. Here’s Why That’s a Problem.” For the article’s content, I would just copy and paste the top comment on my most recent article’s Facebook post. This would require me to make at least one original article to kick the whole process off, but that’s no biggie. I’d lead off with a softball, something like, “This Vehicle Burns Fossil Fuels to Drive. Here’s What You Can Do to Stop It.” Easy, hit the break. I don’t care if people think my articles are pure garbage. As long as they like, comment and share them, my advertising revenue will keep my wallet stuffed. The only roadblock in this plan, besides AdBlock, is the moral issue. Spreading fake news is wrong. Even if all people really want to do is constantly confirm their biases, it wouldn’t be morally right of me to spread lies to please them. Pope Francis made a brief statement explicitly indicating the sinful nature of fake news reporting. I got this tidbit right from the Vatican, so I’ll toss this in the true category. Alas, the crushing weight of wrongdoing bars me from starting my own fake news site. But that won’t stop me from leafing through The National Inquisitor to see exclusive photos of Kim Kardashian’s transdimensional boyfriend.
Vol. XXIX, Issue V
Binghamtonreview.com
Technology Debate
In this section, we will be trying out a new format. Instead of one of our writers spouting his or her own dogma without challenge, we will attempt to have a debate. Enjoy.
The Ironic Detachment of Technology By Zachary Borodkin
According to Wikipedia, the definition of technology is the collection of techniques, skills, methods and processes used in the production of goods or services or in the accomplishment of objectives, such as scientific investigation. Yet the words “collection of techniques” imply that people worked together to make these technological accomplishments possible. The catch however is that while the aim of technology is to bring us closer, it has driven us further apart. I am always excited for the next advancement, but also realize that I have to break away from my phone or my laptop and talk with my peers. In an academic setting, forging a human connection is vital in a time of great social change. While the exchange of information and data has increased in a short period of time, the exchange of ideas between people is the solid foundation to acquiring this information and data in the first place. In the course Managing Info and Technology, I called this an ironic detachment. iPods and iPhones have been available for over 10 years and yet technology as we know it is still
in its infancy. As technological breakthroughs continue, they will also continue to affect how we interact with each other. In walking around campus, I see so many people with headphones in their ears or their heads down looking at screens. They made the choice to embrace this technology, but it is only a matter of time before it consumes us. Technology is still in its early stages, but by the time we reach the age of our parents, technology will literally become part of us and products like Google Glass are illustrating this point. As Millennials continue to come of age, we should begin to question how we are raising the next generation. As we continue to look at our screens instead of our kids, for those of us that have them, we are making them socially awkward in a world that is only beginning to embrace anyone who is different. Technology will never stop and it shouldn’t, but teaching the future generations how to interact with people will determine the course of society. Seniors are also being faced with this reality as technology is now performing most of the care for them
instead of their own children. Implementing these new technologies will add to the costs of Social Security Medicare and Medicaid, which will substantially increase. According to the US Census, the population of Baby Boomers over 65 is projected to increase to 1 in 5 by 2035. These are dilemmas that we are faced with yet we are ignoring them under the impression that technology will solve them for us. Ironic, isn’t it? I am not asking that we go off the grid or even to put down our devices. I am simply saying that in continuing to embrace technology, we should also embrace the simple things through interaction such as learning to play an instrument or draw a picture. Teaching each other things like these will also help us discover things about ourselves that technology couldn’t have. We should continue to embrace human interaction before we become permanently desensitized. As the first tech-generation, we find ourselves at a crossroads and only through social interaction can we determine the path forward.
The “Detachment” of Technology By Jordan Raitses
T
o begin with, I don’t see how the “main purpose of technology” is to bring people closer together. He claims this in his first paragraph, but does little to support it. If one considers the evolution of technology (and I mean all the way from pointy sticks), then the purpose of technology is not to bring about some conscious social goal, but to make life easier for the user. A pointy stick user is not attempting to become closer to a gazelle (except to consume it), he is simply seeing a need: “I cannot kill prey easily with my bare hands;” and filling it: “This sharpened stick makes it easier to kill prey.” A smart phone is used in much
editor@binghamtonreview.com
the same way. While we don’t throw our technology at prey anymore, we do still use it to fill a need. The need which smartphones fill is not one of practical necessity (most of the time), but one of intellectual desire. Yes, intellectual desire even includes snapchat. Socialzing via the internet grants individuals pleasure. This pleasure may not be quite the same as that which an in-theflesh interaction grants, but it accomplishes the same goal: stimulation. However, to debate Zachary on his own grounds, technology doesn’t detach individuals from one another, it merely detaches individuals from their physical limitations. Instead of going through the difficulty of finding
and communicating with like-minded individuals, one can post on a forum. Instead of being isolated from a distant friend, one can keep in touch over Facebook, increasing the number of connections, not decreasing them. Technology does not isolate individuals from one another it brings people more people together and thus closer together. While embracing the “simple things” has its merits, it is not inherently nor explicitly required. The “crossroads” that our “tech-generation” faces is the same one that our parents saw with the introduction of the telephone. There is change, but it is simply a new form of the same old technology: it fills a need.
BINGHAMTON REVIEW
11
College, Cynicism and Wallace’s Up, Simba
Binghamtonreview.com
College, Cynicism and Wallace’s Up, Simba By Dylan Klein
I
n Up, Simba, an essay collected in Rolling Stone, David Foster Wallace describes his seven-day experience with John McCain and the McCain 2000 campaign staff. Much of the essay describes Wallace’s inner battle between belief in American politics and cynicism about it. On the one hand, Wallace believes that McCain is a genuine leader who, when he says he will “Always. Tell you. The truth,” is saying so candidly. On the other hand, Wallace recognizes that there is a distinct possibility that McCain’s desire to appear anti-bullshit is the work of “some very shrewd, clever marketers trying to market [McCain’s] rejection of shrewd, clever marketing.” Wallace suspects that most of politics’ rhetoric is basically a marketing technique to sell a candidate or a piece of legislation to the public. Real leadership, Wallace argues, is by nature done out of an interest greater than the self. Wallace suggests that every American deals with “a sort of interior war between [his] deep need to believe and [his] deep belief that the need
12
BINGHAMTON REVIEW
to believe is bullshit.” In many ways, this interior war is comparable to an ongoing boxing match between two men over a woman. The fighting men are Cynicism and Idealism, and each tries to beat his enemy to a pulp in order to win the favor of the woman. The woman represents the American public, and the boxers are fighting for her heart. The arena in which the fight occurs represents the classroom, the office, the living room, and the media.
“College administrators today are willing to sell a dumbed-down education to students and parents who no longer understand the value of the ideal college education” This paper will examine how that fight occurs in the classroom. Many people argue that the ideals that a
college education was supposed to foster have been eroded by the drive for money, at the cost of education. A healthy dose of cynicism and deep reflection about the ideological purpose of college will help us to recognize the flaws in the current approach to higher education and fix the mistakes we have been making. Many Americans still hold the decades-old belief that the main purpose of a college education is to become educated, in that a student must engage with multiple viewpoints, often those that challenge their convictions; take classes across numerous disciplines in order to be well-rounded; possibly find a passion for a subject they might never have encountered without college; and learn about themselves and their common role as a human being in an interconnected world. Yet recent trends, such as the substitution of distribution requirements for a core curriculum, the allowance for safe spaces on campuses, and the rising costs of tuition despite the ever-increasing endowments of colleges, have caused
Vol. XXIX, Issue V
Binghamtonreview.com many Americans to become cynical about the true purpose of college, and believe that the college system’s primary aspiration is to earn a profit rather than educate America’s future leaders.
“[T]rue leadership can have an equal, if not greater effect than money on society. It is necessary to remain optimistic about the possibility of life in our classrooms... matching our aspirations” College administrators today are willing to sell a dumbed-down education to students and parents who no longer understand the value of the ideal college education. Some parents mistakenly think they are getting more from their money when they visit a college and see expensive gyms and fancy facilities. However, the opposite is true. Today, many colleges cunningly market their replacement of the core curriculum with distribution requirements, because they know that this replacement is what is in demand and a tool with which they can maximize their profits. This anything-for-money approach is problematic because distribution requirements are less stringent and can be satisfied with classes taken in high school. Colleges cater to the
editor@binghamtonreview.com
College, Cynicism and Wallace’s Up, Simba demands of the student to make a profit by creating safe spaces that insulate students from beliefs that challenge their own convictions. The final evidence that college is no longer a place where students get educated according to the original ideal is the overemphasis colleges place on getting a job and making money after graduation. Colleges, with help from the media, aggressively market the idea that every American needs a college education in order to make it to the middle class. This may in fact be true. However, the reason why many are cynical about the benefit of a college education, especially a private school education, is that wages post-graduation are not enough to pay off student debt. True leadership, as described by Wallace, cannot arise from self-interest. In this case, colleges don’t provide leadership because they seek to profit first and educate second. Therefore, today’s private college is no longer an institution for education, but an industry, similar to finance or to Hollywood. But maybe the purpose of America’s higher education system has always been to make a profit, and the only thing that has changed is the demand of the consumer. Once, Americans wanted their children to take a core curriculum and engage with peers and scholars who had differing ideas. Now, Americans want their children to specialize for a career, have access to fancy rock walls, be able to play with bunny rabbits while their peers voice their opinions to a half-empty
classroom, and earn six figures by age 25. However, I believe true leadership requires a desire to educate first and earn profit second. I also believe that it is possible for consumers to get their money’s worth and for educators to make profit at the same time. Consumers must demand that colleges stop increasing the price of tuition beyond the rate of inflation and give more of their large endowments to help pay the tuition for students who can’t afford to go, rather than use that money for rock walls, fancy gyms, and safe space administrators. Society would be better off if educators would do more to help break down the money barrier to education. Furthermore, consumers must demand the restoration of core curriculums. At the same time, students and parents should demand the continuance of good job and internship preparation in order to increase the chances of success in the working world. Americans should maintain a certain level of cynicism regarding the way that colleges market themselves, because doing so will give them a clearer picture of what they are buying when they pay tuition, and what they should be buying. Wallace and I both believe that true leadership can have an equal, if not greater effect than money on society. It is necessary to remain optimistic about the possibility of life in our classrooms, living rooms, offices, and media matching our most idealistic aspirations.
BINGHAMTON REVIEW
13
Islamofauxbia
Binghamtonreview.com
Islamofauxbia By Aditi Roy
F
or all the talk about fake news after the election, there seems to be an influx of fake hate crimes being reported as well. While all sides of the political spectrum are guilty of post-election hate crime hoaxes, liberals seem to be working overtime in faking hate crimes to fit their “Trump’s racist-sexist-bigoted-homophobic-Islamophobic-transphobic-ableist-America” narrative. Obviously real hate crimes can happen to anyone, and if they do occur they should be reported and investigated, and their perpetrators should be punished. But actual victims of hate crimes are less likely to be believed when hate crime hoaxes are happening so frequently. After the election, many American Muslims were upset by the outcome and some were scared for their safety, because they felt like half the country was against them. The mainstream media lied to them when they portrayed all Trump supporters as being anti-Muslim racist bigots, they lied to them when they label any criticism of Islam as being “Islamophobic”, and they lied to them when they reported Muslim hate crime hoaxes as real news. According to the 2015 FBI Hate Crime Statistics, anti-Muslim hate crimes made up less than half a percentage of all hate crimes in the U.S., but the mainstream media won’t mention that when they have a story to sell. Here are five of the many Islamophobic hate crime hoaxes that happened after the election. Youtuber and professional victim Adam Saleh made headlines in December after he posted a video showing himself getting kicked off of a Delta airlines flight for speaking a different language. Saleh posted the video on his Twitter, which was retweeted over 800,000 times and picked up by media outlets all over the world. We were supposed to believe that an international airline company that services thousands of non-English speakers and flights to and from Muslim countries everyday, singled out Saleh for speaking a different language. Turns out Saleh and his friend had been taking turns shouting to one another (in plain English) and several passengers complained about the disturbance, which is what actually got him and his friend to be kicked off the flight. His story was refuted by passengers on the flight as well as Delta Airlines.
1
Earlier that week, Saleh posted a fake video where he put himself in a suitcase in order to smuggle himself on a Tigerair Australia plane. Not only is this not possible, considering all luggage goes through an X-ray machine at the airport and would have caught a human inside of a suitcase, but the video shows Saleh sweating inside the suitcase. Tigerair Australia released footage showing Adam boarding the plane as a regular passenger, and stated that the temperature at 36,000 feet above the ground gets as cold as -56 F. Had the prank truly been carried out, Saleh would not have made it out alive. This moron has 1.7 million subscribers on his main channel, and 2.7 million subscribers on his vlog channel, and has a history of faking pranks for views and attention. The #BoycottDelta star has videos on his channel where screams “Allahu Akhbar!” at bystanders and brings them to tears. He also filmed himself trying to start a fight with a black man and repeatedly called him the n-word. He sympathized with the Boston marathon bombers and tweeted they were innocent. He also lied about a stop-and-frisk social experiment video, where he was dressed in Western clothes and Arab clothes, and was stopped when dressed in Arab clothes. The video was a hoax, and went from being described as a “social experiment” to a “dramatization to raise awareness” after people started calling him out. This was the man that the media decided to defend. A Muslim student at University of Louisiana at Lafayette claimed that she was beaten and had her hijab ripped off and her wallet stolen by two white males, and one was wearing a Trump hat the day after the election. The Lafayette Police Department reported that as the investigation proceeded, the woman admitted to lying about the entire incident. On Christmas Day in 2015, a Houston mosque was set on fire and media outlets wasted no time blaming the crime on The Donald for his hateful rhetoric. The perpetrator of the crime turned out to be 37-year-old Gary Nathaniel Moore, who told investigators that he had been coming to the mosque to pray five times a day, seven days a week for the past five years. Maha Abdul Gawad posted a Facebook status saying that when she was at Walmart, a woman told her to go hang herself with her hijab. The status was picked up by BLM activist Shaun King and retweeted over 20,000 times on Twitter and shared over 146,000 times on Facebook. The incident supposedly took place in Denver, Ohio where police said they were never contacted. Also, there is no Walmart in Denver, Ohio where the woman stated that the incident occurred. It was later found out that the profile was fake and the images were stolen from another woman’s profile. Leave it to fake black guy Shaun King to share a fake hate crime against a fake Muslim woman. Yasmin Seweid, an 18 year old Muslim student studying at Baruch College, claimed that she was harassed by three white males who shouted “Donald Trump” and attempted to rip her hijab off and tore her bag on the NYC subway, and no one helped her. We were supposed to believe that in liberal haven New York City, no one helped a young attractive Muslim girl
2 3
4
5 14
BINGHAMTON REVIEW
Vol. XXIX, Issue V
Binghamtonreview.com from vicious racists on the crowded subway. After several inconsistencies in her story and questioning from detectives, she finally admitted to fabricating the whole thing to avoid getting in trouble from her parents for breaking her curfew, because she was actually out late drinking with her friends. She had lied to throw off her Egyptian immigrant parents because they disapproved of her Christian boyfriend. The young woman showed up to court with no makeup and had been forced to shave off her hair by her parents as punishment. She now faces up to one year of jail time.
These are just a few examples out of several hate crime hoaxes and they happen more often than people think. A student group at Binghamton University invited a speaker from Yale to deliver a speech after the election. The speaker claimed that he had a friend who worked as a physician at the Yale Emergency Room the day after the election, and told him about a nine year old Syrian boy who had been admitted into the ER after he was beaten up by Trump supporters. Upon monitoring the local news outlets in New Haven Connecticut after the speaker made this claim, there was no report to verify this. So why are we seeing so many stories of Muslim hate crime hoaxes? According to Ibrahim Hooper from the Council of American Islamic Relations (CAIR), a U.S. based pro-Muslim group with close ties to the Obama administration and jihadist group Hamas, told ABC News about Muslim hate crime hoaxes that the Muslim community “is under great psychological stress and tension right now, and that that in itself can cause mental health issues that lead to these types of incidents.” In other words Hooper wants us to believe that Islamophobia is causing a few Muslims to invent Islamophobic hate crimes against themselves which never actually happened. It’s stuff like this that causes the term “Islamophobia” to lose all meaning. The word is greatly misused and gets thrown around to stifle discussion and silence criticism of Islam. Every ideology, whether it be religious, social, political, what have you, is allowed to be ridiculed and criticized and Islam should not be the exception. No one bats an eye when Family Guy, South Park, the Simpsons, etc. constantly rip on Christianity and Jesus. But when a satirical magazine in Paris draws the Prophet Muhammad and the result is dead cartoonists and
editor@binghamtonreview.com
Islamofauxbia employees, we obviously have a problem, and engaging in open and honest dialogue about it does not make someone “Islamophobic”. However, the Runnymede Trust, a UK based equalist think tank, would say the opposite. It suggests that criticisms of Islam are “closed views” and Islamophobic, but has no problem accusing conservatives of “racism” and Christians for “not being inclusive enough”. The Islamic Human Rights Commission is also guilty of equating criticisms of Islam to Islamophobia. The organization holds an annual Islamophobia Award ceremony to “acknowledge the worst Islamophobes of the past year through satire”. An “Islamophobe of the Year” award is presented in the categories of UK, News Media, Book/Movie/TV Series, International, and Worst Overall Islamophobe of the Year. Recipients of these awards include Charlie Hebdo, just two months after jihadists murdered 12 of its employees for drawing Muhammad; Maajid Nawaz, a former radical Islamist who is now trying to reform the extremist portions of Islam; Raheem Kassam, a Muslim journalist who committed the great Islamophobic offense of criticising his own faith and for having the wrong opinions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; and even Barack Obama. Because in case you didn’t know, practicing Muslims can also be Islamophobic. Nominees include world leaders such as King Abdullah II of Jordan, President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, President Abdel Fatteh el-Sisi of Egypt, Bill Maher, Sam Harris, and even freaking Oprah. The group labels women who have escaped child marriage and barbaric practices as young Muslim girls as “Islamophobes” like Asra Normani and Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who was crowned Islamophobe of the Year in 2006. Their philosophy is basically “everyone I don’t like is an Islamophobe”. The organization has campaigned for the release of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing terrorist, as well as his lawyer for supporting convicted terrorists and presented her with an award for fighting Islamophobia. The bottom line is that American Muslims are a lot safer than media portrays, and it is truly pathetic that some people have resorted to faking hate crimes because they want to use victimhood as a form of currency. The term “Islamophobia” is not equivalent to criticisms of the religion, nor is everyone who questions Islamic ideology an Islamophobe. We are fortunate to live in the country where we all have the right to freely practice, criticize, or offend any religion. References http://www.dailywire.com/news/11829/7-things-know-about-muslim-delta-storyteller-adam-aaron-bandler http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/muslim-woman-reported-trump-supporter-attack-made-story-article-1.2910944 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4035004/Police-NYC-Muslim-womans-bias-report-false.html http://www.chron.com/houston/article/Federal-officials-arrest-man-in-connection-with-6727623.php https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/11/10/women-in-hijabson-2-campuses-say-they-were-attacked-by-men-invoking-donald-trump/ http://www.snopes.com/muslim-woman-told-to-hang-herself-with-hijab-at-walmart/ https://ucr.fbi.gov/hate-crime/2015/topic-pages/victims_final http://www.runnymedetrust.org/uploads/publications/pdfs/islamophobia.pdf http://www.runnymedetrust.org/uploads/publications/pdfs/ConservatismCommunityCohesion-2010.pdf http://www.ihrc.org.uk/news/comment/10523-boston-bombing-islamophobia-and-sudden-ignorance-syndrome http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/charlie-hebdo-murdered-staff-given-islamophobe-of-the-year-award-10100317.html
BINGHAMTON REVIEW
15