Creative Writing class exhibits in McClelland Art Gallery

Poetry, art and expression come to serve life

When it comes to creativity and art, students at Union College are never short on ideas. Last week, a class from the English program hosted an exhibit in the Ortner Center’s McClelland gallery. The exhibit was called, “Finish Your Sentence” by the Creative Writing class. The exhibit will be displayed from Monday, March 27 to Sunday, April 9.

Within the gallery, poetry and art projects were displayed. The most noticeable, however, was the mannequin with the orange jumpsuit. The gallery was also decorated with police tape, which added to the exhibit’s theme.

This event was set up by Professor Lori Peckham, a communication and English professor. The Creative Writing class is offered in odd spring semesters and hosts an exhibit every two years.

Evan Majors, one of the students with his work on display, said, “On one hand, I’m nervous about sharing my work with strangers; on the other hand, it’s nice to get some recognition for all the hard work I have put into this class. If I can put something out there that is relatable to others or impacts them in some way, then it has been worth it.”

TikTok’s CEO testifies before Congress

Popular app’s fate remains uncertain

On March 23, 2023, the United States Congress held hearings over a potential ban on popular video-sharing app TikTok amidst privacy concerns. Since 2020, TikTok has been caught in the crossfire of the deepening rivalry between the U.S. and China.

TikTok was first launched in 2017 as an internationalized version of Douyin, a video-sharing app available exclusively in mainland China and owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. Following its limited release in 2017, it became available worldwide in 2018, following its merger with Music.ly, another Chinese social media app.

Critics of TikTok claim that it shares user data with the Chinese government. TikTok has denied any accusations of sharing data with the Chinese Communist Party and insists U.S users’ data is not at risk. It claims that all U.S. data is kept within the U.S., is subject to U.S. government audits and that data cannot be accessed by foreign governments.

National governments banning TikTok date back to 2019 when multiple nations either temporarily or permanently banned the app due to either content or security concerns, or both. Most notably, the Indian government permanently banned TikTok and 58 other Chinese apps in July 2020. India’s carpet ban on these apps was seen mainly as a political move, as during this time tensions between India and China were heightened following a military skirmish between the two in disputed territory claimed by both nations.

Shortly after these bans, the U.S. government decided to place TikTok under review. In July 2020, then-President Donald Trump ordered ByteDance to relinquish ownership within 45 days (later extended to 90 days) or TikTok would be banned in the U.S. After Trump left office in January 2021, President Joe Biden revoked Trump’s order and instead placed TikTok under investigation by the Secretary of Commerce. In December 2022, Biden signed into law a bill that prohibited the use of TikTok on all federally-issued devices. 32 out of 50 state governments also have banned the use of

At the hearings a couple of weeks ago, TikTok’s Chief Executive Officer, Shou Zi Chew, testified before Congress concerning the app. Chew repeatedly denied allegations of sharing users’ data and claimed that TikTok’s handling of data is just like other American apps. “American data is stored on American soil, by an American company, overseen by American personnel,” said Chew.

After over five hours of testimony, Americans were left with more questions than answers. U.S. Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy says that the House of Representatives will move forward with the bill that could be used to ban TikTok. Americans can only wait and see what happens next.