e: 62 m u l Vo : 16 Issue
Driftwood The Community Newspaper of the University of New Orleans
@unodriftwood
FEBRUARY 13, 2019
unodriftwood.com
Homecoming Heartbreak BY STEFAN MURO Reporter
The Lakefront Arena was loud and the crowd was electric going into Saturday’s Homecoming matchup against the Nicholls State Colonels. The Privateers entered the game on a four-game winning streak while seniors Ezekiel Charles, Scott Plaisance Jr., Tyren Harrison and Jorge Rosa were honored for their legacies just before tip-off. And of course, the homecoming court was presented at halftime. What wasn’t there to be excited about? On the tale of the tape, the Privateers are top in the Southland Conference in steals, averaging 10.1 per game. On the other hand, the Colonels are the best three-point shooting team in the conference, averaging 10 made shots per game. Unlike most basketball games, the winner of this one would be determined at the perimeter rather than at the paint. The first half seemed to have a promising start for the Privateers. They dominated the Colonels in the paint with 18 points, four blocks and +8 advantage on the rebounds. It was fitting that a senior would lead the Privateer charge: Plaisance brought five points, eight rebounds and three blocks.
Offensive rebounds were key to the Privateers’ early success because it provided 12 second-chance points, which was about half of the team’s total points. As expected, Nicholls’ three-point shooters showed their perimeter skills toward the end of the half. The Colonels made 7 out of 13 three-point attempts, which eliminated the Privateers’ six-point trail and created a seven-point lead at halftime. The intensity of the game quickly increased at the start of the second half. The Privateers reclaimed the lead within the first four minutes with a six-point surge from senior forward Charles. He, Plaisance and sophomore forward Gerrale Gates, each scored 15 points and were the offensive powerhouse for the Privateers. Despite their dominance down low, Nicholls stayed in the game with stellar three-point shooting, making 12 out of 25 shots from deep. The game seemed to be in UNO’s hands after a second-chance bucket from Plaisance and a late free throw from sophomore guard, Damion Rosser. This gave the Privateers a two-point lead with 12 seconds left on the clock. Nicholls’ junior guard
Danny Garrick drained a three-pointer with four seconds remaining and UNO needing to take the ball across the entire court. Unfortunately, a miracle shot was not on UNO’s side and the team took a heartbreaking one-point loss. The final score was 64-63. After the game, Privateer head coach Mark Slessinger said that “It was a game of runs … we had some special runs that gave us a seven-point lead in the second half and weren’t able to stretch it out. They had a great game plan and did some really good things. In the end, we couldn’t get the stops we needed to be able to close it out and get a win.” He also commented, “We got to win these games; all the games are equal whether it’s senior day or not. We look at this as a league loss and we have a big week ahead of us.” Despite the loss, senior center Plaisance led the Privateers with a 15-point and 11-rebound double-double with 3 blocks to compliment it. Plaisance said, “It was a really great day you know; I had a lot of family come out. It was good to see them, even though we didn’t get the result we wanted.” He also said optimistically, “We’re going to be just fine. After this game, we have a bye week. We’re going to be in the gym working every day. We’re not going to take an off day. [We] keep going and shoot for the same goal.” The Privateers fall to (13-10) and (8-4) in conference play. They resume play against Texas A&M Corpus Christi at the Lakefront Arena on Feb. 16 after their bye week.
UNO Homecoming Week BY JACK WAGUESPACK News Editor UNO kicked off its homecoming week with multiple events to get students, faculty and alumni involved. Homecoming week was made for alumni to come back to campus and be a part of the same clubs and organizations as when they attended UNO and for current students to show their school pride. The theme for this year was “A Privateer Movie,” which transformed the University Center into our very own movie theatre. All events were sponsored by the Student Activity Council, which provided many of the spaces and and materials. The week started with customized license plates on Monday, where each student brought in personal designs and had a license plate made. Following that was the “Are You Smarter Than a Court Member?” on Wednesday, which was a spin off of “Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?” Students went head-to-head with the homecoming court nominees in multiple questions pertaining to different subjects. Thursday brought the “Paint U” party with GLOWRAGE,
which brings a live DJ and a second person whose entire job is to shoot paint at students from the stage for the whole evening. In the atrium, students received free white t-shirts to wear while they got covered in paint. On Friday, the students and basketball team gathered to get hyped up for the homecoming game the following day. On homecoming day, sororities, fraternities, and various student organizations packed the Lakefront Arena, blaring music and playing a myriad of tailgate games. Both the outside and inside were filled with alumni repping with their UNO blue-and-white and mingling within their own clubs. That evening, the UNO Privateers took on Nicholls in backto-back women’s and men’s basketball games. Homecoming King Dame Sene and Queen Efe Sobotie were coronated during halftime. The games carried on, and even though the outcomes were unexpected, the fans in the stands stayed cheerful and rooted for their Privateers. Grace Keith of Delta Zeta Sorority tells about her experience during homecoming week.
J: Jack Waguespack G: Grace Keith J: Why do you think school spirit is important? G: I think it’s important for the college experience. Of course, people can go through college without being involved and having pride in the school, but I think it encourages a common bond with people you otherwise wouldn’t interact with. J: Did you and your sorority participate in homecoming week? G: My sorority had a great time going to the events last week. A few of our girls even attended the games and tailgate on Saturday. J: What were some of your favorite events? G: My favorite event from homecoming week [was] the license plates they had in the UC, but the paint party was also really fun. J: What would you like to see included next year? G: I think it would be fun if we had a bigger pep rally with the dance team, cheerleaders and basketball players recognized.
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FEB. 13, 2019
NEWS
Faculty Spotlight: Randy Bates BY JACK WAGUESPACK News Editor Professor Randy BRandy Bates is a professor at UNO who has devoted 20 years to his students here. Bates bounced back and tween his
forth beinstitutions in teaching career until he started working at UNO in 1999 and fell in love with the nonfiction Creative Writing Workshop. When Bates is not teaching, he’s spending time with his family, working out in the park, or catching up on one of the many books stashed in his office. He sat down with us and walked us through his journey in teaching and shared some of his favorite stories from when he was a student himself.
students. I was teaching freshman writing, which I loved, but I found out I was more connected to New Orleans than I realized, so I came back after two years and got the job at Xavier. Before that, I taught at Tulane, Loyola, and Dominican college when it was still here. But some of the best teaching I’ve ever done was at NOCCA, which is the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. J: What is your favorite piece of literature to teach? R: “I actually brought it up in class today. “To Autumn” by John Keats. “The Canterbury Tales” and “King Lear” are some other pieces that the class seems to really enjoy, and so do I. J: You write a quote on the board in the beginning of each class. How do you pick which one you’ll use that day?
R: Randy Bates J: Jack Waguespack J: How did you end up choosing to teach at UNO? R: “Immediately before here I taught at Xavier for five years. The reason I came here was because I was invited to be a part of the Creative Writing Workshop for the graduate program. But before Xavier, I had an opportunity to teach at Harvard, and it’s funny because I believe Harvard employs a lot of people who they would not have admitted as
- Photo courtesy of Randy Bates
R: “I have a box full of quotes that are sayings that just stick out to me. Once a graduate student tried to catalog it all for me, and she did, but I kept adding to it. My freshman English teacher, James Woodfin, came in every day wrote
a n d a quote on the board and usually never explained them. He helped me a lot; he kind of inspired me to want to write and teach. I’m really grateful for that, so partly it’s a tribute to him. In those days, teachers could smoke in class, and he would come into class with a pipe in his mouth and smoke all over.”
J: What is your favorite part about teaching? R: “Students. When they get inspired by what’s maybe inspiring me and what inspired the writers we are learning, that’s my favorite part. Also, the opportunity to keep reading things. I’m teaching freshman English this year, and it’s very challenging but also great to see when they start to catch on [to] some things. Seeing them grow into graduate students — we have some this year who write better than I do, and really it’s an amazing thing.”
NEWS FEB. 13, 2019 Learning from Lolita, a lecture by Chelsey Shannon
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BY DEMI GUILLORY Reporter UNO MFA candidate Chelsey Shannon stood before a packed, standing-room only audience in LA 197 on Tuesday, Feb. 5. There, she presented her lecture entitled “Learning from Lolita.” Anticipation for the afternoon talk was evident: students and faculty kept piling in until the lecture began promptly at 12:30. Shannon started by reading from a 1997 Vanity Fair quote on the cover of that year’s edition of the novel: “‘Lolita,’ the only convincing love story of our century,” it promises. Audible gasps and timid laughter filled the captivated room, suggesting some of the audience had prior knowledge of the controversial novel. The 1955 novel by Vladimir Nabokov tells a story of Humbert Humbert, a man who is dangerously infatuated with his 12-year-old stepdaughter, Dolores Haze. His obsession eventually leads to illegal sexual engagement with “Lolita,” his private name for her. Shannon summarized the story in one definitive sentence: “It is a story about child abuse and a society that facilitates it.” Nabokov’s story had a lasting influence on popular culture that “many writers only dream” of having, Shannon explained. Pop culture has found inspiration in the image of Lolita in a variety of ways. Shannon referred to examples from the music of Lana Del Ray to the Lolita “fashion subculture in Japan, modeled off 18th- and 19th-century European children’s clothing to the baby-doll styles of the early 1990s,” she said. Much of her lecture was focused less on Lolita’s cultural presence and more on the neglect of readers who fail to recognize the gravity of its subject matter. As Shannon, in her “unprofessional but ardent opinion” put it, readers have “smothered” Lolita’s flame since it was published in 1955. Readers have “failed to take the dynamite of Lolita and use it to blow up our status quo,” she said. Shannon argued that the book’s success stems from not the story, but Nabokov’s writing and “glorious” use of language.
-Photo by Demi Guillory Chelsey Shannon presented her Lolita lecture on Tuesday, Feb. 5 to a full capacity audience, discussing readers’ responsibility in approaching the text.
Readers become so engrossed with the writing that they lose their focus on the story. They tend to forget that the story is Humbert’s “confessional account of his abuse to Dolores” and that failing to read the text actively “plays right into the narrator’s objectionable hands,” stated Shannon. The story may be fictional, but it is based on the reality that many children and teenagers have long been exposed to adult sexuality. Shannon cites a 2014 study that revealed “50 percent of women begin to experience street-based sexual harassment by age 17 or younger.” Another study found that roughly 11 percent of underage girls are abused or assaulted by adults, according to Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN). Shannon noted that this compares to just
under 2 percent of boys, and that the real numbers could be “even higher” considering not all cases are reported. Shannon doesn’t discourage anyone from appreciating the novel’s literary beauty—the book is still one of her favorites. But she strongly encourages readers, using Nabokov’s words, to be a “wise, staunch and sensitive” reader. “It would be disingenuous to consider her a mere fictional character, irrelevant to legions of girls navigating a very real, very noxious culture,” Shannon said. The lecture ended with a resounding round of applause and a declaration that even ambiguous artifacts like Lolita “can do the deep, restorative work we collectively need, provided we are brave enough to face the bliss,” Shannon concluded.
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FEB. 13, 2019
Response to “Recycling at UNO” BY CHRISTY LORIO
Last week the Driftwood published an article about the recycling initiatives on campus and shared a startling statistic — UNO produces 5,000,000 pounds of recyclable waste. That number initially disappointed me, but I wasn’t shocked. It only takes an observant eye and a walk around campus during mealtime to witness the waste we dispose of every day. For students that live and/ or work on campus, long days usually mean having to eat at least one meal on campus. A single meal at Subway, for example, can easily rack up six disposable products alone: the paper wrapping for the sandwich, a cup, plastic lid and straw, a chip bag and a plastic Subway bag. And, ac-
cording to a recent National Geographic article “Here’s How Much Plastic Trash is Littering the Earth,” 91 percent of plastic isn’t recyclable. So while it might feel better to toss that plastic trash in with the recycling instead of the garbage can, the fact is that, according to a study in Science Advances, a peer-reviewed journal, of the 8.3 billion metric tons of trash that have been produced, only 9 percent has been recycled. So how do we rectify this situation, both as a community and as individuals? According to Driftwood’s original article, The Galley replaced Styrofoam boxes with paper ones. That is a step in the right direction, but the disposable boxes still produce waste. It’s hard to eliminate our disposables usage entirely, but
STUDENT VOICE
Mumble BY ANDREW CHAISSON
we can greatly reduce the amount of waste we produce by making mindful decisions. For example, I see so many students at lunch time walking around campus with Chic-fil-A, Moe’s and Subway bags. Is a bag to carry your food really necessary? If so, consider bringing a reusable bag to campus. Do you absolutely need a lid for your fountain drink cup? Better yet, with a little preplanning you can avoid disposables altogether by packing a snack in reusable containers at home. Though they seem small, little changes in our daily habits could lead add up to a big change. It’s the least we can do.
The words float out of your mouth and dissipate into the air like smoke. They leave nothing in their tracks. No one ever taught you how to speak. You must not know the power you hold inside of you. You could command skyscrapers to be built, whole armies of men and women to be fed, you could declare war or declare peace, yet you speak nothing into existence. Days pass by and you don’t even seem to care, and you just sit idly by, blowing smoke rings and watching them disappear.
A.C.
NEWS
FEB. 13, 2019
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“Love your neighbor”: Prof. Bradley offers powerful solutions to the “incarceration nation”
-Photo of Bradley by Hope Brusstar. Graph courtesy of Pew Research Center During his lecture, Bradley discussed changes and trends to incarceration in the U.S. and offered some solutions to the ongoing problem.
BY HOPE BRUSSTAR Editor-in-Chief The U.S. has the highest incarceration rate in the world. On Thursday, Feb. 7, Prof. Anthony Bradley visited UNO to discuss some of his solutions to the problem. “How many people are incarcerated?” Bradley asked audience members that afternoon. He informed them that 2.3 million people are currently in U.S. prisons. Add those under probation, and the number jumps to about seven million. “We are incarceration nation,” said Bradley, a professor of theology at The King’s College.
Between 1959 and 1979, street crime in the U.S. quadrupled, and between 1963 and 1974, homicides doubled and robberies tripled. Between the early 70s and mid 90s, the U.S. saw incarceration rates jump. But about 88 percent of prisoners are in state prisons, not federal prisons, Bradley pointed out. Legislation affecting incarceration rates typically happens at the state level. Why are prisons so full? A myriad of reasons exist. Those who are in prison just for drug crimes make up only about 1.4 percent of the prison population. “We have to think of all the variables, not just one of them,” he remarked. One issue, noted Bradley, is that most people are unaware of the many activities which qualify as federal crimes. “I’ve got bad news for you. Everybody in here is a criminal,” he said. “Over the last week, you’ve broken at least 20 [federal laws].” According to Title 21 of the Federal Code of Regulations, “To sell onion rings resembling normal onion rings but made from diced onions” without informing the customer of the difference is a federal crime. @CrimeADay on Twitter regularly posts about more federal crimes such as this, and Bradley directed the audience to it for more examples. “Why is it that some of us end up in jail while others do not?” Bradley asked. “If you look at the history of incarceration in this country, it’s way worse than race.” Although race plays a big part, class differences make up the primary divide, especially in recent years. The percentage of lower-class white people who are incarcerated has increased greatly, due in part to the opioid crisis. In general, the people who end up in prison are disproportionately poor, are not well educated and/or have mental health issues. Yet another issue contributing to the incarceration rate: “There are all sorts of incentives for a parish to keep their rate up,” Bradley said. Some police departments get more money when they arrest more people. Meanwhile, “Prosecutors have way too much power,” he stated. 94 percent of charges end with a plea bargain and therefore never make it to a fair trial. These plea bargains are officiated by prosecutors. Meanwhile, “Public defenders are understaffed, underpaid, and usually tired,” said Bradley. Also, mandatory minimums require certain offenses to receive a minimum sentence that is predetermined by legislature, not by the judicial system. “It takes away the judge’s
discretion,” commented one student in the audience. Finally, Bradley mentioned the “school-to-prison pipeline.” “Schools are feeding kids into the juvenile system,” he said. “Atlanta now has its own police force in the public schools.” He referenced an incident in 2016 where a 14-year-old eighth grader named Ryan Turk stole some milk at lunch. He didn’t get detention. He went to jail. Bradley strongly urges anyone and everyone to get directly involved in any way possible.That afternoon, he told the audience “I hope some of you become cops.” Bradley also thinks Americans need to change their perspective. “We have not only a policy problem but a perception problem as people. … Is the system treating people as humans?” He remarked that when prisoners are released on probation, the adjustment period can be very difficult. Sometimes they are released with a fee to pay for their stay there. Those who don’t pay the fee return to prison. But an ex-convict can struggle to find a job and somewhere to live. “They need a place to stay. They need an address. So, so important,” Bradley said. Secondly, Bradley recommends that “people open themselves up to loving their neighbor.” He says, “Maybe we should embrace them and get to know them and care about them.” Similarly, because most people in prison had fatherless childhoods, Bradley encouraged all the young men in the audience to be good dads. “The more time kids spend with their dads, the more empathetic they are,” he said. “Be a good dad. As a vocation, as a calling, as a job.” Most strikingly, there is a correlation between aggression and human touch. Bradley said that sensory neglect is a common reason why children grow up into adults with depression and anxiety. In one study, a group of teens in a juvenile detention center received 20-minute back massages regularly for five weeks. “These were highly violent teens with high levels of anxiety,” Bradley stated. Over time, they showed a marked decrease in aggression. “Family matters a lot,” said Bradley. This talk was one of a series of lectures the Honors Department is hosting this spring. The next one will be in Library 407 at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 21, featuring Professor of Political Science Christopher Wolfe.
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KREWE OF CH
-Photos by Brennan Probst On the evening of Saturday, Feb. 9, fans of science fiction, fantasy and all things nerdy rolled as part of the Intergalactic Krewe of Chewbacchus. Chewbacchus is comprised of over 150 sub-krewes, each inspired by different subjects of popular culture. The theme of this year’s ninth running was “Space Farce,” a parody of Donald Trump’s Space Force proposal.
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FEB. 13, 2019
ENTERTAINMENT
Musaica transports an audience with “Angels in Flight” and Brahms
-Photos by Terry Shields Students can see classical performances for free through Musical Excursions, a series funded by several sponsors, including the student government.
BY HOPE BRUSSTAR Editor-in-Chief On Wednesday, Jan. 30, an audience in UNO’s recital hall witnessed a classical performance so sweet and full of light that it may as well have been transported directly to heaven. Musaica, a group founded in 2006 by musical masters and performers from the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, had come to UNO to share some of their prowess with an attentive audience of about 70 people. Admission was ticketless; the group asked only for donations. The lights in the recital hall dimmed. After department chair Charles Taylor informed the audience that “this program they’re going to have tonight is wonderful,” Musaica entered
and promptly began its first piece, “Angels in Flight.” A work written for violins, flute, cello and harp, it was created in 1987 by Marjan Mozetich (pronounced MAR-yon MOHze-teech). Mozetich is a musical scholar who was born to Slovenian parents and moved from Italy to Canada at four years old. The piece can easily be found on Youtube and elsewhere online for free. The piece opens its first movement, “Arrival and Dialogue,” with a beautiful fluttering of the harp, then the strings wander their way in soothingly. The melody begins to “work its way up,” feeling like an ascent to heaven. This movement makes the way for the rest of the piece, and one feels he is about to be told a story. At the finish, all the
voices come together and close toward silence. In “Song to the Eternal,” a movement even gentler and smoother than the last, the music begins thoughtfully, with some quiet wavering from the cello that is eventually passed on to the clarinet. All the voices hum together, then blossom out romantically into an angelic pitch. This piece breathes life and light into every phrase. “Departure” has the most melancholy sound, though its pace is similar. There is a lifting and trembling which is sparkly yet still sad. The whole piece features long stretches of arpeggios, this movement especially. During a beautiful moment of coalescence between the instruments, one is very strongly reminded of Philip Glass’ “Glass-
works” from 1982. There is a revolving melody which spins slowly, closing peacefully at the finish. This was a brilliant piece to play in the evening. It felt graceful, like a lullaby, with just enough life to keep one awake to hear more. What better to follow this up with than the sweet stylings of Johannes Brahms? The layman may recognize Brahms by his most famous “Hungarian Dances,” which he wrote in 1869 and 1880 when he was about 36 and 47, respectively. Musaica chose to play his Piano Quartet in A major, op. 26, a piece which premiered in 1863, and for which Brahms himself played the piano part. The other instruments in this quartet are the violin, viola and cello. Everyone settled back into their seats after intermission. Due to a sudden switchboard outage, the recital hall lights went out completely, and the dark room chuckled uneasily. The musicians tuned their instruments while several music students worked to get the stage lights running again. The piece was open, fresh
and definitely in a major key. The first movement featured a warm, bright interplay between the pianist and the strings. If this movement felt like one was taking an active, solitary walk down a wooded path, the second movement felt like a gentle descent into slumber. It had a calm opening, with one line of melody leading beautifully into the next. The piece was so romantic that it was almost cheesy in some instants, but that helped it keep an energy which many other slow movements miss out on. It was well that Musaica chose to play this piece second, because it is difficult to top the sweet, elegant stylings of Brahms. Musical Excursions is an ongoing series hosted by the music department, bringing live classical music from performers all over the world. Every performance is free to students and typically lasts about 2 hours with an intermission in the middle. The recital hall will host the Weiss Kaplan Stumpf trio on Wednesday, Feb. 20, the Berlin Counterpoint on Thursday, March 21 and the Argento New Music Project on Wednesday, April 24.
What it’s like to be a student in your 30s BY MILENA MARTINOVIC Reporter “Where did the last decade of my life go?” Students in their 30s who decided to go back to school have probably asked this question more than once. The majority of the younger undergraduate student body probably can’t wait to be done with school. No more homework, no more stress or student loans — just the real world of paying your bills and having a career. According to the small percentage of students in their 30s, going back to school is a necessary step to advance the next step of their lives that they were unable to comprehend seriously at a younger age. It’s become less of an obligation and more of an active participation. Christy Lorio, 39, who went back to school twice in her 30s for undergraduate and graduate degrees, agrees. “All of my assignments felt like a chore and I was just going through the motions, taking cours-
es because I had to, not because I wanted to,” she said. “Now I want to be here and try to get the most I can out of each course I take and try to be as active as Ican on campus by participating in events.” Interestingly, those who went back to grad school in their 30s after being out of school for a decade or more may feel that it is somewhat easier the second time around — they take it more seriously and follow the general level of expectations more than when they were younger. “On the plus side, I know more about the whole process than when I was getting my bachelor’s degree. I’m more prepared,” Robbie Morgan, 35, observes. What’s it like to be among all the younger people? 30-somethings find the younger students quite refreshing. “It’s been great to meet a new batch of people of younger ages and to take me out of my usual day-to-day, forcing me to work together with all sorts of personali-
ties,” claims Ben Donnellon, 34. However, the downside may not be as psychological as much as simply physiological. Morgan feels that he is “more tired than I was in my 20s,” while Donnellon says it’s all been “pretty exhausting, as my energy levels aren’t the same as they used to be.” Lorio, on the other hand, had serious trouble with grades during her undergraduate years, but still managed to get into grad school. “So keep in mind that your past doesn’t define you,” she shares. There can be some misconceptions, like being mistaken for an instructor or, even stranger, having an instructor who’s younger than the student. Also, instead of “a meme throwback,” a real-life 1990s reference from the older student may feel confusing to younger students, as in Lorio’s case, who felt this any time she mentioned being in high school in the 1990s. It was a result of being mistaken for being 10 years younger, as most people’s expectations
-Photo of courtesy of pixabay
are that students continue grad school right after their undergraduate diploma. The truth is, students in their 30s have a better understanding of themselves and their goals. They hold a much clearer idea of what they want to get out of the education and how to make use
of the campus. Call it maturity, call it appreciation, but all of them can agree that the real world out there is not nearly as simple, fulfilling or interesting as they perhaps thought it to be in their early 20s. As a result, or because of circumstance, they’re here striving for more.
FEB. 13, 2019
NEWS
Being kinder online BY DEMI GUILLORY Reporter A new campaign to promote more positivity and kindness on social media was launched last month. On Jan. 28, Hello! magazine in the U.K. announced #HellotoKindness as a way to get social media users to participate in the movement. The campaign was created by Emily Nash, royal editor at Hello!, who was inspired to create the initiative after having her own — and witnessing others’ — negative experiences online. In a video released to announce the campaign, Nash explained the reasoning behind her decision to take charge and initiate change. “Social media can be a great place for us to connect with people and have conversations, but lately we’ve noticed it’s becoming increasingly hostile,” she said. Some of the abusive behavior Nash references is “racist, sexist, and sometimes [borders on] threatening territory,” she says. Her work covering the royal family has exposed her to behavior that has pitted two women
— the Duchess of Cambridge and the Duchess of Sussex — against each other in the wake of fans of one attacking the other for their beliefs and preferences. “This isn’t what Hello! is about. This isn’t what social media should be about,” Nash said. She went on to urge worldwide followers to join the movement and take a stand because children should not grow up thinking this is “normal” behavior. Celebrities like former One Direction member Liam Payne added their voices to the movement. “We should be promoting positivity, not hate. No matter who you are, no one should be receiving hate,” he tweeted to his 32.4 million followers. The Diana Award is a charity inspired by the late Princess Diana that recognizes the achievements of young people changing the world. They have also voiced their support. #HellotoKindness T-shirts have been made for purchase, with proceeds going completely to the charity, which also runs the Anti-Bullying Pro. Here at home, UNO students have witnessed just how toxic the
“Just to be on the border of realistic and unrealistic, I’d want to go on a ferris wheel ride at sunset.” Jaden Davis freshman, computer science
-Photo courtesy of Hello! A new social media campaign, #HellotoKindness, hopes to encourage more positive, kinder experiences online.
behavior on social media can be, even when they aren’t directly involved. Jaide Schulz is one of them. She admits that while she hasn’t had any problems herself, she’s noticed “a lot of hateful behavior” online on all platforms she is active. “Scrolling through comments, they were all negative, and I think that exists because of the anonymity of
being behind a screen,” Schulz said. What people don’t realize, Schulz continued, is that “being hateful online doesn’t change the fact that words still hurt people.” Social media users are encouraged to take a stand against what Nash calls “unacceptable” behavior by posting messages of support for the campaign. “Post it to your fol-
“To go to an art museum or making something artistic together.”
“Mine would be cuddling, watching conspiracy videos and listening to R&B.”
Quiran Parker sophomore, business administration
Jonvonta West freshman, computer science
“What is your favorite date activity?”
“My perfect date would be going to NOMA.” Katie Lulue freshman, accounting
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lowers, tell them there’s no space for hate, on your feed or anyone else’s,” Nash said. She ended the video by reminding users to think before they post, “Is it helpful? Is it kind? Would you say it in real life?” #HellotoKindness has only been launched for two weeks, but the support and attention the campaign is receiving is growing daily.
“Picnic during a sunset.. Hopefully near water. Following that, a nice walk lit by streetlights.” John Gabriel Dising sophomore, elementary education
QUESTION OF THE WEEK WITH STEFAN MURO “I just want to go to the zoo and get some food.”
“I want to go out and eat at a nice, cute restaurant in New Orleans. We could also go on a museum date, go home and watch some Hulu!” Amanda Batarseh freshman, early childhood education
“I want us to make dinner at home.. Something we’ve both never had.. Drink some wine and race each other at NOLA Motorsports.” Megan Oliva sophomore, pre-nursing
Hisbania Santos sophomore, engineering
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FEB. 13, 2019
Word search
PUZZLES CORRECTION In Issue 15 of last week, we incorrectly stated that the page 3 article “Recycling at UNO and How Students Can Get Involved” was by our managing editor, Nicole Guillen. Reporter Demi Guillory is the actual author of this article. Cheers, Driftwood Staff
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OPINION
Once or twice in my sex life, a condom has slipped off. Or maybe I forgot to take my birth control pill, or my then-longterm partner and I just used the pull-out method. Whatever the case, accidents happen. The accessibility of over-the-counter Plan B pills in recent years has proven to be a real lifesaver, right? That is, if you can afford the $50 to buy it, because that is how much it costs, even with most insurance plans. Why is this the case? According to Elizabeth Gay of the Reproductive Health Technologies Project, “The price is a result of market forces, company interest and profit.” A generic version of the drug can be bought online for $20, but who has 72 hours to wait for it arrive? Yes, even on Medicaid it’s $50. I have to admit, I didn’t have that much money to spend on it at the time and no partner to help me pay. Luckily, I went to the Planned Parenthood where the practitioner could see me that day and give me the generic version for $21, but I still had to pay right then and there, and the practitioner had to watch me take it — as if I was gonna sell it at a higher price on the street — but I guess crazier things have been done. At the same time, I could see
how it could work. I was also lucky it was a Saturday afternoon and it wasn’t busy, so that they could see me in the first place. But what if I lived far from the Planned Parenthood and couldn’t get there? What if I was an isolated teenage girl in a rural area with no income of her own, unable to tell anyone she needs the pill? What if she was molested or raped and too ashamed to reach out? What then? This week’s news of the Supreme Court blocking Louisiana from enforcing new regulations on abortion clinics — similar to the Texas law — does come as a relief, but not as a solution: it is simply a delay. If the recent past of the Louisiana abortion clinics is any indication for their future, then things are looking bleak. There were five abortion clinics a few years back, and now there are three. When it comes to the South, nothing is ever permanent or to be celebrated when it comes to the female reproductive system, it seems. In Germany, for example, the morning-after pill is free for girls under age 20, and $15 for everyone else. Even that seems pricey. Why can’t it be free, or the price of tampons, at least? Clearly, pharmaceutical companies are taking advantage of the necessity of the drug. As long as this is the case, it will still
EDITORIAL
-Photo via Pixabay Fairness and transparency in the NFL have been lost in recent years.
can control like Tom Brady’s infamous “Deflate-gate” or the Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Committee that was formed to counter evidence of long-term cognitive dysfunction from repeated concussions in football. When asked about these instances in the year that it was discovered, people were met with the same stillness. It all started in 1997 when the American Academy of Neurology published a study that concluded that repeated concussions led to various levels of brain trauma. Three years later, it furthered its research of the effects of brain trauma and supplemented it with a survey of head injuries from 1,090 former professional football players. The survey found that “60 percent of players had suffered at least one concussion and 26 percent reported suffering at least three concussions.” Years and years of continuous research on the subject has been generously funded by the NFL. By 2019, it has generally accepted that there is a link between football and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). The NFL has now doubled its pledge for research and switched from donating to external entities to keeping the science inhouse. If there was ever a red flag, this is the point where it should be
not be as accessible, even if sold over-the-counter in pharmacies. Naturally, this affects the most vulnerable people: teenage girls in the lowest monetary demographic. Don’t even get me started on the cost of abortion procedures. As long as the cost of the female reproductive health is determined by the government and the monetary interest of the pharmaceutical companies, we as a society are deeply failing.
-Photo via wikiHow
DRIFTWOOD
The NFL Behind the Curtain
The day that will forever live in infamy in the hearts of Saints fans: Jan. 20, 2019. The “no-call” by referee Bill Vinovich is marked as one of the worst cases of officiating in recent years. How did this happen? Why are we stuck with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s simple answer that “the officials are human” and praises for their “high integrity”? It’s an understatement to say that his silence has not gone unnoticed. His silence has caused many to run to online platforms to discuss their disgust in how the NFL has dealt with the issue and even went as far as host several anti-Superbowl parties. NFL sure did feel the sting of New Orleans’ wrath, with a subpar 26.1 in household ratings according to Nielson Media Research. It’s safe to say that this might be NFL’s worst year in recent years. Goodell’s purposeful deflection of the subject made me wonder if he has anything to hide. Was the nocall a result of a mistake, or was it the result of careful planning mixed with bribery? With NFL’s long history, it’s no surprise that it has had their fair share of scandals that they can’t control like players turning out to be murderers or bullies. But there have been instances that the NFL
11
Plan B should be free
COLUMN BY MILENA MARTINOVIC Reporter
FEB. 13, 2019
raised. Why would the NFL make the conscious decision to take control of the studies? Whenever a corporation decides to keep studies inhouse, that’s usually an indication that they want to pay close attention to the way the studies are conducted and have the ability to modify whatever they choose. Data from research tends to be considered most genuine and reliable when it has been audited externally. Despite reports that “of the 111 brains of former NFL players examined, 110 have evidence of CTE,” the NFL continues to push the notion that their studies are inconclusive due to selection bias since the brains were exclusively all donated from the NFL. There’s clearly a link between CTE and football that the NFL is choosing to ignore and even obstruct. Approximately upwards of $100 million dollars has been dedicated to football helmets in order to engineer a better and safer helmet. The NFL is basically unofficially acknowledging that there is a problem and using this initiative for better helmets to minimize the issue instead of addressing that there is an issue in the first place. This and other recent events have shined a different light on the widely recognized and admired football organization, a light that seems to be on a slow descent into darkness. The NFL was created for the love of the sport. The sport has changed with new, up-and-coming players added each year, but the corporation behind this change has remained dishearteningly stagnant. If the NFL wants to continue as a staple to American culture, it needs to take responsibility for their mistakes and be more transparent with fans/viewers. No one will trust a corporation that hides its imperfections or does not even attempt to right wrongs. It’s time for the NFL to speak up.
STAFF
2000 Lakeshore Drive, UC 252 New Orleans, LA 70148 (504)-280-6377 Hope Brusstar, driftwood@uno.edu.....................Editor-in-Chief Nicole Guillen........................................................Managing Editor Jack Waguespack........................................................News Editor Dylan Mininger............................................Entertainment Editor Stefan Muro.......................................................................Reporter Demi Guillory....................................................................Reporter Milena Martinovic...............................................................Reporter Christine Bourgeois.....................................Distribution Manager Kimberly Williams..................................................Visuals Director Nate Nguyen................................................................Layout Editor Brennan Probst...........................................................Photographer Matt Stennis.........................................................Business Manager Missy Wilkinson...................................................................Adviser
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