OPINIONS

Tuesday, sepTeMber 27, 2022

The MarqueTTe Tribune OPINIONS

ediTOriaL bOard

Andrew Amouzou, Executive Director Megan Woolard, Managing Editor of The Marquette Tribune Hope Moses, Editor of Diversity and Inclusion

Grace Cady, Executive Opinions Editor Laura Niezgoda, Assistant Opinions Editor

Julia Abuzzahab, News Executive John Leuzzi, Sports Executive Izzy Fonfara Drewel, A&E Executive Skyler Chun, Investigative Executive Emily Reinhardt, Copy Chief RJ Siano, Design Chief Isabel Bonebrake, Chief Photographer Nancy Flaherty, Social Media Executive

STAFF EDITORIAL

Sarah Richardson, General Manager of MUTV Emily Bittman, General Manager of MURadio Kimberly Cook, Managing Editor of The Marquette Journal

ODS accommodations necessary, need more action

We live in a world where a lot of people struggle to empathize with others who bear burdens or walk lives that they do not – being a different gender, race, sexuality, class or creed and the implications associated with those identities set everyone apart. But, disability is the only identity that impacts all minority groups.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, about one-third of students who have a disability while attending college actually reported it to their school. That leaves the majority of college students with a disability unassisted and their schools in the dark.

There could be numerous potential reasons that students do not report their disability. The fear of ostracization from their peers is one.

Understandably, it can be intimidating for students with a disability to get involved at their schools for fear of rejection or judgment. Although we live in an ever-evolving world, that does not mean we are without bullies or tyrants. The prospect of joining sports, clubs, Greek life or other student organizations can be daunting for students who fear whether or not they will be accepted.

Students with disabilities should defi nitely not be intimidated by is their on-campus resource center. At Marquette University, the Offi ce of Disability Services provides students with test proctoring information, disability accommodations documents and other accessibility information.

The umbrella term “disability” can cover a lot of areas.

Students with a disability could have autism, anxiety, hearing or visual impairments or a wide variety of other neurodivergent disorders. Because there are so many disabilities that college students can experience, it is important that none are neglected. Each disability is unique and intricate; they all deserve special attention.

We still have a stigma in this country surrounding mental illness. A 2021 statistic shows that 15% of people believe that those with a mental illness are a “burden to society.”

For college students in a vulnerable and transitionary period of their life, this kind of stigma can be even more frightening. The question becomes how to effectively combat this. And really, it does begin with the people with power.

Student-athletes have a unique college experience regarding disabilities and mental health. Recently, we have seen an increase in student-athlete suicides. Balancing their sport, work, school and, for some, disabilities places a lot of weight on their shoulders. It is important that schools have specifi ed resources for student-athletes.

Professors must be accepting and encouraging of students with a disability. Students have expressed frustration with their professors for either outright rejecting or expressing annoyance with their ODS accommodations. Although this is a clear violation of the student’s rights, it still happens.

Marquette must have a clear and strong stance on ODS accommodations: They will be accepted and validated. Whether students need a translator, need to use technology in class, need extra time on their exams or other resources, their accommodation and their disability must be respected.

At the Marquette Wire, we must also continue to strive for transparency.

Recently, we have added captions to our Marquette University Television segments, so that people who are hard of hearing can still watch and enjoy. At the Marquette Tribune, we have continued to expand our coverage and strive to discuss topics of every realm. We have created an editor of diversity and inclusion position, as well as a content coach, which helps us stay accountable and on top of how to best tackle diverse issues.

With that said, the work is not done. Between our society, university and student media, we have a lot of work to do. Students with a disability deserve transparency, action and acceptance – we must all do better for them and for ourselves.

Gun violence, hip–hop artists fall victim

Hip-hop has always been known for the violence that happens within and outside the music. Dating all the way back to the rivalry between Tupac and Biggie in the 90s that eventually lead both rappers to an early demise.

You would think that after hip-hop legends like them were killed, rappers would do better to limit the violence that takes place outside of their music. But it hasn’t, and now it seems like rappers are starting to die out.

Hip-hop has always been critiqued for it’s glorifi cation of drug use and violence. Often times, it’s revolved around the upbringings of rappers and how they got to where they are now. But, when those things are still an issue within the hip-hop community today, it brings up the question of when things are gonna change.

Recently, Philadelphia artist PnB Rock was killed during a robbery attempt on him in Los Angeles while he was out for lunch with his girlfriend. PnB’s death adds to the long list of rappers that have succumbed to the violence that is discussed in their music.

Since 2018, we’ve seen at least one rapper a year lose their life to gun violence. XXXTentacion, Nipsey Hussle, Pop Smoke, King Von and Young Dolph are just a few on the long list that we’ve seen killed in the past few years. That doesn’t even show the rappers who survived violence. Lil Tjay, a mutli-platinum rapper from New York, was shot seven times this past June.

Being a rapper has become so high risk that it has guys like Rod Wave saying being a rapper is “the most dangerous job in the world.” These people are entertainers. Their job is to provide their art to their fans. And yet, they have to constantly fear for their lives because they feel like a target — a feeling nobody should ever have to deal with.

The question then comes as to why hip-hop has become so violent in recent years. Some assume that rappers lyrics are a direct refl ection of their lifestyle. 21 Savage, who is known for his lyrics regarding violence, was criticized after saying he wanted the violence to stop in his hometown of Atlanta. He responded to a fan on twitter criticizing him, saying, “A song is for entertainment it’s not an instruction manual on how to live life.”

While 21 Savage makes an important point about the lyrics, there still needs to be a split between rappers’ street life and their careers. Many rappers are known to have associations with gangs. While the things they rap about are their stories, oftentimes that street image comes back to haunt them.

But at the same time, it can be hard for rappers to leave behind that street life, especially when it’s made them who they are.

In his song, “I Got This,” NBA Youngboy said, “I don’t wanna live this way no more, you know? Like, I got people who just carry on with this sh*t be-

Photo courtesy of XV

Rapper XV performs to an enthusiastic crowd at the University of Illinois last year.

cause I got us into it.” It’s clear he doesn’t want to live this gangster lifestyle anymore, but it’s never simple enough to just walk away.

The hip-hop community also has to do a better job of addressing the violence within their culture.

The violence is such an elephant in the room that keeps getting entertained and doesn’t seem to get fi xed. Rappers need to hold their peers accountable when it comes to the drama that they participate in. Look at the NBA Youngboy and Lil Durk dilemma and how it resulted in the death of King Von. Situations like this Presidential Election. What all could be avoided so easily with accountability from their peers. of these cases most notably have in common are corrup-The world has lost a great tion and duplicity, but the more amount of talent over the past subtle smoking gun here is the few years. We’ve seen the lives rhetoric surrounding them. of rappers who are supposed to grow old get their lives taken scandals, affairs and affl ic-way too soon. Hip-hop is suptions, there is one common hail posed to be a thing of beauty, but mary: the attempt to save face. the past few years have shown us the ugly side of the culture. If are accustomed to hearing the this issue doesn’t come to a resodesperate attempts to cover up lution, there may not be many rappers left in this culture. missteps – the cries for help from politicians as they watch their aspirations sink into a black hole right down with their reputations. Undoubtedly

Political rhetoric, powerful weapon

Environmental policies that propose the total upheaval of American institutions and the current state of the economy are simply impractical. Suggestions made by many activists and politicians tend to be vague and lack rational solutions.

The Green New Deal and even the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals for climate change read much more like wish lists than real solutions. They both lay out overarching goals that they desire to accomplish but appear to avoid how these goals would be achieved.

Many of these same activists and politicians espouse an apocalyptic worldview surrounding climate change, which is not supported by recent data. Not to say humans do not have an immense role in infl uencing climate change.

Humans clearly are the main driver, but the fact is we are not close to a climate change-induced end of the world. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its projection report last year which displayed potential climate scenarios rang-

Sticks and stones may break your bones, but words can break a nation. The United States is no stranger to political chaos – it’s hardly ever been without it. In modern times we can look to the Watergate Scandal, the Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky affair and most recently Trump’s “Big Lie” which claimed that he won the 2020 Presidential Election. What all could be avoided so easily with of these cases most notably have in common are corrup-The world has lost a great tion and duplicity, but the more amount of talent over the past subtle smoking gun here is the few years. We’ve seen the lives rhetoric surrounding them. of rappers who are supposed to grow old get their lives taken When it comes to political scandals, affairs and affl ic-way too soon. Hip-hop is suptions, there is one common hail posed to be a thing of beauty, but mary: the attempt to save face. the past few years have shown us the ugly side of the culture. If As American citizens, we are accustomed to hearing the this issue doesn’t come to a resodesperate attempts to cover up lution, there may not be many missteps – the cries for help from politicians as they watch their aspirations sink into a black hole right down with their reputations. Undoubtedly ing from what they call RCP2.6 to RCP8.5 scenarios.

Thankfully, IPCC points out that all extreme climate change projections are considered “low likelihood.”

The most extreme scenario (RCP8.5), which would see an average global temperature increase between 3.7° C – 5.4° C, is projected to only occur if the globe’s greenhouse gas emissions doubled to sextupled by 2100. The most plausible scenario is the RCP3.4 which would see an average global temperature increase of 2.0° C – 2.4° C. The RCP3.4 is not ideal, and humanity should strive to diminish its effects, but this scenario does not display an extinction-level event. Even the RCP8.5 scenario is unlikely to cause humanity’s demise.

These current projections show that humans still have time to implement solutions without completely altering our society and economy. The best solution to pursue is nuclear energy or rely heavily on nuclear energy until renewable technology advances or we create a more effi cient solution.

The problem is nuclear energy often has a negative stigma. People think about the tragedies at Chernobyl and Fukushima, and proceed to dismiss the evidence that nuclear energy is incredibly safe, clean and reliable.

Nuclear plants use the process of nuclear fi ssion to break an atom’s nucleus, releasing an enormous amount of energy in the form of heat and radiation. The heat is used to transform water into steam, which proceeds to turn large turbines that generate electricity. This process is astonishingly effi cient as well. A nuclear reactor requires around 27 metric tons of Uranium each year and houses 18 million ceramic fuel pellets, which produce as much electricity as 2.5 million metric tons of coal.

Additionally, each fuel pellet produces about the same amount of energy as 150 gallons of oil.

Nuclear energy is a safe and clean way to produce energy. Nuclear energy does not pollute the air but instead releases water vapor. The human death rate for nuclear energy production is only 0.03 deaths per terawatt-hour (one-trillion watts) of electricity produced, resulting in 99.8% fewer deaths than coal and 99.7% fewer than oil. Even hydropower and wind energy produce a slightly higher death rate due to accidents.

It is clear that in order to move away from fossil fuels effi ciently, we must pursue nuclear energy.

There is one issue, however, with nuclear energy. Most nu“

...humans still have time to implement solutions without completely altering our society and economy.”

clear power plants were built in the 1970s, so new plants, and technology replacements in old plants, are needed. On average, a nuclear power plant takes about a decade to build and costs around nine billion dollars.

In the meantime, the United States should continue to implement renewable energy sources when available and expand its usage of natural gas. Natural gas is still a fossil fuel, but it is the cleanest and most effi cient form of fossil fuel. Making it the perfect energy source to utilize in a transition period from more

we have all heard Clinton’s pleading statement: “I did not have sexual relations with that woman.” That was before the truth came to light. But, the true danger begins when dishonesty persists.

To give him a shred of credit, Trump was smart. He was smart to lay the groundwork for his relentless fan base to believe that he could only lose the 2020 presidential election by means of fraud.

Aug. 2020 Trump told an audience in Oshkosh, Wisconsin that the only way he could lose to opponent Joe Biden was if there was fraud involved in the election. “Make sure (to vote) because the only way we’re going to lose this election is if the election was rigged,” said the former president. “Remember that. It’s the only way we’re going to lose this election, so we have to be very careful.”

After he ultimately lost the election, the grim reality for our country set in.

Trump made relentless statements about how this election was stolen from him and pushed the conspiracy that he was robbed of the secondterm of his presidency and that boiled over into what we all know as the Jan. 6 insurrection. Where avid supporters of Trump stormed the Washington, D.C. capitol building in hopes of protesting the certifi ed election results.

There was so much harm done to our democracy in those days.

The days when a former president, who in all optimism should uphold our democracy and honor the peaceful transfer of power, encouraged his cultlike fandom to “fi ght like hell” for their country – convincing them further of his “Big Lie.”

Political rhetoric is a powerful weapon.

Trump was well aware of the weight that his words carried with his supporters. After all, the man has been compared to Adolf Hitler. We are not dealing with a genocidal regime in America, we are not enduring the ghastly acts that occurred during the Holocaust, but we have given far too much power to a man who knows how to create and control undivided loyalties. And says some extremely harmful things while doing it.

Even now, Trump persists in putting his own spin on things. Within his recent classifi ed documents scandal, Trump continues to deny any responsibility while vilifying the FBI and other parties looking into the case.

If Donald Trump is the puppeteer, his rhetoric serves as his strings.

Trump has fi gured out how to control a signifi cant portion of the nation on the basis of a “trust me” mentality. If Trump says that he lost the election, his supporters believe he lost the election. If Trump says that he is coming back as President, his supporters believe he is coming back as President. If Trump says that he hates somebody, his supporters hate them as well.

There is also something to be said about the way that Trump has empowered people to say disgusting, ignorant and offensive things in the name of “being authentic.”

Saying narrow-minded and awful things about women, claiming that he “likes people who weren’t captured” in reference to war hero John McCain and making derogatory remarks about journalist Megyn harmful sources.

An increased dependency on natural gas and nuclear energy in recent years resulted in a decrease in U.S. emissions. The UN’s 2020 Emission Gap Report points out that the United States decreased its CO2 emission by a larger margin than any other major polluting state, even while refusing to participate in the Paris Climate Accords.

Using natural gas until we can fully transition to nuclear and renewable energy is a cleaner way to proceed while maintaining economic proliferation.

None of this is to say that renewable energy should not be used. We should use as much renewable energy as possible and continue to incentivize innovation to better store and implement it. However, the belief that the United States, or any developed country, will be using 100% renewable energy anytime soon is absurd. We must continue to build natural gas pipelines and erect nuclear power plants.

The natural gas to nuclear pathway is the most effi cient way to preserve the economy and produce a cleaner world.

Jack Radandt is the President of Young America’s Foundation at Marquette. He is not a paid staff member of the Marquette Wire.

jack.radandt@marquette.edu

Kelly after she questioned him during a debate, Trump has left a legacy of evading responsibility for saying revolting things.

If there is any lasting impression Trump has made on our country, it is the tolerance for dishonesty, the praise of ignorance and the empowerment to be hateful.

Grace Cady is a junior studying journalism and political science. She can be be reached at grace.

cady@marquette.edu

Statement of Opinion Policy

The opinions expressed on the Opinions page refl ect the opinions of the Opinions staff . The editorials do not represent the opinions of Marquette University nor its administrators, but those of the editorial board.

The Marquette Tribune prints guest submissions at its discretion. The Tribune strives to give all sides of an issue an equal voice over the course of a reasonable time period. An author’s contribution will not be published more than once in a four-week period. Submissions with obvious relevance to the Marquette community will be given priority consideration.

Full Opinions submissions should be limited to 500 words. Letters to the editor should be between 150 to 250 words. The Tribune reserves the right to edit submissions for length and content.

Please e-mail submissions to: grace. cady@marquette.edu. If you are a current student, include the college in which you are enrolled and your year in school. If not, please note any affl iations to Marquette or your current city of residence.