OPINIONS

Tuesday, sepTeMber 20, 2022

The MarqueTTe Tribune OpiniOns

Andrew Amouzou, Executive Director Megan Woolard, Managing Editor of The Marquette Tribune Kimberly Cook, Managing Editor of The Marquette Journal

ediTorial board

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 Hope Moses, Editor of Diversity and Inclusion

Sexual assault awareness on campus

In a perfect world, this editorial wouldn’t need to be written. There wouldn’t have to be survivors, we wouldn’t need to discuss the detrimental effects of sexual assault, and more than anything, the argument that these persisting issues are real and valid would not have to be made. But, until we live in that world, we will shout this even if our voices shake: Sexual assault survivors must be heard.

The Journal of American College Health says that students are at the highest risk for sexual assault on campus during their first year from the start of school until Thanksgiving break.

This period in a college student’s life is vulnerable for many reasons – for some, it is their first time living away from home. And although college comes with a lot of freedom and promise, there is also a lot of fear. The pressure to fit in with your peers, excel in school and get involved on campus is immense. This whirlwind period of time makes first-year college students especially vulnerable in life and to sexual assault.

The first step in helping combat sexual assaults on campus is to raise awareness of resources in place for students to remain safe.

It is important to note that if a student is sexually assaulted on campus, it does not mean that they were being “reckless.” It does not mean that they did not take preventative measures or are at fault for what happened to them. Subscribing to that kind of victim-blaming mentality is harmful and ignorant.

With that said, it is important for students to make a plan when they are going out to socialize.

Going with friends who they trust, being aware of their surroundings and walking in groups are all important in order for students to remain safe and comfortable.

But, we know that even if someone does everything “right,” it is still always possible that they will be assaulted.

Over 13% of college and graduate students report being sexually assaulted. We must remember that this number only includes reported incidents of sexual assault. Sexual assault, misconduct and harassment all occur in numbers beyond just what is reported.

Rape is the most under-reported crime, and the majority of sexual assaults are not reported to the police. And with this, survivors are left to deal with the aftermath of their assault.

Many college students do not report their assaults out of fear. Fear of retaliation from the perpetrator, fear that they would not be taken seriously by authorities and fear that they do not have proof so they will not be believed. We all must make a more conscious effort to recognize and validate survivors – whether or not they choose to report their assault.

In the event that survivors do wish to report their assault, it is important for them to know how to take the next steps.

Students can find several viable outlets on campus. They could speak with their university’s psychological services, police department or health centers. Marquette University has a sector called “Advocacy Services” where students can go to report their incidences and seek support.

Another avenue that students can take is to seek a civil protection order. This is also referred to as a “temporary restraining order” that students can file to protect themselves from their attacker if they remain on campus.

However, not all of the weight that comes with bearing the aftermath of sexual assault should lie with the survivor. Significant responsibility is left to that survivor’s community and the general public.

Sexual assault is not something that should be controversial.

If you know somebody who has been assaulted, do not ask them what they were wearing.

Do not ask them if they were drinking or if they were out after dark. It is important to note that survivors can be assaulted by somebody of the same gender. They can, and are more likely to, be assaulted by somebody they know – maybe even somebody that they love. They can be assaulted when they are intoxicated, sober, in the day, in the night – sexual assaults do not discriminate. And we must validate everyone’s survival. If somebody is brave enough to share their survival story with you, believe them and validate them. Care for them. Advocate for them. Support them. Do not doubt, do not judge and do not dismiss. The issue of sexual assault may be more prevalent now for college students, but it is a sad reality year-round for many. Do not let your vision be blurred or your stance waver: Denounce sexual assault and support the survivors around you. Effects of inflation on college students

Oct. 2022, the United States hit its highest annual inflation rate of 6.2%, its highest annual rate in more than three decades. To combat it last month President Joe Biden signed into law the Inflation Reduction Act or the IRA.

Among other things, the IRA is supposed to lower health care costs and tackle the climate crisis. But what about us college students? What about our loan debt? What about living costs? The IRA has only made it worse for everyone, especially college students.

Last year, the Marquette University Board of Trustees approved a 2% increase in tuition for this year. Room and board also increased by 3.5%. With the increasing inflation, many college students will have sought to take out a larger loan, increasing their debt and graduated students that will have to deal with the increased interest on their loan debt.

Ben Workman, a columnist for The Wall Street Journal, said that “inflation continues to devalue university education … ” Many understand the advantage of having a degree, but the cost of getting that degree will only demean its value.

Workman also says that fewer students will get part-time jobs “since the income seems so insignificant to comparison.” Here at Marquette, most on-campus jobs that are provided here don’t pay more than $10 to $11 an hour and those jobs vary from five to 20 hours a week, maximum. That’s $100 a week without tax.

And as a student we are only allowed to work a maximum of 20 hours a week so we can focus on school. Most students don’t want to work for so little, especially when we have to balance college and our personal lives.

Even the textbooks from the Marquette bookstore are absurdly expensive. If I wanted the print book for my journalism class, it would have cost me $84.74 just to rent a used print. They’re making sure nursing students in the junior class buy a $700 new textbook when they bought a similar one their firstyear after being told they’d use it all four years.

With the increasing cost and increasing debt, 44% of currently enrolled undergraduate students with either federal or private loans considered dropping out of school. No one wants to deal with the financial burden.

On Sept. 13, the entire administration celebrated the “good” that they are doing following the Inflation Reduction Act. It has only been a month since the IRA was signed and the Consumer Price Index has increased by 0.1% from last month, 8.3%. President Biden even said, “The American people won.” No, no we have not.

The IRA says nothing about solving inflation – and ‘inflation” is in the name. Phillip Lee Swagel, an American economist and director of the Congressional Budget Office said so in a letter he sent to the South Carolina Senator, Lindsey O. Graham. “ … enacting the bill would have a negligible effect on inflation … ” If that’s the case, what’s the point of this act?

Food prices play another part in affecting the lives of college students. With income decreasing but food prices increasing, how are we going to eat?

Many college students do not have the best options for campus dining. If you get the 50 swipes plan it costs $9.20 a meal. That’s almost $500 for food that is barely nutritious or even good. With that, students are left to grocery shop or even order food for delivery using apps such as DoorDash or Uber Eats. All of this becomes very expensive and just adds more pressure on college students to penny pinch.

We have classes to take, we have papers to write and we have projects to work on. We only have so much time.

We are supposed to be the next generation of doctors, lawyers, construction workers and biologists. How are we supposed to accomplish not only what we want for ourselves but for this country if we can’t afford to get the degree? Something needs to change sooner rather than later, or it will lead to everyone’s downfall. Or will it?

The British monarchy may be a novelty for some, but for many, it is a constant reminder of their country’s colonization by the monarchy and an ever-present symbol of white supremacy. Many are calling for the abolition of the monarchy. The history of England’s colonization spans over every continent except Antarctica.

At its peak, the British empire covered around a quarter of the earth and ruled over 458 million people. Much of this power was gained through systematic violence and oppression. In her 70 years on the throne, Queen Elizabeth II ruled 15 countries in the Commonwealth which were home to a combined 150 million people.

Queen Elizabeth’s rule was not innocent of vicious displays of violence in the name of the Crown and its so-called property. During Kenya’s fight for independence, the Mau Mau Rebellion, British authorities brutalized the Kenyan people. The rebellion lasted from 1952 to 1960.

Around 1.5 million people were put into concentration camps where they were tortured, raped and had other violations committed against them. It was later shown that the British made a concerted effort to cover up what they had committed. Yet we attempt to sanitize Queen Elizabeth’s reign.

Britain has been very reluctant to recognize its wrongs, particularly in the form of reparations. In the former British colony of India alone, Britain gained $45 trillion, adjusting for inflation. The Empire has made its fortune off of subjugating these people, yet it does not supply them with reparations.

Many former colonies are riddled with poverty and class division as a result of colonization. Oftentimes when some form of reparations or

Photo courtesy of British HistoryNet

Queen Elizabeth II at her coronation June 2nd, 1953 at Westminster Abbey. accountability has been asked for, they are met with deaf ears. Reparations are a form of compensation given to those who have suffered wrongdoing or to their descendants, generally in the form of money.

The Queen told Indians “history cannot be rewritten” referencing the 1919 massacre in Jallianwala Bagh. Hundreds of Indians were shot and killed by British troops. This flippant comment is a sorry excuse for the death of hundreds. In 2015, when the former prime minister David Cameron was visiting Jamaica and when asked about reparations his response was to “move on”.

It’s sort of hard to move on when you’ve been under imperial rule for over 300 years and much of your population until relatively recently were enslaved. Over 2.2 million enslaved people were taken to colonies in the Caribbean.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge went on a tour of the Caribbean in March of 2022. They were met with protests calling for reparations for the British empire’s involvement in the slave trade. Many could not ignore the colonial undertones.

The Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness told the two how he hopes to remove the monarch as the head of state. Holness said, “There are issues here, which are, as you would know, unresolved, but your presence gives an opportunity for those issues to be placed in context, put front and center, and to be addressed. But Jamaica is, as you would see, a country that is very proud of our history, very proud of what we have achieved.”

The world has changed greatly since Elizabeth began her reign 70 years ago. Yet the monarchy has changed very little. This begs the question: Why does the monarchy still exist? Some claim it’s good for tourism, but France hasn’t had a monarch since Napoleon yet nearly 10 million people visit Versailles each year.

The continued existence of the monarchy suggests that the privileged have a right to be at the top of society. It says that, with no real merit, millions of dollars of taxpayer money are owed to the institution. The seemingly ancient class divisions have not died out, they have simply morphed into something new. Social mobility still proves to be very difficult.

Kirsten Lyons is a first-year studying journalism. She can be be reached at

kirsten.lyons@marquette.edu

Banning books violates freedom of information

Banned Books Week is an awareness week put on by the American Library Association in order to fight against censorship in our schools and libraries, specifically targeting the banning and challenging of books. Banned Books Week 2022 began Sept. 18, signaling an ageless fight to our intellectual freedom.

Books are challenged and banned across libraries, school curriculums and bookshelves due to their thematic content such as violence, drug use, sexual themes and racism. A challenged book is a book that has been petitioned to be removed, whereas a banned book is one that has been removed.

The attempt to ban books is typically not done by the federal government but an entire coalition of American people on a local scale. This includes school districts, government officials, libraries, retailers, publishers, institutions and various other organizations.

Regardless of the book’s status, challenging or banning is an infringement of our constitutional right to freedom of speech. Let’s have a vocabulary lesson: Freedom means liberty. Whoever named the Mom’s for Liberty social activist group needs to read a dictionary.

The Mom’s for Liberty is a conservative activist group advocating for parental rights. The group recently petitioned for the removal of various books, including Kurt Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse-Five, or the Children’s Crusade” on the basis that it included violent content, satirical New Testament themes and sexual imagery.

God forbid we teach about the horrors of wars and the expression of shame that our country should have regarding millions of children that have had their lives ruined due to war. In the words of Kurt Vonnegut, “So it goes.”

“Slaughterhouse–Five” is not the only classic that has been banned and it is certainly not the last. Various other books include “Of Mice and Men”, “the Handmaid’s Tale”, “Speak”, “Lolita”, “1984”, “Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl”, “The Giver”, “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”, “Brave New World” and “To Kill a Mockingbird”.

“To Kill a Mocking Bird” was challenged due to the elements of rape and the use of profanity, such as the “n-word.” Hanover County, Virginia called the book “immoral” in 1966.

Censorship is censorship regardless of any moral misgivings.

Content that makes people uncomfortable demands to be learned and taught, as it emphasizes our need to progress as a society. Immorality is simply a viewpoint that we have constructed because we are uncomfortable with topics. These are the very topics that must be discussed. By banning and challenging books, we shut down those discussions.

According to the Office of Intellectual Freedom, the three main reasons for the challenge of books include sexually explicit material, offensive language and materials that are unsuited for the age group. I am not advocating for schools to give students “50 Shades of Grey”; I am advocating for students to read books that help them understand the world in a safe way.

Despite this, the explicit content in question is not BDSM related, instead, it is aimed at the LGBTQ+ community. For Banned Books Week 2021, the three books that were challenged the most had sexually explicit all included LGBTQ+ content.

In 2019, eight out of 10 of the year’s most challenged books included LGBTQ+ content. These are the discussions that must be had. Communities’ voices and experiences are to be silenced if we do not advocate against censorship.

Whether it be violent content, sexual imagery or racial slurs, these books must be taught to begin discussions of race, sexuality and a broader understanding of what it means to be human. The importance is not solely reading these novels, but reading, understanding and criticizing.

It is shameful that in our free country, we have taught young people that their parents and schools have the right to act so uncivilized as to remove opinions they disagree with and do not understand.

Our democracy belongs in the bookshelves flooded with opinions and narratives that challenge us, not in the furnaces of schools.

Laura Niezgoda is a junior studying communication studies and criminology and law studies. She can be reached at

laura.niezgoda@marquette.edu

Statement of Opinion Policy

The opinions expressed on the Opinions page reflect 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 affliations to Marquette or your current city of residence.