Opinion

As We See It Opinion

Eagle the

Giving voice to Chadron State College students since 1920

Are women really safe on U.S. campuses?

No. Women are not safe on college campuses. And we never have been and never will be if there aren’t changes.

Women abide by the ridiculous unspoken rules that we’re told but there’s only so much we can do.

We only go places in pairs, always carry pepper spray, cross the street to where there are lights or to avoid strangers who could hurt us, wear the most covering clothes in our closets every day, be nice to everyone but also not too nice so we don’t lead them on and always let them down easy. Don’t take drinks from people, always watch your drinks, always lock your doors, ignore it if someone marks your car- get in and drive away, step into your car far enough away so no one can grab you if they’re hiding beneath it, don’t go with someone you don’t know well, and give your friends your location or always tell them your plans.

But even with following every single one of these things to our best ability and taking our safety upon ourselves it won’t and can’t guarantee our safety.

Compared to women of all ages women from ages 18-24 that go to college are three times more likely to be raped or sexually assaulted and those in the same age range who aren’t in college are four times more likely. And to add to that college women are twice as likely to be sexually assaulted than robbed. Of the women who are assaulted, only 20% of them will report their assaults to law enforcement, with one of the most common reasons being they believed it wasn’t important enough to report, according to rainn.org.

They don’t think that something that can be incredibly traumatic and changes their lives forever, whether they want it to or not, is important enough to report.

If you can’t read the subtext on that here it is: they don’t think that they are important enough for someone to care about what happened to them or care to help them. And the worst part is that they’re almost right. You can literally watch it happen right now.

At Texas A&M University’s College Station campus, women are posting and spreading knowledge about what they know to be happening while nothing has Velvet Jessen even made headlines. I encourage you to look this up, my article might still be one of the only things mentioning this.

The police let out a statement on facebook but are telling people not to worry about it, so it won’t create panic.

Fine, they don’t want people to panic but not increasing security on campus or doing anything to help besides giving vague information isn’t helping either. It’s putting the responsibility on women to keep themselves safe until -hopefully- you catch the serial rapist.

Women on the campus have become aware of the serial rapist and are expected to just take care of themselves and try their best to stay safe. There are videos of women in College Station trying to find pepper spray in bare aisles and locking and boarding up windows and doors. They are taking every possible precaution, but it won’t stop anything until other people stand up to help.

The women who live in College Station, are taking every extra precaution so that they can be safe while everyone else blissfully ignores what could happen to them.

We have to stop expecting women to be the only thing keeping themselves safe. Take care of the women in your life, and make them feel like their lives are worth protecting. Hold the men or women in your life accountable. Do something. Because women have protected themselves from people forever and obviously, we could use a little extra help.

As You Said It!

We asked: How do you feel about the end of the football season?

Ali Musa 22, senior, San Diego

“It was a terrible season that didn’t go how we wanted it to go. But we have a lot of young students and we’ll have good players coming back next year.” Mariah Markus 21, junior, Loup City

“Did we even win?” Gunnar Jones 24, graduate student, Rogersville, Alabama

“We’ll have a winning season next year.” Raquelle Moore 19, freshman, Beatrice

“I feel lied to, I was under the impression we were gonna be good. And if there aren’t serious changes to administration then they’re trippin’.” Jahvonte Hair 23, junior, Live Oak, Florida

“I feel like we’ll go to the playoffs next year.”

EDITORIAL

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Aubrie Lawrence editor@csceagle.com

NEWS EDITOR news@csceagle.com

OPINION EDITOR Velvet Jessen opinion@csceagle.com

SPORTS EDITOR Eben Rosentrater sports@csceagle.com

LIFESTYLES EDITOR lifestyles@csceagle.com

AG & RANGE EDITOR Kamryn Kozisek ageditor@csceagle.com

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Participation on The Eagle staff is open to all Chadron State College students. The Eagle is a student newspaper produced by and for students of Chadron State College. Opinions expressed in editorials and columns written by the student staff belong solely to the authors. As a public forum, The Eagle invites guest columns and letters to the editor from all readers. Opinions expressed in submissions belong solely to the author(s) and DO NOT necessarily reflect the opinions of The Eagle staff, its adviser, CSC students, staff, faculty, administrators or governing body. Please limit all guest columns or letters to 400 words. Deadline for submissions is noon Monday for consideration in the following Thursday’s edition. The Eagle reserves the right to edit or reject all submissions. © Copyright, The Eagle, 2022.

6Nov. 17, 2022 | The Eagle | csceagle.com Opinion

As We See It

Let’s move in together

u By Kamryn Kozisek

Staff Editor

I am the child of divorced parents who are each now married to divorced people. I definitely understand the consequences of divorce.

So let’s talk about cohabitation or moving in together before getting married.

Now if you Google the right thing it will tell you that if you move in together before marriage you have a higher divorce rate. But if you dig a little deeper you will find that this is only if you plan on getting married regardless. Couples that move in together, who consider themselves partners that are under no legal obligations, are more successful.

Statistics from the Pew Research Center, show that this is a common thought in our generation, in fact 78% of 18-29 year-olds think it is perfectly OK to move in with a partner, regardless of if marriage is in the couple’s future.

Some statistics show that couples that move in together before marriage have higher divorce in the far future, even if they are happier in the beginning.

But let’s consider that there were a lot less people in the past that lived together before marriage, meaning we are just now gathering a big study group. Getting married is a huge step and commitment, you are forming more than a legal obligation, one that can not be ended whenever you want.

Cohabitation, in my opinion, is a great thing for those that want to form and grow a stronger relationship. This doesn’t mean that you have to share a bed or even a room (even though you can), you are just living together, like roommates.

Moving in together can be a great financial decision, much like getting a roommate, you split groceries, bills and rent.

It also makes it possible for you to see how your partner handles finances, if they spend a lot or if they are frugal. Either way this might be a deal breaker later down the line.

You get to see how someone works up close, how they handle anger, sickness and when things just

Kamryn Kozisek are not going right. Do they lash out? Create bad habitats?

In their safe space, you see the truest version of the person. A person you are thinking about spending your life with. Why would you want to be surprised? Without fail someone is going to find the Pew Research article I mentioned and ask why I didn’t add in the rest of the statistics abut how married couples have stronger relationships. So here is why, it doesn’t matter.

Those statistics, which are all very close anyway, are not good for comparing if you should move in together before marriage.

Cohabitation, in this case, and marriage are supposed to be different. Obviously couples that are living together, feel like their relationships are not as set in stone as married couples do.

That is the equivalent of comparing couples that are dating and those that are married, it has nothing to do with the success rate.

Now, I know that there is always the struggle of religion. I’m sure many people will disagree with this because of religion. Religious rules do not often support moving in together.

The religious divorce rates are slightly lower than non-religious people, but this isn’t the point. Divorce rates and the happiness in relationships are not the same.

Those that have religious rules surrounding their ability to get divorced are more likely to stay in unhappy relationships.

So here’s the deal, be happy, move in together or don’t but remember the only person who gets an opinion on it is you. As a couple if you want to move-in together, please do. It might just create a stronger relationship later down the road.

My freezing cold take on winter

u By Chase Vialpando

Guest Columnist

I don’t like cold weather.

In fact, there’s words I’d like to use which can’t be printed in a newspaper to express the severity of this feeling. It’s only mid-November and snow has already shown up to the party multiple times, despite its embarrassing history of acting like a wasted toddler.

The air is already chapping hands and reddening noses. And like clockwork, the older residents of Chadron have cut their average driving speed in half.

Gone are the days of walking carelessly past our coats as we leave for society each morning. No longer do we get to drive off the second we start our vehicles. We may as well forget about tank tops and spring dresses.

It’s only a matter of time before Mariah Carey and Michael Buble escape their caves and hold the radio hostage with holiday tunes. I’m realizing now what I realize every year around this time. I took the heat for granted.

This isn’t a column about winter tips or hacks to beat the cold because I don’t know any. Sometimes thoughtful complaining can spread empathy between both the complainer and listener.

I read that somewhere and now you have to too. Chase Vialpando

However, just as Yin and Yang serve as each others’ morally-parasitic hosts, nothing can be all bad or good. Cold weather is no exception. For starters, cold weather brings a sense of unity that you just don’t get when people are comfortable.

When you walk past a fellow student in a subzero climate, nobody cares who voted for whom. If you were to see another person trudging through a blanket of snow wearing shorts and crocs, you’d visibly wince with empathy.

That, or you’d nudge someone nearby and ask what was wrong with the croc-wearer. Either way, the cold unites people.

If the idea of bonding over a foolish snow-goer doesn’t convince you there’s some positives to winter, consider this.

According to selecthealth. org, a colder climate benefits your body. In his article from the website, “5 Surprising Benefits of Cold Weather”, Chakell Wardleigh highlights some of these health perks. Not only can the cold boost your immune system and improve sleep quality, it can even improve brain function.

Though one obvious benefit the article doesn’t mention is being able to skip the ice bath after an insane workout.

Perhaps cold weather’s best quality is also its worst. Winter isn’t comfortable but it gives us the perspective to appreciate other seasons, even if they seem too short sometimes. Above all, cold weather is just another panel on a wonderful spanning spectrum of nature.

Realistically, how boring would it be if the sun never took a break?