Opinions
2 | Wednesday, August 26, 2015
Opinion | Campus
twulasso.com | The Lasso
Opinion | Campus
Letter from the Editor Trigger Warnings Abound Students encouraged to “stay connected” to campus
Katie Olson Editor-in-Chief molson4@twu.edu Welcome back, TWU students! My name is Katie Olson, and I am your new Editor-in-Chief for the 2015-2016 academic year. I am currently completing my last year here at TWU, earning my Bachelor’s Degree in English. I look forward to serving as a representative for the student body and the university. So as we prepare for a new semester, I want our readers to know about the new changes that we are implementing here at The Lasso. This year, our goal is to establish a greater connection between the newspaper and the students, faculty, administration and the community at large. We hope to accomplish this goal by offering equal coverage to the Denton, Dallas and Houston campuses. Expect to see more news and feature articles highlighting the events and accomplishments of the Dallas and Houston students and faculty. However, The Lasso will also cover the Denton community through various features including, but not limited to, entertainment venues, food reviews, local artists and alumni success stories.
While we are focusing on always improving our media coverage for the university and the community, the staff and myself are also taking the publication in a new direction. This year, we will still publish once a week on our normal Wednesday schedule. About every 4th week will be devoted to fresh online content instead of a physical print issue of The Lasso. While both mediums are easily accessible, we acknowledge that the world of news media is constantly evolving. Therefore, we want to adapt to those changes accordingly by providing both the traditional print issue and the online content at our website www.twulasso.com. Apart from our transition to bringing more online content, we want to create more interaction between the students and our social media. We want you to stay connected with us since The Lasso is a newspaper run by and for the students. Get connected. Check out our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Leave us a comment about a story we’ve run in the paper. Share with your friends. Submit pictures of your experiences, whether you are a student, faculty or administrative member. Contribute to the conversation. By taking part in your student newspaper, you help us to understand what issues you, as readers, care about. Finally, on the subject of getting involved, we encourage your input as students and faculty. If there’s an upcoming event, a feature on a interesting individual, or even
a grievance that you have with our campus, send us a message via email or social media. We always welcome new story leads from our audience. We may not be able to cover all the stories TWU has to offer, but with your help, we can extend our reach further than ever this year. As Editor-in-Chief for The Lasso, I hope everyone has a great start to the school year. Remember to stay connected with your classmates, professors, friends and your studentrun newspaper. During this time that we navigate through the semester, may your experience here at TWU be as compelling and memorable for you as it has been for me.
Katie Olson molson4@twu.edu
Managing Editor Sierra Taylor staylor40@twu.edu
Copy Editor
Matt Olson molson3@twu.edu
Social Media Editor Jabari Hendricks jhendricks@twu.edu
Page Editors
Emily Nickles enickles@twu.edu
THEME: BACK TO SCHOOL ACROSS 1. Bewildered or confounded 6. Cul de ____ 9. Rum cake 13. Church bell sounds 14. Anger 15. Give a green light 16. Dogma 17. ___ Aviv 18. Cancer sign? 19. *Higher education result 21. *L in LMC 23. “Yakety ____” 24. W.’s advisor 25. Tube in old TV 28. *Classroom pests 30. Catching sight of something 35. “Jack and the Beanstalk” instrument 37. ____ Scotia 39. Ownership document 40. Sixth month of civil year 41. *Classroom ball 43. It’s a long story 44. Fat or wax 46. Kindred 47. Resembling wings 48. Destiny 50. Volcano in Sicily 52. Japanese capital 53. *You work with it in shop class 55. *Where most of American History occurred
Graphic Designers
Chuck Greenslade cgreenslade@twu.edu
Nadiyah Suleiman nsuleiman@twu.edu
Amber Robertson arobertson5@twu.edu
Reporter
Ad Manager
Photographer
Advisor
Johnna Headley jheadley@twu.edu Tabitha Gray tgray@twu.edu
Matt Olson Copy Editor molson3@twu.edu
The Fall 2015 semester began Monday, and students are preparing – if they aren’t already prepared – to learn about a wide variety of subjects and topics. However, a certain movement stands to impede that learning with so-called “trigger warnings.” Trigger warnings were initially designed to help veterans struggling with PostTraumatic Stress Disorder to avoid events that would trigger flashbacks. They were also utilized by writers and bloggers to make sensitive readers aware of issues such as sexual assault, which may also trigger flashbacks. However, trigger warnings have been co-opted by an extreme branch of the political correctness movement and by those blind to privilege to prevent students from having to learn about anything that might make them uncomfortable. This notion is detrimental to the very idea of learning. Trigger warnings have been discussed primarily in literature classes – primarily regarding sexual assault – but can extend to psychology and sociology courses – regarding issues as diverse as
sexism, racism, homophobia and classism. Jeannie Suk’s New Yorker article “The Trouble With Teaching Rape Law” details how law students at Harvard University want trigger warnings to be included with courses involving rape law and how some students prefer not to discuss the subject at all. The problem with using trigger warnings so often and for such broad reasons is that doing so impedes learning about important subjects. Law students should have to learn about rape law regardless of how it makes them feel. If they don’t, then what use will they be to rape victims? Or will these victims be turned away simply because they constitute walking, talking trigger warnings? Furthermore, learning about controversial issues is supposed to make students uncomfortable, especially in classes such as psychology and sociology. Male students should learn about issues women face just as heterosexual students should learn about issues LGBTQ individuals face. White students should learn about white privilege. Students from wealthy families should learn about the advantages they have over students from poor backgrounds.
Political correctness and trigger warnings are not without their uses, and people who call for trigger warnings sometimes have legitimate reasons to do so. A university should be inclusive to all walks of life, and students should be aware that they will learn about and discuss issues which may make them uncomfortable. At the same time, by unnecessarily avoiding these issues, students are only harming themselves. By making others unnecessarily avoid these issues, students are harming themselves and others. As the semester begins, students should be willing to open themselves up to new ideas, one of the fundamental reasons for going to college in the first place. Sure, certain subjects may cause discomfort, but discussing the issues leads to understanding while censoring them only causes additional discomfort. Universities are learning environments. Learning is not always comfortable. Maintaining that comfort prevents effective learning in many subjects. Don’t deny yourself – or others – the right to learn about these sorts of issues.
For solutions to this week’s puzzles go to our website at twulasso.com.
The Lasso editorial staff
Editor-in-Chief
Student sensitivity a learning hazard
57. *Difference between public and private school 61. *”____ and (#34 Down)” 64. Saw logs 65. Like arctic air 67. *Digital text 69. *He’s in the class play 70. *Driver’s Ed classroom 71. Kitchen appliance 72. “The ____ Not Taken” 73. Lamb’s mother 74. Iron Mike DOWN 1. Pertinent 2. Got ready to drive 3. Healthy 4. Lament for the dead 5. Stellar 6. Place or location 7. “We ___ the World” 8. *Usually in orchestra but not marching band 9. Foggy view? 10. *____ mater 11. Uncouth one 12. Wrong 15. As good as it can be 20. Augmenting 22. “____ Got the World on a String” 24. Canceled 25. *Marker’s predecessor 26. *r in a math formula, pl. 27. Golf bunkers 29. Kind of soda pop 31. Leaning Tower city 32. *The “boot” in Geography class
33. Aquarium scum 34. *”(#61 Across) and ____” 36. “____ and proper” 38. Not much 42. Boredom 45. More dewy 49. Also 51. Declare with confidence 54. Chilled 56. Cornered
All rights reserved. The Lasso is a weekly student publication of Texas Woman’s University, written and produced by students and printed at DFW Printing. Editors develop their own editorial and news policies.The presentation of news and editorials and the personal opinions expressed in The Lasso are those of Lasso staff and writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the faculty,staff,students,administration or the Regents of Texas Woman’s University.
57. Nicholas II of Russia, e.g. 58. To a remarkable degree, British 59. I, to a Greek 60. Walked on 61. Greek muse’s strings 62. A long, long time 63. Not happening 66. Crow sound 68. Boy toy
This week’s issue
Mail Letters from Readers The Lasso Stoddard Hall Rm 311
Vol. 102 No. 1
Email lasso@twu.edu Website twulasso.com
Brittany Salisbury bsalisbury@twu.edu Rhonda Ross rross7@twu.edu
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