PANTHER
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Miami Palmetto Senior High School 7460 SW 118 Street, Miami, FL 33156 Wednesday December 20, 2017
YEAR IN REVIEW
02 Contents
DECEMBER
contents
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FEATURE Year In Review The Panther looks back on 2017 in a collection of students’ experiences and travels throughout the year.
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NEWS JUUL Duel Is the rise in JUUL use paralleled by concerns over the health of young adults?
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OPINION
17
08 LIFE
Right Resolutions A guide to help build lasting New Year’s resolutions.
SPORTS Girls’ Sports The Panther examines the disparity between girls’ and boys’ sports teams.
Battle For The Net “Once net neutrality is gone, it might never come back.”
THE COVER
On
Review 03
T
his year saw high points, low points and everything in between. But throughout the hectic 365 days, our Panther community persisted and even had some fun along the way. We want to celebrate that. Enjoy our Year in Review issue and have a happy holiday season!
Fun fact: Party City did not carry the“1” balloon for our cover photo so the “1” pictured is actually the same “7” balloon slightly deflated and bent into the appropriate shape.
A renewal in the polaroid trend inspired our theme for the cover of our 2017: Year In Review issue. Special thanks to our models Uday Thapar (12), Hiba Khalil (12), Ada Yan (12), and Jemmy Marc (11).
NEWS BRIEFS School makeover
RACE IN THE RED STATE
ROYAL row
On Friday, Dec. 8, Palmetto performers gathered to welcome Miami-Dade County Public Schools Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho and the MPSH community to celebrate the future renovations taking place on campus. School officials anticipate the renovation to end in 2020. Carvalho addressed specific concerns such as how the construction will affect the learning environment, including halting construction during standardized testing. While the student body and faculty have witnessed minimal progress so far, the school board and superintendent elaborated on bigger changes, including a new auditorium and black box theater. Superintendent Carvalho claimed the renovation will be among the largest, most significant renovations in Miami Dade County Public Schools history because of the size and expense at a whopping 44 million.
The Dec.12 race for the Alabama Senate between candidates Roy Moore and Doug Jones drew national attention after heated debate emerged over the ethical concerns regaring both candidates. During the course of the election, allegations of Moore’s sexual misconduct with girls as young as 14 surfaced, which added controversy to his campaign. Tensions came to an all time high when President Donald Trump publicly endorsed Moore. The election extended far past the Republican and Democrat rivalry and turned into a question of morals. Voters in favor of Moore excused his actions since the sexual assault incidents took place over thirty years ago. This is the first time Alabama has had a Democratic senator in 25 years. Although the election came down to the wire, Jones won with a lead of 20,715 votes.
The recent engagement of Northwestern graduate Meghan Markle and Prince Harry of England will mark the first English royal marriage to an American. Not only does Markle’s American nationality spark controversy, but her biracial heritage - Caucasion and African-American - adds to the debate over her introduction into the royal family. This engagement is a prominent example of a new generation of royals embracing diversity, as opposed to the more traditional ways of the past. As the first mixed-race woman in Buckingham Palace, social media users celebrated the engagement while others criticized it, calling the push towards diversity long overdue. Her public speaking and role as a women’s advocate for the United Nations has added a new face to the group of women inspiring young girls to overcome gender barriers.
04 News
INTRODUCING THE NEW CIGARETTE by scanning their official state ID. But in vape shops, buyers need to be 18 or older in order to buy any kind of e-cigarette. According to an article by National Public Radio, JUULs have become incredibly popular among young people, especially high school and college students. The JUULs include a pod, which is a small container filled with different flavored liquids that attach themselves to the pod that one would inhale. Although official JUUL pods do not contain the hazardous chemicals that cause diseases like popcorn lung, which damages tiny air sacs in the lung, JUULs can be filled with pods that do not come from the JUUL company itself. These foreign pods can contain chemicals not listed by the JUUL company. According to the JUUL website, a single pod contains 0.7mL of liquid with 5 percent nicotine by weight, which is approximately the same amount of the substance found in a pack of cigarettes. “I use my JUUL probably from every 30 minutes to an hour,” junior Mark* said. “I would love to stop, but it seems impossible almost. It’s an addiction.” There are many misconceptions about the health benefits of JUULing versus smoking regular cigarettes. “I don’t smoke cigarettes on a regular basis, but if someone has one I’ll probably hit it,” Mark* said. “E-cigs have been proven to be
healthier than regular cigarettes, so that’s why I smoke them instead.” According to the CDC, however, there is no evidence that e-cigs work as healthy alternatives to regular cigarettes. In addition, a study conducted by Harvard University concluded that e-cigarette emissions are a source of pollution to the environment and should be looked into for further research, which calls attention to the possibility of teens putting pollutants into their bodies. While The Food and Drug Administration started regulating the use of e-cigarettes, the FDA has not yet come to a decision on the acceptable levels and standards of chemicals emitted when one exhales an e-cigarette. Despite the potential hazards that come with JUULing, teens are still not heeding the warnings, much like the generations before them who ignored the signs that smoking cigarettes is deadly before science could provide concrete evidence. “I think everyone does it because it’s become normalized and everyone has one,” junior Jessica* said.
*Names have been altered to conceal students’ identity.
Annette Annette Gonzalez Gonzalez Copy Editor Editor Multimedia
a.gonzalez.thepanther@gmail.com a.gonzalez01.thepanther@gmail.com
PHOTO BY CHLOE GALLIVAN
Meet JUUL: the e-cigarette that replaced traditional cigarettes. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), cigarette smoking declined among high school students from 2011 to 2016. However, the CDC also reported that e-cigarette smoking increased among high school students. The sleek model of the JUULs resemble a long USB drive, making it easy to hide in one’s sleeve or pocket. This enables students to use their JUULs in school and even in class, just a few feet away from their teachers. The presence of JUULs around Palmetto has been on the rise since last year, according to Assistant Principal Karina Menendez. This has been resulting in the number of JUULs confiscated by administration and security guards to go up as well. “[Punishment] depends on the student and their previous disciplinary record. It could be anywhere from detention to indoor suspension,” Menendez said. “It’s a case by case scenario. There’s no cookie cutter response.” “I’m scared to bring my JUUL to school now,” senior Isaac* said “I feel like any day now they’re gonna start bringing dogs and checking bags.” Consumers need to be 21 or older in order to buy a JUUL from the company’s official website. The company verifies the customers ages
The GOP Tax BilL
News 05
FOR
DUMMIES Early in November, President Trump released a new tax reform bill called “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.” This reform, following his campaign promise, will include changes in individual and corporate taxes in what President Trump describes as cuts, relief and reform. “It was put forth as a way to create jobs and push the economy forward, but I think upon deeper analysis it becomes sort of a hand out to big corporations,” Advanced Placement Macroeconomics teacher Joel Soldinger said. The main goal of the bill is to enact large cuts on large wage earners and small business owners and lower tax bills for the middle class. This plan, however, has a drawback in that it would add 1.5 trillion dollars to American debt over the next 10 years, according to the Huffington Post. “It is lowering capital gains tax, the tax you get from having stocks that rich people mostly benefit from,” junior Nicholas Sama said. With the possibility of tax cuts and changes to spending, students are left wondering how this bill could affect the school system. The bill aggressively affects college and graduate students, while also minorly impacting high school students.
TAX ON TUITION WAIVERS At many universities, teaching and research assistants receive free or reduced tuition for their work. However, the proposal presented by the House of Representatives plans to remove the tax exemption on these tuition waivers. If passed, waivers on tuition would now be taxed because it would be considered income. “If you take your bachelors, you’re fine. It doesn’t mean anything, but if you plan to be a grad student, it’s gonna be harder to pay for it,” Sama said. A student receiving a $50,000 tuition
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY CHLOE GALLIVAN
fee waiver, but who earns $15,000 as a research assistant, will now be taxed as if she earned $65,000. Not to mention, graduate students working on research have major restrictions on employment options; many cannot have another job outside of their work in the university. “Kids that get scholarships will have to pay taxes on those scholarships. They are going to treat it as income,” Soldinger said. “It’s going to discourage people from going into higher education or cause people to go to college overseas, making us lose perhaps some of the best students we have.”
ENDOWMENTS Universities and colleges across the U.S. receive donations in the form of endowments that represent money or other financial assets. These endowments are initially invested to later use for hiring professors, renovating facilities, funding scholarships or lowering tuition costs for students by a significant amount. If the tax reform bill is passed, endowments would be hit with a tax on 1.4 percent of investment income. When granted endowments in the form of financial aid money, rather than the money going straight to the students for attending the school, the bill will now, for the students at the 100 most wealthy and private universities, treat the money as an income. With this bill, the money will flow into Washington in the form of taxes.
NO MORE DONATIONS? The bills in both the House of Representatives and the Senate would revoke the law currently allowing for an 80 percent deduction of donations to universities, given for specific beneficial privileges such as valuable seats at sporting events. This would lead to colleges having to take out a standard deduction, of less than 80 percent, reducing the amount of flexible
money that the universities can take out of these donations. Donations would sharply decline due to the purchase of season tickets resulting from the change in tax deductions. This could prove detrimental to sports teams who rely on these donations for ticket sales and media deals as well as their athletic endeavors.
EFFECTS ON HIGH SCHOOL Money from state and local governments account for about 90 percent of the funding for public schools, according to The New York Times. The enactment of this bill would significantly cut the current deduction each state can put on their state and local taxes, leading to cuts in programs providing food, healthcare and financial assistance to low-income families. “It could affect high schools in the sense that they are going to receive less federal money, because it adds 1.5 trillion to the deficit,” Soldinger said. “It’s sort of a double whammy for the poor and less fortunate because they will be getting more taxes and then their services get cut.” In addition, teachers will now be forced to pay for class supplies out of their own pocket. “As an economics teacher, we talk about economic growth. Everyone wants our economy to do better, but education is one of the biggest factors that moves our economy forward,” Soldinger said. “It doesn’t make sense to be sort of hostile to education when you want more for our economy.”
Natalie Askowitz Copy Editor
n.askowitz.thepanther@gmail.com
06 News
M DERN
GREEK TRAGEDY of philanthropies that help out the community, not only in Tallahassee but all over the country, all over the state.” This is not FSU’s first suspension of Greek life in response to fraternity hazing activities; according to the Tallahassee Democrat, in Feb. 1993, officers found 20-year-old Charles Olive in the Kappa Alpha fraternity house basement unresponsive and with a blood alcohol content four times the legal limit, leading to the suspension of the KA order on campus. Lee Elmslie, whose son Spencer is a member of FSU’s Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, says that the way fraternities operate on campus concerns him. “[Phi Gamma Delta] did their community service. They are respectable but they’re wild,” Elmslie said. “I’ve been in [Spencer’s] house. It’s just like when I was at Auburn. It’s wild.” Elmslie joined Auburn University’s Sigma Pi fraternity when he studied there from 1985 to 1989. According to him, fraternities have always acted this way. “I don’t think it’s different. I just think media coverage is more intense than it was back in the day,” Elmslie said. “We didn’t have social media. You didn’t have people taking pictures at parties and stuff. You’re seeing what’s going on whereas back then it was easier to keep stuff under wraps. But it’s the same gig that’s gone back to the 60s since my dad was at NC State. It’s cultural.”
However, Elmslie does see a lack of self-regulation amongst fraternities today. “We were our own governing body. If somebody did something really stupid, we threw them out,” Elmslie said. “I think there’s definitely ways to fix it. When I was [at Auburn] we had a widow that lived in the house. We had an adult 24/7 in the house. I think that was a very important measure to have. It just makes sense. Having an adult in the house at all times that’s not drinking couldn’t hurt.” Atkins says he understands FSU’s decision to suspend Greek activities. “Given the situation, I believe [the suspension of Greek life on campus] was appropriate, but I feel like it should end soon and it should be back to normal pretty soon, judging by the precedents of other schools,” Atkins said. “There is gonna be a new set of standards for all the rules and guidelines that are put forth for all of Greek life. I feel like every fraternity is going to make strides to follow them. It’s going to be a better situation when all this is over.”
Jack Cruz Avarez
Online Managing Editor
j.cruzalvarez.thepanther@gmail.com
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY CHLOE GALLIVAN
Since Nov. 6, Florida State University fraternities and sororities have been under indefinite interim suspension following the Nov. 3 death of 20-year-old and first-year transfer student Andrew Coffey. According to Tallahassee Police Chief, Michael DeLeo, investigators suspect Coffey died due to binge drinking while pledging Pi Kappa Phi fraternity. FSU President John Thrasher said in his statement announcing the suspension that fraternities and sororities must strive to achieve a “new normal” on campus before the suspension can be lifted. FSU is one of multiple U.S. colleges and universities to suspend Greek life on campus following similar events. Pennsylvania State, Louisiana State and Texas State Universities all suspended Greek activities following alcohol-related deaths of pledges at fraternities. However, some Greek activities, like council and chapter meetings have resumed at FSU with permission and supervision from the university’s Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life. Freshman transfer student at FSU, David Atkins, thinks the suspension will end by next year’s fall semester. Atkins entered the fraternity Sigma Alpha Epsilon before the suspension and says that SAE’s new member process did not involve any dangerous hazing activities. “I think that there’s way more good than there is bad, just the good goes more unnoticed than the bad,” Atkins said. “Every fraternity does a number
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How to stick to your new year's resolution 1. Be reasonable 2. Stay specific Unrealistic expectations for resolutions can lead to feelings of unfulfillment and an overwhelming todo list. Vowing to go to the gym every day may fall flat by the second week of January; it just happens. Instead, be honest with yourself. If exercising is not your thing, start slow. According to the American Psychological Association, forming healthy and manageable habits will better equip an individual to reach long term goals. Resolutions should be both sustainable and reasonable to last the whole year.
Very Well, a website providing wellness information from health professionals, suggests to construct an achievable and detailed resolution. Begin with a defined, specific goal. For instance, vowing to put the phone away before 10 p.m. has more structure than simply promising to spend less time on the phone. The specific time sets the guidelines for one to precisely carry out the goal. On the other hand, vague resolutions can be pushed off; saying “I will get off my phone eventually” almost never works.
3. Find support 4. Brush off your knees The APA recommends that you share your resolution with family and friends as an incentive to stick with it. As the new year begins, it is helpful to have your peers become your personal cheerleaders or even join in on your resolution. Studying with friends and reading Hamlet in funny voices sounds way more fun than quietly reading the book on your own. All of the sudden, the seemingly tedious task of aiming for an “A” in English class morphs into an exciting activity.
Yes, you will inevitably fall off the horse. PsychCentral, a mental health resource website, confirms this. But do not beat yourself up about it because it is completely normal. So what if you discarded your diet and ate a large popcorn and drank two slushies while at the movies? It does not mean that your resolution to eat healthier is wrecked. Dust yourself off. Your goal can still prevail. All you have to do is bounce back faster than you fell and keep your spirits high.
Sabrina Catalan Copy Editor
s.catalan.thepanther@gmail.com
PHOTO BY MARLOWE STARLING
8 Life
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Feature 11
2017
As the year comes to a close, the season compels families, friends and classmates alike to reflect on the the ups - and downs - of the 12 months behind us. Our nation and our school has witnessed the domino effects of a single presidential election, a hurricane that created ripples of destruction to our homes and our neighbors in the Caribbean, and the first pile of rubble from the new reconstruction of our school. The Panther proudly brings Palmetto a collection of the stories from our student body and staff that made 2017 one to remember - that brought people together rather than tearing them apart.
“D mu we ico it’s tim Ih DJ mo is l 11,
12 Feature
Katherine Signori
(11)
“My dad and I were in the Basilica du Sacre-Coeur in Paris, France and [we] had climbed up 300 steps to get to the top where you can see all of Paris. When we were at the top we were both looking out and I saw my dad looking out and I was like ‘oh my god take my picture’ so I got my picture taken. It was so cool because before you go into the actual church itself there are people singing and trying to get donations so it really sets the mood because even from the top you can hear the people singing from below. It was amazing to be able to see all of France like downtown and the Eiffel Tower and it was just beyond beautiful.”
(10)
Gwyneth Williams “My dad was born and raised in Wales, so every summer we go there for a couple weeks to visit family. One day we went on a hike and found this super secluded beach surrounded by huge rocks. We were skipping rocks and climbing the boulders and that’s when this picture was taken [in August]. It’s always amazing to go back to his country because it reminds us of how much work he had to put into leaving the place he loved and coming to America for college. He is always so calm and happy when he goes back to see his hometown. It’s great because I know my siblings [and I] will be able to show Wales to our families in the future and hopefully they’ll love it as much as we do!”
(12)
Dylan Weingarden “That is my community service project that I am participating in that is called achieve Miami. We mentor kids two Saturdays a month at Goulds Elementary. I am with my little buddy Ghandi and we were reading a book together so I could later ask him questions and delve into how he understood the book and improve his literacy. This experience allows me to realize that I make an impact on these kids and they really look up to me and I am able to further their education.”
“Don’t ask me why I was sweating that much. I was [music mixing] my friends wedding. He invited me down [to Mexico]. We were in a city called Tulum, it’s [on] the Mayan Riviera. [I DJ] a few times a month, but this was the first time I had ever traveled out of the country to DJ. I have traveled out of the state, but mostly for friends. Most of the stuff I do is locally. The wedding was November 11, just a month ago.”
(12)
Alyssa Sanchez
MACROECONOMICS TEACHER Joel Soldinger
“Over spring break of my junior year, a team from my church and I went to Quito, Ecuador on a mission trip. Everyday on the trip, we would go to the local school there and spend time with the kids. Honestly, this was my favorite part because it truly opened my eyes to how happy these kids could be, despite how little they have.”
(11)
Julia Damski Mackenzie Farkas
(10)
“I was on a community service trip in Cusco, Peru called Service In the Sacred Valley from July 14-27 and that day we were building houses for these families in the village of the mountains. During our break we went to the school at the top of the mountain and played with the kids. I learned about the world and I got to practice my Spanish and it just really made me realize that there is more outside of just my world. We also went to Machu Picchu on that trip and we got to hike the Inca Trail so that was really cool too.”
PHOTOS COURTESY OF MPSH STUENTS INFORMATION COURTESY OF CAMILA MYERS AND MIA ZALDIVAR
“I was in Costa Rica for a few weeks this summer where I stayed with a host family, took classes to practice Spanish, and volunteered at a local daycare for kids. That day I took a bus with my friends from all around the world to a zip-lining park in the north, and we went through a course of about a dozen ziplines until we got to that last one, which they called ‘the superman.’ There was a lot of anticipation leading up to it because I had to lie down flat on a platform and they put this crazy harness on, and then I was off, flying above the mountains. The whole time I was in awe at the view below me. The feeling was exhilarating and really embodied the whole mentality of ‘pura vida’ they have in Costa Rica.”
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THE PANTHER 20 APRIL 2015
Sports 17
HERE’S THE CATCH
THE DISPARITY BETWEEN BOYS AND GIRLS SPORTS Point guard Shannon Faradji dribbles the ball towards the basket. Her other teammates fight to stay open as she nears the three point line. She scans the sea of blue jerseys that surround her as the seconds beat down on the clock. She pulls back and shoots. The ball leaves her fingertips as she watches it soar into the air. Anticipation is the only emotion Faradji can feel until the ball gets nothing but net and the buzzer beater goes off. She cheers with victory, imagining the crowd going wild with excitement. She then turns her attention to the bleachers. The stands are relatively empty except for the parents that are there to watch their children play and the occasional student that is there to cheer on the team. Faradji believes that this predicament plays on the idea that men’s athletics dominate women’s. “I think girl’s sports in general, not just at Palmetto, no one really cares about,” Faradji said. “People just see men’s sports as more interesting.” This notion that Faradji mentions is seen widely throughout many women’s sports, ranging from high school to college and even to professional teams. “If you look at professional women’s soccer you can see that they’re paid way less than men are,” Faradji said. “Maybe not because they’re women but because men’s teams have more sponsors and more of a fan base so they have enough money coming in to have higher salaries.” Professional women soccer players make only around forty percent of what their male counterparts make, according to TIME. “Pro women soccer players perform better than the men at times, so to say that women’s sports aren’t interesting is ridiculous,” Palmetto girl’s varsity soccer player Alexandra Brand said.
In 2015, the U.S women’s soccer team won their third World Cup, whereas the men have not made it past the quarter finals since 1930. So why are people more interested in attending men’s sporting events and why is this still an issue even though women have progressed so much in society? “I think as a society we’ve all grown up with this mindset that we’re supposed to stay confined to what’s normal for girls or guys to do,” Faradji said. “It’s been ingrained in us to see athletics as something a guy does so people are automatically more interested just because that’s what we’ve seen our whole lives.” When it comes to professional women’s sports, the answer lies in what women’s athletics badly lacks: fans Support is the biggest thing when it comes to fixing this situation. Acknowledging that there is an issue—not just on a high school level, but on a professional level—is the first step to ensuring that women athletes who have just as much talent and ambition as male athletes are treated equal. “I want to be seen as ambitious and motivated and talented,” Faradji said. “I want to be seen as equal.”
Virginia Boone
Multimedia Editor
v.boone.thepanther@gmail.com
PHOTO COURTESY OF YOLY VELAZQUEZ
18 Sports
DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE, SAME GOAL
Sporting events have vastly different meanings and levels of importance to individuals. For some, attending a game is a riveting experience, and the ability to share that feeling with friends and fellow fans can create the hype that motivates sports enthusiasts. For others, opening up Snapchat or Instagram is far more exciting than watching Giancarlo Stanton slide into home base. The stereotypical dedicated sports fans are known for their die-hard and passionate support of the teams they love. “Every game is beautiful in its own way. With baseball, it’s the sound of the ball hitting the bat. With football, especially college level football, it’s the dedication of every single fan,” sophomore Madeline Wise said. “Being at any game, whether it’s professional, collegiate or high school, I get to be a part of what a single athlete has worked for his or her entire life.” For sophomore Sebastian Cardozo, attending Palmetto sports games in particular is not solely to support the school, but rather, the players. “I enjoy going to our school’s football games because I know that when I play, the fans really are a big factor in the way you play, so I try my best to cheer on our players,” Cardozo said. Sports games can also serve as a bonding experience between friends and family who all love to observe sports. “I enjoy attending football and baseball games primarily because I get to
spend time with my dad. Every time we go to a game it’s solely ‘daddy-daughter time,’ even if we’re paying more attention to the game than we are to each other,” Wise said. Fans are often athletes themselves, another factor that fuels the love they have for sports. With this sense of community and family, sports players relate to the athletes and teams they love and watch. “Being on a team gives me a strong sense of family,” Wise said. “I see my teammates as sisters. There’s not one person that I don’t feel comfortable with on either of my teams.” Wise plays for the girls Palmetto varsity soccer team, as well as for Cutler Ridge Soccer Club. Cardozo also plays Palmetto boys varsity soccer, and on a club team called the Coral Estates Strikers. “My teammates are considered family because we play each game as a unit. [We] win together, [and] lose together,” Cardozo said. Though the massive world of sports often seems to captivate the entire country, not everyone is a devoted fanatic. “I like watching basketball and soccer because the rules are easy to understand, and personally, they’re more entertaining. Aside from that I don’t really find [sports] interesting,” sophomore Lya Lauture said.
Others completely avoid attending sporting events or watching them broadcasted on television, like sophomore Abdul Ali Khan. “I believe that sports are a waste of time and resources and are a pathetic cultural tradition that puts athletes on a pedestal, which is something that should be frowned upon in our modern-day society,” Khan said. Instead, non-sports fans immerse themselves in other activities that allow them to delve into their passions and experience a similar feeling of “family” and “team,” despite not being dedicated sports fans or athletes. “I go to Catholic youth group at St. Louis Catholic Church, because it feels like a family and I’m able to make friendships with people that have the same interests and faith as me. It’s like a community that I can go to that’s not my school or family,” Lauture said. Some consider the time spent viewing a sports game unproductive. “I believe our time can be better spent tutoring people, or helping educate the population rather than making them excel physically, as their education helps further humanity itself,” Khan said. While the word “team” immediately leads to the thought of sports, not every team wears jerseys.
Allison Strasius Staff Writer
a.strasius.thepanther@gmail.com
Opinion 19
B E H I N D T H E S C E N ES tHE PROBLEM WITH SEPARATING THE ART FROM THE ARTIST
Since the beginning of October, America has become submerged in a tidal wave of sexual assault allegations towards popular figures in the media which have revealed the abhorrent behavior of certain individuals. Among the accused are renowned names like Harvey Weinstein, Louie C.K., Kevin Spacey, Steven Seagal and dozens more. In the past two months, over thirty famous Hollywood power players have been accused of sexual assault, with new allegations coming out nearly every day. So does this mean that nobody can watch any of their work with a clear conscience? Should a viewer feel bad for watching Kevin Spacey in House of Cards, or for laughing at Louis C.K.’s stand-up? Viewers who do not support the real life actions of the accused, but who still watch their content, inadvertently encourage the system that gave the accused the power to commit these acts for years without repercussions. By watching their work, the viewer shows the accused that any wrongful actions are not only dismissable, but inconsequential, in comparison to the context of their work. It shows that people will consume their content regardless of what happens off screen. This encourages these abusers to continue their wrongful behavior, because if viewers continue to watch, these men will remain employed and powerful. Media giants do not care if their big name players are sex
offenders; they only care if they can still keep making money, which is why people like Woody Allen still have a career despite many sexual abuse allegations. The lack of repercussions for famous men in Hollywood perpetuates the rape culture which claims so many victims and allows predators like Harvey Weinstein to continually sexually assault actresses and still manage to rake in millions and have a successful career. This power is the reason Weinstein, Spacey and other big names were able to escape unscathed by the media for so long. Their misconduct has been affecting women and men for years, but, until now, victims did not feel safe enough to come forward. This is because of the power these men have in the industry. For instance, Brit Marling, one of Weinstein’s accusers, said, “What could I do? How not to offend this man, this gatekeeper, who could anoint or destroy me?” The power that these men hold in the industry is what protected them. It is what silenced every victim. By not watching the content they create, that power is taken away. By refusing to support them in any way, companies will be less likely to work with them and then there will be actual repercussions to the men in Hollywood who sexually assaulted these women and men, excusing it as just “a part of the job.” The truth is, at the end of the day, these men are still very wealthy. The people that
are hurt the most by watching the abuser’s films are all the victims of the abuse. According to the Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network, one out of every six American women has been a victim of rape in her lifetime, meaning that most people, whether they are aware of it or not, know and interact with victims of sexual abuse every day. When someone watches the content of an alleged abuser they are telling that person that they know what the victims suffered through, but that knowledge still isn’t enough to get them to stop watching their favorite show. With the consistent stream of allegations that are still being made in the news on a daily basis, it is likely that there will not be an end to this any time soon. Because of this it is important to understand what repercussions are associated with watching films made by an abuser; it is not about having movies taken away. It is about showing support for the victims abused by the person who made that movie. Rather than giving positive attention to these men, the attention should shift to all the brave men and women who are coming out with their stories of abuse.
Garrett Livingston Opinion Editor
glivingston.thepanther@gmail.com
20 Opinion
battle for the net 124,000+
61%DEMOCRATS
FAVOR NET NEUTRALITY
CALLS WERE MADE TO
CONGRESS
IN SUPPORT OF NN
2 MILLION+
E-MAILS WERE SENT TO THE FCC
SUPPORTING NET NEUTRALITY
GOP 72% VOTERS
SUPPORT NET NEUTRALITY INFOGRAPHIC BY MIA ZALDIVAR
The infinite knowledge the internet carries can be potentially manipulated and sold without laws to protect it. Net neutrality laws guard against that. Net neutrality is the concept that--no matter how users access the internet--all content can and will be available to them at the same rate and speed as any other piece of content. No websites can receive preferential treatment from internet service providers while every corner of the internet remains equally accessible. Political and social movements depend on the open internet to carry their mission across to the public. Without protection, ISPs with an axe to grind can stifle the voices of millions. Especially for people of color, women, the impoverished and people of other marginalized communities whose voices are routinely silenced in politics and social justice, the open internet represents a way for people to gather people for their cause. Every voice has an equal opportunity to be heard and reached. The internet is an indispensable part of everyday life. In millions of jobs, in businesses and at school, a person simply cannot get by without a connection. So what happens to the people who cannot pay for the fast lanes? For the students who need to do research on a paper, or turn in homework online but cannot afford to pay ISPs extra for a better connection? The poor lose out, again. Even further, ISPs can block anything they want, such as porn and Youtube, while businesses like Starbucks, Panera and even airports could be barred from offering free wifi. Companies such as Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and Comcast all favor an internet where they can control what you see and what you do not
see, who is heard and who is silenced, what information becomes available and what is kept covered up. Corrupt governments and powerful individuals thrive off of the withholding of information. The abandonment of net neutrality laws leaves Americans victims of crony capitalism, an economy that allows for preferential regulation based on mutually beneficial relationships between government officials and business moguls. The new head of the Federal Communications Commission, Ajit Pai no doubt formed his opposition to net neutrality from his work as a former Verizon lawyer. Under the Trump administration, Republican Pai was elected with a platform centered on pulling the plug on all net neutrality laws and giving ISPs complete access to what users can and cannot access, according to Reuters. For example, if a Verizon user prefers to research on Google rather than Yahoo, Yahoo could not pay Verizon to block or slow down Google. Before the Obama era laws passed, ISPs could stunt competitors growth by causing them to malfunction, and they took full advantage of those laws. In 2011, Verizon, Sprint and AT&T blocked an app called Google Wallet. It directly competed with a wallet app that all three had put out called Isis, according to CNN Money. The three decided to stop the similar app from working, in a likely effort to favor its own app to supercede the others. Small business owners rely on the open internet to launch their products and create markets on a level playing field. Without net neutrality, large companies will get priority over
smaller companies, making it extremely hard for smaller businesses to get ahead. Without net neutrality, the next Google may never take off. This type of suppression becomes a problem in the public. Pharmaceutical companies could pay ISPs to block news of cure for a specific illness, or a cheaper medicine. A corrupt official in power or extremely wealthy individual or corporation could create a news climate filled with propaganda and lies to boost their image or agenda. Net neutrality laws prohibit ISPs, such as Verizon, AT&T and Comcast from slowing down or blocking users access to online content. Before the landmark 2015 FCC decision to keep the internet a “public utility,� ISPs legally charged customers for better connections to certain websites and content. The rest of the internet content was designated to the second tier web connection, a strategy that benefits only ISPs. The biggest online service providers, such as Netflix, Amazon or Google, would have to cough up extra money to the ISPs, and consumers would pay more money for lousier internet service and only a handful of web content readily available. The greatest gift Pai gave to Verizon was to hand them--and all ISPs-the right to make that same internet climate a possibility once again. The infinite knowledge of the internet could be exploited and sold to propel the agenda of someone else. Now, since net neutrality is gone, it might never come back.
Allessandra Inzina Feature Editor
a.inzina.thepanther@gmail.com
THE NEW AMERICAN
Opinion 21
CHRISTMAS
One does not have to take “Christ” out of Christmas to enjoy the holiday as a nonChristian. Hypocritical? Cultural appropriation? Neither. It’s celebration. With eggnog pouring and jingle bells ringing, any family can absorb the love and happiness embedded in the holiday season. As modernity ensues, the tradition of celebrating Jesus’s birthday has come a long way, from celebrating the birth of a baby in a manger to using his birth as a justification to binge-eat snickerdoodles in front of a fireplace. While the holiday is rooted in Christianity, it branched out and became part of the lives of many who have little to no faith affiliated with the religion. To non-Christians, Christmas is not about midnight mass and praise or reflection, but rather gift giving, family, music and love. And there’s nothing wrong about that. Even those in strong disbelief over the premise of religion find reasons to celebrate the most wonderful time of the year. The idea of gathering with loved ones and purely enjoying each other’s company is incentivizing enough to partake in holiday ordeals. But some become—for lack of a better visual—religiously territorial; the idea of atheists polluting the history of Christian tradition offends certain
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY MIA ZALDIVAR
Christian individuals. Because, after all, doesn’t Christmas belong to the Christians? Not exactly. It did not happen in one swift atheismwins-the-holiday sort of standoff, actually. But overtime, as the holiday evolved, so too did its celebrators. Non-religious individuals embraced Christmas just as Christmas embraced them. Soon, Christmas trees appeared more publically, reds, greens and whites decorated December and all its splendor and the holiday became a sort of American cultural norm. Yet, as the celebration broadened and surfaced to the forefront of public endeavors, an unequal parallel appeared between the Christmas tree and Christmas itself. The seemingly innocent pine tree attracted its fair share of commentary because of its perceived linkage to faith. While pine trees have evidently served as a symbol of Christmas, they are never addressed in the Bible. Rather, the Bible incorporates a concept of idolatry--of praising physical objects as a god. Because the Christmas tree serves as a social symbol--seeing as though it surfaced long after the Bible was written, and therefore did not originate in the foundation of the Christian faith--its at large public display should not be deemed appropriation of religious traditions.
Christmas has developed into an allencompassing American holiday, where 81 percent of non-Christians celebrate it, according to Pew Research. But even more telling, the study found, is that 87 percent of “religiously unaffiliated” individuals celebrate Christmas, too. This means people who identify as atheist-those who do not believe in any god--find it easy enough to partake in the historically religious event, further implicating that the holiday’s unavoidability and heavy presence in the American life reaches nearly everyone. Beyond the faith aspect of the holiday lays a vast land of Christmas ordeals that we can all enjoy. The end-of-year sales, twinkling lights lining suburban streets and Freeform’s 25 Days of Christmas specials sure do end the year with a bang. Turn on Frank Sinatra (he arguably sings the best holiday songs), heat up some hot cocoa and embrace Christmas for everything that you want it to be. Love, laughter and family have no religion.
Morgan Elmslie Senior Copy Editor
m.elmslie.thepanther@gmail.com
A FAREWELL TO... MIXTAPES The cassette’s popularity died almost immediately after its peak in the 1980s, long before any of us were even born. Yet, mixtapes continue to exude a sense of nostalgia, an oddity of youth and romance which feels unmatched by the way we listen to and share music in our own adolescence. Most of us have only ever been exposed to cassettes through films and TV shows set in the ‘70s and ‘80s, which explains the sense of wistfulness we feel when they cross our minds. Their cameos in popular productions such as The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Stranger Things provide an idea of how momentous and exciting it once felt to receive individualized playlists, tediously recorded onto these tapes by friends and lovers. Despite the increased accessibility of music today, the generation of purely digital music faces a loss when it comes to using music as a medium for personalized storytelling and professions of love. In the age of the cassette, receiving a mixtape with songs someone cherished—or, better yet, ones that reminded them of you—was a grand gesture of love that teens dreamed of being the object of. While shared Spotify playlists may allow people to share music that is meaningful to them with others, there is something far more impersonal about sending someone a link to a mix rather than making them a tangible playlist. For one, the amount of effort it takes to tap away at a phone screen does not compare to the laborious task of individually recording songs onto a cassette, stopping periodically to rewind and check for errors. Half the charm of receiving a mixtape was the knowledge that whoever made it for you cared enough to spend hours hunched over a tape recorder, just to share a piece of themselves through the songs they carefully selected. Though technology may replace the physical form of this heartfelt gesture, we must find comfort in that the sentiments of sharing music will play on, no matter the form.
Alexis Garcia-Ruiz Copy Editor
a.garciaruiz.thepanther@gmail.com
STAFF
EDITORIAL
THE GREAT DIVIDE
With the recent rise in controversies, political discussion has become increasingly unavoidable, both in daily life and on social media platforms. It seems impossible to scroll a social media feed without encountering strongly opinionated, often polarized posts about the latest scandal or news. While teens are accustomed to using social media to interact with friends and post primarily trivial content, the growing political tension does not allow much room for lighthearted banter. It can prove overwhelming to be constantly bombarded with political tragedy, especially when much of the conversation that occurs on social media seems unproductive and, at times, seemingly uninformed. Even our daily conversations have become laced with constant concern over making sure not to offend anyone. We now live in a world where the slightest remark opens the door for criticism and commentary. Tensions have peaked, with eruptions of anger spurring at any moment. Politically correct lingo is not a new concept, but when our own president seems to be exempt from society’s unspoken rules, political incorrectness knows no bounds. The extent to which politics consumes our lives even shows in Hollywood to seek refuge from the constant onslaught of rising politics, only to find scandals seeping into our entertainment. Almost daily a new actor, singer or producer steps forward on allegations of assault, mirroring the same incidences found in Washington D.C. The places we once sought out for politically neutral enjoyment have now become plagued with jokes ridiculing the current Trump administration or lyrics revolving around constant social unrest. So where does it stop? The intensely divisive political climate we face day to day has invaded every aspect of our lives: our entertainment, our social media and our casual conversations. Through all the overwhelming political dialogue, it is important to realize that it is okay to take a step back. Whether that means taking a break from your phone, indulging in innocent conversations or turning to non-political books for entertainment, taking a break is essential for maintaining a healthy mind.
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Dear Editor,
Dear Editor,
I love your article “Women’s Position in Tech World Improving.” I think it touches on subjects that aren’t acknowledged enough or at all. The fact that “34% of India’s Information Technology workforce is female,” is a simple yet empowering statement.
It was a cool idea to do stories on the “Faces of Palmetto” and the different faculty and staff you always see but never interact with. I love all the personality in this, from you and Mrs. McDonald. I liked learning a little about the staff of Palmetto.
SINCERELY,
SINCERELY,
samantha mesa (10)
sydney campbell (9)
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