Author: Commentary Staff

The upside of a year in isolation: Self-knowledge

Commentary

Elizabeth McLaughlin, Staff

As we round the corner on the first year of this pandemic, I can’t help but reflect on where we were 365 days ago. In the first week of March 2020, I went from attending a mock trial event with hundreds of people from across the country to throwing a 20th birthday party for one of my closest friends. I didn’t know it at the time, but the normalcy of handshakes and hugs would soon melt away with no promise of ever returning. Or so I thought. 

Fast-forward a year later, and we are certainly still in a pandemic but, with one-tenth of the country’s population vaccinated, this March feels more hopeful than the last. Last March was characterized by persistent changes to our everyday lives, forcing us to reevaluate nearly every facet of 21st-century life. Public health needed to be addressed, along with social justice and our relationships with our loved ones; lesson after lesson, ad nauseam. 2020 taught me that another thing needed to be addressed: my relationship with myself. 

I’m sure my fellow college students can relate; ours is a story of constant congregation that quickly turned into sorrowful exile. We are social creatures who were yanked from the most social environment we’ve ever experienced and sentenced to solitude. I quickly became too familiar with the walls of my childhood bedroom, wishing I could spend just one more night with my friends for old time’s sake. I had never been in a situation where I could not physically see anyone lest I risk contracting a deadly virus; none of us had any idea how to proceed. I quickly understood that this was uncharted territory for all of us. 

Fabrice Coffrini/Getty Images

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) first characterized the coronavirus outbreak as a pandemic.

As the curious person I am, I wanted to chart that territory. I wanted to immerse myself in the idea of being alone so that I could better understand myself and those around me. Sure, loneliness sounds a little scary, but they say explorers are never lost, right? So I dove in.

I first had to understand where I was and how I was feeling. Then, I asked myself if that was where I wanted to be: the obvious answer was no, “Liz, you’d much rather be at a frat party with your roommates than stuck in this existentialist rut.” So, I had to bridge the gap between where I was and where I wanted to be. Not surprisingly at all, I found that this desire to bridge the gap was a common one; this experience was a tale as old as time, as Celine Dion would say.

A man born 125 years before coronavirus came about said that happiness is derivative. This man was named Jiddu Krishnamurti, and he argued that happiness is always a by-product of something else. You think you’ll be happy when you get that promotion. You get promoted, but you’re still not fully satisfied. Now, you think you’ll be happy when you get the girl. You’re in a relationship now, and guess what… you’re still not fully satisfied. There is a search for something permanent, within the self and things beyond the self; but happiness is never permanent.

Krishnamurti offered that instead of happiness, we should begin searching for something else: self-knowledge. There is an idea that you must first recognize what is; “you cannot imagine or have belief in something which you are not.” On top of that, you have to be real with yourself about your circumstances. To understand what is, there must be freedom from the fear of what is. This was really, really hard to put into practice considering, you know, everything going on in the world. It seemed hard, but not impossible.

My thought process went something like, “okay, I get the vibe that he’s saying happiness is tricky to pursue, but if I can understand myself, I think there’s some merit and pleasure in that.” So that’s what I tried to do (and I’m still trying). A global pandemic and all its associated isolation is, admittedly, a really convenient time to, if you’re able, parse through your own self-knowledge.

That isn’t to say a global pandemic isn’t tough; we all dearly miss the way things used to be. But those things aren’t reality anymore. Taking a look around my childhood bedroom, I reminded myself to stay grounded in the present because, as cliché as it sounds, the past and the future were either gone or uncertain. I was alone, and that was a fact; I was alone, and that fact didn’t have to be unfortunate. That is where self-knowledge comes in.

Understanding yourself is a lifelong task, the terms of which, I imagine, are always changing as you grow and evolve. But it doesn’t matter what the circumstances are, the following is true: everyone’s potential for self-knowledge exists within them. It cannot be explained by some self-help book or school newspaper article, but it is there. And it is worth exploring.

mclaughline7@lasalle.edu

Andrew Cuomo is rightfully in hot water, for all the wrong reasons

Commentary

Cianan Meagher, Staff

Header Image: MarketWatch

Over the past two weeks, a slew of sexual misconduct allegations against New York Governor Andrew Cuomo have come out. The allegations have ranged from inappropriate comments that contributed to an uncomfortable work environment to violations of personal boundaries and inappropriate touching. It should go without saying that these allegations, if found to be true, are contemptible. I have to admit that it is somewhat gratifying to see such a media firestorm around a figure so deserving of one, especially after being so shamelessly fawned over by the press just a year prior. However, I am somewhat dissatisfied that Governor Cuomo seems to be getting off relatively lightly, all things considered. While these allegations of sexual harassment in the workplace are explosive for the Democrat, it seems as if this story has completely overshadowed the much more scandalous story concerning the Governor’s office: New York’s mismanagement of nursing homes during the pandemic and subsequent attempts to cover up the true number of deaths reported from them.

Darren McGee – Office of Governor Andrew Cuomo

Cuomo’s direction of New York’s response to the coronavirus made the governor very popular with the media last year.

A report released by The New York State Attorney General’s office revealed that the number of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes had been massively underreported by officials in Cuomo’s office. The report states that as much as 50 percent of COVID-related nursing home deaths were omitted from official tallies of nursing home related deaths released by New York State. Following the release of the report, Cuomo’s aide, Melissa DeLaroma, had reportedly met on a private video conference call with Democrat lawmakers to apologize for the suppression of numbers, citing fears by the Governor’s Office that the enormous amount of deaths would be used against them by then-President Trump to justify an investigation by the Justice Department. These developments are leaving questions about the Governor’s controversial March 25, 2020 New York State Department of Health directive to admit COVID-positive patients into nursing homes, using them as overflow testing and treatment centers. This stunning political cover-up is not only a flagrant abuse of power, but it could also have a serious impact on medical statistics that are crucial for those researching the virus and qualitative analyses of the pandemic. Such a statistical aberration has potential reverberations that travel much further than New York State lines, as this data is used by experts across the country and around the world in the fight against the novel disease.

To be clear, the allegations of workplace impropriety should be taken seriously and, with the sheer volume of alleged victims coming forward in the past month alone (7 at the time of writing), it is definitely a matter that deserves an investigation and the public scorn it has earned Governor Cuomo. However, the media frenzy that has surrounded this story has eclipsed a much larger offense. With all due respect and sympathy to Cuomo’s alleged victims, I think the thousands of lives he has directly or indirectly affected, or maybe even ended, with his handling of nursing homes and the flagrant abuse of power in trying to cover up his administration’s missteps, is a scandal of a much higher magnitude. Yet, it seems as if the Governor and the press would both prefer to address these more salacious accusations of sexual harassment, with Cuomo last addressing criticism of the nursing home scandal almost over a month ago. Cuomo has also been quick to deny the multitude of the allegations of sexual harassment against him; and yet, media coverage surrounding the former seems to have been completely supplanted by the comparatively less severe implications of the latter.

Bearing witness to it all, I have been disgusted by the partisan pandering by the media that has been at play throughout this pandemic. I was incensed, in particular, by the relatively lax scrutiny Governor Cuomo received compared to former President Trump during the throes of lockdown when, in my opinion, both seemed to be equally, if not divergently, incompotent in their responses to the crisis and equally caustic and dismissive to their critics along the way. Over the past year, Republican governors, such as Ron DeSantis of Florida and Greg Abbott of Texas, received heaps of criticism over their handling of the pandemic, some of which was completely justified, some overly-critical, in my opinion. Conversely, if you flipped on the news less than a year ago it would have seemed as if Cuomo, the media darling and “America’s Governor,” was beyond reproach. In reality, he was just as, if not more guilty of, mismanagement of this crisis than others. It is unlikely Cuomo will be winning over progressives anytime soon considering the circumstances of his current controversy, and his puzzling statement during a recent press conference that he was not “elected by the politicians, [but] by the people” in a response to a question about the multiple Democratic legislators calling for his resignation reads to me as a pivot towards more populist, Trumpian politics. It remains to be seen what kind of future, if any, lies ahead for Governor Cuomo.

The takeaway of this whole situation should be that we cannot let party lines and partisan rhetoric distract us from abuse of power by officials we politically align ourselves with. I pray that the independent investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct by the Governor can proceed unimpeded, and that he will resign if these allegations are found to be true, but I also hope that he is forced to answer for his administration’s missteps at the onset of the pandemic and their reckless dereliction of duty in the tabulation of COVID-related nursing home deaths.

meagherc1@lasalle.edu

Featuring a lifelong Lasallian: Emily Dorr, ’22

Features

Isabelle Pope, Staff

Emily Dorr, a junior history and religion double major, was adopted from Ukraine by her parents in 2002 and came to America by plane. Growing up in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, she struggled to fit in and had trouble in school at a young age. Nonetheless, Dorr’s parents were very supportive. “My parents were always super involved in my education and I wouldn’t have gotten through it without them,” she said.  Despite the struggles Dorr endured as a young child, one thing that stuck with her was the idea of service and social justice through the lens of Catholicism. 

Pictured above are Dorr and her parents in 2004. (Photo courtesy of Emily Dorr)

Growing up, Emily was no stranger to La Salle University’s campus. Her mother, Mary Dorr, has been working at La Salle since 1999 as the assistant dean of the School of Nursing and Health Sciences and has also been actively involved with the neighboring Germantown Hospital as the director of nursing education for the School of Nursing in 1990 and the chair of education for the Germantown Hospital and Medical Center in 1992. Due to her mother’s position at La Salle, naturally, Dorr spent a lot of her time on our campus as a young girl, getting to know all the nooks and crannies of campus. While many students only call La Salle home for four years, Dorr had an “awesome experience” growing up on campus and said La Salle became a second home for her. “The Brothers would walk me around campus,” said the junior. 

Dorr’s passion for service and for knowledge of the world continued throughout high school. She had the opportunity to visit Haiti, which provided a whole new perspective for her. “You got to physically see the fundraising and advocacy that we did, have an actual impact on schools there,” she explained.  

With the importance of service and social justice instilled in Dorr at a young age, in conjunction with Mary Dorr’s long-term employment at La Salle, it should come as no surprise that Emily Dorr continues to be directly involved on campus. Dorr continued her service and advocacy work from high school at La Salle through her participation in the El Otro Lado LIVE Trip to El Paso to learn about the immigration crisis. 

As a freshman, she began to participate in the La Salle University Neighborhood Tutoring Program where she worked to mentor and tutor students in the Germantown area. Additionally, Emily has worked as a La Salle tour guide, as a budget worker in the La Salle Transfer Office and as an Explorientation general leader. 

When COVID-19 struck, many had trouble adapting, but Emily adapted quickly, juggling multiple activities this year including the Histories Club, working as an AIDS Outreach Coordinator, joining the Phi Mu Sorority and most notably, leading the Students’ Government Association (SGA) as a member of the e-board, first as the deputy chief of staff and currently as the vice president. 

Through her involvement, Dorr’s dedication and desire to actively participate at our University, while creating change where she can, shows immensely. In the SGA specifically, she has worked to publish content revolving around COVID-19, promote the Pass/Fail petition alongside Emily Gaboriault and organize a Trash Bash in our surrounding community.  

While planning these activities, she also has diversity and inclusion at the forefront of her mind, always providing her perspective regardless of what others may think. Dorr is consistently learning and advocating for social justice on her Instagram page and within her interpersonal relationships.  “She always tries her best to be there for people and help people the best way she can,” Ronnie Matos, a former La Salle student, said. 

Pictured above is Emily in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. (Photo Courtesy of Emily Dorr)

Dorr says that many of her humanities professors have strongly impacted her, but notes two specifically: professor of religion Maureen O’Connell and professor of history Carly Goodman. “Dr. O’Connell continues to inspire me to break down the barriers of creating sustainable, community-based change,” she remarked. “Dr. Goodman has really enriched my understanding of history in specific areas that I didn’t have previous knowledge in.” 

In her spare time, Dorr enjoys drawing and singing and she also loves to travel, having gone to Poland, Greece, Turkey, Germany, Puerto Rico, Mexico and many other countries. In the future, Dorr would love to go to India to visit the Golden Temple and learn more about the Sikh peoples.

popei1@lasalle.edu

Catharsis: America needs a reformation

Commentary

James LeVan, Staff

Today, Wednesday, March 10, is my birthday. I have no plans, no desires and, to be honest, there is a part of me that really does not want to celebrate this year at all. After all, this week also marks the one-year anniversary of when the pandemic hit Pennsylvania and the country began to shut down. 

This week has made me feel reflective about both my life this past year and the country as a whole and, well, we need change in this country desperately. I am not just talking about making the country pandemic-proof, but about the clashes between protestors and police over the summer as a result of the brutal murders of numerous African American men and women, the economic collapse, the election and then all of it reaching a crescendo with the terrorist attack on the Capitol. 2020 can best be described as a large mirror held up to the American soul and we can no longer deny the existence of its internal demons.

There is a myth that permeates through American society called “American Exceptionalism.” It is the belief that the United States is unique and superior to other nations. Well, as we have seen this past year, this is simply not true. We are not exceptional and are just as likely to collapse as the Romans, the Soviets or any of the numerous Chinese dynasties that lost the Mandate of Heaven. If nothing else, this year has shown us that we are not prepared for the problems of the 21st century and that we run the risk of falling by the wayside. If we do not make changes, then our experiment in the republican government— the first liberal democracy — will perish. 

In short, we need a reformation. What do I mean by a reformation? I mean that we need to start preparing our citizenry, institutions and infrastructure for the potential crises of the 21st century and beyond. We cannot just have a memory hole of this past year and all the crap we endured; we need to look at it and remember it. We need to study 2020 and all that led up to it. We also need to reconcile our history of racism and oppression and begin to bridge the gap between our ideals of equality under the law and opportunity and the reality that we do not live in a meritocracy. All this of course would take a long time to implement and will span three or four presidential terms but this work must be done. What sectors of our society do I believe need reform? Well, there are three in particular: democracy, labor and education.

We are holding onto old institutions and policies that prevent low-income and people of color from voting or being fully engaged in the democratic process. We also have a two-party system that elects leaders who seem more focused on winning reelection or auditioning for their next gig once they leave office than they are at governing or legislating. Ideas such as abolishing the electoral college, rank choice voting and laws to prevent gerrymandering are some of the lofty ideas floating around that will help improve the health of our republican government. These changes will require a lot of grassroots movement and activism from the ground up before they can be implemented. If achieved, however, we will see more pragmatic candidates emerge, more participation and more competitive districts.

Regarding labor, as an essential worker in a grocery store this past year, I have seen firsthand what the workers who have kept the supply chain stable have to go through and the horrors of corporate culture that is incredibly hierarchical and does not allow for a true voice to the people who kept this country afloat. Likewise, we are facing a huge labor shortage in trade skills across the country that if not corrected soon will spell disaster to our country’s infrastructure and economy. Therefore, we need to raise the federal minimum wage and implement a Universal Basic Income while also promoting unions and workplace democracy (allowing employees to have a say in the decision-making process of their work). This will give workers the ability to leave a company if they feel the workplace conditions are too toxic to continue.

Regarding education, universities are facing huge budget crunches resulting in part due to lack of funding from state legislatures and now lack of enrollment, as potential students are choosing to hold off on going to college because of the pandemic. Since universities are one of the United States’ more important sectors, the idea of universities closing or shrinking to where they only offer a small number of programs is incredibly problematic because it would mean the destruction of one of the few sectors of American society that is appealing to the outside world. It will also cause our workforce to become undereducated and therefore leave the United States at a competitive disadvantage to other nations. Encouraging education and making it more affordable to go to school and study while also properly investing in our universities will go hand-in-hand with preparing our workforce for the battles of the 21st century. A well-educated society is a productive and functional society.

During the pandemic, I have had the honor of learning history from one of the best scholars in the United States, Dr. Carly Goodman. In her classes, Dr. Goodman would often explain to us that one reason to study history was to inspire us to imagine a better world than the one we have now, that society is not a static force incapable of change, but a malleable thing that can be altered because we will it to. This idea is, in fact, my reason for studying history. I have always been fascinated with reformers and those who looked at their times and thought about possible solutions. I do not know about the rest of you, but I personally do not want to live through another year like 2020. I have an idea on what the world could look like post-pandemic, and if I had to take a guess, you do too. So, feel free to send your ideas to the Collegian. Maybe we can build a better America, and world, together.

levanj1@lasalle.edu

Historic Snowfall Seen All Around the World

Features

Elena Tzivekis, Staff Writer

As the world continues to adjust to life in a pandemic, Mother Nature has other plans and is throwing historic amounts of snow our way. While heavy snowfalls are normal in countries, such as Russia and certain parts of North America, in the last month, some areas have seen record-breaking snowstorms, some the heaviest seen in decades. Listed below are several of the heaviest and most shocking snow falls from around the world over the last few weeks.

Madrid

Courtesy of the Washington Post

When you think of Spain, you often picture the bright sunny city of Madrid, its intricate parks and elegant architecture. You may not always picture it being covered in snow, even during a normal winter season. This year, Madrid received a little over 12 inches of snow, the most since 1971 — bringing the city to a complete halt. 

Moscow

Courtesy of Moscow Times

While you can expect that a country such as Russia typically receives several feet of snow a year, this year was a bit more than usual. It turns out last year, Moscow received a very mild snowfall and within the first two days of its recent snowfall, Moscow was sitting under 22 inches of snow. There were 60,000 city crew members who joined in efforts to clean up the snow. 

Athens

Courtesy of Euro News

Greece is no stranger to snow, however, this year the country has received an unprecedented amount as opposed to years prior. Heavy snow totaling several inches covered Athens during their recent snowstorm, just as the country was beginning to distribute COVID-19 vaccinations across the capital city. While snow is common among the mountainous regions in Greece, it is far more rare to see it in the capital city. 

Texas

Courtesy of People Magazine

The recent snowstorm to hit the U.S. impacted several states, including Texas. While it does not snow often in Houston, one of Texas’ largest cities, it snowed a record-breaking 22 inches this month. This is one of the 94 times it has snowed in Texas since 1981. The last time it snowed as bad as this year was in 1985, on Valentine’s Day. 

New York

Courtesy of New York Times

New York is no stranger to snow, but the recent storm has hit NYC with one of the biggest snowfalls in its recent history. Since their last blizzard in 2016, this year’s highest counted snow within the last few years totaling in 17.4 inches. 

Philadelphia

Courtesy of Philadelphia Inquirer

We had to mention our lovely city on this list, as we saw a sizable 17.5 inches of snow this winter. Philadelphia had also recorded 4 consecutive days of snowfall, which is only the 4th time this has happened in our history. 

tzivekise1@lasalle.edu

You Posted a Black Square in June — What Are You Doing Today?

Commentary

Mary Kraus, Staff

On June 2, 2020, 28 million people posted pictures of black squares on social media to show their support for the #BlackLivesMatter movement and the Black lives lost to police violence. While the intention of this day, known as Blackout Tuesday, was to show solidarity and call attention to racism, in reality, these blank posts clogged up feeds and hashtags for weeks while simultaneously gaining no progress towards justice for  Black people. 

The pinnacle of anti-racism efforts should not be spontaneous declarations of “allyship” and “wokeness” on social media. These posts can be considered virtue signaling, as they serve primarily to show that the user is moral and falls on the “right side of history,” or performative activism, as the user is speaking out on social justice issues simply to appeal to their audience and peers. Ultimately, these posts redirect attention away from the community the user is claiming to support, and right back towards the, typically white and privileged, user.

However, social media can still be a useful tool for social justice activism if proper preparation and thought goes into the post or repost. We must always be asking ourselves both our intentions for posting and what impact it will have. Am I posting this to show something about myself, or about the community I am advocating for? Does this post have substance; what is it that my audience is learning? Does it motivate readers to do something beyond reading and learning? Especially helpful posts are those which serve as a resource for information and have a call to action.

Truly fighting against white supremacy and racism requires a commitment to work beyond the posts. Don’t get me wrong — awareness and education are very important, but they get Black people no closer to actual, tangible liberation. Reposts can make people more knowledgeable of the work to be done, but they do not break down the social norms and overarching institutions that serve white people while simultaneously harming Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC).

There are other steps we can take from our phones that have more of an impact than just a like and a share. We can sign petitions — more than just the few that are trending. We can call and email federal, state and local representatives to demand their support for certain movements or pieces of legislation. Oftentimes, there are even pre-written scripts that we can access and use for direction and convenience. We can do our research and choose not to spend our money at companies that promote white supremacy, discredit the Black Lives Matter movement, exploit the working class and benefit from prison labor, instead opting for ethical and Black-owned small businesses.

One of the best ways to liberate Black people is to eliminate the racial wealth gap. White people have 8 times the median net worth as Black people, and Black people are twice as likely to be in poverty. So, the best way to get Black people more money is to, well, give them more money. The rise of digital activism makes mutual aid easier to participate in than ever. Mutual aid differs from charity in the sense that it does not require a third-party organization to transfer funds and the recipient retains their independence with ability to spend the funds however they see fit according to their needs and situation. I know most of us could spare one morning of Starbucks coffee; why not try redistributing that wealth instead?

There are actions we can take beyond the phone screens, too. White people can self-reflect on ways we continue to benefit from white privilege, even though we may be against it morally. We can attend classes, workshops, and online events that teach us to put our social justice passion into action. We can physically attend protests to make sure that demands are not silenced and ignored. Perhaps most importantly, we can address racism every time we encounter it at home, school, work, or elsewhere. Microaggressions, contrary to the term, are, in fact, incredibly discriminatory, violent, and harmful. Tolerating racism and remaining silent in the face of racism makes us part of the problem, not the solution.

There are hundreds of other actions I could recommend, but as a white person, my last suggestion to you is to diversify your feed. As white people, we cannot possibly comprehend the lived realities of our BIPOC friends and neighbors. We must listen to Black voices, support them, and amplify them. Some of my favorite people on Instagram are Avery Francis (@averyfrancis), Mithsuca Berry (@mythsooka), Michelle Nicole (@passionandpower), and Monique Melton (@moemotivate). Check out their accounts, give them some follows, and send them a few dollars too, while you’re at it. Some of their content may be free, but that doesn’t mean that their labor should be.

White people possess white privilege, therefore the power and responsibility to destroy racism is in our hands. This article is a call to action for every single white person reading this and every single white person you know. The bottom-line is we need to do more — all of us, not just some of us. Significant and sustainable change is only forced through consistent and persistent effort. If 28 million people called on their governments to defund the police, donated their extra income and called out racism every time they witnessed it, we would probably accomplish a lot more than painting a social media platform black for one day.

krausm1@lasalle.edu

Horrors of online harassment

Commentary

James LeVan, Staff

On Friday, Feb. 5, the Washington Post’s “Made by History” section published a piece by Dr. Jamie Goodall (a historian at the U.S Army Center of Military History and expert on the history of piracy) about the Super Bowl and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The main topic of her piece was the problem of romanticization of outlaw figures who, in their heyday, were not revered and heroic as we portray. She did not write about how Tampa should change its name; she did not condemn the city (though given what I saw of the stadium crowding, I might). She merely wished to point out that sometimes the figures we romanticized were not regarded as romantic heroes in their time and that we should remember that. The topic of this article is the threats of violence directed at Dr. Goodall since her op-ed was published and the issue of threats and violence directed at professional women who share their opinion, even an expert opinion.

Dr. Goodall’s piece went viral in the days since its publication. The headline has been tweeted about and retweeted on social media, most notably by former President Trump’s press secretary Kayleigh McEnany and a vlogger named Matt Walsh who in his bio calls himself a “theocratic fascist, tyrant and beekeeper” (why anyone would admit that about themselves, I do not know). Even the Daily Mail wrote a piece on her and took the time to go through her Instagram and find photos of her wearing a facemask with Jolly Rogers and one professional pic of her where you can see her tattoo of a female pirate, using these as examples that she is a hypocrite. The reactions have ranged from calling her a hypocrite, to attacks towards her former colleagues at Stevenson University, to threats of rape and other forms of violence against her. She has not left social media but she has blocked many of these online trolls and has locked down her account, showing a tremendous amount of strength and courage while being mobbed by a group of people who get upset by a piece saying that not everyone in the past was a romantic swashbuckling hero.

Dr. Goodall’s case is not a one-time phenomenon. Sadly, it is part of a pattern of women who in various industries become the target of online harassment and threats of sexual violence simply because they wrote or said something in their field.. This whole situation brings up memories of both gamergate and comicsgate and how internet figures make it their mission to attack women.

Gamergate was an online harassment campaign directed at women involved in the video game industry. Zoe Quinn, an independent video game developer who created a video about dealing with depression, was targeted with threats of violence and exposing of personal information. In 2014, she did an interview for The Guardian where she said she was afraid to go home and was living on her friends’ couches because of threats against her person. She and several other women connected to video games were bombarded with attacks from anonymous online individuals. These threats included attacks on their professional careers to gruesome images of dead animals sent to their inbox. Comicsgate was a similar harassment campaign but was targeted at professionals in the comics industry, arguing that diversity in writing rooms and the creation of characters who were either female or people of color were ruining the industry. Members of comics forums even created a blacklist of comics creators they argued were destroying the industry (many on the list were women, people of color and LGBT creators). Much like with gamergate, they used online harassment to target women in the industry. An example of this would be the case of Heather Antos and the milkshake photo.

In 2017, Heather Antos was an editor at Marvel Comics and had posted a photo of herself and some of her female colleagues going out for milkshakes after the work week. The spectacularly apolitical photo was quickly bombarded with online trolls connected to comicsgate attacking Antos and her colleagues and arguing that they were the reason the comic book industry was seeing a decline in sales.

These online harassment mobs are a byproduct of a culture war that has been brewing in the United States for decades. The people attacking these women do not really care about history, comics or video games. Rather, they desire to silence individuals and control these industries that they have no real connection to. It is more about making women and people of color in these industries more submissive to their wills and thus unable to speak or voice an opinion. We can see this in all these cases. The desire is not about the financial health of these fields or the quality of content being created. It is about dominating and making the victims of these harassment campaigns submissive. If this all sounds incredibly rapey, that is because it is. Let us speak plainly on this.

In my professional, academic and personal life I have had the opportunity to work with and know numerous women who are quite brilliant and frankly I have no qualms admitting that I am mediocre compared to a lot of them. They all have brilliant knowledge on subjects and opinions but are often silenced or forced to hide their views.. If they don’t, the troll army will come after them and spend weeks threatening their wellbeing. I could honestly write 20 pages on the issues women face in the workplace and online. However, I am not sure I am the right person to write that piece. Instead, all I will say is that in society we must be more alert to these kinds of hate campaigns and realize that they are a threat to the rights and safety of our colleagues, friends, family and fellow human beings. The absence of those voices at the table because of a bunch of angry bloggers would be nothing short of a tragedy for these industries but also for society as a whole and will result in a stifled unenlightened mess.

levanj1@lasalle.edu

The importance of #FreeBritney

Commentary

Damien Allison, Staff

Britney Spears has been an icon in the music industry for numerous years, inspiring endless individuals with her music, style and personality. But with fame also comes torture, especially in the perspective of the Spears family. Spears was the girl-next-door in the early 2000s — everywhere you turned, you would see her face somewhere. But Spears was always receiving backlash in the tabloids everywhere she went. At a certain point, the tabloids were getting the best of her and her mental state was declining at a steady rate. It is at this point, in 2007, that Spears reached her breaking point. She suffered from a psychiatric breakdown, shaving her head and chasing paparazzi with an umbrella. No one took her mental illness seriously and just belittled her to the point of a breakdown, which is horrendous. After the breakdown, it got to the point in which  Spears’ father took conservatorship of her finances since she was found to be unable to do it herself. It is this concept of conservatorship that her father took from her that still weighs heavy in today’s press. From the years after the conservatorship, Spears had many obstacles throughout her career that influence much of her music. She was not allowed to make her own decisions at all and it played a major role in her mental health. Years after the conservatorship, Spears has cleaned up her act, but still for some reason her father, Jamie Spears, still holds this conservatorship. Britney Spears is a profound celebrity with much recognition through the years of the music industry, but her father does not see it that way at all and refuses to give up the conservatorship. Many fans have witnessed her unfamiliar behavior on videos that have surfaced on TikTok, which is a reason why the #FreeBritney movement has gained such a following.

Laura Newberry, Los Angeles Times

Supporters of Britney Spears want an end to the conservatorship her father, Jamie Spears, has over her finances.

There has also been an increase in conspiracy theories about the #FreeBritney movement. Many fans would comment asking if she was okay, and to wear yellow in her next video if she was not. And you better believe that in her next video, Britney Spears wore yellow, making fans hysterical, believing she was truly in trouble. Many fans believe that she has been trapped and cannot control her own life because of her father and believe it to be taking a serious toll on her mental health. These reasons have fans believing that Spears is being held against her will and being forced to do things. Many fans believe if she has the ability to uphold a successful music career and be a loving mother, she is more than capable of handling her personal affairs and does not have to have her father in charge of everything.

After all these years with this icon, there has been so much talk about her in recent days, especially with a new documentary coming out about her and the struggles she faces in her career. There also has been much talk revolving around the conservatorship of Spears following the trial on Thurs., Feb. 11. There was no clear conclusion of the trial, but the conservatorship still is held in favor of her father, leaving room for trials to come later on in the future.

Spears has been such a role model for individuals facing mental illness and everything in between that the best we can do for her is stand up and fight against this conservatorship against her. Because at the end of the day, all the fans want the same — we want the best for Spears, which is the whole idea behind the #FreeBritney movement. If you agree with #FreeBritney then spread the word or tweet something and look out for petitions to remove conservatorship from her father and hand it over to her; it’s what she deserves.

allisond2@lasalle.edu

A case for meditation

Commentary

Elizabeth McLaughlin, Staff

Getty Images

Our phones can serve as a bottomless pit of distractions, leaving us drained and dissatisfied. Meditation can help.

Do you have trouble focusing in class? Do you find that you can’t muster up the courage to do that assigned reading? Do you ever find yourself exhausting your Twitter feed, closing out of the app, only to reopen it seconds later, expecting something different? Do you find yourself in a constant negative feedback loop of ennui? First, we’ve all been there. Second, you should try meditation.

To be clear, the central purpose of this article is not to claim that you should meditate, but rather to illuminate the struggles we face, especially in a post-Zoom world, while offering an empirical prescription to those ailments. This prescription has served me well, but in no way do I want to act as a meditation evangelist. Simply put, you can take it or leave it.

Let’s briefly discuss some of the struggles of being human. Listlessness is characterized as a lack of interest or energy; I believe that we are engaging in an attack on our energy levels every time we unlock our phones. The adult brain can store between five and nine items in short term memory. You can open Twitter, and by the time you see your tenth tweet, it is very likely that you can’t remember the first. More importantly, when presented with much more than five to nine pieces of information at a time, it’s easy for our brains to get overwhelmed. It’s a shame that social media, by design, presents you with an infinite amount of information at once, so long as you enable it. It’s a shame because our prefrontal cortex — which evolved millions of years ago to mediate the functions of goal articulation, goal retention, and self-discipline — is no match for computers. When you put it that way, it’s no wonder that we are turning our thumbs arthritic in the name of scrolling.

But it doesn’t need to be so bleak. Sure, we’ve designed a computer that can accurately anticipate our needs and desires and use that information to present us with our own virtual reality. Big deal. Still, the quest to manage stress isn’t completely hopeless. I was surprised to learn that the term “stressed out” was invented sometime in the last century. Before we had a name for it, did people feel stressed out? Of course they did, but their stress was informed by extremely different circumstances, and they just didn’t identify that overwhelmedness like we do. Nonetheless, holding all circumstances equal, there is one timeless practice that, if done correctly, is almost guaranteed to reduce stress. You guessed it: meditation.

You’ve probably heard that before; that meditation is worth trying, whether it was from a friend, a fellow netizen, or a public figure. Neuroscientist Sam Harris says meditation is “the practice of learning to break the spell and wake up;” I concur with Mr. Harris here. There are many unique forms of meditation and the practice itself has evolved from myriad different branches of philosophy and religion. In Zen Buddhism, there is zazen, or sitting meditation. This is the form I espouse, although there are other forms that provide their own benefits. Bodhicitta is a Sanskrit word which is interpreted to mean Beginner’s Mind or Awakening Heart. A key element of experiencing bodhicitta is attentiveness to each moment, in each moment. Thich Nhat Hanh once said something along the lines of, “if you miss the moment, you miss your life.”

Meditation is about being present in each moment. You’ve definitely heard that kitsch phrase before, but I find it a lot easier said than done. Try it. Find a comfortable seat and settle in. Aim your eyes downward, or completely close them at the risk of accidentally falling asleep (I can’t say that hasn’t happened to me once or twice). Then, notice. Notice any sounds that might arise around you; let them come and let them go. Notice how your body feels, if you’re needlessly tense in certain areas (you probably are, and that’s okay). Notice the temperature of the room, if you can. Just notice things, letting them come and go. Don’t hurry them or ignore them. Focus on your breath. I’ll admit, it’s harder than you might think. But if you get off track, if your mind begins to wander, that’s okay. Just redirect your attention to your breath. Keep on doing that, and you’re strengthening your ability to concentrate.

Right concentration is one of the steps in the Eightfold Path, which is what the Buddha proposes as the path to end suffering. Right concentration involves the concept of samadhi, meaning oneness with the object of meditation. Samadhi is not hyper-focusing on one thing, feeling, or sensation. Samadhi is regarded in Hinduism as the final stage of meditation, so don’t feel frustrated if you fail to comprehend it or realize it in your practice. Rather, I offer this information in hopes to inspire you to look into right concentration, the Eightfold Path and meditation.

If you do, you might find yourself more present in each moment. You might find that you are better at redirecting your attention to the task at hand, to the present. You might find that the prospect of endlessly scrolling through social media loses its appeal; that you feel less drained by technology and more in control of your digital footprint. You might find yourself more self aware. And in the end, I hope you find wisdom and compassion in each moment.

mclaughline7@lasalle.edu

Reasons to study history: the past is alive

Commentary

James LeVan, Staff

When I was growing up, my parents did not keep any alcohol in the house. There was no beer in the fridge for my father to drink while he watched Sunday football, my mother would not sip wine with friends. They never went to beer distributors or liquor stores. In fact, I can only recall maybe one or two times that I ever saw them drink alcohol at a party. There were few things my parents were admittingly strict about as far rules went. Alcohol was one of them and they made it clear that I wasn’t allowed to drink until I turned 21. All of this has led me to have a weird relationship with alcohol. I don’t drink during the semester and only at night with food. I’m sure some reading this will not believe me when it comes to my impressive control of alcohol. Drinking always made me feel ashamed, as though I was doing something amoral and, worried about my mental health during this hellish year, I decided to give up drinking entirely.

My weird relationship with alcohol and my parent’s abstinence from it has always been a curiosity. Why did my parents dislike alcohol so much? My parents gave me and my brother plenty of freedom as we were growing up. So why was alcohol the big issue? I got my answer recently when talking to a distant cousin after the death of my grandfather. She informed me about my great-grandfather and his marriage to my great-grandmother was an unhappy one (from all accounts my great-grandmother was a borderline psychopath and I am not exaggerating that). He hated his wife and used alcohol to numb the pain of being married to her. In one drunken stupor, he decided to run away from his family in Philadelphia and went on a bender all the way to New York. His brother had to track him down up there and bring him back. His brother once again had to rescue him when one night he got drunk and punched a hole in a wall and he had to come over and make sure he didn’t kill my great-grandmother. I never knew my great-grandfather, he died before my father was born. However, his difficult marriage and the drinking created a ripple effect through time — my parents raising me in a dry house and my own awkward feelings toward alcohol today.

Whether we like it or not, we all feel the effects of the past on our lives. Every part of our environment (physical, political, cultural, economic) is the product of the actions of people who made decisions that we still feel even though many of them have passed and their names are not active in our public memory. In that regard, they act as ghosts haunting and whispering to us from beyond the grave. If the past is such a powerful force on us, then does that mean we should study history?

In all my years of studying history, I have come across dozens of reasons for the past. So many, in fact, that if I were to try and list them, I fear that I would lose your attention and push the word limit (which I do often). So, I will make this piece the first in what I hope will be a series of pieces advocating for my fellow explorers to take courses with our wonderful history faculty and even possibly dual major or major in history. My argument here is that events do not just happen in a vacuum. They have consequences and those consequences can transcend the distance of decades and affect us today. In the story above, I mention my great-grandfather and the hardship he endured and how that has led to my parent’s strictness when it came to drinking and to my own decision to abstain from alcohol. Learning my own family’s history showed me that there was a reason for our weirdness towards drinking. Professional historians, of course, do this as well, but on a more societal level — they find ways to show that the worlds they study are speaking to us now.

After the September 11 attacks, historians of ancients Greece and Rome felt their work had become relevant and that the conflicts between the United States and the Middle East were part of a pattern stretching back to the wars between the Persian Empire and the states of Athens and Sparta and how the Greek historian Herodotus framed these conflicts in his work. Or, to use an example from this decade, scholars have been making many connections between modern problems of police brutality and racial injustice and the racist policies and hierarchies that were put in place during the Antebellum and Jim Crow eras of American History to prevent Black Americans from achieving true equality in the United States.

Studying history allows us to better understand how the actions of those from yesterday are still affecting us now, allowing us to perhaps even one day break the chains of conflict and oppression and build something better. Or, at the very least, it will help us steer us into a better direction. Regardless, if you want to better understand this phenomenon, I strongly recommend that you take some history courses here at La Salle during your academic careers. If nothing else, you’ll see that we are just one link in a chain that has been forged long before any of us living now were born.

levanj1@lasalle.edu