The upside of a year in isolation: Self-knowledge

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.

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

Do you smoke in grocery stores?

Commentary

Alina Snopkowski, Editor

Fair warning: this article isn’t about smoking or grocery stores, at least not really. It’s about the rules and requirements that businesses have in place, and why being asked to wear a mask in certain places shouldn’t be a big issue.

For those of you who like charts and statistics, this site tracks, among other things, what percentage of the country’s population says they always wear a mask in public; here is the specific page for the state of Pennsylvania. In Delaware, where I am currently living and working, the last updated numbers show that a little over 80% of the people in the state say they always wear a mask in public. In the restaurant where I work, the vast majority of customers come in with their masks on or, if they forget, a simple “do you have a mask you can wear while you’re inside?” has them immediately scrambling in their pockets or purses to find their masks and put them on. When I’m working at the register up front, it’s my responsibility to make sure people are following the rules when they come in, and most customers are totally fine with it. A few months ago a man grumbled “are you serious? This is America” before reluctantly putting his mask on after I reminded him, but, for the most part, people are completely on top of the requirements.

And then here comes Paula (not her real name, of course, although I doubt anyone would be able to find her anyway). Paula calls and orders some food for takeout and I tell her it’ll be ready in about ten minutes. When she arrives, she’s not wearing her mask. We have signs on the windows but people forget. “Good morning,” I say, “do you have a mask you can wear while you’re in here?”

Paula flatly says “no.” Before I can say anything else, she launches into “it’s against the Constitution, so I’m not going to wear one. I don’t want to live in a communist country.”

I’ll be on record here and now saying I don’t particularly want to live in a communist country, either. But I don’t think asking someone to wear a mask while within a business that requires it is communism. The restaurant I work at didn’t invent these rules, but we have to follow them if we want to stay open. 99 percent of people understand this.

Back to Paula. She’s shoving her money at me and grabbing the plastic bag of her food off the front desk. “We appreciate you coming in but you have to wear a mask,” I say, probably a little meekly, because I was kind of rattled at the communism comment, “we have to follow these rules or we could get in trouble.”

“It’s not real, sweetheart,” she says, in the kind of tone that one might use to correct someone who said the moon is made of cheese, “wake up.”

And then she’s gone.

The whole interaction lasted barely a minute and the front desk is far over six feet away from any of the tables, so I doubt any customers even heard the conversation. But for the rest of the morning I was thinking about what else I should have said:

Do you smoke in grocery stores?

If there’s a sign on a store that says “no shoes, no shirt, no service,” do you walk in anyway in your bare feet and then get angry when they tell you to put some shoes on or leave? Or, more likely, do you not even bat an eye, because businesses having some level of requirements on what’s allowed (and not allowed) in their buildings is completely reasonable?

I don’t need to say that small businesses are struggling in this pandemic. We all know it. I also don’t need to say that these rules don’t necessarily come from us — usually a governor tells us what we have to do — but we’re required to follow them and enforce them in order to stay open. By patronizing a particular business, you pretty much agree to follow the rules while you’re on their premises. I don’t want to tell Paula not to come back, but the fact is she’s not allowed in if she refuses to wear her mask. I suppose it’s her right not to wear one, but it’s our responsibility not to let her in if she doesn’t. I, like most people, am looking forward to the day where we don’t have to wear masks anymore. But for the time being, this is the situation we have to deal with.

Delaware.gov

**Signs like this one are on display in many restaurants in Delaware.**

So, forgive me for the clickbait title for this article, but I want you to think about this mask situation not as ‘communism’ or some sort of infringement on personal freedoms but in this way — how different is it, really, from being told you must wear shoes in a particular store or that you can’t smoke in certain places? For the time being, “no mask, no service” has been added to these commonplace requirements. You’re allowed to spend your money and your time wherever you see fit, but if there’s a rule at a place you want to go to, you have to follow it. If you don’t want to, you can choose to go somewhere else. Small businesses are hurting enough — please don’t make it any more difficult by refusing to follow simple, clearly posted requirements.

And, believe it or not, Paula came back about a week later. She called again one morning, I recognized her name on the caller ID on the phone, and her order was identical to last time’s. I tell her ten minutes, give or take, and I wait at the front desk watching the parking lot for her car.

She pulls up and parks, then sits in her car for what seems like ten more minutes checking something on her phone. She isn’t wearing a mask yet. Okay, fine, she’s still in her car. She opens her door. Still no mask. Crosses the parking lot. Still no mask. I’m ready now — I’m prepared to tell her to go back outside, that she can give me her money out on the sidewalk and I’ll bring her food out to her there, but I can’t let her into the building.

And then, at the very last second, she pulls a mask up from around her neck. She gives me her money and takes her food and that’s that.

I don’t know why she changed her behavior, but I’m glad she did.

We won’t have to wear masks forever. One of my favorite websites at the moment is this one by Bloomberg, which estimates how long it’ll take to vaccinate 75 percent of the country’s population based on the current speed of vaccinations. Last I checked, they’re clocking it at about six months. That’s a while, but it’s certainly not forever.

Someday this will all be over, but until then, I ask you to please support your local small businesses in any way you can — and that includes wearing a mask.

snopkowskia1@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

What I wish I knew as a freshman

Commentary

Bianca Abbate, Editor-in-Chief

As graduation looms, I think back to my freshman self, partly with embarrassment and partly with nostalgia. I think back to the Eagles’ Super Bowl win. I also think back to the death of a classmate. I found myself in countless unprecedented situations and yet, here I am. When I was a freshman, I had the privilege of being surrounded by upperclassmen and professors whose mentorship enabled me to thrive in college. With an almost entirely virtual college experience, this year’s freshman class may not be so lucky. To the class of 2024, I may never meet you, but I see your struggle and I hope the advice to follow can guide your college experience as it did mine.

Never be a Jack of All Trades; be a Master of One. What makes a great student? We know it’s more than grades; it’s also extracurriculars (among a host of other attributes). I was that student in high school who wanted to be involved in everything: sports, theater, student government, etc. I thought that doing well in these endeavours was enough to land me a spot in an ivy league school. It wasn’t. Truth be told, I may have done well in these activities, but all I really needed was to be the best at one of them. In college, I took a different approach by involving myself in fewer extracurriculars. There were three things to which I wanted to dedicate my time: the newspaper, my Russian studies and mock trial. Though — like for many anxious overachievers — the idea that I could be doing more loomed, I no longer wanted to be a member of every club; I wanted to be the president of one. Diverting all of my energy into these areas enabled me to excel in these endeavours. I wrote consistently for the paper my freshman year, took over the commentary section sophomore year, assumed the managing editor role my junior year and finally became the editor-in-chief my senior year. The time and dedication that the editors and I have put into the Collegian has brought us a great deal of opportunities, new connections and pride. When I immersed myself in my Russian studies, I ultimately earned a State Department scholarship which landed me in Russia for a summer. For these reasons, people associate me with the paper and with Russia, and I have assumed that identity for my own professional development. An important piece of advice I would have for freshmen is to make a name for yourself in one big way: be the student who does one thing and does it exceptionally well.

Quit things. Of course, in order to have a niche, one must find it. This will require a great deal of trial and error. If you would believe it, I was once a D1 athlete (well, for a couple months) in my college days. My freshman year, when I saw that the rowing team was recruiting members, I walked onto the team bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. The 5 a.m. practices and hours on the erg machines were a valiant challenge at first, but it was not long until I was so exhausted from my morning practices that I would skip classes later in the day. I was drained emotionally and physically from the commitment of being an athlete, but I was reluctant to quit because I thought it made me a weak person. Nonetheless, a tragic event in the university community brought me to my senses. I put aside my ego and ultimately abandoned the D1 lifestyle. Not everyone was supportive. An assistant coach at the time even texted me to tell me that “people were right about me.” That’s the thing, though; many people fear quitting because of what others will think about them. What is more valuable to you: your time, energy and sanity or the opinion of others? I chose the former every time. Never feel stuck in a college activity. At the end of the day, it’s a college activity. One of the thrills of adulthood is the freedom to choose one’s own path. If your current path is not serving you, ditch it.

Be your own advocate. Many barriers which seem to exist between students and professors and between students and the University are not actually there. Coming into college, we think that, if we get a bad grade on an assignment, we get a bad grade. We think that, if the University bills us a fee, we pay the fee. What they don’t want you to know (well at least one of those groups) is that there are nuances in this little system of ours and that, in order to get what we want from our college experience, we need to find the loopholes. We must be our own advocates. Grades and deadlines are not as final as one may think. The biggest tool one has in succeeding in college is using his voice. Communicate with your professor. So many times have I reached out to my professors to explain why my life situation may be affecting my coursework at that time. Almost every time the professor has been understanding in those situations. In other situations, I email the professor before the semester even starts: “Look, I want to give my best effort in this class, but this semester, I am working full-time and may not be able to give my 100 percent every class.” I have also said things like, “I will be applying to law school in the future and I want my transcript to be competitive. What are some things I can do to achieve an A in this course?” It speaks to one’s character and seriousness as a student to be able to communicate openly about their needs and capabilities. Keep it real with your professors, and they will return the respect. The University too is more accessible than people think. Sending an email or making a call to voice one’s concerns goes longer than a student may think. Many times, he will be able to get out of that one parking ticket or avoid that late fee by simply leveling with another human. Speak up for yourself and don’t be afraid to give some pushback. After all, you are the consumer.

Your college years will flash before your very eyes. Everyone will tell you that. Not everyone will tell you that it takes a bit of finesse and grit to actually be successful in that short amount of time. The aforementioned pieces of advice have served me well in my time on Broad and Olney, and yet there are a million more tidbits I could share. Put yourself out there. Be unconventional. Make a name for yourself. When you leave, do your alma mater proud. But most importantly, write for your favorite student publication, the Collegian.

abbateb2@lasalle.edu

Write a story

Commentary

Alina Snopkowski, Editor

Let me set the scene:

It’s late March or early April, 2020. The coronavirus “everyone leave school, go home, and stay there” has been going on for a little while. My parents, both employees of different school districts, are more or less working completely virtually. Everyone is trapped inside with nowhere to go and not much to do. Somehow my mom stumbles across an advertisement in a southern Delaware newspaper about a ‘beach mysteries’ themed short-story writing contest.

My parents do not describe themselves as writers. They write, of course — things like reports, presentations and professional emails — but not short stories. But they want to enter this contest, partially for bragging rights and partially for a chance at the $500 grand prize. So they write, creatively, for the first time in who knows how long. Each comes up with an idea for what they consider a ‘beach mystery.’ My three sisters and I read these stories with multicolored pens in hand and ask questions like “what does this mean?” and “why did she think that?” and “what’s the point of this story, really?”

From April through the end of June, we lived and breathed these stories (we can still recite lines of them from memory). The competition was against all those other nameless people who would be submitting their own short stories to this contest, but if you asked anyone in my family, the real competition was between my parents, because each was convinced their story was going to win the $500 grand prize and be featured in the book of winners.

Neither of my parents’ stories won first prize. Neither story even ended up in the top twenty and included in the book. That could’ve been the end of it — “we tried, we didn’t win, this proves we aren’t “real” writers.”

But, for the next few months, both of my “non-writer” parents kept writing short stories. I started to see some common themes in their writing. My mom writes about family, commitment and dreams. My dad writes about memory, obligation and responsibility. Both write about the connections between the past and the present. Sometimes they brought their stories to me for critique, but sometimes I had to ask them if I could read what they’d written, because they were writing for themselves — because they’d found something they wanted to say.

So here’s my proposal: find the time to write. Even if — especially if — you don’t consider yourself a “writer.” We all have to write papers and slideshows and discussion board replies. That’s a completely different type of writing. Write something for yourself. Write something you’d like to read. Even if you don’t think you know the “right” way to do it. We’ve all read at least one book in our lives. We’ve all watched movies and TV shows and know what a story is. You don’t need to write a novel. It’s probably better if you don’t, at least to start. Write a page of short story. That’s all.

I’m not trying to stress anyone out, or take time away from your schoolwork, or add another “assignment” to what probably seems like an endless pile of things to do. Just the opposite, really. I want you to write a short story because it’s a “reset button” from all the academic writing we have to do. I want you to take some time on a day you don’t have much classwork to do, or a Saturday you have off from work, or the time you usually spend mindlessly browsing social media to write a short story. If you want some more structure or inspiration, an online search for “writing prompts” will give you anything from phrases to lines of dialogue to single words or objects to base stories around. See where that takes you. There’s a nice feeling of accomplishment when you finish writing a short story — “I did this. I said something.”

You might learn more about yourself, too. Everyone is drawn to something — some idea or question or experience. You might notice that the same sorts of things keep showing up in your writing, and then you can ask yourself why. “What is it about these things that just gets to me?” Writing can bring both relaxation and self-reflection.

So, if you can, find the time to clear your mind and think of just one thing:

“What do I want to say?”

snopkowskia1@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

I think I’m doing Lent wrong

Commentary

Alina Snopkowski, Editor

The “What are you giving up for Lent this year?” conversation in my family is always fun because there’s always someone we think is playing the system and giving up something the rest of us don’t think is “enough.” It’s like the whole experience is some sort of competition of who can be the “best” Catholic. “I’m going to give up YouTube,” one of my sisters says. “You watch maybe one YouTube video a week,” someone replies. “I’m gonna give up ice cream,” my brother says. “We don’t even buy ice cream in February,” our dad reminds him. “I’m giving up fish,” one of my other sisters says. “But you hate fish,” is the immediate response.

I’ve “cheated” at Lent too. When I was about 12, I gave up TV, and I was doing pretty well, too, until I watched a few minutes of an episode of Arthur reflecting in the window in the wall opposite the TV. I thought I was going straight to Hell for that one.

This year for Lent I’m giving up soda and Jetpunk.com, which is a trivia website I spend all my free time taking geography and history quizzes on. I’ve given up the same things for the past three years, and I’m starting to think I might be missing the point.

Recently I’ve been hearing that instead of giving something up for Lent, an alternative is to do something extra that you wouldn’t normally do, such volunteering somewhere or saying an extra prayer or reflection. The idea is that you end up continuing to do that after Lent, therefore bringing you closer to God or more involved in your community or both. I’ve heard that the ‘giving something up’ part is supposed to have a similar affect — you end up continuing it, to some degree, after Lent is over. You give up sweets for Lent and then, after Lent, you find yourself eating less chocolate and desserts because you realize you can do fine without them. I think that sounds pretty good. Except every Easter Sunday, after I eat breakfast and go to church with my family, I open up my laptop and take the forty days’ worth of Jetpunk quizzes I missed. While drinking a can of soda, probably. And that’s it. Lent is over, I’m back to my old habits, and there’s no long-term change in my behavior. Is that wrong? I don’t know if I’m qualified to answer, but I’ve been thinking about it a lot.

Lent, the way I understand it, is supposed to be about sacrifice, giving something up and giving of yourself in a way that brings you closer to God. But I realize I’ve fallen into a pattern of just going through the motions — I stop drinking soda and playing online trivia because it’s expected, I don’t eat meat on Fridays, I say I’m trying to do Lent the right way, but, after Lent is over, there’s no real change in my life. I see myself falling into these patterns a lot when I think about my relationship to religion — how much of what I do is done only because it is expected of me?

Today is Ash Wednesday. Thanks to Covid there’s no churches nearby holding in-person Mass where I can get my ashes, and that in and of itself got me thinking about Lent, and my relationship with religion, in a way I don’t think I have before. Today is the first Ash Wednesday I can remember where I won’t have a physical symbol of my faith on my forehead. I’ll have to rely on my actions — how I treat others, how I conduct myself — if I want to show others what I believe. I suppose that’s the way it should always be? I could go to Mass every morning and eat nothing but water and oatmeal for the next forty days, but those outward, physical actions are probably pretty meaningless if I’m not doing them for the right reasons. I’ve spent a fair amount of time thinking about how much of what I do is between me and God, like I think it should be, and how much is a performance for others, me trying to ‘prove myself’ in some way to those around me. I was taught not to hide my faith, but I also believe that religion is a very personal thing. Where is the line between not being ashamed or embarrassed for your beliefs, and where does it become “rubbing your religion in someone’s face?” I used to think the distinction was pretty obvious, but now I’m not so sure.

I don’t know a lot of things about religion. I do know that I won’t be playing online trivia for the next month and a half, and I’ll be drinking water instead of soda at the diner I work at, and on Fridays on my lunch break I’ll have to ask the cooks for tuna fish sandwiches instead of turkey or roast beef. I also know that this year in particular I’ll be reflecting a little bit more about why I’m doing those things — and I hope that, by the time Easter rolls around, I’ll understand a little bit better.

snopkowskia1@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.

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