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opinion
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KANSAN.COM | MONDAY, FEB. 1, 2016
That presentation of the rules gave me goosebumps. Incredible
To the person that said you can't make your last semester senior year easy... I seemed to make it happen sooo...
Nothing says college like getting your card declined for $1.25 coffee refill.
Editor's note: FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT
Motion to suspend camping? How about motion for more outlets in the fieldhouse?
When your friend wants to volunteer at the Humane Society, but the last time you were there you sobbed because a dog looked sad.
senioritis in full effect:
did hwk 10 min
before it was due, tried
to submit it one min
late, got a o. it's cool,
everything will be ok.
Wineries are where I want to be. Winery living is the life for me
Just got in a fight
w/ my bf over the
difference b/w an
ostrich and an emu.
This is my brain on
stress.
-- my face when someone's eaten my leftovers
If Miley and Liam can get back together anything is possible
When I grow up I want to be Cher's twitter.
Was in Missouri when KU beat Kentucky. Yelled "WE BEAT KENTUCKY, HELL YES!" And just go stared at. Cheer people, cheer
I don't care if you all won't try my brussel sprouts. I love them and they are a great source of all vitamins. -
Nick Carter > Aaron Carter and I'm not sorry about it. #GetAtMe
If you eat celery, there is a 100% chance you're a terrible person
Fortune cookie told me: "Po says you have a strong instinct to feed a hungry panda." OK.
When will Jayhawk ink move right next to the Art & Design building?
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► DANYA ISSAWI
@danyasawi
Fear is an innate human quality, hardwired into the most primitive parts of our minds. Our ancestors used it as means of danger detection, to trigger a fight or flight response while in the wild. This response proved effective for our primordial counterparts. Those with the ability to properly tap into this evolutionary trait went on to see another day. They survived.
And that's what we seem to have done, as a generation. We seem to have rewired our minds to manifest a predisposition to offense.
As time has worn on and humanity has established layers of synthetic protection from the physical dangers of the natural world, our born ability to fear seems to have evolved into a case of generational fortune telling, which psychiatrist David Burns defines as a conviction that one's "prediction is an already-established fact" and more so that the outcome of this prediction will be a negative one.
The origin of our insatiable drive to find offense in the everyday is hard to pinpoint. Maybe we were abundantly coddled and sheltered in our upbringing. Maybe it stems from a simple increase in exposure to culturally sensitive topics and international issues as a result of our recent advancements in technology, which in turn, leads to a larger number of issues to formulate opinions on. Or could it be that
its inception was simultaneous with the birth of social media?
Our generation flocks to social media as our main form of communication and have chosen Facebook, Twitter and Instagram as our platforms of choice. We utilize these virtual spaces to make our voices heard and to share the inner happenings of our minds. A new wave of millennial injustice seekers and whistleblowers has the ability to share their opinion with hundreds, or even thousands, of their closest comrades with the click of a button. And in contrast, adversaries of these reformists can share their dissent in similar fashion. This instantaneous transmission of information has become both our greatest ally and most prodigious enemy.
There is a fine line to be drawn between being controversial and being downright offensive. Controversy often elicits discussion-the latter does not. We're so afraid to feel discomfort or offend anyone that we fear the actual discussion. We need to find a balance between exhibiting fairness and freedom of speech.
Issues regarding race and gender equality currently arising on campuses nationwide (most prominently at the University of Missouri) and the subsequent controversies that are coming to light seem like they stem from a lack of exposure and discussion on everyone's end. These are important conversations that need to be had
in order to move forward and advance ourselves as a society.
Rather than educating ourselves about the nature of the issues at hand, we allowed Twitter and social media to dictate what we knew and how we felt. We ignored the conversation that could have been had instead began flinging insults at each other because our feelings had been hurt.
People became immediately offended and began taking sides, using their respective hashtags and opinions as shields. KU was not immune to the argument and found itself in the midst of the controversy as well with activist groups, like Rock Chalk Invisible Hawk, and even their opponents, stepping forward. It was like watching a game of basketball. You pick a side and stick to your guns. Anything the other team does is incorrect, and the end will justify the means as long as your side is the one that wins, right?
Hashtags like #BlackOnCampus began emerging on Twitter and Yik Yak, taking the protest to the Internet, as a means for black students to share social injustices they felt they had experienced at universities nationwide. In opposition, #NationalOffendACCollegeStudentDay began trending simultaneously. Tweets behind the latter hashtag embodied a movement dissatisfied with what users described as protesters' overly sensitive and elitist attitudes.
something new if we hadn't been so afraid of changing our mind. We could have made change. We will still.
Nowadays, when we encounter information that challenges what we think to be true, we choose flight. We choose to flee, mentally and physically, from situations that illicit any intensity, so much so that over half of students say they're afraid to offer their viewpoints for fear they might differ from what the masses think.
We could have learned
Rather than shutting down, we must learn to open our minds, consciously quiet our underlying defensive mechanisms and actively listen to opposing opinions. Regardless of what your stance on any subject matter is, or whatever side you're on, expose yourself to the discussion, because that is where growth happens. True learning comes from challenging your beliefs. It comes from grappling with what we think, what we think we know, and what we want to know.
Danya Issawi is a sophomore from Kansas City studying journalism.
- Edited by Brendan Dzwierzynski
Illustrations by Jake Kaufmann/Kansar
Burbank: Students need to reevaluate view of humanities
▶ JESSE BURBANK
@Jburbanki
The reason is not hard to find just listen to our national leaders. Last November, Senator Marco Rubio proudly declared to the audience of a Republican primary debate that "we need more welders and less philosophers." President Obama voiced a similar opinion in a 2014 speech, quipping, "I promise you, folks can make a lot more, potentially, with skilled manufacturing or the trades than they might with an art history degree."
The humanities aren't popular lately.
But statements like these fundamentally ignore the value of taking humanities classes or majoring in the
humanities. Studying fields such as a foreign language, anthropology or philosophy provides practical skills in communication, writing ability and enhanced understanding of other cultures and worldviews. As a 2013 report from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences puts it, the humanities help create "citizens who are educated in the broadest possible sense, so that they can participate in their own governance and engage with the world. An adaptable and creative workforce."
However, statistics suggest these politicians are saying what many American students are increasingly thinking: humanities disciplines like history. English and classics simply aren't very lucrative. Students in these disciplines can attest to this perception, being familiar with the subtly condescending question of "What are you going to do with that?"
Steven Conn of The Chronicle of Higher Education refers to this decline as a "Crisis of the Humanities." One can't blame him for the dramatic phrasing; enrollment has halved as students have sought refuge in fields with perceived links to economic stability.
But many students' anxiety about the marketability of their major ignores that most careers do not neatly fit a single major. Statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau point out that only 27 percent of college graduates in the workforce hold a career that directly corresponds with their college major.
percent between 1967 and 2010, according to a 2013 report from Harvard University.
But the "crisis" is a result of a mistaken view of a college education. Students have allowed economic anxiety to increasingly drive them toward studying "more practical" skills in science and mathematics. But by ignoring the humanities, students refuse to develop other highly practical and personally fulfilling
Despite these figures, concern over maximizing earning potential has helped drive the proportion of bachelor's degrees awarded in the humanities down from 14 percent to 7
skills like writing and critical thinking.
Don't let yourself be held hostage by what you think will give you the most money after graduation. Choosing classes or choosing a major is rarely the same thing as choosing the career you'll have or the life you'll lead. If you like history, take some history classes. If you appreciate a philosophy class, explore it more deeply. Don't limit your curiosity. Ignore the noise over marketability.
Jesse Burbank is a junior from Quinter studying history, economics and political science.
- Edited By Deanna Ambrose and Matthew Clough
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