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opinion
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Are tears saltier in Texas?
The Joebama memes were funny until they became tedious.
3 breakfast orders in the crossword? What is this? IOP!?
CHEESE CAKE IS NOT THAT GREAT
KU housing is probably trying to burn everyone alive on daisy hill from the inside out, probably for all the sins we've committed
Just heard that my supply chain professor won the World Championship in Powerlifting again. #badass
Just when you think the oak mites died you wake up with 3 more bites!
Fronck Maison is a force to be reckoned with.
I mean, I understand why you can't get any goddamn seafood in this town but that doesn't stop me from being angry about it.
Texas must've thought it was already Christmas with the amount of times they gave KU the ball.
I just walked all the way to class to find a substitute teacher... Is that even allowed in college?
My life is in such a state that I actively made a plan with myself to watch High School Musical.
I just replaced the word "hoe" with "enthusiast" in an email to my professor
Nothing like a drive through campus to remind you that no one else knows what to do at four-way stops, either.
2,000 year old dehydrated bog bodies have a higher quality of life than me.
voice reogoition
thnigs anre gabrage
why do thhe y keep
making them
Don't criticize Tasty videos. It's because of them that I can say "flour" in ten different languages.
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Bertels: The importance of media scrutiny
► ELLEN BERTELS
@ellenbertels
n all honesty, I did not want to write about the election.
Thousands of people, I kept thinking, have written think pieces. They blame and analyze and clarify and complicate what happened last Tuesday. What could I possibly contribute?
To ignore the issue entirely, though, seemed unfair and apathetic. Now is not the time for voiceless apathy. But neither is it the time for me, decidedly not an expert in the political field, to throw my flimsy beach hat into the ring of political analysis. The people are overloaded with information. No one would read it. Those who did read it might misconstrue or misinterpret my meaning.
Everyone has something to say.
And there's the rub.
In some ways, this critique is the same old song and dance: We consume media constantly, often
without critical analysis. On a small scale, this pattern provides concerning results.
I have seen literally dozens of people react to or share posts on Facebook in the last few days without considering the source. At least three of my Facebook friends have shared — quite earnestly — a piece by Andy Horowitz of The New Yorker titled, "Trump Confirms That He Just Googled Obamacare." This piece, as it turns out, is satire.
Similarly, many on Twitter and Facebook have been sharing a map that was touted as being a reflection of the youth vote results, but was really a projection from Oct. 25, nearly two weeks before the election. The map, run by mic.com, depicts all but seven states swinging decisively for Sec. Clinton. According to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, actual exit polls show that 55 percent of voters between the ages of 18 and 29 supported Clinton while 37 percent supported
the president-elect.
Now, these are not grave mistakes. In fact, they are easily avoidable. If I know anything about the internet, it is this: not everything on Facebook is true, and fact-checking is easy.
Sometimes, though,
things are not that simple.
Among the dozens of think pieces I have read since Election Day, the most interesting ones criticize the media for what CBS News' Will Rahn calls their, "unbearable smugness." While I do not agree with Rahn's full argument, it seems fair to acknowledge (and criticize) most major media outlets' wrongful confidence in (and poor coverage of) the election's outcome. In many cases, they did not persuade or discuss. Rather, in a case of confirmation bias, most major news sources spoke directly to an audience who already agreed with them.
In the future, in addition to thinking about factual accuracy, we must scrutinize whether the media we
consume is thoughtful or effectively persuasive.
What purpose does snarky disdain play in a person's politics? If the goal is to persuade your opposition, is the rhetoric compelling? If the goal is not to persuade — how else can you mobilize new individuals to a cause and create meaningful ideological change?
scrutinize whether the media we consume is thoughtful or effectively persuasive."
I think these are not just questions we should ask, but questions we must ask as we continue forward. And I very much believe these are questions we can ask while also denouncing all incidents of hatred, violence and prejudice that we see occurring. If cynicism and "smugness" are frustrating,
acts of hatred and prejudice are inexcusable.
No one is infallible. Like we millennials say, even your fave is problematic. (For instance, I chose to write an opinion article on a digital media platform about people with bad opinions on digital media platforms. That's almost unforgiveable.) But we are all allowed to be wrong occasionally.
At the same time, though information has value. Our words, our sources, the choices we make about how to persuade and convince and empathize - those things matter. We should take care with the way that we use them and take care considering the ideas, individuals and institutions we support.
Most of all, we should take care of each other.
Ellen Bertels is a senior from Overland Park studying English and Italian.
- Edited by Cody Schmitz
Uri: Finding solace in American politics
▶ IKE URI @ikeUri
Like many Democrats, I woke up on Wednesday, Nov. 9, hoping that the previous night had been a terrible dream. Election Day was a slew of misleading statistics, false hope, disappointment and fear. But a week has passed, and we, as a nation, have had some time to consider what the next four years will bring. Without doubt, the Trump presidency spells out worrying implications. But, though concerning, I remain optimistic about the resilience of the American public. We cannot let this moment interrupt our pursuit for a better democracy and society.
Throughout his campaign, Donald Trump has emphasized values outside of the Republican mainstream. Running as
the "change" candidate bar none, he reiterated themes that were consistently racist, sexist and xenophobic. He advocates for building a wall between Mexico and the United States and for increasing the vetting process for Middle Eastern refugees. Members of the Ku Klux Klan have endorsed him, and Trump has made clear that rape and sexual assault are laughing matters. Trump's policies, it seems, are focused on returning the United States to a 1950s paradise, where white Christian males dominate society.
This is, in many ways, a departure from the Republican Party of the 20th century. Though Trump has compared himself to Ronald Reagan, he exists a world away from the 1980s leader. It is difficult to emphasize the extent to which the rhetoric of the Republican Party has changed. Though Reagan
was no liberal and proposed troubling policies, he praised immigrants and famously advocated for the destruction of walls that divided society. Reagan, like Obama and other charismatic American leaders, understood the values that underlie our democracy. Individual liberty inherited in a deep sense of shared community create the America of which many of us dream.
We, as a nation have had some time to consider what the next four years will bring."
Trump's policies, though, are grounded in fear and distrust, scorning data and facts. In response, the left has
looked at his supporters with increasing derision, passing off far-right views as out-of-touch and irrational. While many conservatives are not critically engaging with facts, the left must understand the concerns of half the nation. Conservative America feels forgotten and left behind, and these thoughts, which have grown over the past decade, contributed to our current political situation. The left cannot ignore this trend, because in doing so, we shut off any avenue for dialogue. However, the right must realize that minority groups, throughout the history of the United States, have long internalized the feelings that conservatives are just now discovering.
On Election Night, I decided at 3:00 a.m. that it was time to retreat from discussions on politics, environment and economy. But a week of reflection has
changed this view. President Obama stated in his speech at the Democratic National Convention, "Democracy isn't a spectator sport." We must engage in the public sphere, and, like President Reagan, we must "take inspiration from the past ... [but] live for the future."
Given the political realities of our time, it is important to begin critically examining our present and the events that have created it. We must listen to voices who feel left behind. We must take time to listen and understand in order to begin reconstructing and reconnecting. We cannot stop working to build a more perfect union.
Ike Uri is a senior from Concordia studying sociology.
Edited by Cody Schmitz
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