Welcome back from winter break! Now that it’s the spring semester — er, rather, the semester that will see the end of winter — what are you going to do? There are surely some holiday sugary treats left over, burning a hole in your pocket (or a shelf in your room), but before you indulge, consider… not?
Posts published in “Opinions”
I’ve been reflecting a lot over break, mostly through journaling snippets of thoughts, ideas and feelings, but also through poring over the past five years of my life with loved ones. These years have been unquestionably formative and, predictably, incredibly difficult in ways I could never have anticipated. What I was able to decipher, while in a place I struggle to call home anymore, was that failure and the state of being unable to anticipate what’s coming from much of what has shaped me over these past few years.
I didn’t plan on going to St. Petersburg during J-Term; I just happened to see a poster for it in Hatfield and realized it was a chance of a lifetime. I read “Petersburg” by Andrei Bely awhile ago, and it made me want to see St. Petersburg in person. I thought about making the trip myself, but I didn’t know how to plan it, and the visa is expensive.
We are living in a time when our civic duty is becoming more important. As American citizens, we each have the right to participate in our democracy. However, there are 5.78 million eligible voters who have Limited English Proficiency (LEP), showing that there is a need for increased access to voting materials in languages other than English. Under Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act, districts with 10,000 people (or 5% of the voting age population) who speak a single minority language are required to provide voting information in that language. This often leaves many people who live in less dense populations without accommodations. People who speak English as a second language live all over the U.S. and should have the means to read important information in their native language if they need, or choose, to. According to The Nation, more than 270,000 LEP voters live in 20 of the country’s most hotly contested congressional districts and have no voting accommodations. Expanding access to voting materials to non-native English speakers could swing 20 competitive congressional elections. The diversity of the American population should be reflected in our voting practices and policies if our nation wants to claim to be a true democracy.
Did you know? Comic by Flynn
Founded in 2011, PRISM is a student-led organization that seeks to create a community and safe space for queer, trans and questioning students of color. PRISM’s stated goal is to “enlighten the Smith community about issues concerning queer students of color by creating a positive presence on campus and providing educational activities open to the general Smith community.” However, the limited funding the organization receives makes it difficult to do as much as the organization hopes to.
How do I begin to understand thee? Let me count the ways…
It’s the most “wonderful” time of the year. By “wonderful,” of course, I mean “stressful” because stress can make you do wondrous things. Yes, course registration season is upon us. There is one wondrous thing you can do, though, to reduce your stress. That wondrous thing is organization -- specifically, making a plan for that crazy morning. Most of you are already signed up, but you can always prepare for next semester. If you’re graduating, congratulations! Organization is still useful out there.
You all may have noticed a bunch of service dogs on campus. Some of them are from Diggity Dogs, a training program for service dogs that I voluntarily foster for. Some of them are people’s personal service dogs. Either way, the general public doesn’t really know a lot about service dogs, so here’s a brief explanation of what they do and some do’s and don’t when you see a service dog on campus!
Interfaith dialogue happens because of a desire to communicate openly and compassionately within a diverse community. It can be defined as an egalitarian and symbiotic coming together of different religious groups to openly discuss their beliefs. According to the World Council of Churches’ definition, interfaith dialogue aims for “cooperative, constructive and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions” and typically sits at the intersection of organized discussion or debate and taking action.