EDITORIALS

10/8/2017 9:32pm

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Editorial: We cannot prevent mass shootings without politicizing them

 

The deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history happened in Las Vegas last Sunday. Stephen Paddock shot through his window on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and opened fire on a crowd of people below, killing 58 and wounding nearly 500 others, before taking his own life. Whatever your definition of mass shooting, no other developed nation in the world comes close to the rate at which these tragedies happen in the United States.

10/4/2017 9:52pm

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Viewpoints: Dear Vampire Weekend, I give a f---- about the Oxford comma.

By Alec Dent

I wrote my pro-Oxford comma viewpoint immediately after it was decided Emily and I would go head to head on the issue in today’s editorial. It was a short, witty piece in which I told the story of my day through a series of sentences that, through their lack of an Oxford comma, had ambiguous meanings. I was so proud of it! I used all the classic examples, and even ended on a sentence that implied Emily and our editor-in-chief Tyler Fleming were escaped convicts — in hindsight, my examples got progressively more extreme and bizarre as the article went on. But, alas, my masterpiece will never see the light of day. 

10/4/2017 8:54pm

Whatever Trevor: One less hockey fight

By Trevor Marks

October brings us all an assortment of things. Beautiful leaves falling from their trees, covering the ground with shades of yellow, orange and red. Cool, crisp autumnal winds that remind us that it’s about to get really damn cold soon. Late Night with Roy, and the impending basketball season, where UNC is destined for greatness (because we always are). Flannels, pumpkin-spiced-everything, terribly-carved pumpkins, spooky costumes and endless buckets of candy. And, let’s not forget everyone’s least favorite sport: hockey.

10/3/2017 9:17pm

Editorial: No, you do not know better

 

One of our board members has spent roughly 20 years working as a live event sound engineer. They have shared a maxim famous in that industry: “Everyone knows two things: Their job, and audio.” This board offers that one of the most productive yet maddening and divisive aspects of the American character is brought to light in this joke. For lack of a better word, it is American “I-know-your-job-better-than-you-ism.”

Editors Picks

10/2/2017 9:08pm

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A racist joke is still racist

 

Two weeks ago, the cover story of The Daily Tar Heel featured first-year Benjamin Davis decked out in all yellow clothing and sitting on a yellow bed with a yellow laptop. Yellow is Davis' signature color, a hue that he associates with his happiness. Unfortunately, it is a color that others on this campus associate (derogatorily) with being Chinese.

9/28/2017 8:28pm

Finding "commons" ground

 

When it comes to protecting “the commons” — including public water sources in North Carolina — there shouldn’t be much ideological difference between conservatives and liberals.

9/27/2017 8:41pm

Viewpoints: Swim with devices, don't drown with them.

 

The issue: Three editorial board members share their viewpoints on whether or not students should have their laptops in class.  In a scene from Animal House, Professor Jennings tries to take undergraduates through the intricacies of Milton’s Paradise Lost. Multiple student distractions are displayed. Jennings, dismayed, pleads “I’m not joking! This is my job!” 

9/27/2017 8:25pm

Viewpoints: Learning without laptops promotes writing over typing

 

The issue: Three editorial board members share their viewpoints on whether or not students should have their laptops in class.  Faculty and lecturers at UNC should discourage the use of laptops in classrooms unless the requirements for note-taking cannot be executed without a laptop. As academic facilitators, they rely on reaction from the class to ensure a healthy dialogue between teacher and student, and a student’s participation in class is often contingent upon their environment. 

9/27/2017 7:24pm

Viewpoints: Laptop usage is an individualistic choice

By Faith Newsome

The issue: Three editorial board members share their viewpoints on whether or not students should have their laptops in class.  Sophomore year is when it really hit me. As I fell into the routine of my second year of college I realized: I am a real life adult with actual responsibilities. 

9/26/2017 7:15pm

This editorial board realizes its role

 

At the start of the semester, instead of exuding the usual excitement of entering a new school year, editorial board meetings felt solemn, with a giant elephant in the room. The first pitch jumped immediately into the topic of white supremacy. The next pitch followed suit, followed by another and another. We knew this coming into the job. We knew emotionally exhausting conversations were coming. 

9/26/2017 6:55pm

Making LFIT classes more accessible for all

 

In all LFIT classes at UNC, students participate in a lab where they input the amount of calories they consume throughout one week into an app called MyFitnessPal. 

9/25/2017 8:59pm

What does the UNC boycott mean in the short term?

 

The UNC Boycott has garnered national attention as it enters its second week of operation. Everything from social media campaigns, posters and students handing out fliers near Silent Sam has made nearly everyone on campus aware of the movement. The impacts of such boycott are not fully evident, but the spoken intent of the protesters are to drive up the costs of keeping Silent Sam on campus. 

9/25/2017 8:33pm

First Amendment Day celebrates our everyday freedoms

 

Today, Sept. 26, marks the School of Media and Journalism’s annual First Amendment Day. The daylong event serves as the School’s way of celebrating the Constitutional amendment that makes our field possible.

9/24/2017 10:05pm

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Reverence, remembrance and covering tragedies respectfully

 

There is no need for publications to sensationalize or draw any more attention to Schultz’s gender than they would if Schultz were a cisgender man or woman.  Scout Schultz did not “prefer” to be referred to as someone who was nonbinary. They simply were.  In the wake of their painfully early passing, we can, and should respect that. 

9/20/2017 8:49pm

Like all responsible organizations, the NFL owes its players safety

 

 Panthers fans might recall captain Luke Kuechly’s gruesome head injury last season against the Saints in Week 11. After an awkward collision with fellow linebacker Thomas Davis, Kuechly was carted off the field, giving way to this video showing him crying uncontrollably and seemingly struggling to breathe.  The fact that Kuechly’s emotional display was universally misdiagnosed as “his love for the game” indicates just how deep in denial the general public is when it comes to football-related head trauma. Despite glaring evidence of the sport’s concussion problem, the league’s officials, coaches and doctors alike continue to downplay the gravity of the issue.