By Lucy Ruscitto | ContributorImagine this: You are a student at Baylor University, and as a liberal arts major, you have classes in nearly all of the buildings on campus. You are looking for a new place to study because as per usual, Moody is too loud and the Starbucks line is too long. So you pop into the Hankamer School of Business for a hot sandwich from Au Bon Pain and a secluded study spot among the modernesque, private study cubicles with your business friends. As soon as your foot hits the shiny marble floor, you are astounded, not…
Author: Baylor Lariat
What do you think of when you hear of Thanksgiving break? For most, they think about spending a week at home with family, not thinking about school and recharging their brain. Baylor students are only granted three days of break this year and many aren’t happy about it.Baylor University has a total enrollment of 17,217 students. Of those students, 65% are from Texas. Many Texas school districts and districts all around the nation normally have a week off to celebrate Thanksgiving break. Thus, many students, especially the 3,366 new freshmen are used to having a week off to spend time…
There is nothing more welcoming than pancakes and coffee.The IHOP by Baylor campus was an iconic location for many generations of Baylor students. The university recently forced its closure and demolition to begin construction on the new Mark and Paula Hurd Welcoming Center.The IHOP had 24/7-hour service, which was great for many Baylor students. They also served unlimited free coffee refills, which was another appealing factor. Having it right across the street from the campus is a college student’s dream come true. The location, hours, pancakes and coffee refills will be missed.Baylor students loved the pancakes that were served but…
Named one of the most secure colleges in America, Baylor University continues to stand ahead of the curve on safety innovation and proactive improvements to provide for the safety and security of our students. Our Department of Public Safety has a highly committed staff of more than 100 personnel who are assisted by a large network of live security cameras, 24-hour patrols, 81 emergency call boxes and 152 emergency telephones. A Tuesday Lariat Letter calling for more call boxes around campus implied that Baylor’s current campus safety measures are inadequate. I would instead ask that our campus community think outside…
We get meme culture. But sometimes meme culture can perpetuate toxic ideas, stereotypes and cancel culture, no matter how harmless or truly representative a meme trend can seem. And often a meme isn’t the actual point of toxicity— it’s the attitude. The “OK, Boomer” meme has exploded recently. What started out as a funny and relatively relevant response by younger generations has turned into a dismissive and cancel-culture-engaged stereotype that’s plastered throughout social media and seeping into the real world. The phrase “OK, Boomer” has been used by millennials and Gen Zers in resentment toward Baby Boomers and how they…
By Kyle McCulloch | ContributorChemical warfare, terrorist attacks and mass genocide are included, among other war crimes, in this year’s soft reboot of Infinity Ward’s “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.” Is the campaign’s emphasis on violence necessary to provide players with a memorable experience?Modern Warfare’s controversial campaign is a true return to form for the franchise, unapologetically provoking its players to reflect on the subject of modern warfare. The campaign depicts an unpredictable and escalating cold war between NATO and a ruthlessly violent anarchist regime.War has changed since the events of 9/11. The battlefield is not bound to any specific…
What comes to mind when you think of America’s national parks? Escape, natural beauty, adventure and freedom are generally what pop up in the brain. The need to connect to Wi-fi or get your Amazon Prime package delivered do not typically fall under the realm of thought when it comes to national parks — nor should it become that way. According to an article by the LA Times, the Trump administration has been working on proposal to privatize national parks and even commercialize them with WiFi, food trucks and Amazon deliveries. To begin allowing private business such as these into…
A significant amount of effort is put into the freshman year Baylor experience to ensure that students are able to transition into college. Whether it be Line Camp, welcome week, or specialized dorms with CL leaders, freshmen receive a unique and hands-on variety of first-year opportunities to get connected to the school. An especially important required aspect of freshman year is taking a New Student Experience (NSE) course, which is a smaller, discussion-based class that combines another topic with also learning about adjusting to college and adult life. Some of these courses are specifically a First Year Seminar (FYS) or…
Hype will die, but your actions stay with you forever. Who would have thought that a chicken sandwich could create such chaos and drama? On Nov. 3, the long-awaited Popeyes Chicken Sandwich was permanently brought back to the menu. The internet went berserk, quite literally. While trends and hype occur on a constant basis today, there was something about this release that caused sanity to be lost in many parts of the country. Just three days after this item was back on the menu, a fatal stabbing occurred at one of Popeyes locations in Maryland. Think about that for a…
While many students may enjoy Dr Pepper floats, there are a group of students who are excluded from participating in a decades-long Baylor tradition. Students who are allergic to dairy, lactose intolerant or do not consume dairy products for religious or personal beliefs may never have experienced Dr Pepper Hour at Baylor.Baylor’s Dr Pepper Hour dates back to 1953 and is held every Tuesday from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the Bill Daniel Student Center. It is a time for students, faculty and staff to socialize and build community over a Dr Pepper float.One of the key ingredients in…
For students, it’s no secret that the majority of the weekend is used to decompress. Sunday, however, is for getting back to reality and wrapping up homework. It would be nice for Baylor to realize this and make its facilities and resources available earlier than 1 p.m. on Sundays. The most integral buildings on Baylor’s campus — such as Moody Memorial Library, the Baylor Sciences Building and the Paul L. Foster Campus for Business and Innovation — do not open their doors until 1 p.m. on Sundays, which does not allow for students to capitalize on one of the most…
Cole Tompkins said that it is fine to poke fun at TCU’s red accented uniforms in his Oct. 29 column “What’s worse: TCU or their uniforms,” but with this new Baylor brand deal, Baylor has no right to poke fun at TCU’s uniforms. While the TCU uniforms with the red accents were unusual, at least they have the freedom to wear different and fun uniforms each week. Baylor used to be like other college football programs with a wide array of uniform combinations. But now, Baylor only has one variation of uniforms in three different colors. Last year, Baylor changed…
The NCAA recently passed a bill that will allow athletes to profit on their name, image, and likeness. This bill is receiving many critiques and opinions, and it seems like that will continue for some while.“This modernization for the future is a natural extension of the numerous steps NCAA members have taken in recent years to improve support for student-athletes, including full cost of attendance and guaranteed scholarships,” said Michael Drake on the official website of the NCAA. Drake is the head of the NCAA board and the president of Ohio State University.The NCAA has been tinkering with ways to…
Facial recognition is not just useful for unlocking your iPhone.Hong Kong protesters of the proposed extradition bill have more to worry about than the police. Marchers must deal with the traditional attacks on their attempts at self-governance, from police blockades to physical assaults, but are also facing issues with facial recognition technology, which has started to show up in police forces and elsewhere even in the states.Common in protests ranging anywhere from Hong Kong to the shores of America is the use of masks. These are used both as a practical way of fighting police use of tear gas and…
By Amy Rickabaugh | ContributorLately, I have been very aware of my surroundings as I walk around Baylor’s campus. Who’s walking in front of me, behind me, beside me, and what are their motives?Part of this hyperawareness is a product of me being bored on my walk or bike ride to class, the other part is motivated by my fear of being hurt.Something in my mind tells me that if I take notice of everyone around me, I can avoid being hurt, or an emergency I may not have noticed had I been on my phone. I have noticed this…
The Magnolia Silos, Magnolia Table and now Magnolia Press attract tourists to Waco and help to boost the city’s growing economy. Unfortunately, the influx of consumers and booming businesses is limited to only certain sections of the Waco community.The East Side, specifically businesses and properties along the historic Elm Avenue, is one of those parts of Waco that the Magnolia effect has barely touched. So much so, that in 2018 a movement to revitalize the once thriving Elm Avenue began and in reaction some newer establishments have grown.Baylor students should join these efforts. Baylor is a good chunk of the…
As Facebook and Twitter have gone opposite directions in their approach to misleading political ads, much debate has arisen over which approach is more ethical. While Facebook continues to justify its practices of not fact-checking political ads hosted on its platform, Twitter has taken a stand in banning all political messaging. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced that all political advertising, not only those of candidates, will be banned as of Nov. 22. The final policy will be released Nov. 15. Facebook’s head of news partnerships, Campbell Brown, posted Wednesday that she does not believe social media sites hold any responsibility…
Have you ever gotten to the dining hall or SUB to grab a snack and realized you left your student ID at home? Have you ever been to a basketball game and gotten to the entrance to then realize you don’t have your ID and don’t have your ID number memorized either? Or, worst of all, have you ever gotten locked out of your dorm late at night with your ID laying on your desk in your room?Chances are one of these things has happened to you at least one time in your days at Baylor, and you may have…
The online community speaks its own language, filled with symbols and words with secret meanings. Two people from opposite sides of the world can bond over a meme, because of the implicit meanings behind it. As much camaraderie as internet humor brings, there is a right way to do it. There are some things that just aren’t funny. Memes that threaten public safety should not be supported. These types of harmful posts should never have even been given enough attention for them to become viral. Yet, it happens all of the time. Videos showing a fake President Donald Trump violently…
When it comes to college students and politics, things seem to go either one of two ways— the student has strong opinions about the current political situation, or the student has extremely vague knowledge of what is going on, if any at all. Politics don’t have to be your new life passion and you don’t have to engage in constant debates with people, but as a college student, it’s important to be knowledgeable about what is going on in the United States and beyond. It’s easy to make excuses for not being informed politically—some of the most common being that…
[On Oct. 21], the Baylor Young Conservatives of Texas hosted a Pro-Hong Kong tabling event. During it, we held up the Hong Kong flag, as well as a “Communism Kills” sign and a quote from Thomas Jefferson: “The tree of liberty must be watered from time to time with the blood of Patriots and Tyrants.” This caused a lot of debates to occur, primarily between members of my group and Chinese exchange students. Thinking in line with President Livingstone’s Baylor Conversation series, which stresses civil discourse, I wish that everyone could have witnessed these debates. I would argue that we…
Warning: This editorial includes detailed descriptions of acts labeled as sexual misconduct, some of which are graphic and unwanted sexual situations. All of these descriptions have been pulled from Baylor’s Social Climate Survey.Baylor University distributed a social climate survey to randomly selected students through their Baylor email addresses on Oct. 15. A follow-up email was sent out to those same students as a reminder to take the survey on Oct. 22.Many parts of the survey prompted the recall of traumatic or harmful personal events. Due to the graphic and specific nature of many of the questions asked, the survey should…
The Turkish invasion of Syria is a tragedy. But it is also our responsibility.There is no other way to put it. Turkey attacked the Kurds when the United States government agreed to withdraw American troops from Syria. The Kurds are a minority group who have often been persecuted by the governments in the Middle East. They are also long term US allies. But President Trump says that although the Kurds did help us against ISIS, we never promised to protect them. And in making this decision, he’s given Turkey a green light to do whatever they want to these people.…
Say goodbye to any Baylor branded material in the color black. The student media and journalism, public relations and new media departments were recently denied the ability to order new Baylor-branded black polos, coffee mugs and leather portfolios. Jason Cook, the chief marketing officer for Baylor, said the reason for the new color and branding restrictions are to implement consistency in the new university brand across as aspects of Baylor. “I think what you’re seeing across the university is a very concerted effort to promote our university across the board,” Cook said. “It’s just part of a larger effort that…
The clock has gone down to 0, the players have waved to the crowd, and “That Good Old Baylor Line” has been sung, but something isn’t right. Turning around and heading out of the stadium, one can see that the fan sections, especially the student sections, are filled with trash. Empty bottles and food boxes line the ground, polluting an otherwise beautiful stadium. The problem of littering doesn’t stop there, however. Walking around campus, one can see other littered items of trash. Disposing of trash anywhere other than a trash can also shows a lack of personal responsibility. When younger,…
News happens all around us. At the Baylor Lariat, we prioritize presenting our readers with factual, necessary information to inform our community. Throughout the various facets that embody our publication, it is the opinion section that allows us to share both our and your views on topics and issues that need to be discussed in our world. This is distinct from our news content. This section gives us and our readers the power to share and discuss what is important.The opinion section is not solely the views of our staff. We are open and want to hear diverse opinions and…
With rampant claims of “fake news” or biased journalism, the editors of the Baylor Lariat hope we can remain credible in the eyes of our readers. We restrict our expression to the designated opinion section, which is the only place in the paper where we allow our personal perspectives to seep through.Whistleblower Cary Poarch, working with Project Veritas, recently published undercover recordings taken at CNN which imply a newsroom culture oriented against President Donald Trump and the broader Republican party. The recordings revealed the CNN president’s insistence on regular coverage of the impeachment, even before the official court order was…
On Tuesday, Oct. 15, Baylor University sent out a social climate survey. However, the results from this survey will not accurately represent the social climate given Baylor’s failure to make the survey gender inclusive.On Oct. 26, 2016, the Human Rights Campaign published official guidelines for collecting inclusive data in the workplace in terms of gender identification and sexual orientation. These guidelines, or similar ones, are implemented by R1 Institutions (schools with high research activity) such as Harvard, Brown, Carnegie Mellon, Princeton, Georgia State, Auburn, Mississippi State, Florida State and more. Duke is a religiously affiliated university (United Methodist Church) and…
In a time when using services like Uber or Lyft is incredibly popular for college students and working people alike, it’s imperative that measures be put in place to ensure the safety of passengers and hold companies accountable for drivers misusing the system. South Carolina passed the Samantha L. Josephson Ridesharing Safety Act in 2019 to promote rideshare activities. The act has several components, including requiring cars used for these services to display a clear and visible license plate and criminalizing people who pose as rideshare drivers. This act amended previous South Carolina laws dealing with public transportation but modernizes…
This spooky season, don’t get tricked. October is recognized as National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, but protecting your identity is essential year-round. There are a variety of ways in which a hacker or scammer can target you and access personal information, but there are measures you can take to keep yourself free from identity fraud.While identity fraud may seem like something that only happens to people worth stealing from, like celebrities or politicians, it is more commonplace than you think.According to IdentityForce, 1 in 15 people are victims of identity fraud. While getting hacked or scammed is often out of your…