Author: Baylor Lariat

There were 28.6 million people abusing illicit drugs, including prescription pills and marijuana, in the United States in 2016, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration’s 2016 Survey on Drug Abuse and Health. This is nearly 8.8 percent of the U.S. population, a number that is staggering, yet sadly unsurprising. With such an out-of-control drug presence in the United States, cities have taken different approaches to addressing health and safety concerns regarding drug users. Philadelphia was the most recent city to adopt a somewhat progressive technique of preventing drug overdoses by implementing safe drug injection sites. Many are…

In this week’s show, Max Calderone and Andrew Cline talk about the Super Bowl, men’s college basketball and play Fill In The Blank. 

It’s the end of the week and our anchors have the latest on what’s happening in and around campus. This week’s show includes stories about an off-campus aggravated robbery, a subpoena issued against Baylor employees and the gender gap in computer science.

Just as it reassured the public it would, the Title IX office at Baylor has undergone numerous changes in the name of improvement. Pepper Hamilton’s 105 recommendations have been implemented, the Title IX section on Baylor’s website is now layered with information and resources, and pools of money have been spent settling lawsuits and cleaning up the mess of recent years’ scandals. However, despite continued efforts, something seems to be largely unrepresented — opportunities for student involvement, not as individuals in need of assistance, but as the assistants themselves. The sexual assault climate survey, which was administered last year, revealed…

In this episode, our anchors talk about the new Mission Waco executive director, Baylor’s red carpet appearance at the Grammy Awards and how more than 40 organizations set out to help the city’s homeless this week.

There have been 11 school shootings in the United States this year. It isn’t even February yet. The most recent and damaging of these occurred Jan. 23 at a small-town Kentucky high school, claiming the lives of two 15-year old students and injuring 18 other people. In fact, researchers claim that since 2013, school shootings occur at a rate of about one a week. An F.B.I. study of active shooting incidents in the United States found that nearly 25 percent of those recorded took place in educational environments, and that number is increasing. In some ways, these jarring numbers have…

It is time for a systematic change in the way sexual assault is talked about and dealt with. We are seeing movements like #MeToo and #TimesUp, but these need to be more than just hashtags. We need to address the fact that our culture not only enables but excuses this behavior and promotes a widespread rape culture.Recently, a story came out about a girl who went on a date with actor Aziz Ansari in which she detailed how she felt uncomfortable with the way he behaved and pressured her into performing sexual acts. While the woman and journalist who wrote…

Although it’s well-known that the best way to get a bill passed is to secure bipartisan support, compromises between parties have been ineffective. The government shut down on Jan. 19 because Congress could not decide on a spending bill, and even though the national government is currently controlled by a Republican majority, this shutdown had everything to do with unsuccessful bipartisanship. Congress’s current definition of “compromise” is less about meeting in the middle and more about trading-off between parties. Instead of coming to a consensus and working together to address the needs of both parties, and the entirety of the…

In this episode of Don’t Feed The Bears, Max Calderone and Kris Beasley take on the scandal at Michigan State and preview Super Bowl LII between the New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles.

In Lariat TV News Today’s debut, anchors Bailey Brammer, Kennedy Dendy and Elisabeth Tharp break down the latest campus news.

Baylor’s Counseling Center has made some great improvements and grown over the years, but there is still a lot of work to be done. Mental health is a touchy subject that needs to be addressed, and mental health in college can carry even more of a stigma. Some students may brush off their anxiety or depression as just due to stress or being busy. Students, teachers and parents may make excuses, thinking, of course college is supposed to be stressful, but is it supposed to be this stressful? Colleges across the country need to do a better ­­­job supporting students’…

Twenty-first century society is filled with cellular secrecy –– dimmed lock screens and extensive passcodes. The private enclaves found within the virtual world are valued and held as sacred …… that is, unless you interact with someone overseas or your message routes through a foreign country –– in that case, your data is fair-game for the National Security Agency (NSA).The Senate passed a bill 60-38 on Jan. 17 which extends legislation allowing the NSA to conduct warrantless surveillance of internet and phone use.We find that the act fails to both uphold American standards of privacy and prove significant contribution to…

In this episode of Don’t Feed the Bears, Max Calderone and Kris Beasley play “Buy or Sell”. They also tackle Championship Sunday, the MLB offseason and all things Baylor basketball.

Not all women wear makeup, and that’s completely acceptable. However, some cosmetic companies fail to represent women of all colors equally, and that’s entirely unacceptable.On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Tarte Cosmetics released its new Shape Tape Foundation, which many women had been waiting expectantly for in light of the company’s extremely successful Shape Tape Concealer. However, the range of shades for this new foundation has a severe lack of diversity and does not wholly represent people of color and their skin tones.Makeup and cosmetic companies such as Tarte should be fully aware of their consumer-base, and in doing so,…

Baylor students and staff observed a snow day Tuesday despite the lack of a rather essential element: Snow. This has lead to sarcastic remarks about the tempestuous weather conditions that resulted in a four-day weekend. Besides just being thankful for an extra day off from school and work, we are also thankful to the Baylor administration for exercising prudence when it comes to the safety of Baylor students and staff. “Please know that we do not take the decision to close campus lightly, particularly this early in the semester. We consult with various state and local emergency management officials as…

Many of us desire, directly or indirectly, to change the world in some way. The extent to which we desire change will vary, as will the motivating forces that drive us and the end goals ultimately sought. While one person may feel compelled to write policy reform, another may desire to plan and execute a food drive in their local community. While one may desire to lobby for the coal industry in the name of job creation, another may desire to lobby for the environment in the name of climate change prevention. Changing the world “for the better” can be…

The day after celebrities painted the Golden Globes’ red carpet black in support of the #MeToo and the #TimesUp movements French actress Catherine Deneuve, along with nearly 100 other women, signed a letter denouncing both movements. #MeToo and #TimesUp are movements known for speaking out against sexual assault.The letter, written by five influential and affluent French women, backed the unpopular opinion that the plethora of sexual assault and harassment cases and the subsequent sexual freedom movements are hurting the female population more than helping it. Although the authors of the letter do bring up some valid points about the extent…

When election day comes around, and we pile into our local community centers and school auditoriums to cast our vote, we like to believe that our vote matters. We like to believe we are fulfilling our civic duties and making our voices heard in government. A recent federal court decision in North Carolina works to ensure that this essential element of our democratic republic functions fairly and equitably.Last week, federal judges found North Carolina’s congressional districts map unconstitutional, claiming the map was formed as a result of gerrymandering. Gerrymandering is the technical political term referring to the illegal act of…

By Penelope Shirey | Design Editor Last semester I had the privilege of interning for Southwest Airlines in Dallas. Not only did this give me the incredible opportunity to learn from some of the top professionals in the communication field, but it also taught me lessons that stretched me as a person even outside the office. Living the Southwest way, I learned, does not stop when you leave the walls of headquarters. In fact, some of the my biggest opportunities for growth were not at my desk, but rather while traveling. Interns are eligible for unlimited free flights on Southwest,…

This week, Max and Kris discuss the NFL Divisional Round playoff games, recap the National Championship between Alabama and Georgia and give their take on the Big 12 Men’s Basketball Standings.

By Hannah Neumann | Focus Magazine 2017 Editor-in-Chief A six-part television series titled “Waco” is set to premiere on the Paramount Network on Jan. 24 and will star Academy Award nominee Michael Shannon and Taylor Kitsch in the leading roles. Kitsch will portray David Koresh, the leader of the Branch Davidians religious cult, and Shannon will portray Gary Noesner, the FBI’s chief negotiator on site in February 1993, when a 51-day standoff began between the Davidians and the FBI. The dispute ended with a fire that killed 76 people and also ignited nationwide discussions on government overreach and religious extremism.…

By Megan Rule | Staff Writer Baylor Student Life’s weekly What’s New BU email this week brought a new series of Monday Healthy Tips from Monday Campaigns – DeStress Monday. According to the email from Baylor Student Life, every Monday this month, DeStress Monday serves to create a plan to reduce symptoms of stress. This weeks DeStress Monday began with tips for deep breathing in order to start the semester off on the right foot. Deep breathing leads to being present, which also eases anxiety, according to the DeStress Monday website. “It’s important to remember to slow down and focus…

New hosts Max Calderone and Kris Beasley went live on Don’t Feed The Bears for the first time in 2018 to talk about the college football National Championship, hand out awards for bowl season and wrap up the first round of NFL Playoffs.

Filmed and Edited by Liesje Powers Owner of the Clay Pot Restaurant, Thanh Le, talks about how her business began and the culture that inspires it. She also gives an inside look on the day-to-day events and features of the restaurant.

Thomas and Jakob host their final broadcast as students from inside the Ferrell Center before the Baylor men’s basketball game. The guys will react to the final CFB Playoff ranking and later, play NFL Fill in the Blank.

The semester is ending. Once the Christmas decorations go up, we won’t lay back down for a good night’s rest until we hand in our last final. But if you are taking a break from your cram sessions or another mad dash to your next class, it is important to know before you click the next story or close this tab that this editorial is for you. We would like to say thank you, so here it is. First, thank you for hanging in there with us. This August we made a change, as we brought the print days down…

By Alishia Griffin | Contributor As I prepare to leave Baylor Nation this December, I find myself worried about remaining and future peers. Perhaps I’m a stranger to them, but we share an academic community built on Christian faith, therefore we’re all Bears, and I hope that’s enough for you to heed my concerns. In September, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos made changes to Title IX that mainly affected campus assault cases, leading me to wonder how Baylor’s Title IX office would handle these adjustments in 2018. After all, our school went from being written about as a university known…

By Na’Caesa Pink | Contributor With the steady pace and significant impact social media has brought into the 21st century, it was naive to believe that it could merely exist judgment free. It is undoubtedly known that the internet, along with social media, has rapidly developed and flourished in the last two decades. This spike in social media usage resulted in an increase in dissatisfaction toward social media and is commonly deemed addicting and depersonalizing by older generations. Recent months have shown the complete opposite. Social media has connected the world in more ways now, than anytime before. Within a…

By Brennan Butcher | ContributorThe House of Representatives just passed the GOP’s new tax plan that includes billions in cuts from corporations and wealthy businesses. Without this source of revenue, other groups will be hit hard. Among these groups are college students, their parents and anyone who holds student loan debt.The American Council on Education estimates that the House’s new tax plan will reduce tax benefits and savings for college students by $65 billion over the next 10 years. The purpose of this tax plan is to alleviate the financial pressure on the middle class; however, with the effects felt…