By Dr. Karalyn Humphrey | Guest ColumnistDear President-elect Trump,Let me begin by expressing my sincerest hopes that your time as our president will be successful. While I did not vote for you, I believe that we all want a prosperous country. And because I believe that we all want this, I stand ready to lend my full support to those policies that will bring jobs back to this country, raise people out of poverty and reinvigorate our middle class. What we are witnessing in the aftermath of this election, however, goes far beyond economics.Many people are frightened right now, Mr.…
Author: Baylor Lariat
By Elisabeth Tharp | Broadcast Intern Minorities all around the United States are in shock over the new President-elect, Donald J. Trump. During the 2016 election Trump spoke harshly towards several groups of minorities across the United States, and they aren’t enthusiastic about the new leader of their country. “Coming out of the election right now I definitely feel like there is a huge sense of tension…an aura of unrest in our country,” Dallas junior Pablo Gonzales said. “There is definitely a huge divide.” His coarse words have created riots and protests across the nation. “Personally I was really offended…
On Nov. 8, the results of one of the most polarizing elections in recent history were finalized, and approximately half the country was left shell shocked.For those glued to the polls on election night, the results became apparent state by state, and as the night wore on, it became evident that the United States would not be celebrating the inauguration of its first female president this January. Disappointed in the democratic process and fearful of the rhetoric that characterized Donald Trump’s campaign, people across the nation, and even a few from around the globe, used the internet as a sounding…
By Morgan Kilgo | Broadcast Reporter With all the political hubbub, the Lariat wanted to find out what Baylor students knew about the roles of the president. The results? See for yourself!
By Haley Morrison | Contributor Tuesday Nov. 8’s, results brought a presidential win for Donald Trump as well as a Republican victory for the Senate and the House of Representatives. This is the first time in eight years that the same party has controlled both the Executive and Legislative branches. The Republican party hasn’t held the majority in both the House, Senate and presidency since 2005. David Schleicher, Waco lawyer and former Democratic party chair of McLennan County, said he is interested in seeing what Donald Trump does to protect the working class, as he promised in the first presidential…
By Jacquelyn Kellar | Broadcast Managing Editor After almost a century since the 19th amendment was passed and women won the right to vote, the gender gap in the 2016 election was especially polarized. When women first voted as a large demographic in the election of 1920, politicians were surprised to see that women voted just like men, split along party lines. After the 1924 election, they stopped catering directly to women. This was one of the first elections in almost 100 years to see the majority of women vote for one candidate and men to vote for another.
By Riley Choquette | Guest Columnist Blame for the mishandling of Baylor sexual assault cases has surpassed the outrage that should exist over the occurrence of actual rapes. Now some faculty and students, along Baylor alumni — powerful, valued alumni whom I believe actually care for the university — have set themselves in opposition to the Board of Regents. This effort centers itself on assigning blame (a thin, yet distinct line between that and accountability) for the mishandling of assault cases. People in authority at Baylor did not live up to the requirements of their authority. Perhaps this was intentional,…
Donald Trump is the president-elect. As it stands, a majority of the citizens did not vote for our future president, and many people are upset about that. On the other hand, through our election process, Trump won the presidency fairly, and many people are OK with that.No matter who you voted for, what color your skin is, what gender you are or who you choose to love, hate is not the answer. Hate will only function to further the partisan divide that continues to plague our politics. Last Wednesday, Natasha Nkhama, a fellow Baylor student, posted a video on Facebook.…
At 5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 10, several students staged a sit-in on Fountain Mall to draw awareness to hurtful rhetoric in our community and across the country. That evening, the Lariat ran a story about myself and those standing around me that was too easy.The intention of the sit-in participants was not to protest President-elect Donald Trump. The sit-in asked the Lariat to address an issue that is complex and difficult. The issue is not anger or politics, but one of hurtful rhetoric and reflection. The column and broadcast interpreted the sit in as an “Anti-Trump Protest.” In the report,…
By Jessica Babb | Lariat Washington Bureau
We have posted memes featuring Donald Trump’s and Hillary Clinton’s faces. We have shared politically poignant articles. We have commented on our friends’ hot-button statuses — Liked, tweeted, repeated.But the election season that has caused politically uninterested people to become engaged is now over. What does that mean for our political involvement? Just because Trump won the presidency doesn’t mean it’s time to become apathetic again. For those who were active in politics due to the presidential election – don’t let your news consumption dwindle. Sure, the election was entertaining, and maybe that entertainment is what caused a spike in…
You probably won’t read this entire piece. You might skim a paragraph or two — you’ll read the headline and smirk at the comic, but will you read this word for word, from start to finish? Probably not. There’s an old newsroom adage that says, “If it bleeds, it leads.” And quite frankly, this doesn’t bleed. It won’t catch and hold your attention like a photo depicting destruction or a story outlining the chaos of tragedy, so your eyes will only spare it a moment’s glance. We live in an era of immediate information. We learn about events across the…
The 2016 election has come and gone and Donald Trump has been elected. However, when members who voted went to the polls, they were met with more decisions to make than who they would like to elect as president. In addition to presidential candidates, there is the option to vote for U.S. House and Senate representatives, state house representatives and senators, governor, mayor, sheriff and possibly judges in states that elect those officials.At the beginning of the computerized voting process, there is an option to vote straight-party, or straight-ticket voting, for those who live in Alabama, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Oklahoma,…
Story by Brooke Bentley | Reporter After over a year of preparation and anticipation, the Baylor Democrats and the McLennan County Democratic Party came together at Poppa Rollo’s Pizza Tuesday evening to watch the presidential election finally unfold. However it did not go as they had expected. Leaving their Trump piñatas intact, their celebratory cake barely touched and conversations gone silent, the two groups watched in disbelief as their campaign-long optimism faded. Despite most polls and predictions showing a clear path to victory for Hillary Clinton, she was defeated by Donald Trump. “I’m extremely disappointed,” said Mary Mann, the Texas…
Video by Katie Mahaffey | Broadcast Reporter and story by Associated Press WASHINGTON — Donald Trump was elected America’s 45th president Tuesday, an astonishing victory for a celebrity businessman and political novice who capitalized on voters’ economic anxieties, took advantage of racial tensions and overcame a string of sexual assault allegations on his way to the White House. His triumph over Hillary Clinton will end eight years of Democratic dominance of the White House and threatens to undo major achievements of President Barack Obama. He’s pledged to act quickly to repeal Obama’s landmark health care law, revoke the nuclear agreement…
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The movement to legalize marijuana faced its biggest test yet Tuesday as voters in nine states, including the nation’s most populous, considered proposals to expand legal access to the drug, which is still forbidden by the federal government. California, the first state to approve medical marijuana two decades ago, was among five states weighing whether to permit pot for adults for recreational purposes. The other states were Arizona, Maine, Massachusetts and Nevada. Florida, one of three states deciding whether to permit marijuana for medical purposes, approved the idea. Montana voted on whether to ease restrictions on…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans seemed on track to secure two more years of House control as the first votes in Tuesday’s elections were counted. But the GOP faced an erosion of its historic majority that could leave hard-line conservatives with added clout to vex party leaders. With Donald Trump rousing opposition in many suburban and ethnically diverse districts, Democrats were hoping to gain a dozen seats or more. Chief targets included GOP incumbents in New Jersey, Virginia, Illinois, Florida, Nevada and California. But both sides anticipated that Democrats would fall short of the 30-seat pickup they’d need to take command…
Video and story by Morgan Kilgo | Broadcast Reporter It’s no secret that Baylor university has been under the spotlight in recent months for the mishandling of sexual assault cases. Those who have spoken out following the uncovering of the mishandled cases include former President Ken Starr, former Title IX Coordinator Patty Crawford and the Baylor Board of Regents. Until now, the university’s students have not been given a voice. Upon asking students how the national attention on Baylor has affected them, the majority said they had not been drastically affected. “I don’t really think it has affected me,” Sugarland…
Dear women of the 21st century,Americans live in a beautiful time of freedom and growth. Women today are able to become virtually anything they want to be — doctors, authors, even journalists. They are able to marry who they want, when they want, if they want to and the same applies to choosing to have (or not to have) children. Fourty years ago, many of these options would not have been available, and women have centuries of fighting and defiance of authority to thank for that. Brave women built this country, and many brave women still do not have these…
Thomas and Jakob talk about Baylor’s disastrous weekend and vote for the winner of NFL’s battleground divisions.
Video and story by Christina Soto | Broadcast Reporter Better Together BU hosted a fundraising concert event at Common Grounds in order to raise money for refugees. “So many people are being driven from their homes and have nowhere to stay,” Medford, Ore., junior Micah Furlong said. “So we started this organization initially to help with those refugees. We partner with two organizations: the Refugee Services of Texas and the Arabic Church of Dallas. They give money directly to refugees in countries where they are not able to work due to racial and religious persecution.” Meanwhile, several Baylor students have…
We can all agree that ISIS has it wrong — the extremist group is responsible for the almost weekly terror attacks across the globe that have killed thousands and forced millions to flee their homes. ISIS is masquerading behind a gross perversion of Islam, using tangential interpretations of scripture to rationalize their “just terror operations.” It’s easy to rally ourselves against the group, dismissing the Islamic faith tradition as a whole and hailing the Christian tradition as civilized, almost paternal in its superiority.It’s much harder, however, to turn this critical lens on our own faith, to recognize and examine the…
Video and story by Jacquelyn Kellar | Broadcast Managing Editor People were dying to get into the East Terrace House Museum for the Sitting Up with the Dead Victorian Funeral and Spiritualism exhibit. The exhibit served to demonstrate Victorian traditions and mourning practices and how much they differ from today’s. Curator of Collections for Historic Waco Foundation Rachel DeShong talked about the “creepiest” tradition of them all: post mortem photography. For many middle class members of that society, their first and only portrait could have been after their death. “We have a whole section on photography in funerals. They would pose…
We’ve all seen movies like “Terminator” and “iRobot” where artificial intelligence is portrayed as unreliable and dangerous when manipulated, yet now we’re one step closer to releasing autonomous machines into warfare in place of humans. The United State’s Department of Defense aims to create autonomous fighter jets that will fight alongside men. These jets would be able to identify enemy targets carrying weapons and would potentially reduce the risks of endangering soldiers’ lives. However, these jets, intended to be fully independent robots, pose a threat by relying too heavily on artificial intelligence.“It could not turn itself on and just fly…
The construction of the Dakota access pipeline has been making news headlines for the past few weeks. The standoff between law enforcement and the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe over the controversial pipeline implementation has caused actors and actresses such as Mark Ruffalo and Shailene Woodley, as well as individuals across the nation, to stand in solidarity with the tribe. Recent violence at the protest site has incited controversy between police and the protesters involved. Though oil is a necessary commodity, this standoff serves as an opportunity for the American government to step in and make reparations for what has widely…
Video and story by Jacquelyn Kellar | Broadcast Managing Editor Baylor’s medical humanities program hosted a symposium on Saturday, welcoming several guest speakers to talk to students about the social and humanitarian aspects of medicine. “[Medical humanities] provides students with the opportunity to really understand themselves and the world in which they’re going to be operating in,” said Rebecca Lunstroth, associate director of the Center for Humanities and Ethics at the McGovern Medical School. “How do you help humanity? It’s not memorizing biological facts. It’s a social occupation.” Dr. Thomas Cole, director of the Center for Humanities and Ethics at…
Video and story by Katie Mahaffey | Broadcast Reporter Baylor Fiji, The Kappa Chapter of Phi Gamma Delta, held its annual haunted house know as Fiji Fright Night. The haunted house was free to students, but the fraternity sold shirts at the event to raise funds for the organization of their choice. This year, they are fundraising for United Service Organizations, known as USO. “We put it all together in about three days and it really takes a lot.” said Mark Burkholder, the Baylor Fiji philanthropy chair. The fraternity worked together to set up this event by coordinating costumes, music,…
Video and story by Christina Soto | Broadcast Reporter October served as Breast Cancer Awareness month. According to the American Cancer Society, 1 out of 8 women are diagnosed with breast cancer within their lifetime, affecting the lives of many across the globe. “I am so passionate about breast cancer awareness. My grandmother passed away by breast cancer about a year ago and being able to honor her life through our philanthropy and all the other lives that are affected through breast cancer is really an honor,” junior Zeta Think Pink Chair Meggan Noggle said. The sorority Zeta Tau Alpha…
On Nov. 8, America will face another pivotal moment in its history – Election Day. In less than two couple weeks, Democratic candidate Hilary Clinton and Republican candidate Donald Trump will have to accept the outcome of the election along with the rest of America. The only problem is, can the candidates and the American citizens, accept a president we have absolutely no respect for?This election’s game plan has been entirely different. We have seen Clinton and Trump grappling to take the lead during the presidential debates, even if it meant making a mockery of each other and forgetting professionalism.…
Video by Jacquelyn Kellar | Broadcast Managing Editor and story by Rae Jefferson | News Editor This week the Baylor Lariat sat down with former president and chancellor Ken Starr to hear what he’s been up to for the past few months. On Aug. 19, Starr and the university announced a mutual separation following a year-long scandal around the university’s mishandling of sexual assault cases. “The mutually agreed separation comes with the greatest respect and love Judge Starr has for Baylor and with Baylor’s recognition and appreciation for Judge Starr’s many contributions to Baylor,” according to a university press release.…
