Browsing: Editorials

Baylor’s fiscal issues are affecting far more than the dollar amount you see in BearWeb. It is fundamentally changing our university and what makes Baylor, Baylor. It’s hitting departments, retirement and, on a personal level, The Lariat’s newsroom.

Just blocks from campus, Wacoans live without a place to stay, asking for money on the corner of every popular grease pit location. All the while, one of the state’s largest universities hasn’t done much to drive change.

If the majority of your principles as a voter align more closely with one side or the other, failing to vote with that party is not only throwing away one of our most important rights as Americans, but it is also helping the people you disagree with win.

What might it look like if students attended All Are Neighbors, then walked together to the Quadrangle for prayer and, from there, continued on to the Turning Point USA event? What conversations might emerge not in isolation, but in movement — in the shared experience of listening, reflecting and then listening again?

Our media is designed for distraction; as a result, you can’t have productive conversations because they want intellectual diversions. The result is a kind of intellectual echo chamber masquerading as informed discourse. We mistake familiarity for accuracy and repetition for truth, echoing headlines we have absorbed rather than arguments we have examined.

Basing your diet on the advice of online influencers is a dangerous route to take, as it often lacks critical information that allows consumers to make healthy, responsible choices on their own.

In a world that is all over the place and constantly changing, cozy games help. Games like The Sims 4 and Animal Crossing offer low-stakes, calm gameplay. These games allow players to tend gardens, fish and decorate their dream homes at their own pace. There aren’t any fast-paced, quick time events or frustrating levels to complete, which helps promote relaxation.

Now more than ever, the confirmation of alien life is exactly what the world needs to bridge its divide. With economically and emotionally devastating wars and polarized thinking, something big could mend fences — and finding extraterrestrials would do just that.

We don’t need to reject technology or social media completely, but we do need to relearn where the line is and start acting as if it exists again. If everything becomes content, we all lose control of our own lives at some point.

If you’re worried about what a draft or what the Iran war might mean for you personally, listen to foreign policy experts, research your eligibility and — above all — stay engaged. Apathy and misinformation kill as bullets and bombs do, without us even setting foot on the battlefield.

Next month, TPUSA’s “This is the Turning Point Tour” will arrive on Baylor’s campus. What does it mean for Baylor — not simply as a university, but as a Christian academic community — to host an organization so closely associated with ideological aggravation?

While political leaders frame the population change as evidence of successful policy, they ignore the broader changes happening. The fading image of the American Dream is a direct result of shifts within the nation itself; changes that directly affect, or will affect, your household.

Technology is prohibiting the human connection that college is built on, and unfortunately, change doesn’t start until professors and other students engage in conversations outside the class block. Some professors are already doing this by having lunch with students or simply opening the door to discussion about a passion in common with a student right after class ends.

It is not uncommon to hear someone say, half-laughing, that they didn’t even last a week. The remark is meant to be humorous, but it reveals something deeper. Failure in Lent has become social embarrassment rather than spiritual reflection. Success has become a badge of religious credibility. The language of repentance has been replaced by the language of achievement.

Two things can be true at once. You can love Sing because of its exciting production and fabulous dance numbers and criticize it for its shortcomings. If you didn’t get tickets this year, for whatever reason, that’s OK. You aren’t any less green and gold for missing the Greeks shake and belt one out.

Even when it seemed like all hope was lost for Lindsey Vonn, she affirmed in her post that the act of standing at the gate, starting her run and competing was victory enough. So chase your dreams, work hard and most importantly, don’t let small hurdles stop you from taking risks and excelling. Life is hard sometimes, but the courage to stand at that starting gate is all it takes to start your next adventure.

We would argue that the egregious spending is not the result of increased love this year — it’s a crutch. It’s less effort (though not for your wallet) to lavish someone with gifts to make up for where you’ve fallen short than to simply change your behavior. But, as many a boyfriend, girlfriend, husband and wife will learn come Feb. 14, conversation hearts don’t equate to real conversations, and a dozen roses still come with thorns.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as an agency, exists within the bounds of federal law. Acknowledging that fact does not require ignoring how its power is used. We are not trying to debate whether the U.S. has the right to enforce immigration law; we are concerned whether enforcement is carried out in a way that aligns with our democratic values, constitutional protections and moral obligations.

Somewhere between lectures, homework, quizzes and deadlines, it seems that actually engaging with the people sitting next to us becomes optional — or something we actively avoid. By the end of the semester, we leave with a hopefully passing grade and a handful of half-remembered faces, but few real connections, if any at all.

In a world full of success and hustle culture, watching the friends you grew up with pack their bags to move to their dream city might spark feelings of insecurity. Despite this, it’s important to remember that everyone is on their own path, on their own time. It might not sound as glamorous as a packed U-Haul barreling its way to a new city, but returning to your hometown post-grad is just as fulfilling.

By prioritizing mental health in roommate matching, Baylor has the unique opportunity to transform nightmare roommate situations into partnerships that support and uplift roommates.

The world is full of war, unrest, starvation and strife. America itself struggles with political turmoil, disunity and evil. While millions of things vie for our attention and beg to be fixed, one of our biggest defenses is compartmentalization.

Stress is real. Overwhelm is real. Mental health struggles are real. But not every moment of discomfort, pressure or frustration is a crisis. When we label everything as one, we do real harm to people experiencing genuine emergencies and who rely on systems designed to respond to true crises.

An ideal student-professor relationship sets clear and high expectations, but not unreasonable ones. It’s an exchange between the two — the professor teaches the student and stays available to help the student understand the material, and the student shows their adequate understanding of the information on the test. They don’t feel the need to cheat on a test because they’ve already been given the tools they need to succeed.

In a world that’s more politically charged than ever, sometimes holiday dinner tables can feel more like war zones and conversations turn into cross-examinations. Between outdated political beliefs and an influx of propaganda, it frequently feels like the weight of changing our parents’ beliefs falls on us, making holidays seem more like interventions.

Representing other cultures does not negate your own Christianity, the same way being a student at Baylor does not automatically make you a Baptist. As students, we represent Baylor as a Christian university as much as you, and we reflect God’s love by showing the same compassion and care to our fellow students.

You don’t owe anyone your time, your energy or your emotional labor. But you do owe the world your basic decency. Because when everyone’s too busy proving they can survive alone, we all end up standing in locked rooms, thinking the title of “most self-sufficient” is how you win life.

In its 125 years, The Baylor Lariat has seen its fair share of news. Though we have had the privilege of being part of just a glimpse of The Lariat’s lifetime, it’s made a mark on us. In honor of 125 years of Baylor’s student publication, we thought it would be fitting to share our favorite memories and lessons we’ve learned from our time at The Baylor Lariat.

In just a few days, Baylor’s 116th celebration of homecoming will commence, ringing in all the craziness and excitement that comes with it every year. Events like Pigskin Revue, the parade and the football game are long-awaited and long prepared for, with students putting in the work toward these events for months prior.

The opportunity to attend renowned academic universities in America is a privilege, but the removal of unbiased K-12 history education is a tragedy. The people who change the world are those who know and learn from history. If we continue with this standard, we risk reliving and rewriting it.