Browsing: Editorials

The only thing that comes into fruition from the medium of violence is a wounded side and a less wounded side. No one comes out on top. There is no victory in destruction — only pain. And pain is the only thing that will continue in this country until we return to empathy.

Come Friday afternoon, Barfield Drawing Room will be teeming with parents, tickets will be sold out for Baylor football’s non-conference clash with Samford and families clad in green and gold will flood 5th Street. For many, the promise of Family Weekend brings eager anticipation.

In 2019, a study showed that 41% of students drop a class during their first two years at a four-year university. The majority of students reported three different reasons for their drop: not liking the course, not liking the instructor and being unsatisfied with their grade. This study also showed that “a student’s preparedness is not a driver of course dropping,” showcasing that academic inclination is not as important as we think.

Self-Care September has arrived, and with it come questions about what self-care means and how to implement it effectively in your life. In a culture that’s become centered on self-help and improvement, it’s essential to learn how to take time to take care of your mental health.

Generative AI’s like ChatGPT and Grok have filled in a lot of blanks for us in recent years – it’s been a list maker, homework helper, search engine and even a personal therapist for some. With this technological power at the tips of our fingers, many find themselves caught between remaining wary of the true power of AI and embracing it completely. In the education sector, it seems to lean toward the latter.

When people warn you about the “freshman 15,” they usually mean too many late-night snacks, Dr Pepper refills and dining hall desserts. But the scary version isn’t the number on the scale. It’s the freshman 15 of distractions — 15 clubs, 15 group chats, 15 events you swore you’d go to and 15 stressors you didn’t actually need.

As summer rolls into the upcoming semester, the Editorial Board sat down to introduce ourselves and share the messages we want to bring into this new year.

The next time a politicized press conference discusses the nature of autism, take it with a grain of salt and look at the reports yourself before coming to conclusions.

Growing up doesn’t mean losing what you once loved, these things can morph and exist in your life, you just must be intentional about it. There will always be people who look down on you, but they are probably jealous that you have another avenue that makes you happy. Growing up isn’t sad, but subjugating yourself to what others impose on you is.

Politics and personal feelings aside, we need to uphold the Constitution and allow due process to take its course. The least we can do as fellow students is show our support and constantly be a shoulder to lean on during difficult times.

Whether you enjoy fantasy fiction, classic novels or a good picture book, there is inspiration to be found in every story. If you’re seeking new motivation in paper form, here are some of the Editorial Board’s most beloved suggestions.

Reporters are a middleman between those with information and those without it. We take the time to get the answers that people need, when they need them, and deliver that information in a way that is accurate and makes sense. We sniff out lies and go digging for the truth.

It is not a good precedent to appropriate work from other creators, even if you think more art will be created through AI. Intellectual property is protected in every field and service; however, for some reason, AI large language models have been able to use intellectual property for their own benefit, because it hasn’t been properly regulated yet. Many argue that ChatGPT isn’t “creating” anything; it is simply plagiarizing it and calling it their own.

The argument could be made that since Texas’ minimum wage is $7.25 per hour — which is the same as the federal minimum wage which was set in 2009 — Baylor is paying its student employees a reasonable amount. Except we’re no longer in 2009. It’s 2025, meaning Baylor students are dealing with over a decade-long inflation rise. The dollar had an average inflation rate of 2.48% per year between 2009 and now, producing a cumulative price increase of 48.07%. This means today’s prices are 1.48 times as high as average prices since 2009, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index.

According to Major League Baseball, more than 22 million people over the age of 21 have admitted to playing “hooky” to get out of work or plans to attend an Opening Day game. After the research was released, a poll showed that 62.9% of people think making Opening Day a holiday is a good idea.

Since the start of his second term, President Donald Trump has been not-so-subtly expressing his desire to annex Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory of Denmark, though he first hinted at this in 2019. Initially, it almost seemed like a joke, but it quickly became serious when the administration began to send envoys of ambassadors to the chilly island this year.

These stereotypes can be harmful as well as inaccurate. It’s all fun and games until we start taking these stereotypes for fact. The idea that we might perceive someone as nice or mean, smart or dumb, generous or stingy is completely unfair to that person, especially when we project these assumptions to other people, adding to the stereotyping.

This is the dark side of public scrutiny, and it is especially disheartening to see female reporters drag down young women, fueling bullying and misogyny. Why would women perpetuate the harm they should be standing against?

The real issue is this: as political beliefs and systems are always changing, rooting morals completely in political affiliations can be an unstable ground.

Political cartoons have always been a bridge to express hot-button issues to all generations, not just retirement home rocking chairs. As culturally impactful commentary, it was a way to express free speech and create discussions – something most articles can’t do because they can’t be understood at just a mere glance.

While there are many excuses as to why individuals may not bother to look at international news such as being too busy, not finding it relevant or that is harder to find, the bottom line is that this is a trend that needs to change. It’s OK for not every news story to include the U.S. What’s more important is looking at news through a variety of perspectives — even if it means looking at perspectives outside of one’s own country.

We’re not trying to be buzzkills, but there has to be another way for our campus to bond that doesn’t include snide remarks made about others or airing out dirty laundry through a YikYak or a street interview. And we should be asking ourselves why it is that the times when our campus feels like it’s coming together the most — like Sing and Pigskin season — are often the times when we try to tear each other down more than usual.

Around 25 million Americans are those you might notice gripping their armrests a little tighter than others when taking off or breaking a visible sweat when turbulence takes over. For years, this fear has been laughed off because as everyone knows, flying is the safest way to get from one place to another. Unfortunately, this fear of flying has become heightened and more validated than ever within a mere matter of months.

As college students, we study for our exams and prepare for presentations. Next time you get lunch with a longtime friend, recall the previous conversation you shared. Is there anything you can draw from to strengthen this meeting? Just like an exam, you’ll see how much better things turn out if you prepare.

When describing overthinkers, their thought process can be compared to a scribble on a piece of paper, whereas lateral thinking follows a more direct path from A to B. The benefit of overthinking is how many observations and conclusions one can make when they aren’t thinking laterally. It’s truly a gift when overthinkers can pick up small details that others wouldn’t have thought of.

With the integration of AI in job boards and a never-ending list of “preferred” and required experience, finding a job or internship has never been harder. But in the same vein, getting the experience required to check all the boxes is extremely accessible, cheap and not time-consuming.

Would a person walk into a job interview and say “Sup”? Most people would answer no. Why? Because it is not an appropriate interaction to have with a potential employer and breaks traditional etiquette. If a person were to do this, that would be embarrassing on their part because it shows they lack basic communication skills.

Whatever it is that you do, the spirit of the sweet treat is finding some time — even just a few minutes — to give yourself a gift.

Far too many people don’t look further than the text of these articles. Some — as many as 75% of people, based on a study conducted from 2017-2020 — don’t even read past the headline. Upon a few extra minutes of examining sources and digging deeper into certain statistics, one may find that many of these articles exaggerate, mislead and even outright lie about the information within.

Black History Month means something different for every American. For some, it means remembering ancestors who suffered on our soil. For others, it could mean uplifting friends who may not share the same generational history, but share a similar commitment to equal opportunities for all people.