Browsing: Opinion

Thanks so much to the Baylor Lariat editorial board for introducing the topic of service. I have the privilege of being the director of Baylor Missions, and it was good to see our program get a “shout out.”

Thanksgiving break is just around the corner, and many students’ grade standing in some classes is unknown. Assignments have been submitted, but the turnaround from professors is at a standstill. Without knowing grades, students have no means of knowing how to prepare for the last stretch of the semester.

By Sergio Legorreta Reporter We should support secular public schools, just as Rufus C. Burleson, the second president of Baylor,…

The main form of communication today is texting. It’s fast, easy and simple.

It’s getting down to crunch time here at Baylor, and the libraries, computer labs and study corridors are becoming more populated by the second. Students are finally putting down their phones and are attempting to focus on course material that should have been mastered months ago.
The final stretch to final exams is here, and students better be prepared for it.

American schools have long used drills to prepare students, faculty and rescue workers to properly respond to an emergency. A fire drill, for example, is commonly used so students know where to go and how to act during a fire. However, events such as the Columbine and Sandy Hook school shootings have prompted a fairly new type of drill to emerge in many states: active shooter drills.

You can’t handle the truth. There is a temptation to take that line from Jack Nicholson _ snarled at Tom Cruise in “A Few Good Men” _ as the moral of the story, the lesson to be learned from a new study on trustworthiness and the news media.

When Phil Robertson, the patriarch on the reality TV show “Duck Dynasty,” made comments about homosexuality in December 2013, many people, mainly Christians, rose to defend him, claiming that he has a right to express his beliefs.

It’s that time of the year again: time to register for next semester’s classes. Many students find registering for classes frustrating for numerous reasons, and I doubt there is a solution that could make everyone happy.

The days of carelessly texting “omw, literally,” from behind the wheel are almost over in San Antonio, and the rest of Texas would be wise to follow suit.

It’s November in Texas, which, might I add, has been a glorious month as far as temperatures go. For anyone who enjoys camping, this is a (or, as far as Texas goes, maybe “the”) prime month to pack up your old Coleman or what-have-you and spend a few days “roughing it.”

One of the noblest ways someone can choose to spend their time or live their life is in service. Service comes in many forms: feeding the homeless; picking up trash on the side of the highway; choosing a career in the military, law enforcement or the fire department; mission trips; and many more. But the many forms of service all have one thing in common: They are selfless acts.

America’s founding principles of liberty and equality have guided our nation’s path from 1776 to the present day. These principles took us to revolution and war. Their promise drove freedom fighters to America’s streets to demand that the state recognize the same rights of non-landowners, minorities and women.

Monday night, Baylor screened the documentary “I’m not a Racist…am I?” There was a considerable student turnout. The documentary was insightful and relatable for a large portion of the audience. However, the conversation afterward disappointed me, probably because I’m not a part of the audience who could relate.

The debate in America surrounding the criminalization of homelessness just got a bit more heated after officers in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., cited 90-year-old Arnold Abbott for comforting his homeless neighbors in a public park with a free meal.

Beauty pageants do not sit well with me. Showboating physical appearance while claiming to promote various social causes, which often include women’s self-esteem, seems contradictory.

Christian movies suck. They do. They really do. Ask anybody if they enjoyed the film “God’s Not Dead” more than the new “Guardians of the Galaxy” flick. The same principle applies to music.

To leash or not to leash?

In a studying abroad briefing session at Baylor, I heard this from a female student who went to Japan this summer.

Just a few weeks ago, Student Senator Gannon McCahill created some controversy in student government by proposing a concealed carry on-campus bill, which was promptly vetoed by Student Body President Dominic Edwards. This week, McCahill was back in the spotlight after being asked to resign by the Senate Executive Council, a powerful group of senators that meets behind closed doors to decide on disciplinary issues for student government members.

Almost everyone who has ever applied to colleges, been on a job hunt or seeking an internship knows the impact social media can make on a person’s image.

I realized I know nothing. Nothing about sacrifice. Nothing about patriotism.

With Election Day coming to a close Tuesday, the media’s endless attention towards the U.S. Senate race will now shift to the most important race of all – the race for party supremacy in the White House.

Hurricane Sandy devastated thousands of people two years ago. The American Red Cross, as in many other disasters, was one of the main responders. The organization had several official endorsements that assured people that it could and would help relieve the affected areas of the East Coast. Even President Barack Obama publicly endorsed the Red Cross, saying that the organization knew what it was doing.

When I think about my time here at Baylor, I think about a whirlwind of incredible experiences: listening to Sandra Day O’Connor speak, cheering on an amazing football team and consuming copious amounts of spicy jalapeno dip at Chuy’s. But I also think about that gnawing question: What in the world am I going to do after I leave here?

On Sept. 12, 1962, President John F. Kennedy was only a few hours south of Baylor when he said, “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard …” The national excitement around the moon race united and inspired a generation in a way unique to U.S. history.

In an Oct. 15 article titled “Children Are People Too,” Vanessa Rasanen of The Federalist writes, “Society has stripped our children of their natural worth, instead morphing them into commodities to be weighed, planned, and shaped to conform with what we think is most convenient for us and our timelines.” The author was speaking about abortion, but her point carries over into the discussion over whether Apple and Facebook (and other companies like them) should pay for their female workers to freeze their eggs.

Big brother is no longer watching you. He’s more concerned with what you tweet, post and google. Don’t believe me? Just ask the experts at the Centers for Disease Control.

One of the most powerful ways the average American can make change in our government is by voting in our country’s various elections.

Each summer, groups of matriculating students journey to the place where Baylor University humbly began in 1845. As the sun sets upon the Earth and proverbially upon a season in their lives, the students walk through Old Baylor Park’s historic columns in Independence, Texas, to signify their induction into the Baylor Line.