Highlights

By Ella Frazer and Casey O'brien Organizers estimated that over 450 Puget Sound students and faculty walked out of their classes on Thursday, Nov. 19, to stand in protest and advocate for improving treatment of marginalized identities at the university and nationwide. The rally took place on the steps of Jones Hall and was organized by the Advocates for Institutional Change (AIC), a coalition of groups on campus calling for an array of  diversity- and inclusivity-related institutional changes. The walkout was held in solidarity with marginalized students at universities across...

Like many other first generation students, Roger has being navigating the waters of financial aid largely on his own since the beginning of his college experience. With tuition ballooning at colleges nationwide, is there more the University can do to make college more accessible for all? By Casey O'Brien and Allison Nasson Editors Note:  We have altered Roger Smith’s real name in order to avoid backlash targeting that individual. It is not the policy of The Trail to use pseudonyms or anonymous sources regularly, but in the course of investigating...

The last couple of decades have seen an incredible increase in gender diversity in the world of gaming. Video games, tabletop games and other forms have created an entertainment subculture with few, if any, barriers to entry for any interested party. Yet, one of the major issues in gaming has stuck around for almost as long as gaming has been in our world: misogyny and gender bias. Male-dominated spaces and the mythical “gamer girl” pervade even in an era where one might be forgiven for thinking that gaming is an...

In my three years working for The Trail, I have had the privilege of watching this newspaper in its struggle to grow into a platform for critical change and conversations. I acknowledge that The Trail has struggled with misrepresentation in past issues and plan to implement a variety of solutions to this problem. With the creation of the managing content editor position, consultation of a professional adviser, thorough copy editing and fact checking, we hope to eliminate incidents of misrepresentation in future articles. Looking forward, I encourage the community to...

by Michael Greenblatt Recent events in world news have been favorable for the U.S. and its place in the global order: a reopening of relations with Cuba, a likely nuclear deal with Iran, a mutual commitment to reduce carbon emissions from the U.S. and China. All of these breakthroughs can be attributed to President Obama’s foreign policy preference for engaging and negotiating with the United States’ foreign adversaries. This is a fundamental distinction from the policies of George W. Bush and leading Republican candidates for president, who advocate isolation and...

by Michael Greenblatt California is currently facing such an extreme drought that, for the first time in its history, mandatory water restrictions are in place. The problems afflicting California are nothing new, as most of California is desert and routinely struggles with low water supplies. Now, though, the drought is the worst it’s ever been, and California is running out of water altogether. Official estimates of California’s remaining water supply foresee only one or two more years’ worth of water to sustain pre-conservation usage levels. Even though here in Western...