On Sept. 21, Troy Anthony Davis spent his last moments staring into the eyes of the MacPhail family. Davis reasserted his innocence, and urged the family to continue the search for the true murderer of the late Officer Mark MacPhail. Moments later, at 11:08 p.m., Davis was injected with lethal poison and executed by the state of Georgia. Our supposedly civilized society sanctioned the death of a man whose case had too much reasonable doubt to justify his punishment. Something is wrong here. In 1989, Davis was convicted of the...
Puget Sound is known for its tolerant environment; the school’s website even has an entire page dedicated solely to diversity on campus. Yet the statistics showcased on the page show that the student body is predominantly Caucasian, accounting for a whopping 73 percent. An anonymous Caucasian student commented about racism on campus, “I haven’t noticed a problem – it’s not derogatory…Some people just have a heightened sense of what racism is.” The student has a valid point – one worth further investigation. This “heightened sense” is certainly a worthwhile conjecture....
Citizens of Tacoma are reacting outspokenly to the teachers’ city-wide strike that has prevented the school year from starting. Those aggressively opposing the strike should be listening to what the teachers have to say, because they are not just on strike for themselves. The TEA, or Tacoma Education Association, is demanding that the school board allow teachers more involvement in issues regarding teacher transfers and reassignments, class size limits and how the state cuts in funding for teacher pay will be distributed. Teachers are being dismissed by the media and...