Governor of Indiana Mike Pence recently signed a new religious freedom law that has stirred more controversy around the U.S. than most could have predicted. Opponents say the law would allow business owners in Indiana to turn customers away if the owners felt that the customers were violating their religious freedoms. Specifically, opponents believe the law could allow business owners to turn people away based on someone’s race, age, sexual orientation, gender, religion and other protected classes. From the CEO of Apple, to the head of the NCAA, to Hillary...

Founded by Jonah Peretti in 2006, BuzzFeed has emerged as one of the most prominent social media websites used today. As stated on the BuzzFeed website, with a global audience of more than 200 million, BuzzFeed provides articulate and up-to-date breaking news, entertainment, original reporting on a number of topics and an array of ways to interact and connect with the social media community. BuzzFeed’s success comes from the way the information is colorfully presented along with the site’s use of trending social and political topics. Many news sites can...

Conversations about race both on and off campus have been going on for a while. On campus, a new dialogue about mixed race has started. In navigating the many complexities of race, people of mixed race have the unique ability to identify with different ethnic identities. Being of mixed race is also starting to become more and more common. The 2010 Census showed that people who reported multiple races grew by a greater percentage than those reporting a single race. According to the 2010 Census brief The Two or More...

The University of Puget Sound offers many resources to students, including the ability to take part in spiritual and religious life on campus. While the perception is that our student population is not particularly religious, the amount of ongoing support that religious clubs and programs receive is commendable. Alissa Charvonia, co-president of the Jewish student club Hillel, is proud of the work her club has done. “Events have gotten a lot more accessible,” Charvonia said. Dave Wright, University Chaplain and Director of Spirituality, Service & Social Justice, commented on the...

Recently, the events involving the Chapel Hill shooting, Charlie Hebdo, Boko Haram and ISIS have created a nationwide and even a worldwide discussion about Islam as a religion and the overwhelming use of violence in the name of or against Islam. Islamic Extremists Groups committed 6 percent of terrorist attacks on U.S. soil from 1980-2005 according to a study conducted by the FBI. I bring this up because it should be common knowledge that Islamist groups don’t dominate terrorism in the U.S. People of all religions and all backgrounds use...

This past year has brought about many new challenges to our world, one of which is the use of violence in the name of religion and politics on individuals and groups of people. The Jan. 7 attack on the office of Charlie Hebdo killed 17 people and received an astounding amount of media attention. Boko Haram, the terrorist Islamist group based in Nigeria, is known best for the kidnapping of 276 school girls from Chibok, Borno and the very recent attacks in Baga, which left somewhere from 150 to 2000...

Netflix and similar video-streaming sites  have become an indispensable part of the college experience. Today, almost everyone has an account. Students use the video-streaming service to watch popular shows like “Breaking Bad,” “How I Met Your Mother” and “House of Cards.” In my experience, college students spend a large chunk of their time watching shows rather than hanging out with friends or studying. This definitely seems like a problematic occurrence on the Puget Sound campus, but to what extent is it affecting the socialization between students? According to Business Week,...

For most college students, summer is not the time to sleep in and relax. With an increasingly competitive job market, college students are faced with the daunting task of getting real world work experience that can help them get a job after college. According to Fox Business, “employers are looking for students who have done meaningful work,” said Lynn O’Shaughnessy, author of The College Solution. “They’re not just interested in students who may have devoted a lot of time studying and getting straight As. They want students who have shown...

Over the past few weeks, there has been an intense dialogue about diversity at Puget Sound. Some people think Puget Sound needs to increase its diversity and others think Puget Sound is not prepared to support a more diverse student body. Both points have merit, but one question people don’t seem to be asking is, why aren’t minority students applying to Puget Sound to begin with? Of the 4,500 who apply to Puget Sound, 3,900 are admitted. The student body is 75 percent white and reflects a clear majority at...

There has been a gradual increase over the past few years to buy locally made products. More people are considering the benefits of buying locally rather than buying from familiar chains. One of the co-presidents of Go Local, a community that supports and is supported by Local Independent Business, Patricia Lecy Davis, believes going local can help “strengthen our local economy because more money stays here and circulates 2-3 times more than if you spent the same dollar at a chain or big box entity.” “You create relationships with the...

Spring is quickly approaching. Since it is getting warmer, people on campus are starting to wear fewer clothes. Although most are overjoyed by this change, a commonly overlooked concern is skin protection. In an article by the New York Times, a new stylish brand of clothing with an ultraviolet protection factor was introduced. “Both Parasol and Cover, as well as another newly established and stylish brand, Mott 50, offer clothes that are comfortably lightweight and have 50+ UPF (ultraviolet protection factor),” the Times reported. Most young people usually don’t like...

On Saturday March 8, freshmen, sophomores, and juniors participated in Puget Sound’s housing lottery. The procedure went as follows: “All current on-campus students will receive a random lottery number based on class priority. Each assigned lottery number will come a scheduled time between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. when each number will be called. Students will check-in at the Murray Board Room in Wheelock. When it is time for your number’s group to sign up for housing, you will be ushered in to the Rotunda where stations for all of...