Maymester

Maymester

Paris: Picture

I was approached by my french professor who asked me to sign up for the french Maymester. The trip looks absolutely beautiful and completely submerses you into the french culture. You start in Paris, and make your way all throughout France on a two week adventure. I would get to experience the culture, learn the language, try new foods, etc. 

Being a french minor, this is a very appealing trip to me. I want to learn everything there is to know about different french speaking places worldwide.

But, I have now reached a dilemma in my academic career. I have been told all throughout my life that school always comes before sports, but while in college sometimes that is not always the case.

I am on the lacrosse team at High Point University and my games are played in the spring. Our conference tournament would end on May 6, but our team has much bigger aspirations this year. We feel like we should not only win our conference, but make a good run in the NCAA tournament.

The issue that arises here is that the Maymester would commence on May 12. This means that if we were to win our conference, then I would not be able to go. I am stuck in a weird place between being in love with the french language and the game of lacrosse. I know that whatever happens I cant have both. It is a sad, but simple realization.

For me, the chance to tour the world has always been something that I have wanted to do, and to do it with friend and classmates would make the experience even better. On the other hand, this is my third year on the men's lacrosse team at HPU, and I am hungry for a ring.

Decisions...decisions.

Maymester

Promote Tolerance

Promote Tolerance

SELMA: Promoting tolerance and empathy online

The idea of the promoting tolerance is one of the eight values of free expression. It is the idea that there are no laws restricting people from hateful and upsetting speech. The reason for this is that it created a more tolerant and overall better society. 

It allows people who use hateful speech to be called out by individuals in society rather than having to deal with a court system. People are allowed to voice their opinions whether it be good or bad, but if it crosses boundaries than we are responsible for holding them accountable. 

An example of this idea being put into place is in the case of the old Atlanta Hawks owner, Bruce Levenson. Levenson was caught sending racist emails to a colleague talking about how "the black fans scared away the whites." He was forced to resign from his position of the team, and got a lot of backlash from the public. 

I personally love the speech theory of promoting tolerance because it singles out the hateful people within our society without needing the help of the law. It allows citizens to hold each other accountable without relying on higher powers. I am not saying that we could survive without law, but the idea of letting our citizens stand up for what they believe to be morally right or wrong is something that I would love to see more of. 

The sense of community and togetherness that this theory brings forth is amazing. Do I think it is cruel and ignorant to use hate speech? Absolutely. But while we as citizens hold these awful people accountable for their actions, the law is responsible when their evil thoughts turn into actions. This cohesiveness mostly works well and is what makes this country special. 

Lee Bollinger, The Tolerant Society: Freedom of Speech and Extremist Speech
Promoting Tolerance
Bruce Levenson

HPU Men's Lacrosse Amphitheater Run

HPU Men's Lacrosse Amphitheater Run 

Roster Photo

On September 11, 2019, the High Point University men's lacrosse team ran 1980 steps at the HPU amphitheater representing the 110 floors of the North Tower of the World Trade Center to remember those who died on 9/11.

The run as lead by Sean Coughlin, a Junior attackman on the team who lost his father on that day. His father was a broker in New York City and worked at the World Trade Center.

The team ran with energy and enthusiasm. No one complained about getting up early to do the run because it was all to support their teammate Sean.

At the run was Larry Quinn, a professor of marketing and sales at HPU who lost his stepson in 9/11. His son, Tom, was a firefighter in NYC who was responsible for rescuing firefighters who were in so much trouble that they needed saving.

In the past the team has always done something special on 9/11. In 2018 the team did the Tunnel to Towers run in NYC in memory of Stephen Siller who was a firefighter that ran through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel after it was closed off for security reasons. Sadly he did not make it out alive.

It is amazing how the team does something to remember Sean's father every year. The team is able to rally around him and show him support in times of need. The team created a culture that really is a family rather than just a team.

Amphitheater Run

California Bill Will Pay NCAA Athletes

California Bill to pay NCAA Athletes

Breitbart California Bill

A state bill in California is fighting back against the NCAA in regards to paying their athletes. The bill would let NCAA athletes get payed for their likeness while in college. It would also allow them to sign endorsement deals which has never been allowed before. 

This bill is monumental for college sports because it is the first time that college athletes will be able to make money while in college based off their performance. 

This issue has been talked about for a long time, but has recently got significantly more press. This is largely due to the emergence of Zion Williamson to the NCAA basketball scene. Now drafted to the New Orleans Pelicans, he took the college sports world by storm. His viscous dunks and thunderous blocks drew significant attention to the sport. 

Both Duke University, where Zion played, and the NCAA made a ton of money of Zion's success, but he made none. Is this fair? The answer to that question is simply no. While he did receive a scholarship to attend the university, that hardly compensates him for the amount of money and attention that he brought to both Duke and the NCAA.

As a college athlete myself, it is hard enough to find time to do my homework after a long day of practice, workouts, and film sessions. This makes it almost impossible for me to go out and find a job while I am here. If I were able to make money off endorsements it would at least allow me to make money while at school.

I do not believe that I deserve the amount of money that Zion does, but I would at least like the opportunity to earn enough to pay for the odd meal off campus. While Zion deserves millions of dollars in compensation, other NCAA athletes do not. The idea is not to pay the athletes equally, but to at least give them the opportunity to make money based of their performances and likeness.

Breitbart California 
BillESPN California Bill

Newspaper

The Newspaper

Publick Occurences

The newspaper has been around for many centuries now. It was the first time that people were able to receive updates on current affairs, political ideals, entertainment in their cities, etc. Newspapers created a sense of connection between citizens who no longer had to rely on word of mouth.

The first newspaper in English was called the London Gazette of 1666. For a while it was the only sanctioned newspaper, but by the end of the century many newspapers were being circulated.

In America, the first ever newspaper was called the Publick Occurences and was published in Boston. Although it was published without government authority and was quickly banned. 

By the time of the Revolutionary War multiple newspapers were being circulated. Many of which were talking about war propaganda.

Today, newspapers are not nearly as popular s they once were. Since the creation of the internet, online news has exploded in popularity. This is due to the how easily accessible news is on the web. 

With the creation of social media websites it has made finding news incredibly easy. Twitter is very commonly known for being the first place to look for breaking news. This is due to the ease of posting on the app. It is quick and easy to share information through Twitter which often makes it a great place to find news. 

When looking for more details on news content it is often better to look at actual news websites like the New York Times or the Huffington Post. These sites will give you more in depth looks at stuff that may be briefly covered on sites like Twitter.

The overall importance of the newspaper is incredibly important to our society today. Without the creation of the newspaper we would not have the means to connect with our communities or even the rest of the world. Newspapers were the first time that information could be circulated about far reaching areas, and has forever changed the way that we receive news today.

newspaper

Sam Ehlinger

Sam Ehlinger

Sam and his Family

Coming from Canada, college football in America never really appealed to me until I got to school here. It has now become a tradition of mine to watch football on Saturdays with my teammates. I have no specific team to root for, but I love cheering for my friends teams.

On team that I often cheer for is the Texas Longhorns because of my good friend Hayden Baker. He grew up in Texas, and his family has always been Longhorn fans. But the team is even more special for him now because of one specific player.

Sam Ehlinger, the quarterback at Texas is a high school friend of Hayden. He tells stories of running routes for Sam for hours just so he could get his practice. Although Hayden was on the team too, he never had the aspirations of taking his talents to college, so he was really just doing it to be a good friend to Sam.

Now, Sam dominates most Saturday match-ups and is always exciting to watch. But what I did not know was that he had lost his father at a young age.

In this article by the Player Tribune, it talks about how his father passed away at the age of 46 due to a heart attack. It shows how close he and his father were, and how tragic the loss was to him. What was most important about the video though was how Sam thought he was being selfish for feeling bad for himself. He saw his younger brother and realized that he needed to be there for him instead of himself.

I love articles like this because it really humanizes athletes in a way that most people do not normally get to see. We put athletes on pedestals, and even sometimes see them as almost god-like beings. This is simply not the case. Professional and amateur athletes that are watched on a large scale are people too, and it takes articles like this one to really talk about their character rather than their talents.

Sam Ehlinger

Facebook - Are we Protected?

Facebook - Are we Protected?

Facebook - Logo

Recently phone numbers from past and current users of Facebook was found on an online server. There is no knowing what these numbers were used for, but only that they became public records. The issue with this is that companies can use these numbers for soliciting calls, and there is nothing more annoying than that.

Another issue is that it becomes an issue of potential identity fraud. Although the numbers may not have any serious personal information attached to them, it is a stepping stone for further gathering of information. A lot of online security codes are verified through your name and phone number. With some forms of social media having minimal security it could become a large threat for those whose numbers were leaked.

What comes into question here is how the information got leaked, but also whether or not Facebook should be held responsible for the leak. They may not have put the information online themselves, but it was their site that the information was retrieved from. Should they have better security in place to protect users from leaked information? I say yes.

Facebook - Users Leaked Phone Numbers