At USC, get rid of Yik Yak completely


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Has Yik Yak ever done anything good for anybody? I ask that question with no sense of sarcasm: I cannot think of a single app with as much downside as Yik Yak, an app that allows users to post anonymous, 200-character messages to a platform accessible to anyone within a mile-and-a-half radius. Not only does […]

Somali militant group poses danger


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Last week, Al-Shabaab, the Somali Islamic militant group, carried out an attack on Garissa University College in Kenya, killing 147 students. It seems too commonplace in today’s global narrative that we hear news of a massacre or killing by an extremist group. The volume of attacks, however, doesn’t mitigate the impact they have on a […]

Bikini season sends harmful messages


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It’s that time of the year again. Spring break has come and gone, and summer waits just beyond the horizon. As if final papers and exams weren’t stressful enough, women of all ages have yet another seasonal pressure to confront: bikini season. At this point, the yearly campaign to shame women’s bodies into crash dieting […]

Trevor Noah offers a refreshing brand of humor


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Trevor Noah was born in South Africa from a black mother from Soweto and a white Swiss father. His parents’ interracial relationship was illegal under apartheid, which made his mixed culture not so popular in his neighborhood. His childhood forced him to coexist with cultures, languages and people entirely different from his own. Instead of […]

Comedy Central confuses offensive jokes with satire


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For 16 years, comedian Jon Stewart has been a satirical news powerhouse. No one has been able to compete with Stewart’s beat of comedy — not The Onion, not even the guys at Saturday Night Live’s “Weekend Update.” And now, with Stewart’s announcement that he is to leave the show later this year, he passes […]

Fracking deserves the negative attention


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Asking strangers on the street for their opinions on hydraulic fracturing is likely to elicit some blank stares. But asking them for their opinions on fracking will almost certainly evoke adamant reactions. And considering the results of a Pew Research Center poll from November of last year, those responses tend to be negative. If “fracking” […]

Anti-RFRA momentum must go on


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Until yesterday, Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act — signed into law by Gov. Mike Pence — attempted to mimic similar legislation passed by the federal government and 19 other states, but it stupendously failed. In its original form, the law allowed persons, businesses and any other private entity to refuse to provide service to people […]

Election outcome shows signs of change


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This week, Muhammadu Buhari emerged victorious in Nigeria’s presidential election. Beaten by a 55 to 45 percent margin, incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan conceded defeat to Buhari. Jonathan’s defeat to the former military general is a major step forward for Africa’s most populous country. For the first time, there will be a peaceful transition of power […]

Instagram reinforces menstruation stigma


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Time of the month. On the rag. Aunt Flo. Given the amount of nicknames Western society has attributed to menstruation, it’s a marvel we don’t talk about it more. Despite the abundance of available euphemisms and the fact that every woman in America will bleed, does bleed or has bled once a month, periods have […]

Expansion and refinement would bolster L.A. transit


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On Saturday, a car collided with an oncoming Metro light rail near Exposition Park, injuring 12 people, leaving one person in critical condition. The driver, a USC student, missed the “watch for trains” warning while making a left turn, causing the crash. The crash, which happened right off of campus, not only affected the USC […]