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OPINION & EDITORIAL
Los Angeles Collegian - Wednesday, October 30, 2019
EDITORIAL
Collegian Los Angeles City College Visual & Media Arts Department 855 N. Vermont Ave. Los Angeles, CA 90029 323.953.4000 ext. 2832 losangeles.collegian@gmail.com
Co-Editor-in-Chief BEATRICE ALCALA REBECCA GRAZIER
Graphics Editor BEATRICE ALCALA Opinions & Editorial Editor SARAH RAGSDALE Online Editor-in-Cheif JAMES DUFFY Sports Editor RYAN BARMORE Broadcast, Social Media Producer JASON PISKOPUS
Freedom of Speech Declines on Campuses
College – a place where students can have public discourse, debate, share ideas, and have intellectual discussions has been on the decline. In recent years and the past few months, controversial speakers have been uninvited from campuses all over the country, students have protested, disrupt speakers and in some cases, students have turned to violence. In 2014, Brandeis University decided to reverse course and not award an honorary degree to Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a campaigner for women’s rights and critic of Islam. According to the Washington Examiner, political personality and conservative writer, “Ben Shapiro was met with protests at Marquette University and at the University of Utah. When he was invited to speak at the University of California, Berkeley, administrators first told students they could not provide a venue for him, before ultimately spending $600,000 on security that resulted in the arrests of nine protesters.” Christina Hoff Sommers, who
has a rare political position that opens her up to extreme criticism from the more radical brand of feminism that rules today, was de-platformed in 2018 At Lewis and Clarke College, Oregon. There, a small group of students that attended her speech started protesting in a disruptive and loud manner that effectively shut down the event. Protesters had previously requested that the event be canceled to suppress Sommer’s views. They later argued that the content of Sommers’ speech contained fascist views. “We’re All Fascists Now” wrote Bari Weiss, staff editor and writer for the Opinion section of the New York Times. In her article, she describes how the current politically correct climate has turned in on itself and how words are beginning to lose their meaning – a “moral flattening of the earth.” “Orwell warned,” Bari writes, “that the English language ‘becomes ugly and inaccurate because our thoughts are foolish, but the slovenliness of our language
makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts.’ He added, however, that ‘the process is reversible.’ Will true liberals do what it takes to reverse it? We can only hope so, because the battle against genuine authoritarian threats needs to be waged consistently, credibly and persuasively. For that to happen, words need to mean something. Calling women like Christina Hoff Sommers and Mary Beard fascists and racists only helps the other side.” The above is only a few examples of public figures who have been blocked from speaking and attending events. It seems as if students and colleges only support freedom of speech when that speech is favorable and agreed on. Since when did it become a good thing to censor free speech, or even block it? Shouldn’t experience at college make students more tolerant of different views instead of intolerant? Is it possible to drop the latter and achieve the former? At colleges all over the country, even here at Los Angeles City Col-
lege, there’s a select space on the campus map marked, “Free Speech Zone”. Pardon my French but, “que se passe-t-il?’ With free speech zones occupying a majority of college campuses in the U.S., it seems as if we’ve regressed. College campuses used to be a place where students could exercise their right to explore ideas, communicate, and express themselves. According to a recent survey from the Gallup and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, “students have a tenuous relationship with the First Amendment.” The poll of 3,000 U.S. college students found that they “generally endorse the ideals of free speech and campuses that encourage the discussion of a variety of ideas – but once that speech begins to infringe on their values, they’re likely to support policies that place limits on speech. Those include free-speech zones, speech codes and prohibitions on hate speech. Only a slight majority (53 percent) think that handing out literature
on controversial issues is “always acceptable.” The term “cancel culture” began trending on social media around 2015 when anyone – usually a celebrity – will be boycotted if they shared a questionable or unpopular opinion, or have behaved in a way that is perceived to be offensive or problematic. As the justice warriors’s ruling on social media is a complete other issue, one might ask, has Twitter and other social media outlets added fuel to this P.C. armageddon? Raif Badawi, humanitarian and writer, who was sentenced to 1,000 lashes and 10 years in prison in Saudi Arabia for blogging about secular ideas said this, “Society needs to open its collective mind to all ideas and ideologies. It needs to give its people the chance to listen to the opinions of others, and then examine them critically instead of rejecting them prematurely. Such a creative dialogue based on positive critical thinking can enhance and develop ideas.”
REPORTERS NOTEBOOK
KEEPING IT IN THE FAMILY: BREAST CANCER AWARENESS BY MELISSA CRUMBY Elizabeth Maul, a German immigrant, was a vibrant and up-beat woman. She was a lover of flowers and gardens and wildlife of all sorts. She wouldn’t hurt a fly and would do anything for the people around her. She was my grandmother. She was first diagnosed with breast cancer at the young age of 48. After her diagnosis she had a mastectomy performed, which is the removal of the breast, followed by chemotherapy and radiation. She was in remission and showed no signs or symptoms of cancer until age 64. This time the cancer came back all over. Unfortunately, chemotherapy did not help and surgery was not an option. She later died at the age of 65 Jan. 18, 2001. Her daughter, my mother, developed an abnormality as well at the young age of 20 years old. The doctor found a lump in my mother’s breast, coincidentally at the same time my grandmother was in remission. The mammogram was inconclusive because of dense breast tissue resulting in a lumpectomy. The lump turned out to be benign but because of her mother’s history she had to continue to have yearly mammograms after that. Coming from a young woman who has a family history of breast cancer, I too, must take the precautionary steps needed as I get older to make sure I’m healthy and happy. One of the scariest health complications to the human race is the possibility of developing cancer. When a woman gets older, usually around 50 years old, she’s told it’s necessary to get a mammogram
once a year to make sure there are no abnormalities in the form of breast cancer. It is the second most common cancer amongst women in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This type of cancer happens when malignant tumors develop in the breasts. Cells break away from the original tumor spreading to the blood vessels or lymph vessels. When cancer cells travel to other parts of the body, damaging other tissues and organs. This is called Metastatic. The American Cancer society recommends women between the ages of 50 and 69 get a mammogram once every year. A mammogram can be two different types. A screening mammogram, which is an x-ray for women who have no sign of breast cancer and includes two x-rays of each breast using a machine which can sometimes cause discomfort. There’s also such a thing as a diagnostic mammogram, an x-ray of the breast used to diagnose unusual breast changes such as lumps, pain, nipple thickening, discharge, or a change in size or shape of breast. Followed by a biopsy if an abnormality is detected. Age is not the determining factor as to who gets cancer. In some rare cases, adults under 40 can develop breast cancer as well. One out of every eight women develops breast cancer, says the American Cancer Society. This is why it’s so important to take the initiative of making sure you’re healthy. 80 percent of young adults find abnormalities themselves. Looking into your family history
About 50 out of 100 women with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation will get breast cancer by age 70.” for this disease is a very important part of prevention. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about three percent of breast cancers (about 7,500 women per year) result from inherited mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes that are passed on in families. If your health care physician decides that your family history involving breast cancer puts you at high risk, they will offer something called genetic counseling or even genetic testing.
This is to make sure you don’t have these genes. About 50 out of 100 women with a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutation will get breast cancer by age 70. It is also important to be aware that not everyone who inherits a BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutation will get breast or ovarian cancer, and not all inherited forms of breast cancer are due to mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2. Luckily, there are plenty of options and steps you can take to reduce the chance of developing cancer as well
as ways to detect it early on. These steps include taking medications such as Tamoxifen and Raloxifene, which lower your chances. Also, yearly screening including MRI’s as well as mammograms even at a younger age. And of course, engaging in a healthy lifestyle such as eating right and exercising. Precautions are so important for women of all ages. It’s always better to be safe than sorry and I know that my grandmother would whole-heartedly agree.
Photographers CURTIS SABIR, JASON PISKOPUS, JUAN MENDOZA, SARAH RAGSDALE, JAILENE TRUJILLO Illustrators BRIAN GOMEZ MARTHA OROZCO Reporters XENNIA R. HAMILTON, REBECCA GRAZIER, CHISLEY HAYNES, DAMIEN HOSEA, JAILENE TRUJILLO, BERNARDO GARCIA, DULCE GALVEZ, PONCE JORGE, ANGELAJOHNSON, CHRIS AHN Advertising ANDE RICHARDS, Faculty Adviser RHONDA GUESS
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