silverchips
B4 Opinions April 26, 2023
Colleges and universities must reinvest in humanities education BY THE EDITORIAL BOARD AN OPINION In 2008, the Great Recession led to a sharp decline in humanities graduates and a corresponding increase in STEM degrees. The cause is simple: economic crises push people to seek financial security, which is more often associated with STEM fields. Historically, downward trends in the economy often lead to a decline in students seeking liberal arts degrees. In the stagflation of the 1970s, for example, the pursuit of humanities degrees plummeted, but eventually grew when the economy did. This time, however, student interest in liberal arts may never recover. While there was a dip in humanities majors due to the pandemic, the economy has slowly begun to grow since 2021. However, instead of working to foster engagement in liberal arts majors, colleges and universities have taken a different approach: cutting the programs altogether. At least 20 institutions across the country have taken steps to cut humanities programs or faculty positions, with one of the most notable being Marymount University. The Marymount administra-
tion’s proposal to cut 10 degrees and programs, including theology and English, has sparked uproar from both students and professors, and rightfully so. Universities’ utter disregard for the importance of a humanities-focused education is a dangerous and irresponsible attitude that will leave many graduates unequipped with vital skills. Receiving a broad education in the liberal arts may not be the choice for everyone, but it is an incredibly valuable tool. Students exposed to the humanities generally display greater openness to ideas, increased understanding of others, and lower exhaustion compared to those undergoing a more rigid education. Those well-versed in the liberal arts also learn unique capabilities that are essential for our world to function. English majors practice critical thinking, psychology majors develop empathy, and history majors are able to make important connections between the past and the present to excel in problem-solving. It is essential that colleges and universities acknowledge the value of such skills and continue to invest in programs that offer students these learning opportunities. The decline of humanities ma-
jors is also a cyclical phenomenon—students’ decreased interest in the liberal arts leads colleges to cut those programs which, in turn, pushes students away from the humanities and into science and mathematics. While students should always pursue their true interests, the valid concern remains that many are choosing STEM fields in the hopes of a more financially-stable future. It is worrisome that some students believe success can only be achieved in STEM fields and even more alarming that colleges are and making this belief a reality.
Those well-versed in the liberal arts also learn unique capabilities that are essential for our world to function. According to the Pew Research Center, 71 percent of Americans believe that jobs in STEM have higher salaries than those in other fields. The notion that STEM jobs will always be more lucrative is a concerning misconception. While many STEM fields such as engineering and computer science are
likely to guarantee high-paying job offers after graduation, liberal arts majors generally surpass them after a few decades. According to the New York Times, 40-year-old male STEM graduates make an average annual salary of $124,458 while their humanities counterparts make $131,154. A large reason for this is that in their careers, liberal arts majors often migrate into leadership positions that require more nuanced communication and problem-solving skills. Abilities like these are timeless, while knowledge in STEM can quickly become obsolete as industries constantly adapt to new technology and information. By the time that many in the STEM field amass the experience needed to gain leadership, their skillset is no longer applicable to the field. There are always new developments that are difficult to catch up with, explaining why over half of STEM graduates no longer have jobs in the industry once they reach age 40. Often, the STEM field is not all it is dreamt up to be. The competitive environment ignites anxiety, depression, and overwhelming stress for people who go into the field just for money instead of passion. Solely choosing STEM for
financial reasons is often unsustainable; many students face a tough reality check while pursuing these majors, resulting in roughly 40 percent of students planning engineering and science majors ending up switching to other subjects or failing to get any degree. None of this is to say that the humanities are inherently better than the STEM field in any way. They are just different. Each educational focus can be the correct choice for a student, which is why students should always have that choice. When colleges and universities take away the option to study humanities, they are denying students the option to pursue their passions. Some students may be misguided in making the choice to pursue STEM, but schools enforce those beliefs by simply removing liberal arts majors as if those degrees are not valuable or useful in the real world. With new knowledge and discoveries constantly emerging, the scope of education should be expanding, not narrowing. Students deserve the option to study what interests them, and colleges should be making that choice for them.
Editorial Cartoon
ELIZA COOKE
Why you should care about D.C. statehood By Andre Parker Ombudsman AN OPINION The question of whether to admit the District of Columbia to the Union as a state has been one of the most contentious issues in Congress for decades. The debate was reignited in early March after the D.C. Council proposed a controversial new criminal code, the first overhaul of the code since 1901. The alarm around the new code has been great enough for Congress to leverage its constitutional oversight over the special district’s laws and block a D.C. bill for the first time in more than 30 years. After the D.C. Council passed the bill, House Republicans, backed by 31 Democrats, successfully passed a resolution to block the code. On March 8, the Senate voted to block the bill, and President Biden later signed the resolution, decisively striking down the D.C. Council’s new criminal code against the will of the people of the District. The fight for D.C. statehood is a moral fight for the principles of democracy on which the United States was built, namely a fight against taxation without representation, as the District notes on its license plate slogan. Part of the reason that so little progress has been made in the campaign for D.C. statehood is the apathy and lack of awareness about the issue
from people who don’t live in the District. To achieve equal representation and full citizenship rights for Washingtonians, the conversation around statehood needs to be democratized—driven by the beliefs of the public rather than the partisan interests of Republican congresspeople from states hundreds
The District is the only capital of a representative democracy whose residents have no representation in the national legislature. or thousands of miles away. First of all, despite D.C. residents paying more in federal income taxes than the residents of 22 other states and more per-capita income tax than any state in the Union, they have no power in Congress to decide where those tax dollars go. D.C. residents aren’t represented in the Senate, and D.C. House Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton can’t vote on legislation, leaving D.C.’s three electoral votes for the presidency its only material national representation. This taxation without real representation echoes the injustice of second-class citizenship that motivated the American Revolution and the creation of the United States in the
first place. The people of D.C. not only deserve representation and self-government, they pay a higher price for it with their tax dollars than people in 22 states who get a voice in Congress. Were D.C. a state, it would have the highest Black population of any state in the Union and would be the only plurality-Black state in the country with a 46% Black population. The lack of representation of roughly half of D.C.’s populace in Congress is a symptom of America’s widespread oppression of Black people and stems from intentional racist disenfranchisement. In the 1950s, when home-rule legislation was passed by the Senate but blocked in the House by Southern segregationists, racism was at the core of the objections. According to The Washington Post, “One member of Congress reported that more than a dozen people told him ‘in private and not in confidence that they are opposed to this bill because of their fear it would give the Negro domination over the District of Columbia.’” The arguments against D.C. statehood are still rooted in racism today—Republicans are staunchly anti-statehood because, as Trump explicitly admitted, D.C. gaining statehood would mean two more dependably Democratic seats in the Senate and a voting Democrat representative, which matters more than ensuring democracy for Black people. The Senate already overrepresents white people and un-
derrepresents POC: each state has equal seats, thus giving one person in a small state greater representation than one in a large state when the largest and densest states (e.g. California, Florida, New York, etc.) are some of the most diverse. Therefore, the Senate gives the average Black American 75 percent of the representation of the average white American, and the average Hispanic American only has 55 percent of the representation of a white person. Admitting the District. as a state would be a step toward correcting this flagrant inequality. Further, D.C. has the financial resources to be self-sufficient, a population greater than those of Vermont and Wyoming, and already takes on responsibilities of a state without any of the rights and privileges. The District is the only capital of a representative democracy whose residents have no representation in the national legislature, and Americans today have a duty to right this historic injustice. The people should be in control of the dialogue around D.C. statehood, and public pressure for representation and home rule would give the statehood campaign the momentum it needs to move forward. I implore you to take advantage of your Congressional representation and contact your Senators and Representative(s)—if you live in Maryland, that’s Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen in the Senate, and you can use the attached QR code to find your House Represen-
PHOTO BY HENRY REICHLE
To connect with Andre email him at scombud@gmail.com
tative. Let them know your reasons for supporting D.C. statehood and the importance of taking action on this issue, and urge them to support the D.C. Admission Act and statehood for Washington, D.C.