The Reveille 7-11-22

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‘VEILED TUITION’ Mond ay, Ju ly 11, 2 022

New law cuts mandatory fees for many grad students.

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With gun violence on the rise, the City of Baton Rouge is launching a multitude of programs in attempt to combat the violence.

ENTERTAINMENT

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LSU apparel design student Kaleb Duncan takes inspiration from different culture in designing clothing competing in fashion shows across the country.

OPINION

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“Louisianians can thank Cassidy for the passage of both the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act.”

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FEES WAIVED

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Certain LSU graduate students to be exempt from mandatory fees

BY ALLISON ALLSOP @allisonallsop Gov. John Bel Edwards has signed a bill into law that would create better transparency about stipend packages for certain graduate students.

Act 664, signed by Edwards on the 18th, will go into effect in 2024. The bill was sponsored by Sen. Cleo Fields, D-Baton Rouge.

Under this law, universities are required to provide payment or waivers for mandatory fees for graduate students that have research assistantships, teaching assistantships or curator assistantships.

The payment can be a waiver of fees or additional payments included within the stipend packages of graduate students.

Justin Martin, an incoming masters student in U.S. history, shared his thoughts on the new law.

“I think having this issue addressed is gonna provide a better experience for the students and also a better experience for LSU trying to attract those students,” Martin said.

At LSU, mandatory fees for graduate students for the 20222023 school year are almost $2,000 per semester depending on how many hours the student takes.

Adam Dohrenwend, a Ph.D. student in geography and anthropology, has served as a student senator and a member United Campus Workers Louisiana.

He called these mandatory fees “veiled tuition.”

LSU cannot change its tuition without a two-thirds vote of the legislature, so to deal with decreasing state funding, they implement mandatory fees.

These fees include the academic excellence fee, mass transit fee, student media fee and others.

While some of these fees go towards the operation of resources used by most students, others are just another way for the university to garner funds from students to

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David F. Boyd Hall houses the LSU Graduate School on Nov. 21, 2016, at 114 West David Boyd Hall. pay for faculty salaries.

The student excellence fee makes up a large portion of the mandatory fees. This year it totals $857. During a graduate school town hall in 2019, it was announced that this fee would be phased out for teaching assistants.

All other assistantship positions are required to pay this fee.

Under an assistantship, graduate students work for the university in some capacity. Teaching assistants will grade papers, lecture and provide tutoring and research assistants conduct research. Curator assistants assist in the curation of museums. There is another form of assistantship, a service assistant, that is not covered by this law.

In 2020, LSU had 1,836 graduate students working in assistantships, but 16% of those would not have been covered under this law.

If a student works in 50% effort— or 20 hours a week— then they will receive a tuition exemption as well as a stipend. The tuition exemption does not include mandatory fees even though these fees are essentially tuition replacements.

Students working at 50% effort

receive a minimum $10,800 annual stipend. The graduate packages do not include health insurance.

The remaining mandatory fees are taken out of the stipend.

“We have to pay the university a pretty sizeable percentage of our pay in order to have the privilege of working for them,” Dohrenwend said.

After paying for the mandatory fees, graduate students are left with only a small amount of income to live off of. While outsiders might suggest getting another job, this is not necessarily feasible for all graduate students.

Graduate students are completing coursework for their masters or doctoral programs, working on their assistantships and often conducting their own research as well. This leads little time for an outside job. However, if they do decide to pursue outside employment, they may have to get approval from their department or they risk losing their assistantship.

Martin claims the policy on outside employment is unclear. He said that he knew students who pursued outside work without telling their supervisors because

MATTHEW PERSCHALL / The Reveille

The Edward J. Gay Apartments stand tall on April 30, on Spruce Lane in Baton Rouge, La.

they needed to supplement their income. Martin said another way that students get by is through the use of the campus food pantry.

Martin said another problem graduate students face is affordable housing. The Edward Gay Apartments are the only oncampus housing option for many graduate and international students, but it will be closing in June 2023. LSU does not currently have another building to take its place.

Graduate students with families cannot be accommodated by the other on-campus apartments.

Edward-Gay was also much more affordable than off-campus options.

Dohrenwend spent multiple days at the legislature testifying before committees about the importance of the bill. Eventually, the bill was passed without ever receiving a nay vote.

LSU President Tate has previously made remarks about the importance of funding for graduate students.

“You can’t recruit Ph.D. students if they don’t have a floor in their stipends that actually allows them to live,” Tate said during a Board of Supervisors meeting in 2021. “It’s simply untenable and I’m going to say this in this context, it’s unethical to recruit students in Ph.D. education if you don’t provide those.”

Tate, nor any other official representative of the LSU administration, did not appear in support of the bill.

Martin said that one way the university could better help graduate students was by providing more affordable housing. He also said that this law would set the minimum requirements, and that LSU could step up by including service assistantships under the waiver.

“Students are not supposed to be customers at a public university,” Dohrenwend said. “The state has an interest in educating its people.”

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CORRECTIONS & CLARIFICATIONS The Reveille holds accuracy and objectivity at the highest priority and wants to reassure its readers the reporting and content of the paper meets these standards. This space is reserved to recognize and correct any mistakes that may have been printed in The Reveille. If you would like something corrected or clarified, please contact the editor at (225) 578-4811 or email editor@lsu.edu.

ABOUT THE REVEILLE The Reveille is written, edited and produced solely by students of Louisiana State University. The Reveille is an independent entity of the Office of Student Media within the Manship School of Mass Communication.

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NEWS RECORD VIOLENCE

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Baton Rouge launches host of programs aimed at gun violence as death toll rises

BY ALLISON ALLSOP @ allisonallsop “One is one too many,” a phrase echoed by two officials as East Baton Rouge Parish prepares to have the second deadliest year on record.

2021 was the second year in a row for record-breaking homicide rates in Baton Rouge according to an Advocate analysis.

There were 114 deaths in 2020, and 149 deaths in 2021. This year, there were over 50 deaths before the half-way mark of the year, putting Baton Rouge on track for the second deadliest year on record.

Baton Rouge is not alone in these upticks of violence. Reports say New Orleans is leading the nation in per-capita murder rates with over 145 homicides this year.

Lieutenant Don Coppola of the Baton Rouge Police Department was one of the people say-

ing “one is too many.” Coppola could only comment on gun violence within the city limits, but said that a lot of it comes down to education.

Coppola advised that guns should not be stored in vehicles.

Guns left in vehicles are subject to theft in vehicle burglaries.

Coppola said this leads to the guns falling in the wrong hands.

He also said that firearms should be kept out of the way of children and separate from ammunition.

Coppola said that the department is increasing its community engagement. One program he highlighted was their weekly neighborhood walks. Every Thursday officers walk around different neighborhoods to connect with the communities.

Mark Armstrong, a spokesperson for Baton Rouge mayor Sharon Weston-Broome, explained that attacking gun violence was a “three pronged” issue. Law enforcement, community engage-

ment and mental health were the three prongs he said Broome focuses on.

Armstrong said there have been over 1800 felony arrests made and 700 guns seized in those arrests this year. He also

said that the police force numbers should be back to pre-pandemic levels within the next few police academy graduating classes. Broome gave police a 6% pay raise last year.

Armstrong also said that they

have been focused on Operation Red Stick, which is the collaboration efforts of all local, federal and state agencies for sharing information.

see GUNS, page 4

COURTESY OF WIKIPEDIA

STUDENT LIFE

LSU charged a student $4,800 due to miscommunication

BY MADDIE SCOTT @madscottyy Jordan Scroggins was sitting in the living room of her Texas home when she received an email from the LSU financial aid office on June 6. It explained that a scholarship caused her tuition to exceed the cost of attendance, and she had to pay $4,800 out of pocket.

“My heart literally just stopped because I had no idea what it was saying,” the English senior said. “I just saw $4,800. I was like, ‘oh my, I have $20 in my bank account. I don’t know what you guys want me to do.’”

Scroggins replied to the email and asked for clarification on what the message meant, yet it took three days for the financial aid counselor to answer.

“Obviously, I’m super confused,” Scroggins said. “I have no idea what that means. They’re saying it to me in really weird terms.

They weren’t saying straight up like, ‘hey, you got to pay this.’

They were saying, ‘oh, it exceeded your cost of tuition.’”

Scroggins called her girlfriend, kinesiology and Spanish senior Paola Colmenares, soon after reading the email. “Confusing” was how Colmenares described the initial email. The pair sent the email to their friends, asking what they thought it meant, and everyone agreed the email’s wording was confusing and complex.

When Scroggins emailed the main LSU financial aid email, the

office took two days to respond.

When they did respond, they apologized for “the miscommunication and lack of response.”

They then referred her back to the financial aid counselor Scroggins had already been in contact with about the situation.

Scroggins delivered food through DoorDash in her free time to pay the fine and started a GoFundMe that had reached $1,349. It wasn’t until June 16

that LSU resolved the situation by awarding her a second scholarship solely to cover the cost of the fine.

LSU spokesperson Ernie Ballard explained why LSU initially charged her. A scholarship valued at $5,472 was awarded to Scroggins on May 25 for the Spring 2022 semester and Scroggins received a refund check from the bursar for the full amount.

This $5,472 scholarship was

the Lisi Oliver Undergraduate Award for Excellence, a scholarship meant for students who “demonstrated financial need and merit both inside and outside of the classroom,” according to an LSU website. Scroggins said she was not notified that the scholarship would exceed her cost of attendance when she accepted the award.

“This scholarship award triggered a federal financial aid over-

award,” Ballard said. “If a student receives a scholarship which exceeds his/her cost of attendance, we are required by law to reduce the student’s loan to ensure cost of attendance standards are met.”

The financial aid office reduced Scroggins’ parent plus loan for the spring semester, which caused a balance on her account for the amount of the refund received. The department awarded her a scholarship for the 2023 year to help with the cost of the overaward and reduce the loan debt, Ballard said.

From June 6 through June 16, Scroggins feared she wouldn’t graduate college because of LSU’s mishandling. Scroggins was in contact with several offices and employees throughout the course of those ten days in an effort to fix the situation.

LSU should not have let this happen in the first place, Colmenares said. She believes the financial aid department and the English department should have had better communication on the scholarship. Instead of awarding it in a semester that would put her over budget, they should have awarded it to her in a future semester, Colmenares said.

“I’m so excited to be finally noticed for my accomplishments from LSU, but it’s kind of biting me in the ass,” Scroggins said. “I don’t know how to put it. It’s kind of screwing me over.”

Scroggins said she is only

COURTESEY OF GOFUNDME.COM

A screenshot of Jordan Scroggins’ GoFundMe page that sits at $1,349 in donations as of June 24.

see BURSAR, page 4

Monday, July 11, 2022

page 4 GUN, from page 3 “On the community engagement side, we’re always looking for ways that we can reach the people who are most at risk of either pulling the trigger or of being a victim of being shot,” Armstrong said. “And often times those are the same people.”

Armstrong said that recently they have launched several programs aimed at increasing community engagement and outreach. Broome recently allocated $2.5 million of federal funding to community based public safety.

“The idea is to put the public back into public safety,” Armstrong said. “The more community engagements you have the better.”

Armstrong said there have been monthly meetings with 80 partner organizations including the NAACP, 100 Black Men of America, Butterfly Society and

BURSAR, from page 3 able to afford to attend LSU because of loans. Her mother is a single parent and veteran who works two jobs to pay their existing debt. Scroggins is a full-time student and has a work-study job that pays $10 an hour for only so many hours per work. Paying the fee was not an option, Scroggins said.

the Power Coalition. These meetings are used to discuss the best strategies that they can employ to reach both perpetrators and victims of violence.

He said one of the ways they do this is by going into the communities and trying to address infrastructure needs. Armstrong said that by addressing these issues, they hope to address neighborhood issues, family issues and break the cycles of violence.

Armstrong said that one common complaint is that people do not have enough to do in Baton Rouge. To combat this, they started the Summer of Hope program.

This program is an eight-week event that is a part of Broome’s Safe, Hopeful, Healthy initiative.

Every week there are two to three events to give people something joyful and fun to do.

The final issue Broome has tried to tackle is mental health.

Armstrong said that Broome has

been a supporter of the Bridge Center for Hope, the first crisis stabilization center in Louisiana.

Congress recently allocated $1 million for trauma informed mental health services for neighborhoods in need. Broome and her team are working to develop a plan of implementation. Armstrong said that may express itself in traditional forms such as counseling, but also nontraditional forms such as community yoga. He said that plan should be announced by end of year.

These are all examples of smaller scale programs being incorporated into the communities and public safety in order to help individuals. Armstrong said that there are also larger scale projects looking to address societal issues that lead to increased violence.

Armstrong said that they are establishing an Office of Supplier Diversity to increase small

business contracts and increase public investment. He said that by giving people located in disinvested communities the opportunity to grow their businesses it would grow the ecosystem and create a transformative change in the neighborhoods.

“The scholarship that they gave her was for students who demonstrate financial need, so that’s what gets me is that LSU gave this scholarship to a student who demonstrates financial need, and then they’re like, ‘oh, actually, well we know that you don’t have the best financial situation, but we’re going to need you to come up with $5,000 to pay us back,’” Colmenares said.

Scroggins had her Law School Admission Test in a few days at the time, and she questioned if she should still take the test knowing that she may not graduate college due to the fee.

Despite the situation being resolved, Scroggins and Colmenares are upset that it happened and are worried this could happen to other students. Scroggins is still scared her scholarship will be

taken away.

“The last thing I want is to have to drop out but I know that it’s a very, very real thing for so many other people,” Scroggins said. “I just wish that LSU actually looked into that, and actually just even pretended to care, honestly.”

After speaking to LSU student government president Lizzie Shaw, Scroggins and Colmenares learned that this isn’t the first time

We’re looking for a highly motivated graphic design student to join our office.

This is a great opportunity for the right student to build their portfolio in an ad agency type setting.

Must be accepted into the Graphic Design or Digital Art program at LSU to be considered.

Armstrong said that fixing this generational problems would not happen overnight.

“Gun violence is often a symptom of these underlying causes,” Armstrong said. “And it’s a terrible tragedy of a symptom and it’s something we have to end.”

COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA

LSU mishandled scholarships.

“If this is happening so frequently, then maybe somebody should look into who’s awarding these scholarships and maybe have them looked up, because if they routinely keep messing up to where these students are in these really frustrating positions, then they shouldn’t be working in the financial aid office,” Colmenares said.

ENTERTAINMENT CULTURE AND COUTURE

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LSU apparel design student makes appearances in fashion shows across the country

BY GABBY JIMENEZ @gvjimenezz Apparel Design senior Kaleb Duncan is known by Kei Ai in the fashion community. His alias, which comes from the phonetic spelling of his first and middle initials, “serves as a fragmentation” of himself as a designer.

LSU students may know him as the cheerful and joking cashier in the On-The Geaux store in the Student Union, where he works full time.

Duncan took a break from school to focus on his craft, and uses his job at the Student Union to support his fashion endeavors.

He plans to go back to school in the Fall of 2023.

“I had a lot going on and I wanted to focus on me being a designer, so I pulled back from LSU to recenter myself,” Duncan said.

Duncan’s interest in fashion started in 2016, during his junior year of high school. While in an advanced IB art class, he started experimenting with clothing and learned how to work a sewing machine. He continued to selfteach himself through trial and error.

“Once I chose [fashion design] there was no turning back … It’s a medium I can use to express myself, feelings, stories,” Duncan

said. “Fashion is a language, and clothes are the way you communicate.”

When he first came to LSU, Duncan planned to study electrical engineering. He switched to fashion because he felt more comfortable with it, and saw aspects of engineering in fashion design.

“Fashion is just engineering with fabric. [Designer Issey Miyake] went to school for architecture, and he uses his architecture and shows it in his work, and I feel that we are similar in that aspect,” Duncan said. “It’s blending two supposedly opposite fields into one beautiful product.”

Duncan now designs everything from womenswear to menswear, and is currently working on outfits for an upcoming wedding.

He wants to start marketing his clothing toward college-age people who are discovering themselves.

Duncan’s brand, Dragonflies Purple, or DFP, is a reflection of his goals in life.

“My favorite insect is a dragonfly because of its symbolism – they represent going through life once and with no regrets. They’re also an animal of hope, perseverance and luck. And the color purple represents mystique, so all together it represents the royal mystery of discovering yourself and being able to adapt to any

situation you go through,” Duncan said.

In 2019, Duncan began doing fashion shows around Louisiana, with appearances in Baton Rouge, Lafayette, New Orleans and Shreveport. His first out-of-state show was in September 2021, where he was featured in an indie fashion week in New York City. “[The New York show] really changed my whole perspective on the direction I was heading towards,” Duncan said.

The theme for Duncan’s New York collection was “When Cultures Collide,” where he merged aspects of Asian culture with aspects of Black culture. While his outfits were on display, anime intro music played, intermixed with Black animation intro music.

“One of the biggest influences in my life is culture … I have multiple sources [of inspiration] I draw from, whether it’s music, anime, people I talk to, experiences or my interpretation of something,” Duncan said.

Being a student at LSU has really helped him in the fashion industry, Duncan says, noting that the person who introduced him to fashion shows was a fellow LSU student.

“If I didn’t go to LSU, I wouldn’t have met a bunch of people that introduced me to fashion,” Duncan said.

Duncan has big plans for the future, with multiple upcoming projects lined up for the following months.

“My goal for the future is to make a brand that resonates with a bunch of people, and to be able to express myself through fashion concept videos, and to be able to bring forth something everybody can understand … I also want to become a designer recognized for their technical ability,” Duncan said.

Duncan is also preparing for a swimsuit video shoot in August, putting together a website and online store to launch in September, and has future plans for an anime girl cosplay shoot and a menswear shoot.

Fashion has taught Duncan lessons on perseverance and believing in himself.

“Some important things I’ve learned in the industry [is] being tenacious and not being too hard on yourself, because I’ve seen every time I went to a fashion show, I was always the youngest there, and it’s really intimidating …

You’re just like the new kid on the block, you’re just emerging, you don’t really know how others will see your collection,” Duncan said.

Duncan has faced hardships and financial barriers in the fashion industry, but he encourages other designers to not give up on

COURTESY OF KALEB DUNCAN

Kaleb Duncan poses with a sweater and backpack he designed. their dreams and continue working to get better.

“I expect better for myself every time. I just looked at my New York [collection], and everyone loved it, but I know I can do better. Every time I make something I try to outdo myself, little by little,” Duncan said. “Even if it’s not your best, you’ll be able to do better next time … You are a lot better than you give yourself credit for.”

Duncan can be found at @dragonfliespurple on Instagram

MUSIC

Beyoncé’s latest single is a modern solidarity bop

BY ARIS WILLIAMS @jonetaw Beyoncé Knowles’s latest single, “Break My Soul,” is a workingclass anthem for the 21st century and leaves us on the edge of our seats for the rest of her upcoming album, Renaissance.

Renaissance is expected to be a two-part album and will be released on Friday, July 29.

Renaissance comes after a period of quietness by the ultrafamous singer following her work on Disney’s live-action rendition of The Lion King, featuring on the King Richard movie album and collaborating with artists such as Megan Thee Stallion, Tierra Whack and Pharrell Williams.

The release of “Break My Soul” on June 20 gave listeners a glimpse of what type of vibe to expect. The song features a dancepop beat accompanied by verses telling of a desire to ditch the 9-to5 life and pursue a more fulfilling way of living.

Knowles declares in her lyrics that despite the uncertainty she’s surrounded by and the pressures of her career, she remains unshak-

en and hopes that her supporters can feel the same type of empowerment while listening to the song.

One particular lyric that simply stated “Release your job” compelled some listeners to actually up and leave jobs that had grown to be draining. Jokes about her initiating her very own “great resignation” flooded Twitter for days.

Once again, her undeniable influence is on full display.

Knowles shared a heartfelt message regarding the inspiration behind Renaissance and its lead single, revealing that working on the projects helped her navigate the roller coaster that the last two years have been.

“My intention was to create a safe place, a place without judgment,” she wrote in a recent Instagram post. “A place to be free of perfectionism and overthinking. A place to scream, release, feel freedom. It was a beautiful journey of exploration. I hope you find joy in this music.”

Music such as this comes at a time during which many of the marginalized people that comprise Knowles’ fan base are watching the nation’s socio-political

COURTESY OF PARKWOOD ENTERTAINMENT

Beyoncé performs during the Formation World Tour at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on Sept. 24, 2016, in New Orleans, Louisiana. state regress in real time. In a time of deplorable SCOTUS rulings, housing insecurity and $5 gallons of gas, perhaps one of the greatest entertainers of our time showing some solidarity can at least put

smiles on some faces.

The general reception of Renaissance will have to be determined when the album comes out.

But if its lead single can shoot to the top of the charts and inspire

masses of people to reconsider the way that they’ve been living, then there’s little doubt that its rollout will be one for the books.

But what else would you expect? It’s Beyoncé.

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OPINION

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Thank you for rejecting GOP’s worst instincts, Bill Cassidy CHARLIE’S ANGLES CHARLIE STEPHENS

@charliestephns

With so much radicalization in the Louisiana GOP, it has been refreshing to see Sen. Bill Cassidy work with his colleagues across the aisle in the U.S. Senate to get widely popular legislation across the finish line in an upper chamber where good legislative proposals have consistently died in recent years.

Cassidy is in stark contrast with Sen. John Kennedy, the junior senator from Louisiana who has shunned any attempt at bipartisanship in favor of satisfying an increasingly radical Republican base.

Due to the balance of power in the Senate, Cassidy and his colleagues’ roles as a Republicans willing to work to get commonsense legislation passed is crucial to its eventual passage due to the need to overcome the filibuster

threshold of 60 votes that political hobbyists have become closely acquainted with.

Louisianians can thank Cassidy for the passage of both the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. Both laws made history in their scope and impact which says something about the graveyard that Congress has become for good ideas in recent years.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law is the largest investment in federal transportation spending since the interstate highway system, yet it already represented a compromise from President Biden’s initial plan.

The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act was only made possible by multiple high-profile shootings and yet it will do little to address the core of the problem—the insane number of guns already on our streets.

While Sen. Cassidy worked to advance these bills, they aren’t by any means concessions to Demo-

US senator elect Bill Cassidy celebrates win against Mary Landrieu at the Crowne Plaza Hotel Dec. 6, 2014.

the aim of any political official.

It helps to restore my hope in our institutions that they have defenders like Cassidy who, despite our disagreements, I believe he cares about moving the needle on issues where we can find broad consensus.

If more politicians were like Cassidy, perhaps we wouldn’t live in the incredibly toxic political environment we find ourselves in where everything is a political battle and not about getting things done for the American public.

It has led to widespread distrust in our political institutions, and we need more people to reject the radicalism.

Cassidy was one of seven Republicans to vote to convict the former president last year in a show of his rejection of his party’s worst instincts.

Thank you for rising above the fold, Sen. Cassidy.

crats but concessions to reason.

There is no serious opposition to either of these laws from the

Charlie Stephens is a 21-year-old political communication senior from Baton Rouge

KAREN WELSH / The Reveille Archives

American public and working to ensure that the priorities of the people are advanced should be

Democratic Party willfully weak, lacks true conviction SULLY’S SCOOP

CLAIRE SULLIVAN

@sulliclaire

Within hours of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, DCali., sent a text asking people for $15 so the Democrats can win the midterm elections and protect reproductive rights. Simultaneously, Pelosi backs Rep. Henry Cuellar, an anti-abortion Texas Democrat, in his runoff against progressive challenger Jessica Cisneros.

The Speaker’s actions sum up what many find unappealing about the Democratic Party: a lack of real conviction.

Pelosi fundraises off an issue she seemingly doesn’t care all that much about, considering her work to keep the only anti-abortion Democratic congressman in office. Despite the fact that voters have already given Democrats the House, the Senate and the presidency, Pelosi urges them that maybe if they vote harder next time, then we can do something about all this, sorry.

The strategy deployed by national Democratic Party leaders is to take the moral onus off them-

selves and put it onto voters. They tell voters, if you really care about “X” issue, you’ll give me your money and vote and not ask questions. Instead of earning votes with conviction and strong leadership, they feel entitled to support because “hey, at least we’re not the other guys.”

This rhetoric was inherent to the 2020 presidential campaign messaging. Many progressives were hesitant about Biden, understandably, I would add. But instead of forcing Biden to address the concerns of these voters and earn their support, the Democratic Party demanded instant submission once Biden won the primaries. To ask anything of Biden was to root for Trump, they said.

I voted for Biden, and I am certainly happy the former president was ousted. That doesn’t change the fact that this framing of political responsibility is uncompelling and, frankly, lazy. It’s up to our leaders to prove themselves to voters, not the other way around.

Being “better than the other guys” isn’t enough. The Democratic establishment routinely quashes progressive voices and policies that offer material change to the problems voters really care about.

CAROLYN KASTER / Associated Press

Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden and his running mate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., arrive to speak at a news conference at Alexis Dupont High School in Wilmington, Del. Take Bernie Sanders, who was establishment enemy No. 1 during the primaries, both times. He dared to question the corporate entrenchment at the core of both major parties. Unlike much of his opposition, he was people-powered. He has a record of progressive stances on social and economic issues, and he didn’t wait for the tide of popular opinion to

turn to voice them.

Sanders, though an Independent himself, represents what the Democratic Party must become if it wants to survive. Instead of being the party that folds when an unelected parliamentarian says no to a minimum-wage increase, Democrats must embrace strong leadership focused on workingclass-centered politics.

Editorial Policies and Procedures EDITORIAL BOARD Piper Hutchinson Peter Rauterkus Claire Sullivan Charlie Stephens

Editor-in-Chief News Editor Columnist Columnist

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For too long, both major parties have served special interests and left Americans in the dust. It’s time Americans demand better from the political establishment that abandons them at every turn.

Claire Sullivan is a 19-year-old coastal environmental science and political communication junior from CT.

Quote of the Week “To sin by silence, when they should protest, makes cowards of men.”

Ella Wheeler Wilcox American author 1850 — 1919