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Opinion
As We See It
Editorial
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It’s time for the pettiness to end
– CAB rep. Emma Stewart, Columbus
As young adults, we’ve been dodging the petty antics of grown-up politicians who have devolved civil debate into cat fights. When we came to college, we’d hoped that our student politicians would take the lead in creating positive change.
But after witnessing the months long debate about the fire pit and last week’s impeachment trial of Senator Sullivan Jones, it’s clear that they’re mimicking the mistakes of the grownups.
And maybe that is for the best. After all, there isn’t any better way to prepare us for the ‘real’ world then do what the grown-ups do rather than what they say. Why give us false hopes that political pettiness will stop once we leave school.
We thought we were supposed to be learning from the generations that have come before us. But it’s clear we were wrong.
In the impeachment trial of Senator Sullivan Jones, several senators complained he was making the Senate look bad in-person and in an opinion article in the Sept. 16 edition of The Eagle. They argued that was a sound reason to remove him but presented no evidence of wrongdoing.
They didn’t like him, so they impeached him.
Apparently, it has not occurred to the majority that by holding an impeachment trial with little preparation and no evidence, the senators are making themselves look bad. And if it did, why was the trial pushed through so quickly?
In a trial, prosecutors who are the accusers prepare – thoroughly.
It’s apparent that level of care was not taken in Jones’ case.
As they clung to their reasons for Jones’ removal, in the end, the senators ran in circles. They committed the very sins they accused Jones of, and proved he wasn’t the only guilty party.
Despite their continuous claims that they were not impeaching Jones because of his opinions, it failed to look that way. In the trial, they presented no firm evidence that would prove otherwise.
The arguments thrown around the room that night – “he’s creating a toxic environment;” “creating mistrust;” - resembled those of high school cliques when they want to rid themselves of someone they don’t like.
That makes us cringe.
The Eagle has covered Student Senate for many years. We have watched senators come and go and documented countless debates.
But nothing like this.
That said, to their credit have never seen senators tas concerned with what the student body wants as those holding seats today. Most are willing to jump through hoops to benefit the student body. They don’t hold their seats for their own personal gain. That is something we are thankful for.
So, what we’ve seen these past few weeks surprises us. It’s time for Senate to drop the pettiness, learn to tolerate differing opinions and get back to the bigger picture – serving their constituents.
All students deserve that.
As You Said It!
We asked: How did you feel or cope with Instagram being down?
Dayna Crow 18, freshmen, Thermopolis, Wyoming Kevin Campbell 18, freshman, Bradenton, Florida Jori Stewart 19, sophmore, Hemingford
“I heard about it and I wasn’t worried it was down.” “Everybody is talking about Instagram being down, but where were people at when I was down?” “I opened Instagram and it didn’t work so I went to Twitter.” Esaias Spillane 18, freshman, Casper, Wyoming
“It was good that it went down because it made me do my homework.” Brianna Taylor 19, sophmore, Curtis
“I didn’t even notice it was down.”
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EDITORIAL
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Aubrie Lawrence editor@csceagle.com
NEWS EDITOR news@csceagle.com
OPINION EDITOR Velvet Jessen opinion@csceagle.com
SPORTS EDITOR Mackenzie Dahlberg sports@csceagle.com
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Participation on The Eagle staff is open to all Chadron State College students. The Eagle is a student newspaper produced by and for students of Chadron State College. Opinions expressed in editorials and columns written by the student staff belong solely to the authors. As a public forum, The Eagle invites guest columns and letters to the editor from all readers. Opinions expressed in submissions belong solely to the author(s) and DO NOT necessarily reflect the opinions of The Eagle staff, its adviser, CSC students, staff, faculty, administrators or governing body. Please limit all guest columns or letters to 400 words. Deadline for submissions is noon Monday for consideration in the following Thursday’s edition. The Eagle reserves the right to edit or reject all submissions.
6Oct. 7, 2021 | The Eagle | csceagle.com Opinion
As We See It
How long did you bury your head?
u By Velvet Jessen
Opinion editor
Recently, a whistleblower came out and made a statement on Facebook and some of the other apps Facebook owns. In her statement she mentions that Instagram was potentially “toxic” to teenage girls.
I would just like to ask, when did you learn that? Because I’m pretty sure most people already knew that. (Thanks for sharing though maybe now something will actually be done.)
Trends alone on Instagram are toxic. Think about the A4 waist trend, girls all over Instagram were trying to make sure their waist could be hidden behind a piece of paper. That’s just one harmful trend off the top of my head, there have been tons more in the history of Instagram.
Even when you stop looking just at the trends on Instagram, the app is still toxic to its users.
The way people post on Instagram alone is toxic. Everyone on Instagram appears to be living their best life or looking their best at all times. This can make people feel like they have to be perfect or seem like they are having the best time at all times.
Posting like that is common on the app and it tricks people- especially teenage girls- into believing that life has to be and look perfect.
Expecting life to be perfect and believing that people’s lives are like what you see on Instagram creates harmful and unrealistic expectations.
Follower counts and likes determine your worth on the app and people are willing to do anything for validation on the app, including editing how their bodies look.
I know more than a few girls who feel like they need to edit bodies and photos on Instagram to be good enough. But at the end of the day, no one looks like that, not in real life and who can compete with an edited picture.
I still remember the first time that I realized my friends were editing how they looked in photos on Instagram.
I only noticed once they were doing it right in front of me. I mentioned that I didn’t even notice the editing in pictures and they were proud that they could hide edits that well.
We were 14.
No 14-year-old girl should be so worried about how they look that they are editing their pictures online for some misguided validation. My friends played sports year round, their bodies were perfectly healthy. They should have had no reason to think they needed to edit themselves.
It was and still is expected though that you have to pose perfectly and edit yourself to have a good post on Instagram. Anyone with the app could tell you that.
The fact is the internet doesn’t care and neither do the people running the “toxic” apps we use. They don’t care that Instagram pushes unrealistic body standards and oth-
Velvet Jessen er harmful messages.
They want our money and attention and we give it to them.
No matter how many body positive movements are on Instagram or other apps, there always seems to be just as much hate and negativity. For every body positive account there’s an account with edited waist lines and facetuned selfies.
The point of the app has become showing how cool and interesting you are but only if you look perfect. Of course that’s toxic, life isn’t perfect and it’s unrealistic to believe it is.
So props to the whistleblower, I am glad you said something but I’m just wondering, how long ago did you realize what we all knew? How long did you decide to stay quiet about it before it got to you?
I’ve known for years and so has the majority of Instagram users but hey, welcome to the fight, it doesn’t end.
Family is what you make, it’s not who made you
u By Anjaelique Cole
Columnist
How many people have heard this? The answer is probably most of us. This is because the saying has been around since the 12th century.
The thing is the saying has nothing to do with the actual substances itselves. Yes, blood is thicker than water but the quote that we hear isn’t complete.
When people are telling us this quote, they’re only using part of it. The entire saying is, “The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.”
This makes people think of different definitions for family. Some say only blood makes family, others say it is loyalty and love.
First, this quote was made for soldiers. It was made to say that their bloodshed in battle together made them stronger than genetics.
Next the definition of family is one or more parent living together with their children in one unit. This is the actual definition, but I am sure there are many people who would disagree with this definition.
For example, does an aunt or uncle count as a parent to their nieces or nephews, or if a 19-year-old sibling takes on their younger siblings?
“A wise man once told me, ‘Family don’t end in blood.’” Dean Winchester, a “Supernatural”character played by Jensen Ackles, said in season 10, episode 17. “But it doesn’t start there either. Family cares about you, not what you can do for them family is there; for the good, bad, all of it. They got your back, even when it hurts. That’s family.”
We should accept all the types of families. This includes small, big, or the mismatched ones. Homeless peo-
Anjaelique Cole ple who group together and make a family to survive are part of the people saying that family is loyalty and love, and that is why they chose their family.
That is why the definition of family being one ancestral line makes no sense to me.
If this were true, then adopted kids wouldn’t be with their “family” they would have the same last name but not the same ancestral line.
This is a problem unto itself. A lot of kids get adopted because their “family” doesn’t want them or cannot
care for them, so they need a family that loves them. The last thing they need is someone saying the family they just got isn’t their family. ““Whether blood is family or friends love them all and protect them all ” “The most important thing in life will always be family.” Dominic Toretto, a “Fast and Furious” character played by Vin - Anjaelique Cole Diesel, said. “The people right here, right now.” To me this means the people you hold closest to your heart are family. Whether blood is family or friends, love them all and protect them all.
