Peter DeFazio, the United States House Representative for Eugene’s district and a University of Oregon alum, has proposed legislation that would change college debt repayment and financial aid. Congressman DeFazio’s bill, the Helping Improve Grants for Higher Education & Repayment of Expensive Debt Act, or more commonly called the Higher Ed Act, was introduced three weeks ago, according to a press release.

If enacted, the bill would raise the minimum salary that students earn before they must begin paying back their student loans on an income-driven repayment plan.

The bill would also reinstate year-round Pell Grant scholarships, offer refinancing to some students and allow student loans to be discharged after filing for bankruptcy.

The bill “is going to help students get out from under the thumb of crippling loan repayment plans,” said Beth Schoenbach, Communications Director for DeFazio.

According to Jim Brooks, UO’s Assistant Vice President for Enrollment Management & Director of Student Aid and Scholarships, the impact of this portion of the bill is limited because not every student repays loans through income-driven plans.

“The other big one in here is the ability to refinance loans, which would benefit students,” Brooks said of the act.

Student loan interest rates change every year. Depending where congress sets them, they can be significantly lower or higher than the previous year. In 2008, undergraduate subsidized loans came with a 6.8 percent interest rate, according to the Oregon Department of Education. The rate for loans disbursed after July 1, 2016 is 3.76 percent, almost three full points below.

The refinancing portion of DeFazio’s act would allow some students paying the higher interest rates to pay at the current rate. Students would pay that lower interest rate for all of their loans together, not just one year.

“I would say that this could impact students more than probably everything else that’s in there because this affects everybody who gets loans,” Brooks said. “Probably 50 to 51 percent of our students borrow.”

“What the Congressman really wants to get at here are the student loans; the stress and kind of booming, constant presence of student loans hold young people back,” Schoenbach said.

She added that the bill’s purpose is to aid students in starting their lives following school and help them get established before they have the pressure of loan repayment.

The media are responsible for informing the public, they are storytellers and communicators of information. Without the media, we would be left only with the “he said, she said” word of mouth information.

It’s important to receive information that is not only domestic, but foreign as well. When I realized that many U.S. media organizations are lacking on international coverage, specifically relating to terrorist attacks, it was frustrating to say the least.

Following the recent attacks in Brussels, it came to public attention that there have been other attacks that have not been receiving U.S. media coverage. While there really is no good explanation as to why, the issue needs to be addressed and solved.

Certain attacks, such as the suicide bomber incident that occurred in Turkey several days before Brussels, receive nowhere near the column inches and air time that are needed for adequate coverage.

With a quick Google search of Terrorist Attacks 2016, one can see that five of the stories on the first page of responses are from U.S. based media, three of which are CNN stories. Yet almost every story on that Google page are about either Brussels or the Paris attacks from 2015.

While two of the U.S. sources actually address terrorist attacks as a whole, only Public Radio International mentions the attacks that have gone relatively unnoticed. There are even posts that claim to be a timeline of terrorist attacks, such as the one put out by The International Business Times, but leave off many incidents.

This is not to say that the attacks in Paris and Brussels didn’t deserve coverage and that they were not as serious, saddening and important as others, but other attacks around the same time deserved coverage as well.

Also, the media are not to blame for everything in terms of lacking international information among consumers because anyone can do a few quick Google searches and come up with the information from a source where it is actually happening.

Peter Laufer, the James Wallace Chair at the School of Journalism and Communications, understands that the coverage is out there, but it’s not always right up front.

“If as individual consumers we make the effort, we can find out what’s going on in the world,” Laufer said.

On the other hand, the U.S. media are responsible for delivering information to consumers and while many factors can determine what is being covered, the fact is, that sometimes consumers are not receiving the information they need from other parts of the world.

Laufer went on to say that “We need to have a common curriculum of knowledge that we share with the rest of the world.”

Without international media coverage from many mainstream U.S. media outlets, U.S. consumers cannot share in that common curriculum and therefore we cannot function as we are meant to.

“Without a vibrant community of reporters democracy is jeopardized,” Laufer said.

This should be taken into consideration when any media outlet makes a decision regarding what they won’t cover in terms of international stories, like the attack in Turkey.

While the Istanbul incident serves as a good example of an attack that nearly went unnoticed by the eye of U.S. media, there have been many more attacks that have been placed in similar position and need to be brought back in to light, even if it is within a “better late than never” situation.

There are several necessities that every person needs to survive; among these are things like air, water, shelter and food. Then there are the necessities of a college student. These include all of the above, but with one modification: a college student needs food, food and more food.

Whether you’re trying to push through your late night study session or you’re running to class because your series of five alarms didn’t go off, food can make all the stress of life temporarily go away as soon as you take that first bite.

With food so readily available on every corner of campus we can sometimes get caught in the “any food is good food” mentality. While your Chipotle burrito or Panda bowl might be tasty, is it really authentic?

In America we like to take the food of other cultures, put our own spin on it and then pass it off as the original. Talk about false advertising. I’m not saying Americanized food isn’t good, it’s just that it isn’t what you think it is.

This causes a problem when looking to understand or experience culture through food because Americanized food is not always an accurate representation of that culture. Often, food is presumed to be from one culture when in reality it is not.

Brett Adamo from Beppe & Gianni’s Trattoria knows of some foods that Americans commonly misconceive as Italian. “The use of garlic might be one. Italians don’t use as much garlic as everybody thinks, but you see Italian restaurants called ‘The Garlic Press,” Adamo said.

Unless you were of Italian heritage, or happened to talk to someone like Adamo, you would probably never know that garlic isn’t that prominent in Italian cooking. Some Americans think authentic Italian food is what we find in an Olive Garden take out bag, but if you look at Olive Garden’s menu, you find many items that are made with garlic, not to mention two of their five sauces literally have garlic in their name.

Adamo also offered a suggestion to distinguish between authentic restaurants and Americanized restaurants. “Look at the way our menu reads,” Adamo said. “You should see Italian names for things, as opposed to a place that might say pasta, we actually say garganelli.”

You know you’re used to Americanized Italian food when you have to look up garganelli because you have never heard of it. Don’t worry, I was in the same boat.

It is important to pay attention to the menu and note if the establishment is showing respect for the food by using the correct names and allowing the culture to speak through the menu.

The Americanization of food is similar to the idea of Spanglish. As a country, we have taken something and deemed only a portion of it acceptable and beautiful, then proceeded to throw the rest away and disregard the fact that we had no right to determine what was of value and what wasn’t.

Italian food serves as a good example, but it is not the only cuisine we may have been deceived by. This is a problem in most of the markets of food from other countries. There is more to Mexican food than just burritos and fortune cookies are not Chinese.

If you’re looking to find a window into another culture, food is a great place to start, but it is important to make sure you are getting an accurate representation of said culture. While Domino’s pizza might put your rumbling stomach at ease in the middle of an all nighter, why not try a pie from La Perla Pizzeria instead.

Similar to a small child physically carrying around a security blanket because it is familiar to them and makes them feel secure in their environment, we all have a metaphoric security blanket: a comfort zone.

Comfort zones can be physical places that we go to, for example going home on breaks, but comfort zones can also be a mindset, certain types of music or even the classes that we take.

As college students there are so many options for classes to take and we can either take classes that fit inside our comfort zone or we can branch out and take something we never would have thought of previously.

Students attend college for many reasons and one key reason for most is to grow, not only in knowledge, but as a person. If staying within the confine of your comfort zone is all you do, then are you really accomplishing much of anything?

J.K. Rogers, a GTF who teaches Acting 1 at the University of Oregon, helps many students break out of their shells. In regards to comfort zones, Rogers said, “They’re not necessarily challenging somebody in terms of growth and development.”

While stepping out of your comfort zone can be scary, intimidating and whatever other equally unsettling word you use to fill in the blank, there is much room for growth when you take the leap.

Taking an acting class is a prime example of taking that leap. The class challenges students to go against norms and to do out of the box types of things, such as crawling around on the floor and acting like an animal, but it goes far beyond crazy exercises.

“Outside of the theater, the odds are pretty slim that someone is going to have to be a cow in public, but it is stepping out of that comfort zone and being willing to get up in front of people to talk, to interact, and so the skills that I’m hoping to instill in my students goes beyond just being silly,” Rogers said. “They are valuable resources they can pull upon when it comes time for them in their career to talk with people in public, to make a presentation or to go on a job interview.”

It doesn’t necessarily have to be a theater class that forces you out of your shell. The skills taught by stepping out of your comfort zone, no matter what that means for you, are skills that carry through your life. Whether or not you decide to take an acting class in college doesn’t matter, what matters is that at some point you decide to step outside of the box and try something new.

It could be taking a drawing class, religious studies class or even a difficult chemistry class that pushes your boundaries. Maybe for you, stepping out of your comfort zone means joining a club on campus or an intramural sports team.

How will you ever know if you like something without trying it? There is a reason some college students end up changing their majors several times, it is because they took a risk, stepped out and tried something new.

College is about growing and developing, which means finding out what you want to do and discovering your passions. Who we are right now is going to change exponentially as we go out into the future and find new, exciting endeavors.

There are so many benefits associated with stepping outside of your comfort zone and while going away to college is a stretch in itself, students should do their best to leave behind their metaphoric security blanket and try new things.

It’s okay to start out with small changes, but whatever you decide to do, be conscious of your comfort zone and try your best to take a step out of it.

Throughout college, there will be weeks of finals that stress you out more than ever. But depending on your preparation, the difficulty of your courses and the type of work given, the end of the term is not always terrible.

“I don’t think it’s fun, but it’s not the worst week of my life,” business major Rachel Michaels said.

The stress that accompanies finals is often inevitable, but term after term, we know it’s coming. The two simple words “finals week” can give students a massive, horrible, I-want-to-curl-up-in-a-ball-and-never-face-the-world-again type of feeling, but could that be avoided with the right preparation?

Instead of hiding from the final assignments that have been on the syllabus since day one, students should actively work to finish any projects and papers that can be completed before finals week. When it comes to studying for exams, it is important to start as early as possible.

Exam schedules are released weeks before they actually take place, giving students plenty of time to plan out their own study schedules. Using dead week to its full potential can help students avoid cramming an entire term worth of studying into a few all-nighters in the library.

If you find yourself stuck behind a computer all night make sure you aren’t alone. Having a friend across the table who is also working hard can keep you grounded and focused. Not to mention the bonding that occurs between two friends sitting in the library at 3 a.m. after several cups of coffee and a Dough Co. calzone.

Stressful nights are bound to happen due to some classes having busy work, papers and final exams scheduled for finals week, but that is not the case for every student every term.

Spencer Johnson, a sophomore studying public relations, said, “It depends on the teacher,” when it comes to whether finals week lives up to its awful stereotype.

Take in to consideration a student’s major, year of school and the courses they are taking. None of this is to say that certain majors, classes or even instructors are easier than others; it merely points out that they are all different.

Students studying journalism who have three final papers due but no final exam may not get overstressed by finals week because they are used to the large amounts of writing. On the other hand, throw a 50-question final math exam their way and they may have a completely different reaction.

Finals week is different for everyone, and the idea that it is such a terrible week term after term could potentially be detrimental to students. It can be pretty intimidating, especially for freshman, to go into their finals week having upperclassmen say how hard that week is. In a sense, it can psyche them out and make the fast approaching week that much more stressful.

While many students are hard at work in the library all through finals week, some students may not have any finals that require their presence on campus. Journalism major Dominic Black is able to turn in all his final projects online, letting him go home a week early for spring break.

All this being said, everyone is different and each person reacts to the pressure of finals week in different ways. I, for one, need to have the pressure in order to get things done; however, I also understand that it can really make some students’ lives miserable.

In the end, while the work won’t go away, and while we are all going to have some bad finals during college, finals week isn’t cut and dry.

For some, it is awful. For others it’s extra time to binge watch Netflix.

As college students we hear the phrase “Use your resources,” on a regular basis, so why don’t we?

The University of Oregon is chalked full of resources. The Women’s Center, the Career Center, the Teaching and Learning Center (TLC) and the Technology Service Desk (Tech Desk), are just a few of the many available on campus. The problem is that oftentimes students don’t utilize these resources.

Technology Service Desk Coordinator, Andy Montgomery wants people to know about the free service offered to students, staff and faculty located in McKenzie Hall. The Tech Desk provides support in software maintenance, wireless help and virus removal, to name a few.

The sad part is, when asked what the most common problem brought to them by students was, Montgomery replied, “Usually it is a password reset for their account.”

Students are only using a small portion of this resource. It is important that these resources aren’t overlooked because it might ruin them for future students. If we neglect to use them, or use them to their full potential, someone down the road might decide that they are not necessary.

One reason that many resources go unnoticed could be because students don’t hear about them.

While discussing services offered at the Teaching and Learning Center, Associate Director Amy Nuetzman said, “Sometimes students haven’t heard about these resources at a specific time that seemed relevant to them.”

If a student who is acing a writing class hears about TLC’s Sky Studio writing tutoring, they would probably dismiss the idea of getting help. Come two years later, when in an upper division class, the student might need some extra help and not remember where to go.

When looking at all of the campus resources, realize that if you need help, ask. A large portion of the reason theses resources aren’t used is because students don’t want to ask for help or they don’t know that the help exists. Don’t know where to start? Get on the University of Oregon website and do a search for whatever type of support you need, whether it be academic, technological or counseling.

It is important that students start using their campus resources to their full potential because in the long run they could disappear or not be as good as they once were. The only way for them to avoid that is by promoting and encouraging students to use their resources more.

If you are already using your resources, you need to tell your peers about them and try to use different parts of them. Don’t be the student who only goes to the Tech Desk when you need a password reset.

These resources are available not simply to help with one specific need, but to make sure that students are supported in all avenues.

Everyone needs help and support at one time or another, especially in the midst of college stress. We need to ensure that the support is there for those who need it.

Within the past few years, the United States Department of the Treasury made the decision to begin a major redesign of U.S. currency. They have begun their redesign process with the $10 note, stating that the new bill will include the portrait of a woman for the first time since 1896, when Martha Washington was featured on the $1 Silver Certificate.

Following the announcement, the Treasury launched a social media campaign, asking Americans to use the hashtag #TheNew10 to weigh in on who they should put on the bill.

The question that needs to be answered: is the $10 note the best place to start with the redesign?

Amidst the social media conversation the question arose of why the U.S. Treasury decided to redesign the $10 note, picturing Alexander Hamilton, instead of the $20 note, picturing Andrew Jackson. Several Twitter users asked the U.S. Treasury to keep Hamilton because of his position as the first Secretary of the Treasury for the United States, and replace Jackson instead.

To completely understand the debate we need to make a decision on what it means to be placed on U.S. currency. Margaret Rhee, assistant professor in the University of Oregon women’s and gender studies department, believes money means more to the American people than just its dollar value.

“Money itself and the tangibleness of it can been seen as media,” said Rhee.

There hasn’t been much concern about who is depicted on our paper money until recently. We should be thinking about what kind of messages this medium is communicating.

UO history professor Steve Beda sees money as a link to the past. “In part, money is creating a shared history,” Beda said.

We deal with money on a daily basis, only paying attention to the number in the corner. But it is also a way to express history. We need to decide who we want to be a part of our shared history.

Despite Andrew Jackson’s role in modernizing democracy, he is also known for his hand in Native American removal. If money is set up to honor the people we place on the bills, then Andrew Jackson should not be depicted at all. We should not be honoring what he did in regard to Native American removal.

“I don’t think Jackson should be a part of that shared history, because that means if you are Cherokee, you are not part of that shared history,” said Beda.

The shared history should represent everyone, not simply the elite (i.e., presidents or powerful white men). We should be asking the figures currently on our money represent our nation as a whole. This conversation puts into perspective the importance of knowing our history and who we choose to represent that history.

Our nation has been full of great leaders who were not in the highest positions of power but deserve to be celebrated. Whichever woman they decide to honor doesn’t need to be someone who was high up on the political food chain, but someone who made herself known by actively trying to do good for our country.

Jackson should be the first to go, not Hamilton. So #TheNew10 should be #TheNew20. Not to say that the $10 bill doesn’t deserve a face lift, but with Jackson’s history, the $20 note is a more pressing matter.

It is no secret that a group of Eastern Oregon ranchers are relatively angry at the government and the way in which it manages public land, going as far as arming themselves and taking over the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge outside of Burns, Oregon. However, along with interviews of protesters, the standoffs with the FBI and the reasons behind the occupation, lies another side to the story: the side of the refuge itself.

It may seem straight forward. A wildlife refuge is set up to protect animals. On the other hand, the refuge preserves so much more.

In order to fully understand the occupation, one must discover where the root of the conflict began. While the refuge is in place to protect an important habitat for animals, it is located in a ranching community and is therefore influenced by said community.

According to biology professor Bitty Roy (professor from where), who has taught a class at Malheur, ranchers were once allowed to run their cattle on certain parts of the refuge. However, as time went on, the refuge came to the conclusion that running cattle on the land was harmful to the environment they were trying to preserve, and they stopped allowing the grazing.

The problem with the protest is that the refuge is not simply range land managed by the Bureau of Land Management for the use of livestock. This is a refuge that was set up primarily to protect large sums of birds, many different species, who use it as a feeding ground during their migrations.

Roy pointed out how dry Eastern Oregon is and how dry some states that border Oregon are, such as Nevada. The wetlands protected by the refuge serve as one of very few feeding grounds, or oases, for birds who migrate from that dry region to the Pacific Flyway.

According to a letter written by David Houghton, President of the National Wildlife Refuge Association, the Malheur Refuge is not only there to protect birds and other animals, it is also there for the people. It is public land that has many natural resources for all to enjoy. Since its establishment in 1908, the land has become a popular place for hunting, fishing, birding and hiking.

Over the last six weeks, occupiers have been restricting public access for selfish reasons. The current occupation sprouted from the idea that these Eastern Oregon ranchers wanted the land that makes up the refuge returned to them. But the land was not theirs, nor their descendants, to begin with.

“The land was originally Native American land before the refuge was established,” Roy said.

In reality, they want land they have no right to, apart from visiting the refuge like the general public, handed to them free and clear. The truth of the matter is this land belongs to everyone and should not be dictated by a select group of individuals.

That said, the refuge has every right to do what it sees fit for the benefit and preservation of Malheur. While the ranchers do have a grievance with the refuge and its policies on cattle grazing, the ranchers need to look at the bigger picture and see what this refuge and its land are meant to do.

When I found out that the grazing policies were all the protesters had to stand on, I was aggravated at the idea of someone forcibly attempting to take land that has never belonged to them. If they had a problem with not being allowed to graze their herds on the refuge, there are more peaceful and civilized ways to make their concerns known, like appealing the policy change or working with the refuge to come up with a solution.

Instead they are putting people in danger and having a negative effect on the environment by disrupting the normal occurrences that the refuge works hard to protect.

It’s common for college students to have a fuzzy understanding of the way in which stocks are traded, but it is important that the current generation of college students better educate themselves on the basics of the stock market.

Many college students tend to know that the stock market is a central part of the economic system, and acknowledge that it is important to understand, but haven’t taken the time to really learn about how it works.

To fully understand the importance of the stock market, one first needs to understand what it does. In the most basic sense, the stock market, which is made up of many different exchanges including the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ, gives companies capital from investors purchasing a piece of the company or what the market calls stock.

By owning a piece of the company, that investor is now a shareholder and has the potential to make money off of the stock as the company’s value increases. Richard Fisher, a financial advisor with D.A. Davidson & Co., understands the importance of knowing fundamentals of the stock market.

“People should have a knowledge of mutual funds, and a basic knowledge of stocks,” Fisher said.

However, where can one find this information, and how can one go about gaining knowledge about the stock market? Fisher recommends reading through websites such as Yahoo finance, Investor’s Business Daily, Wall Street Journal, Forbes Magazine.

One thing he highlighted was Yahoo Finance, a website that allows anyone to thoroughly research and gather information about the market and the backgrounds of companies and their stocks.

With the Internet giving us so much easily accessible information, students have no excuses when it comes to not being educated about the stock market.

“It used to be that you had to go to the library and look at the financial statements that were released a quarter before by the company, 20 years ago you had to do that, now it’s at your fingertips in Yahoo finance,” Fisher said.

While the information is readily available, the stock market and its inner workings can be intimidating. If you are looking to learn the basics of the market, but you like your information short and sweet, check out TradeHero Academy, on YouTube.

This video series offers a starting point for anyone to learn basic terminology, how to know the difference between stocks and bonds and even how to look at the cycle of the market.

Not only is it important to understand the basic principles of the stock market because it is one of the most crucial parts of our economy, one should also realize that you can invest in just about anything you can think of. Supporting and investing in certain companies can directly affect your future.

Fisher pointed out some companies that are doing big things and specifically discussed biotechnology companies claiming that they “are extending our lifespans.”

Now while that is a big statement, he has a point. If no one chooses to invest in companies and give them capital, much of the technological developments that have been made would never have happened. Without resources, a company is nothing more than a name.

The stock market is an important piece of the international economy, but it’s also so much more than that. It is an entity used to support innovation.

Without the knowledge, the innovation isn’t possible. College students need to give themselves the building blocks to understanding the stock market and how the financial system works.

As college students, we make decisions every day, like whether or not we can spare the time for one more episode of our favorite Netflix show before we write our nine page paper, or if $5 is better spent on gas than a Starbucks drink. However, it’s not very often that one small decision can shape your college experience as a whole.

Deciding between pursuing a Bachelor of Science or a Bachelor of Arts is one of the few exceptions. Whichever one of these you choose as a freshman, follows you all the way through your time at school. While it seems simple enough, considering that the only difference is one requires a foreign language and the other requires math, the real question is why do students need to choose in the first place?

College is not only about learning your field of study and gaining detailed knowledge in that area, it is also about making sure you have a basic knowledge in many areas, which is why everyone has to take prerequisites.

Whether or not a student is required to take language or math classes is based on what type of Bachelors degree they are pursuing, however writing is required across the board.

Furthermore, according to the University of Oregon Admissions website, transfer students are required to meet foreign language, math and writing requirements, while many other students go through their time at school never having taken a math or language course.

Every degree should require students to learn some level of math and some amount of a foreign language. The basics of a language should be taught with the idea that if you are in a pinch you could break a language barrier enough to get directions or report an emergency. On the other side of things, math is comparable to foreign language in the sense that no matter what profession you are going into it will pop up eventually.

Kylie Davis, a communications disorders and sciences major, said, “An art major doesn’t need to know calculus.”

While she may be right about calculus that doesn’t mean basic college math wouldn’t help. An art student at some point could need to know how to calculate profits and losses while marketing their pieces.

Some would make an argument that college students learned enough math or language in high school to get them by, but this isn’t simply about getting by. It’s about learning to be a well-rounded student ready for anything in the workforce.

Art major Leisa Boles said, “If math is required students should be required to understand basic math that would help further knowledge in things like taxes, paying bills and understanding the fundamentals of math used in everyday life.”

Essentially, Boles is describing a basic level of math, taught in all bachelor degrees in which students would actually learn applicable math as opposed to calculus, unless of course you are getting your degree in a math-related field.

Boles went on to discuss foreign language. “Learning a language prepares one to learn more than communication,” Boles said. “It improves ones understanding of how others communicate, as well as the understanding of other cultures.”

Understanding other cultures is an important part of being a student because we are surrounded by so many different cultures while we are here at school, and will be as we enter our preferred career paths as well.

While one could argue that, no matter what path you decide to take, you can still take math and/or language classes, it can be difficult for students to take these classes if they are not required for their major based on the lack of time. Most college students want to get their degree done and over with as fast as possible so as not to pay more than they have to in tuition costs.

This decision between a B.A. and a B.S. bears more weight than you might think and it is necessary to treat it as so, not to mention it is worth considering revision of the way these degrees are structured in the first place. Let’s not make these decisions the same way we decide to watch another Netflix episode, but think about them from a long term view and make sure we are making the best decision possible.