James Mariano: The Triangle

“Some guy gave up his first-class seat for a uniformed soldier. People are thanking him. I’m trying not to vomit or yell about Mosul.”

As you all are probably well aware by now, this is a verbatim tweet that appeared on Drexel professor George Ciccariello-Maher’s personal Twitter account March 26.

It came almost exactly three months after his Dec. 24 tweet, which read “All I Want for Christmas is White Genocide.”

Following both of these incidents, Ciccariello-Maher released statements, explaining in great detail the intended meaning behind his words.

With his most recent tweet, he says he intended to reflect his opposition of U.S. military involvement in Iraq. The Christmas Eve tweet was written to mock and oppose white supremacists of the alt-right.

After he provides explanations for his tweets, we can all mostly agree that Ciccariello-Maher’s views are not all that radical. Many students and alumni, in fact, commented the statement The Triangle published on behalf of Ciccariello-Maher about the tweet saying that they had no issue with his arguments but were vastly appalled by the manner he was presenting them in. And, quite frankly, we agree.

Twitter is a wonderful social media site and an appropriate venue for a vast number of things — cracking humorous jokes, catching up on the latest memes and news, even campaigning for president — but it is not a place to make sweeping, seemingly inflammatory statements at the cost your university’s reputation.

Whether it is a run-of-the-mill cry for attention or some deep-seated desire to be crowned a heroic twitter martyr, Ciccariello-Maher is embarrassing himself as much as he’s embarrassing all of us at Drexel.

Curating inflammatory tweets for the purpose of attracting media attention only to offer up a rational explanation later is not academic integrity. At best, it’s misguided passion.

The best way to get people to consider and respect your arguments is to form cohesive ones and give your audience enough context to understand where you’re coming from.

And thus we conclude:

@ciccmaher the next time you get the urge to tweet out some outrageous provocation, we encourage you to write out a fully-formed argument instead and shoot it to opinion@thetriangle.org.

Ann Haftl: The Triangle

Donald Trump’s proposed budget plan for the forthcoming fiscal year will likely see cuts in various areas. One of these areas is the Environmental Protection Agency. Under the new budget plan, $2.6 billion of the EPA’s current $8.2 billion in funding will be cut.

That’s nearly a third.

Adjusting for inflation, if Trump were to go forward with this cut, the EPA’s budget would be at a 40-year low.

The funds cut from areas like the EPA are intended to go towards defense and immigration control. According to chief strategist Steve Bannon, the goal is to size down all federal programs that are not focused on defense, with the aim of “deconstruction of the administrative state.”

Meanwhile, hot ocean water due to climate change continues to bleach the Great Barrier Reef. A new study by the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health found that consequences of climate change, such as violent weather and choking air pollution, are making Americans sicker. The environment is suffering – and we’re suffering with it.

A small measure of hope can be found in the seventeen Republicans in Congress, who together on Wednesday signed a resolution to search for “economically viable” ways to prevent further exacerbation of global warming. It is reassuring to see that there are individuals willing to break party lines for the sake of the earth. But seventeen isn’t enough.

Often, people make decisions based on fear. In his campaign speeches, Trump told Americans to be afraid of attacks – and in voting for him, they told him they believed him. In 2017, Trump may be sticking a more than $50 billion band-aid over that deep-seated American fear. Maybe that’ll make some people feel better. But those of us who believe in science will still be afraid.

Global warming may not be as tangible as military conflict. There’s no one to declare as the enemy and no target to obliterate with nuclear warheads. Fighting climate change isn’t a romantic war, because we’ll never be able to win — but we could at least save what we have for the descendants that we’ll never know.

So, President Trump, go ahead and take nearly a third of the EPA’s funding just to add another drop in the bucket for the defense program. That way, when there’s no earth left for us to live on, at least we’ll have plenty of guns.

James Mariano: The Triangle

Picture this: it’s a hot summer day and you’re walking home from the grocery store, trying to juggle a watermelon and a gallon of milk.

It’s a good walk. About a mile. While you’re managing as best you can, it’s a long haul for your weak, noodly arms and you have to stop every few blocks to take a breather and curse Drexel under your breath.

“Damn Drexel’s poor proximity to grocery stores,” you mutter.

In spirit, we, the members of The Triangle’s editorial board are right there with you. At least one of us, in fact, has been in your exact same predicament. It’s quite a pickle.

And you know what would really help? If someone important, up there at the top of Drexel’s big ol’ administration pyramid, could bang their fist on a boardroom table and get a goddamn grocery store built around here.

The university has done a lot to build up food options on campus in the past few years. The administration and faculty have gotten a new siege of pricey, exotic sit-ins. The freshmen have a brand new food service provider with Sodexo’s boot and Aramark’s induction. But nobody cares about us upperclassmen. Here’s a fun fact: we have to eat, too.

Thus, comes our dining issue plea…

Students need somewhere they can buy produce and pasta at a reasonable price. The distance it takes to get to either Trader Joe’s or the Fresh Grocer (which by the way, might be closing if the company isn’t permitted to renew its lease in August) often dissuades students from going shopping weekly. It becomes one of those things we put off. The only problem is that when we get hungry, we can’t exactly put off imminent starvation. Funny how that works, huh.

So can we get a grocery store up in this joint? Preferably, somewhere less than a mile away. We bet it’d improve morale on campus. And all while our legs might be a little less toned, our bellies would be a little more full.

James Mariano: The Triangle

More than 100 headstones at a Jewish cemetery in Philadelphia were vandalized or knocked over Feb. 26. This follows a similar incident in a Jewish cemetery in St. Louis, Missouri. Unfortunately, the specificity of these incidents suggests a pattern of anti-semitism.

Vandalizing graves is reproachful by any measure, but it is particularly despicable when a specific group of individuals are targeted in these crimes. To show such disrespect to the Jewish community is beyond reprehensible.

“This type of disrespectful behavior is dangerous, disheartening and has no place in our city, country or campus,” Drexel Hillel Student Board President Max Kahn said in a statement to the Hillel community.

We wish in no way to minimize the severity or the deep offense of this crime. However, in the face of such a horrendous insult, we do encourage you to try to find some solace in the events that followed. Namely, people of varied faiths came together in love to overcome an act of hate.

Muslim activist Tarek El-Messidi helped start a fundraiser that garnered more than $130,000 to help repair the damage in St. Louis. When he drove to the Philadelphia cemetery, intent to use the remainder of the funds to assist there, he found people of many religious backgrounds already working to re-erect the fallen headstones.

“A caretaker for a nearby Quaker cemetery has been here for hours, and Muslim and Christian friends and colleagues are reaching out. Acts of violence against Muslims and Jews will only make us stronger and bring us together. #sacredresistance #lovetrumpshate,” Local rabbi Yosef Goldman wrote on his Facebook page.

In many cases, there is no way for us to prevent the actions of cowards, such as those who would creep into graveyards at night and tip over sacred monuments. But we can choose how we respond – and for the sake of our generation, we must respond with love, respect and admiration for those around us with differing views.

Famous children’s TV show host Fred Rogers once said “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’” In his spirit, remember that there is kindness and goodwill in the form of those who lend a hand.

And whenever possible, choose to be a helper to someone else.

James Mariano: The Triangle

Sometimes the things we love disappear without any warning. In the blink of an eye.

Or the span of a day. Valentine’s Day. In the Korman Quad.

Have you peeped inside the fence that blocks off Korman’s construction from public view this week? Because something’s missing.

Someone with a chainsaw took out the American Yellowwood that stood at the base of the hill outside of Disque. They took out the hill too, a few days later, for pete’s sake. Is nothing sacred?

To be honest, we’re a little upset that these upcoming renovations weren’t more widely publicized. Is it too much to ask for Drexel officials hold a public forum where they at least brace us for these changes?

Bear in mind, we’re fully aware that debate slows down progress. When you go to a university like ours where construction companies excrete buildings like they’re on Miralax, it not only doesn’t seem possible, it just doesn’t seem preferable.

But let’s break down what an ideal situation might have been step-by-step. First Drexel gets the donation, right? It’s all announced. Top officials are congratulated for clinching the deal. Drexel takes bids for the project. It awards the bid to whoever the most qualified/most connected/best deal company appears to be, in this case Gluckman Tang. Then it takes off with the planning. Pitch it to Drexel a couple of times over until the people in the big offices plotz and send the orders over to the construction folks.

Now imagine if you added just a few more steps in there.

What if Drexel sent out a letter to the community that outlined the plans it’d decided on afterward? Would that really be so hard, or so bad?

We’re guessing what the university would be afraid of, in releasing specific plans, would be starch opposition. In other words, the less people involved in a project like Korman the easier it is to get ‘er done. The more people, the more ideas, and potentially, the more resistance.

But consider this: it’s a hell of a lot more considerate than tearing up parts of our campus with no warning whatsoever.

And it would certainly be more comforting seeing these changes occur if we had a better idea of what was coming in its place.

Change is a difficult thing for humans to adjust to. It always has been. We’re not saying you can’t change around our campus. We’re just saying that it’d be nice if we at least knew it was happening.

Mike Mozart: Flickr

Drexel University lost one of its most well-known alumni this week.

Albert Boscov, chairman of Boscov’s department store, passed away Feb. 10 at the age of 87 after a long battle with pancreatic cancer.

During his 87 years, Boscov impacted the lives of many, both through his efforts in business and philanthropy. With Boscov as its chairman, the eponymous department store set high standards in the retail world for community involvement. In the interest of his hometown Reading, Pennsylvania, he founded the nonprofit Our City Reading, Inc., a organization that fostered the restoration of abandoned homes in the city and has helped more than 600 families in the area be able to afford housing. Among other accomplishments, Boscov was also active in contributing to Reading’s Horizon Center, a senior citizen hub, and opened the nation’s largest Center for the Arts, GoggleWorks, in 2006.

His department stores have a reputation for running fundraisers that raise more than $600,000 annually for local non-profits. He used his wealth and influence to improve every community his department stores served.

Boscov had been responsible for more than $1 billion in sales since he took over his father’s department store in 1950, 12 years after graduating from Drexel’s business school. He also came out of retirement in 2008 to successfully bring the chain out of bankruptcy.

As blue and gold banner flags remind us on every street, Drexel is in its 125th year as a university. In those 125 years, many graduates have gone on to achieve great success. Boscov, who served as a sportswriter for The Triangle in 1948 is one of the most accomplished alumni Drexel has produced, both in his career and in his personal life.

Let his legacy be a lesson to all of us in the Drexel community. Not only did he achieve tremendous success in his business life, he never forgot to help others with his wealth and make a positive impact on his home. Going to Drexel, most of us live in or near the Powelton area and as we move forward in our careers and lives, it’s important to not forget the importance of giving back to communities.

A public memorial service for Boscov will be held Feb. 26 at 136 N. 6th Street in Reading.

Elizabeth Warren: Wikimedia

On Feb. 7, Elizabeth Warren read began to read a letter by Coretta Scott King, Martin Luther King Jr.’s widow.

In 1986, Coretta Scott King wrote a letter opposing Jeff Sessions’ nomination to a federal judge position. But when the Democratic Massachusetts senator began to read that letter as evidence for why Sessions should not be appointed attorney general, she was not allowed to finish.

“The senator has impugned the motives and conduct of our colleague from Alabama, as warned by the chair,” Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell said in objection to Warren.

The Republican from Kentucky  referenced the part of the letter that read, “Mr. Sessions has used the awesome power of his office to chill the free exercise of the vote by black citizens.”

Warren was not only forced to sit down, but to remain silent for the remainder of Sessions’ confirmation hearing. Later, with a different Republican senator presiding, two male Democratic senators were allowed to read the letter in full.

If someone asked you what was wrong with this picture, where would you even start?

At the fact that Coretta Scott King’s words were too “impugning” for the Senate? Or that a woman was forced to sit down for reading a letter that two men were allowed to read the next day verbatim? Or perhaps you could go with the fact that Warren wasn’t allowed to speak for the remainder of the process because Mitch McConnell found something she said (as part of a quote from someone else) offensive on behalf of the nominee.

If we live in a world where we silence people who dare to speak against us, we will create our own downfall. Silencing the opposition only makes them look strong for speaking out — and it makes the silencer look weak for being unable to stomach the resistance.

So if someone speaks against you or disagrees with your values, do not try to stop them. If what you believe in is right, then history will prove them wrong. Don’t be disheartened if they talk over you — that they are louder doesn’t mean anyone will listen.

McConnell and his cohort may succeed in shutting out Warren this time, but beyond this hearing they don’t control her. They don’t control any of us. Even if Session gets confirmed, we still have every right to our values and our voices. Warren knew that she could be silenced, but she raised her voice for what she believed in. She persisted, and we must follow her lead and do the same.

Photo courtesy Drexel University

On Jan 27, President Donald Trump issued an executive order banning immigration from seven Muslim majority countries. Travel into the United States for people from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Somalia, Libya, Sudan and Yemen became prohibited, and the order initially also included legal green card holders. While the Trump administration has backed off on the stance against green card holders, the poorly conceived and chaotically enforced bill shook the country.

The order targets Muslims in a way that is not only immoral and cruel, but is also possibly unconstitutional. It shuts out refugees from war-torn areas, the particular group of people that need our help the most, and from areas of the world significantly destabilized by actions perpetrated by the United States. It brands groups of people as dangerous based on religion and nationality, when statistically the danger is not there. On top of that, it ostracizes millions of legal citizens from other countries that now feel even more alone and emboldens the portion of the population that inherently view outsiders as less than them.

The order stands as an outrageous affront to a country founded on the idea of being a refuge for the hopeless, a destination for those needing a new start. It’s xenophobic and heartless in a way that many people in this country don’t associate with their home and the people in it. For many Americans, it’s functioned less as a new order and more as a eulogy, one given to the ideals of an America that citizens believe in and want to support.

Two days after the order was issued, Drexel University’s President John A. Fry issued a lengthy statement assuring the community that the university is “prepared to support our international students, faculty, and professional staff by every possible means.”

President Fry’s statement meant a lot to the community, a student body impacted greatly by the order and the direction it indicates the country is heading. A significant portion of the Drexel community, a diverse group from countries throughout the world, was left reeling.

Fry’s words helped ease the wounds caused by the actions of the Trump administration by making members of the Drexel community feel protected and included. Fry’s strong stance against the direction of the Trump administration in the light of this order is inspirational and much appreciated in a time where many people struggle to feel included in a land foreign to the one they were born in.

Of course, people refused to stand by in the wake of the executive order. Thousands of people packed airports throughout the country in a show of solidarity with those detained, citizens of those countries included in the orders, and Muslims in general.

That solidarity is as important now as it has ever been. With this order and the precedent it sets, the country is on a path towards outright excluding people from its borders based mostly (read: entirely) on a religion viewed incorrectly by decision-makers as violent and dangerous.

It’s important do whatever we can to make the members of our community know they belong. President Fry recognized that when he made his statement, and we must follow his lead. We’re living in a time when marginalized groups may be forced even farther into the margins, and that’s antithetical to the ideals of America and should be antithetical to the feelings of all empathetic Americans.
Go out there and make an impact. Protest. Donate. Exhibit inclusiveness in your daily life. Show the world that America remains a country filled with opportunity for everyone, independent of religion or nationality.

Clem Murray: Philadelphia Inquirer

On Saturday, Jan. 21, roughly 50,000 people marched on Philadelphia, part of a nationwide protest against the ideals of President Trump. On Tuesday, Jan. 24, about a dozen protesters who identified themselves as “Bible believers” came to Chestnut Square to preach ideas like slut-shaming, homophobia and islamophobia.

At the Chestnut Square protest, some Drexel students became infuriated. Some cried as the protestors called them out as sinners. Some people laughed at the sheer ridiculousness of their vitriolic rhetoric. Very few people, if any, took up one of their signs to stand behind them.

As United States citizens we have the right to peaceful assembly. We can protest when we don’t agree – when we think our society or government needs to head in a different direction.

But for many students, these religious protestors and their radical, prejudiced ideas took seemed too extreme. We understand why students at Drexel, a very liberal university, wouldn’t want to hear what they have to say.

We understand why they might want to silence them.

But even if we could – which we can’t – we still absolutely should not.

When you forcefully take away someone’s voice, you give them a kind of power. To them and their followers, you make them into a martyr. Suddenly, they’re not just shouting at the air, they’re fighting what they perceive as a noble fight against unjust opposition. If you take the time to shut them down, it means that you consider them a real threat – and that gives them a legitimacy they didn’t have before.

It is completely within your rights to disagree with anyone else. But if that’s the case, don’t just tell them to stop speaking, and don’t just tell others not to listen.

Instead, use facts to forward your position. Use reasonable, logical points to forward your arguments. To paraphrase Michelle Obama, if they go low, go high – don’t fight vitriol with vitriol. And, in the likely event that you are unable to change their mind, be able to walk away knowing that you have a valid opinion that is based in facts and truth. As Donald Trump initiates a controversial presidency, and more protests loom on the horizon, keep the following maxim in mind.

Don’t silence – discredit.

WireImage: Getty Images

“After much reflection, I have decided to remain in New York to pursue other opportunities and will not be taking a position in the upcoming administration.”

That quote is from Monica Crowley’s statement to The Washington Times, which came shortly after portions of some of her major publications were accused of being extensively plagiarized. The position she turned down was the director of communications on President-elect Donald Trump’s National Security Council.

In Crowley’s best-selling book published by HarperCollins, “What the (Bleep) Just Happened,” CNN reported more than 50 instances of plagiarism. Crowley, a former Fox News contributor, also plagiarized several portions of her doctoral dissertation, according to a report by Politico.

In the current political climate — with Trump accusing nearly every journalism outlet of perpetuating “fake news” —– Crowley’s plagiarism is no trivial issue. Now, perhaps more than ever, honesty and transparency need to be our representatives’ highest priority.

As a news organization, it is easy for us to condemn plagiarism. If writers submit articles to us with words that aren’t their own, it reflects poorly on us as an organization.

But with something like a personal book — Monica Crowley’s book, for instance — perhaps the lines seem grayer. A Wikipedia page here, a New York Times paragraph there, what’s the difference? Who will notice?

It doesn’t matter.

We’re all our own individuals. We have our own voices, our own words and our own opinions. When someone takes credit for someone else’s work, they make a mockery of effort and originality.

There is no justifiable reason to plagiarize. People may aim to further themselves by cheating, but their success is unsustainable — they won’t be able to survive when there’s no one left to steal from.

No, Monica Crowley will not serve in this position, and yes, that is a good thing. It is reassuring to know that politicians in power are still held to some standard of decency, but it’s still disconcerting how close she came to a role of great influence for this country’s national security.