Throughout his candidacy, Trump and his administration have prioritized rolling back environmental protection policies or greenhouse gas regulations. Now, with the pandemic capturing almost all headlines, not to mention the attention of the nation, the Trump administration continues to quietly roll back environmental regulations that pose serious threats to the future of our climate.

In January of 2019, Trump appointed Andrew Wheeler, a former coal lobbyist, as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It comes as no surprise that under this new leadership, the EPA has actually shifted away from protecting the environment, and toward easing environmental regulations. Most recently, the EPA weakened regulations in place that limited the amount of mercury or other toxic metals that oil and coal-fired power plants could emit. This rollback is a dangerous first step towards easing any control over our nations’ air pollution.

According to the New York Times, mercury is not the only change the EPA has made during the pandemic. Lost among the COVID-19 news, the Trump administration has also lessened regulations on automobile tailpipe emissions, opted out of strengthening regulations on industrial soot emotions and turned a blind eye to companies that have admitted to killing birds “incidentally.”

While the nation battles COVID-19, it’s obvious that the Trump administration has prioritized damaging the climate. For these reasons, we must respond by prioritizing climate protections while staying home. While this may seem daunting and constricting from within the walls of your home, Maine’s own climate activists are taking charge of demonstrating just how climate activism can still thrive during this pandemic.

Maine Strikes, Maine Youth for Climate Justice, the Sunrise Movement and independent activists have planned three days of conference calls this week in celebration of Earth Day. The three conference calls will focus on topics such as local activism, divestment strategies, letter-writing campaigns and pressuring politicians to prioritize climate policies. Digital strikes and social media campaigns are one example of how climate activists can take action while adhering to self-isolation and social distancing rules of COVID-19.

In fact, the pandemic has already demonstrated how interrupting some of the “business as usual” practices of our nation and the world has helped our environment. While we have focused on flattening the curve of COVID-19, we have also taken the first steps towards flattening the curve of climate change damages, even if it was accidental.

As roughly 2 million individuals are under some form of self-isolation or quarantine, carbon emissions from closed industries, factories, commercial buildings or parked cars, trucks and other forms of transportation have reduced and the effect on our air quality has been positive. Scott Collis, an atmospheric scientist at Argonne National Laboratory said in an interview with WTTW, a Chicago news source, that atmospheric monitors and satellite imagery have shown a 50% reduction in nitrous oxide and carbon monoxide over China, and similar reductions over New York City. Other cities, such as Los Angeles, are seeing clear skies for the first time in years, and wildlife is returning to its habitats.

The pandemic has provided a unique opportunity for the climate to demonstrate its ability to heal itself when humans take preventative and proactive climate measures. If climate change is prioritized during this pandemic, and continues to be prioritized after the pandemic clears, there could be hope for a cleaner, environmentally healthy future.

For this to happen, Americans and humans everywhere need to analyze what their “business as usual” practices are due to impact the environment. Hobbies that are developed in self-isolation that involve driving less often, such as spending more time outside or walking to locations should be extended even after any stay-at-home orders are lifted.

So while the news can be overwhelming and seem entirely negative, it is important to pay attention to any environmental regulation rollbacks when you do browse through headlines. We cannot let the Trump administration continue to use the cover of the pandemic to pass harmful or end protective policies. There is momentum forming during the pandemic. When this passes, we will be faced with the choice to take advantage of the head start the positive environmental change we were provided or to return to business as usual which could pose irreversible and deadly consequences on the future of our climate.

It’s everywhere you look. It pops up when scrolling through social media. It’s there when you turn on the television. It arrives at your doorstep every morning. Some of us even receive notifications on our smartphones. Now more than ever, we are surrounded by the news. While it’s important for a democracy to have well-informed citizens, in times like these, when the news turns overwhelmingly negative, too much news can be a bad thing. 

Right now, that news is centered around the worldwide pandemic. Every morning, various news organizations release the updated number of infected in states and countries, and articles report rising death tolls. In short, the news is incredibly negative, overwhelming and stress-inducing. 

In a 2017 American Psychological Association (APA) study, more than half of Americans indicate that the news causes them stress, anxiety, fatigue or sleep loss. Yet 95% of Americans still say they follow the news regularly, and even check the news every hour or monitor their social media for news headlines. Beyond this, reports show that news headlines and clips are getting drastically more visual and shocking in order to capture the attention of audiences. Graham Davey, a professor emeritus of psychology at Sussex University, states that these “bystander-captured media” can cause symptoms of acute stress, such as sleeping problems, mood swings, aggressive behavior or even PTSD. 

Dramatic, overly negative and shocking headlines capture the attention of audiences because the human brain is programmed to detect threats, not scroll past them on social media. This makes it increasingly difficult for people to ignore negative news when we come across it. And it’s no mistake that, as our news becomes more negative, America’s stress level rises.

The APA began surveying American’s stress levels a decade ago. Since then, a study between August 2016 and January 2017 resulted in the first notable increase in stress levels, from 4.8 to 5.1 on a scale where one means little stress and 10 indicates extremely high levels of stress. The APA’s 2019 survey found relatively the same levels of stress in Americans, but Americans indicated that the main sources of their stress were politics, healthcare, sexual harassment, climate change and mass shootings — all frequent news topics. 

The same APA report found that stress caused by news affects age groups differently. 

Gen Z adults make up the largest groups of adults, at 61%, that want to stay informed but feel that following the news causes them stress; 60% of millennials, 55% of Gen Xers and 50% of Baby Boomers report the same thing. 

But there are practices you can implement to create the right balance between staying informed and managing the stress negative news may cause. With stay-at-home orders in place in Maine and social distance practices around the nation encouraging Americans to stay home, now is the perfect time to develop new daily habits that benefit your mental health, including monitoring your news consumption. 

The first step is to monitor your moods and thoughts before, during and after consuming the news. If you notice a surge of negative emotions or a more pessimistic outlook on your day, make sure to take a step back and instead focus on a mood-lifting activity. Additionally, instead of consuming news regularly throughout the entire day, try to block out one small portion of the day to catch up on all the most important headlines, like at lunch or dinner, but make sure to avoid the news before bed, as flooding your conscious with negative headlines before bed can cause sleep problems and anxiety.  

It can also help to find balance in what you consume. Attempt to actively seek out positive news by starting your day with an uplifting podcast or searching for good news in already-existing news organizations. 

If stepping back from headlines and articles still leaves you with a sense of hopelessness, look to your local community for ways you can improve the lives of those around you. Contributing positive changes to your community, family or even yourself can make negative news feel more manageable and not as extreme. In the time of this pandemic, cook dinner for your family, offer to pick up groceries for a quarantined neighbor or simply do your part by staying at home. If everyone did something small every day, the world would get better, a little at a time. 

It’s important to stay informed on news, especially in an ever-changing pandemic situation. But this does not mean you have to flood your senses with an overwhelming amount of negative information and sacrifice your well-being. Instead, focus on finding a balance of when to read the news and participating in uplifting and fun activities to save your mental health. 

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. government has developed a $2.2 trillion economic recovery package. In an effort to prevent a permanent or drastic economic fallout, the new law will provide quick cash to Americans, as well as tax breaks and loans for businesses across America. Yet, despite the initial shock of how large the stimulus package may seem, the program excludes many Americans in-need. One of the most notable of these groups are college students.

Eligible Americans will receive a one-time $1,200 check to ease financial burdens during the pandemic. The IRS describes this group as those who have a social security number, have filed taxes in 2018 or 2019, earned less than $99,000 for single filers, $136,500 for heads of households or $198,000 for married filers or are not claimed by someone else as a dependent. The latter qualifier is what prevents so many college students from receiving a check this month.

Taxpayers are allowed to claim anyone under the age of 24 as a dependent, and many parents of college students often claim their child for tax breaks and higher tax returns. However, that college student can then not claim their $1,200. Additionally, Janet Holtzblatt, a senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, states that even college students who are not claimed as dependents are not eligible for payments. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has left many Americans in troubling and difficult positions. But for college students, the little aid the U.S. government has to offer will remain out of their reach. For students who have been kicked out of their dorms, or have lost their on-campus jobs, this may be detrimental. 

Further, a study by PEW research found that the 19.3 million young working Americans, ages 16 to 24, will be disproportionately affected by COVID-19 layoffs. The current numbers estimate nearly half of this population, which comes to around 9.2 million workers, work in service-sector jobs and another fourth work in higher-risk industries.

Despite being disproportionately affected by COVID-19, college students are neglected by government aid, and there seems to be no provided reasoning by the IRS or U.S. government as to why this is. Hypothetical reasons could include that claimed dependents are not viewed by the American government as the ones responsible for paying for their livelihood, or an argument that they could simply return home. Yet, this is often not the reality. Many college students who are claimed as dependents still pay rent, accumulate student debt and are responsible for providing for themselves. Additionally, the option to return home is not plausible for college students who come from high-risk communities, face unsafe home conditions or simply can’t find a way out of their lease.

For University of Maine students, the latter reality was evident in the first few weeks after the University of Maine System announced the switch to online learning after spring break. Facebook pages dedicated to UMaine classes were flooded with posts from students looking for someone to take over their lease so that they may return home.

If these students were not able to find anyone to take over their lease, they are still responsible for monthly payments. And this is an issue that impacts more than just Maine college students. Despite the current nation-wide plea for landlords to freeze rent payments or cancel utility bills, only Lewiston and Portland have called for landlords to delay evictions, and Maine currently has no state-wide initiative for rent freezes or evictions.

Instead, Maine has partially halted eviction court proceedings through May 1, except for those that fall under “compelling reasons.” Most recently, Gov. Janet Mills denied a bill requested by a petition circling around the state for Maine to suspend all rent, mortgage and utility payments during the pandemic. Instead of ignoring citizen requests, Maine needs to follow the lead of other Northeast states such as Delaware, who have gone beyond state-wide freezes and have announced that they will begin offering cash assistance to renters affected by the pandemic.

Yet, the bottom line is that Maine college students, and college students across the country, are not eligible for the $1,200 checks other rent payers will receive, and are left to find ways to pay rent on their own.

On the positive side, students of UMaine are eligible for some school-administered aid. For example, the UMaine Black Bear Exchange offers free food and resources to students close to Orono, and the UMaine Student Crisis Fund is accepting applications for awards from those impacted by the current pandemic.

Unfortunately, these resources can only go so far. The UMaine Student Crisis Fund, while accepting applications, is only able to give out fractions of what students request, in order to support the ever increasing number of students in need during this time. If college students were eligible for the relief checks, programs such as the Student Crisis Fund may not be as overwhelmed and could offer greater financial relief to students in greater need.

As an editorial board composed of college students, the Maine Campus dedicates itself to advocating for issues that impact our community. Many of us are living or observing the hardships students across the nation are facing in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. Leaving college students out of government relief is a mistake that negatively impacts the lives of millions of young Americans. Moving forward, our government at both the state and federal level needs to do more to aid this demographic in need.

In December of 2019, presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg released a statement confirming that his campaign exploited prison workers in Oklahoma to make calls for his 2020 campaign. Bloomberg’s campaign employed ProCom through a third party vendor, and two of the company’s call centers in Oklahoma are based in out-of-state prisons. Bloomberg has since denounced any prior knowledge of this campaign practice and has ceased working with ProCom. Yet, exploiting prisoners for campaign efforts is a symbol of irony, capturing the unfair disenfranchisement of prisoners and ex-convicts in the United States. 

Disenfranchisement occurs when an individual is denied a certain right or privilege, and in this case, many prisoners across the country are denied the right to vote. The Marshall Project, a nonprofit news organization that reports on the U.S. criminal justice system, reports that in all but two states, Maine and Vermont, inmates are denied their right to vote in elections. This means that the very prisoners making campaign phone calls for Bloomberg in Oklahoma were denied their own right to vote. 

While Bloomberg and his campaign manager denied knowing of this practice, it still raises eyebrows, especially for the campaign of one of the richest men in the world. Bloomberg’s net worth is estimated at about $56 billion, and he has spent more than $450 million dollars of his own money on political ads since launching his campaign in November, according to NPR. The richest of Americans hold a heavy influence in American politics, and the ignorance of his own campaign practices perfectly represents America’s ignorance of and disconnect between their society and those behind bars. 

In 1976, 1.17 million Americans were unable to vote due to felony disenfranchisement. Today, over six million individuals are forbidden from practicing their right to vote. Over half of that number, roughly 3.1 million individuals, have already completed their prison sentences. But since they live in one of 12 states that disenfranchise individuals post-sentence, they are still unable to vote. 

While the 14th Amendment of the Constitution makes it legal for the government to restrict the right to vote due to any “participation in rebellion, or other crime,” it does not mean it is the correct practice for American society. Disenfranchisement, especially disenfranchisement for those living post-sentence, unfairly separates individuals from their own communities by iron bars far after leaving prison. 

American politics are in desperate need of hearing the perspective of former and even current inmates. The disintegrating prison conditions and violent accounts of endured abuse by prisoners deserve to be considered by American lawmakers and politicians, yet prisoners’ voices will never be heard if they are continually denied the right to vote. If prisoners were able to vote, Americans would be forced to take a closer look at our incarceration system and address the seriously faltering conditions. 

A closer look at prisoner disenfranchisement will also reveal ingrained racial discrimination. There are over four times as many disenfranchised African Americans than non-African Americans; in fact, one in 13 African Americans are unable to vote due to disenfranchisement. This equates to 7.4% of the entire African American population being unable to cast a vote. These rates increase in states where ex-convicts are still disenfranchised after serving their sentence, such as Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia, where more than one in five African Americans are denied the right to vote after completing their sentences. 

Racial motivations for disenfranchisement are made clear when looking to Maine and Vermont, the only two states that allow prisoners to vote while still serving their sentences. Prisoners in Maine and Vermont are able to cast absentee ballots in the place where they lived before incarceration in order to prevent interference in voting rates of the communities where prisons are located. And, unlike many other prisons throughout the country, Maine and Vermont prisoners are composed of mainly white prisoners, which mitigates racial motivations for enacting disenfranchisement laws. 

The disproportionate ways disenfranchisement affects African Americans undermines democracy. Not only are a large percentage of American citizens unable to have their say in their government, but the New York Times reports that the effects of disenfranchisement “ripple outward, depressing political participation among their friends, families and acquaintances.” Beyond impacting electoral power, the lack of voting participation disconnects individuals from their communities, which harms the transition between prison life and re-entering society. 

If we want a society with an effective democracy that considers the perspectives of prisoners to fix America’s broken and racist incarceration system, disenfranchisement of prisoners should be heavily discouraged, especially for those who have already paid their debt to society and are attempting to make a living for themselves in society once more. If prisoners are able to be contracted to make calls for presidential campaigns, they should be allowed to cast their votes in them too.

Climate change is impacting natural resources everywhere; Antarctica reached 65 degrees last week, this past January was the warmest January since record taking began; and the Australian bushfires burned for 210 days before being fully contained. The state of Maine is no stranger to these harmful effects, as the Gulf of Maine is labeled as the second most rapidly warming body of water on Earth. As a state that is economically, recreationally and socially dependent on natural resources, efforts must be made to protect it, starting at Maine’s own flagship university. 

The University of Maine touts itself as a green and sustainable campus. Numerous UMaine programs such as the Green Campus Initiative, UMaine Office of Sustainability, UMaine Green Team and the Black Bear Food Guild provide beneficial and important services to the UMaine community which encourage sustainable practices. However, UMaine could continue to do more to increase the accessibility of green living for students, faculty and staff.

In 2018, UMaine was listed as 49th in Princeton Review’s annual list of Top Green Schools in the country. While this is a wonderful accomplishment, other Maine schools such as Colby, Bowdoin and Bates all made the 2019 list under the top 15 of 50 colleges. The College of the Atlantic, located in Bar Harbor, was ranked as the number one green college in America.

In 2007, the College of the Atlantic made history by becoming the first college to go carbon-neutral. Their website dictates clear sustainable policies for plastic usage, discarded resources and materials management, sustainable buildings, meat purchasing, energy frameworks, water and more.

One particular area of focus for the College of the Atlantic is its sustainable buildings. All campus buildings are equipped with wood pellet boilers, solar panels and composting efforts such as composting toilets and bins available for student and staff use. UMaine has composting efforts available, but only in dining halls, where staff compost food discarded by students. If UMaine was to implement composting services to residence halls and other campus facilities such as the Memorial Union or hallways between classrooms, it would increase accessibility to greener practices for all UMaine community members.

Green and sustainable practices work most effectively when they are accessible. For UMaine students, recycling is available in all facilities, but current pre and post-consumption food waste composting efforts require a strong personal initiative from students to collect their waste and deliver it to local facilities such as the UMaine Cooperative Extension or Orono Community Garden themselves. According to the Office of Sustainability, UMaine currently diverts over 400,000 tons of food waste to their compost systems. This is an amazing effort that contributes to helping our planet, but the waste rates could decrease exponentially with an increase in accessible sustainability practices.

UMaine could also make efforts to limit the amount of waste produced before student and staff consumption. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports that America creates 33 million tons of food waste each year, and contributes 3.6 million of those tons to American universities and colleges. This is because college and university all-you-can-eat dining policies often involve dining halls to prepare more food than what will be consumed and encourage students to take more food than they will actually eat. It’s no wonder that the EPA reports that almost 40% of America’s food waste consists of food that never made it to anyone’s plate.

Currently, UMaine offers three on-campus all-you-can-eat dining facilities, one restaurant, and one pay per item cafeteria. At UMaine’s all-you-can-eat facilities, including York, Wells and Hilltop, some sections are managed by dining hall staff who serve out measured portions of food. This practice helps to mitigate food waste, but many other food sections, such as the salad bar, “From the Grill,” cereal and sweets, sandwich bars and more are open for students to place as much as they desire on their plates. An increase in portion control monitoring or even a possible switch to pay per item cafeterias could help decrease UMaine’s food waste.

A shift to accessible composting services and effective pre-consumption monitoring efforts would allow UMaine to encourage an individualized sustainability approach for each and every student, while also strengthening their institutionalized green efforts.

In order for climate change and waste reduction efforts to be effective, they need to be sustainable. Sustainable practices are learned through institutionalized efforts and individual practices that combine forces to create the greenest outcomes possible. UMaine works hard to exist as a green campus, but more could be done to decrease the footprint we leave behind and encourage students to participate in the process.

In the world of allyship for marginalized groups and marketing for companies in America’s cut-throat capitalist economy, where does allyship end and unproductive marketing begin? We are all familiar with the yearly advertising clock: a dedication to new resolutions through the first part of the year that transforms to a focus on plastering American flags all over products for the Fourth of July and finally ending on Christmas decorations and commercials that emerge before Halloween even passes. But movements such as Black History Month and Pride Month have been added to the calendar in the past few decades, opening the door for many companies to exploit people of color and LBGTQ peoples for monetary gain.

In February of 1969, a group known as Black United Students at Kent State University was the first to propose Black History Month as an opportunity to celebrate Black culture and the influence of the black and brown community on American history. Since 1976, each U.S. president has officially designated February as Black History Month, shaping it into a well-known and culturally critical month.

With this awareness comes companies and organizations who organize campaigns centered around Black History Month. In some cases, efforts are made to support black and brown children in school, provide funding to programs and organizations such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People or positively raise awareness of influential black and brown individuals throughout history. However, capitalistic tendencies of many organizations often result in exploitation of the month’s true purposes in an attempt to gain profit.

One recent example involves Barnes and Noble’s “Diverse Editions” Black History Month campaign. Barnes and Noble announced at the start of February that they would be releasing limited-edition copies of classic novels with reimagined covers featuring protagonists of color. This campaign immediately faced backlash, as many pointed out that the classic novels were primarily written by white authors about presumably white experiences. In fact, out of the 12 novels chosen to be featured, only one text, the Count of Monte Cristo, was written by a black author, Alexandre Dumas.

Black authors expressing their disdain for the campaign took to Twitter and described Barnes and Noble’s efforts as “literary blackface” and an attempt to profit off of Black History Month. Since the outrage, Barnes and Noble have pulled the campaign and apologized. 

But the bookstore is not the only company that has faced backlash for campaigns that attempt to position themselves as allies for marginalized groups. In recent years, Disney has released multiple films that caused viewers to accuse Disney of “queerbaiting.” Most recently is the latest Star War installment “The Rise of Skywalker,” of which director J.J. Abrams advertised as having LGBTQ representation during the press tour before the release. Yet many fans were disappointed when the representation Abrams promised was limited to only one scene that captured two female Resistance fighters briefly sharing a kiss amongst a crowd. The representation promised was so short that it was even easily removed by Disney for the version of the film they released in Singapore.

Before “The Rise of Skywalker,” other Disney films such as the live-action “Beauty and the Beast,” and “Avengers: Endgame” were also promised to have LGBTQ representation. And they do, as long as representation includes singular scenes where characters are either briefly dancing or referencing a date with an individual of the same sex. Yet before each of these films, Disney employees and directors all made a point to promise representation to the LGBTQ community, only to provide snapshots.

But many companies who don’t produce movies or other forms of entertainment still find ways to profit off of the LGBTQ community. June was first officially designated as Pride Month by a U.S. president in 1999, but was celebrated many years prior with pride parades and events. Today, June marks the time that companies and organizations throw themselves into rainbow capitalism, also known as slapping a rainbow on a product to sell under the veil of inclusivity and allyship.

The foundational idea behind Pride Month includes a rebellious acceptance of identity paired with honoring those who lost their lives for being who they are. On June 28 of 1969, a group of plainclothes police officers raided Stonewall Inn of New York City, a well-known hub for the LGBTQ community, and arrested countless individuals. This event set off six days of “unrest, protest, and righteous rage,” according to Da’Shaun Harrison in his op-ed submission to Black Entertainment Televisions website.

In the 50s and 60s, members of the LGBTQ community faced an extremely anti-gay legal system and cultures that threatened their lives and ability to exist in society. It was normal for police to raid gay bars, but Stonewall escalated tensions Key individuals from that night include Stormé Delarverie, Marsha P. Johnson, Slyvia Rivera, and Martin Boyce who are credited with standing up against the police officers and are remembered as symbols marking the start of the U.S.’s path to LGBTQ rights. 

But while companies such as Nike, Walmart and Jack Daniels may condone gay marriage, they still invest in private prisons, enforce slave labor and ignore the higher rate at which LGBTQ individuals suffer from substance abuse. The rainbows they paint themselves and their products with are only campaign strategies to incentivize profits while inaccurately advertising to the LGBTQ community that they are allies.

However, there is merit in even the most surface level of symbolic gestures that should be noted. An individual walking down the street, flipping through television channels or engaging in other products who sees themselves as validated through rainbow colors and “love is love” campaigns is a positive step for our country. Only two decades ago, companies were pulling their ads from the “Ellen” episode where she came out as gay. Today, clothing lines such as American Eagle, Calvin Klein, Under Armour, Gap, J. Crew, Reebok, Dr. Martens and more all have pride collections. Tech companies such as Amazon, Google and Apple have pride-centered products and commercials. These contributions to society and the representation they provide are important. But it must also be noted where the profits from these campaigns go. 

The LGBTQ community did not riot on the streets for companies to sell “love is love” t-shirts or rainbow colored Apple Watch bands. They rioted for their right to exist equally as who they are. A company may hang up a rainbow flag in hopes that the queer community will spend their money there, but companies need to do more to be considered actual allies.

For marginalized groups, Black History Month and Pride Month serve as more than just a time to be proud of who they are or to remember important individuals through history. It is still a time of protest and to demand equality in society.

Companies need to be held to a higher standard of allyship. Profits from pride-focused campaigns should be donated to LGBTQ organizations like the Trevor Project or ensure efforts in hiring and supporting LGBTQ employees instead of only hanging up a rainbow flag. Campaigns like Barnes and Noble’s should encourage and highlight black and brown individuals telling their stories through their perspectives, and not just place black and brown protagonists on a few book covers.

In the meantime, if a child or individual sees themselves and their identity represented in a commercial or product and decides it is worth it to live another day as who they are, these advertisements can still serve as a source of good. But they could do so much more.

“Once you overcome the 1-inch-tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films,” Bong Joon-Ho said, calling out the cultural shortsightedness that plagues Hollywood, in his 2020 Golden Globe acceptance speech for his film “Parasite.” His words rang true for minorities everywhere, who sat through yet another award show celebrating predominantly white men.

“Parasite” won in the category Best Foreign-Language Film, after collecting more than $23 million in the U.S. box office. Despite its success, much of America’s film and television consumers still hold a distaste for subtitles, and, by proxy, films led, written or directed by minorities. And even though “Parasite” won a Golden Globe, categories such as “Best Foreign-Language Film” often serve as consolation prizes to keep certain types of films in the margins and outskirts of Hollywood success. 

This is evident in how in the 91-year-long history of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, only 11 non-English speaking films have been nominated for Best Picture, and none have ever won. 

The UCLA College Division of Social Science releases an annual Hollywood Diversity Report, which examines race, gender, sexuality and ethnic-minority-representation in film and television media. In 2019, the Hollywood Diversity Report found that both people of color and women remain underrepresented in every category of industry employment, including film leads, film directors, broadcast, scripted and reality show leads as well as cable and digital scripted and reality show creators. Each category remains dominated by white men, who represent some of the entrenched cultural stereotypes Hollywood needs to shake. 

The internet was host to an uproar after the announcements of the 2020 Golden Globe award candidates revealed yet another all-male line up for consideration of Best Director, seemingly snubbing Greta Gerwig, who many expected to see on the list for her work directing “Little Women.” The categories of Best Screenplay and Best Motion Pictures also did not hold a spot for any films directed by women. 

This announcement seemed to coincide perfectly with the historical evidence that women-directed films are often overlooked by Hollywood. Female representation has increased on the screen, but top-grossing films are still seeing a lack of female directors. Only 4% of the top 1,100 studio films of the past decade were directed by women. Only a total of three films were directed by women of color. 

When women aren’t allowed access to the platform that allows them to tell their stories, films portray less genuine and candid representations of what womanhood really is. Yet Hollywood is not the only institution to blame. Society as a whole also needs to be held accountable for its tendency to favor what it has known for so long now — films led, written and directed by white men. 

The Hollywood Diversity Report also found that in 2016-17, films with minority leads decreased in representation at the Oscars compared to other years, and films with the most racially and ethnically homogenous casts were the poorest performers in terms of 2016-17 box office revenue. This is no coincidence. Many award programs often defend their nomination choices by stating they choose films based on their success. If Americans are not watching diverse films or streaming diverse shows, the possibility for success falls away for media that bring race, gender, sexuality and ethnic diversity to the screen. 

But the progress that has been made deserves to be recognized. At the 2020 Golden Globes, Asian American actress Awkwafina made history with her win for best actress in a musical or comedy. The actress won for her role in “The Farewell,” where she plays the role of a young woman of a Chinese family that is attempting to hide the fact that she has cancer from her grandmother. 

Television also made history with the recent addition of Bowen Yang to the cast of Saturday Night Live. Yang is the first Chinese-American cast member, and one of the first openly gay cast members, along with Kate McKinnon. 

These new levels of representation are so important, as consumers of media often take valuable lessons and shape their versions of reality off of what they see presented to them on the screen. If diverse Americans do not see themselves represented in television or film, it limits the roles and stories they see themselves possibly pursuing in their real lives. 

To break this cycle of underrepresented or awarded films and shows, both Hollywood and society need to start actively seeking out new content creators, artists, producers, directors, actors and actresses who bring diverse stories to the screen. As America diversifies, there is no shortage of talented women, people of color, and LBGTQ performers, directors, writers and producers that can bring to life the stories of all Americans. 

As Joon-Ho stated, the separation between so many Americans and an entirely new world of important media is a 1-inch-thick barrier of subtitles. Break down that barrier by seeking out diverse films and shows, supporting diverse artists and remembering that white, English-speaking humans are not the only ones with relatable and resounding stories to tell. 

The Gun Violence Archive has logged 385 mass shootings across the U.S. as of Dec. 1, 2019. Just five days later, on the morning of Dec. 6, another shooting was added to that list, when three were fatally shot and eight injured in the shooting at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida.

The shooter was identified as a 21-year-old Muslim man and member of the Royal Saudi Air Force located at the Pensacola Naval Air Station. When the religious and ethnic identity of the shooter was revealed, the conversation around the shooting immediately shifted.

As mass shootings become all too common in our country, the process the mainstream media takes in reporting on, and the way society talks about, the incidents have developed a clear pattern. If the shooter is white, then the narrative shifts to how “uncharacteristic” or “unsuspected” the incident was, and the shooter is dubbed a “lone wolf.” If the shooter is a person of color, they are added to the mass known as being an “other” or a “foreigner.” 

Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida put this racialized linguistic practice into play when he stated that the government of Saudia Arabia is “going to owe a debt,” to the U.S., “given that this was one of their individuals.”

There is no denying that the shooting at Pensacola was a tragedy. The shooter took the lives of three innocent individuals who were attempting to protect others around them. At the most basic level, no matter the age, gender, race or ethnicity of the shooter, the act of taking someone else’s life in no way deserves to be defended.

Yet research conducted by Emily Wheeler of San Jose State University has shown that while actions of white shooters “are not excused by the media, they are often rationalized as being a result of the shooters’ mental illness and are described as uncharacteristic or unexpected events.” In juxtaposition, non-white shooters and their motivations are “overshadowed by their more obvious physical differences.”

Professors at the University of Washington and Carnegie Mellon University found in their study “What Counts as Terrorism? Racial heuristics and media portrayals of mass shooters,” that in a comparison of two shootings, one with a white perpetrator and one with a Muslim perpetrator, “media coverage disproportionately emphasized several racialized aspects” of the Muslim man’s identity, including his Middle-Eastern heritage, references to his family members as “foreign-born immigrants,” and his “religious expressions in racially divergent ways.”

When the media takes part in racialized coverage, they influence the conversations around the events. By characterizing shooters on their race, they deepen the already existing racial divides within our country and proliferate an unjust “us versus them” mentality, where white shooters are seen as abnormalities and shooters who are people of color are immediately suspect of terrorism.

The same research from professors at the University of Washington and Carnegie Mellon University enforces this point by emphasizing how the Muslim community was expected to respond and condemn the shooter’s actions before his religious affiliation was even known and made public. The shooter’s skin color immediately tied him to an entire religion which then felt it necessary to defend themselves and prove that the man was not a representation of Muslim culture as a whole.

The Pensacola shooter has been characterized as an “other” in this sense. Coverage of the shooting from the New York Times recounts statements from the shooter’s colleagues and friends on how he had become “more religious” after returning from Saudia Arabia and seemed to suggest this as a rationalization for why the shooter is now under investigation for terrorist motives, despite having no apparent affiliation with international terrorist groups.

In short, white individuals have committed more mass shootings than any other racial or ethnic group. Yet the language that has evolved around shootings perpetrated by white shooters compared to the language around non-white shooters reveals how race is sensationalized in these incidents.

Mass shootings never get easier to talk about, and after each incident, there are vital conversations happening about gun control, gun safety, mental health and how to respond to tragedy. But as we move forward, we need to ensure awareness of the language that is used and surrounds the race of the perpetrators, in order to avoid wrongfully villainizing minorities.

As the most stressful time of the semester approaches, many wait anxiously for the much needed time off from school that comes with Thanksgiving break. Yet for many others, Thanksgiving break also serves as a time of a whole new source of stress; food, family gatherings and home lives are not always happy and welcoming. This year, try to approach this five-day break with a positive mindset. 

Holidays are usually dubbed the happiest time of the year, even though many people actually spend their time wondering how they are going to survive the holiday season instead of enjoying it. To keep your mood positive, take time to be grateful, remember to go easy on yourself, and attempt to maintain a positive attitude. 

In a body-conscious world, it can be easy to be consumed by the idea of counting calories and watching what you eat. While it is always important to be aware of your health and take care of yourself, make sure you allow yourself to indulge in an extra slice of pie or another serving of those hearty mashed potatoes if you so desire. If you enter a food-heavy family gathering with an overly critical mindset, you may find yourself falling into an increasingly stressed headspace as the plates of food are passed continuously in front of you. Remember that a day of indulgence can also be a positive one.

The whole foundation of the November holiday is the practice of giving thanks. While at a superficial level this statement may seem cheesy, gratitude has been scientifically proven to increase levels of happiness and lower rates of depression. It is too easy in life to focus on the negative side of things, like rude family members, ostracising and dividing political discussions and extra homework assignments for classes. Practicing gratitude is a way to fight the “negative triad” outlook, a symptom of depression that creates negatives views about the self, the world, and the future. To combat this, practice writing in a journal every morning or evening and list a few things you are grateful for. 

Going home for the holidays with a few days off from school is also the perfect opportunity to slow down and take care of yourself. Every day, take the time to think of one small action you can do to help yourself relax and regain a positive mindset. This can be as simple as meeting up with an old friend, making yourself a cup of hot chocolate or indulging in a few episodes of your favorite television show. It can be easy to neglect self-care when your school, work, and social life grow more demanding. Small acts of kindness to yourself will actually help you foster the mindset needed to meet all of life’s demands. 

This tip also applies to Thanksgiving day itself. Every individual has a unique family composed of different sizes, generations and ideologies, which can be overwhelming. Answering the same questions over and over about your studies, your friends and your future can cause anxiety and an overall negative mood. Remember that it is fully acceptable and even encouraged to take a few minutes when you need it to yourself.  When you start to feel overwhelmed, give yourself a physical restart by removing yourself and recentering in the quiet of your own company.

For many people, Thanksgiving means required time with family members related by blood. While it is important to spend time and be grateful for the family you do have, surrounding yourself with your found family, comprised of caring friends, co-workers or teammates, is just as essential. Found families are important for college-aged students as they provide a safe space for new ideas, identities and support. If you haven’t already, consider organizing a “Friendsgiving,” where you can gather to celebrate and be thankful for your found family just as much as your blood family. 

At this time of year, it can be easy to let yourself become overwhelmed with deadlines and responsibilities. This Thanksgiving break can serve as a much needed mental, physical and emotional break, as long as you remember to take care of yourself, maintain a positive attitude and truly take the time to rest in order to come back to school refreshed and ready to finish the semester strong.

As prices continue to rise in traditional clothing stores, more and more people have redirected their attention, as well as their monetary support, to thrift stores. Eclectically arranged and each possessing an endearing charm, thrift stores offer customers an ever-changing and usually quite unpredictable set of goods at undeniably affordable prices. 

Thrift stores have been around since the turn of the 20th century but were not an established industry until the 1940s when the London-based Red Cross and Oxfam laid the foundation on which the industry would develop. From that point on, the practice only grew, becoming staple locations for those looking for both secondhand goods and low prices. This remained the status quo for thrift stores throughout the 20th century as their popularity ebbed and flowed with the fluctuation of the economy.  

More recently, the public opinion of buying secondhand has begun to change in accordance with society. The negative connotation related to buying secondhand has significantly dissipated in response to the increasing presence of humanitarian and environmental movements. These movements sparked a gradual shift in consumer support for“fast fashion” to more sustainable options. Unfortunately, some of these “more sustainable options” come with a steeper price tag, leading cause-conscious consumers to the doors of thrift stores. 

In part, the rise of “thrifting” in recent years can also be attributed to social media influencers frequenting the locations. Videos of these influencers scouring their local secondhand shops on camera and showcasing their notable finds have achieved notable popularity; the internet trend has aided in thrifting’s rise, spreading the news of the boutiques’ unique charm and value to their fan bases.

Some approach the rise of thrifting and the demand for unique secondhand goods with an entrepreneurial spirit. Using only a phone, some savvy individuals have started up their own businesses by selling goods they find at their local thrift stores on social media, and make quite a profit doing so. This take on thrifting opens up a dramatically larger market for those looking for secondhand goods, increasing the reach of the industry from just within a community to a more global platform allowing people from all over the world to select goods from all over the world. There is a broad spectrum of reasons behind the growing popularity of thrifting but at least a portion of the appeal lies in its uncertain nature. It is impossible to tell before you open a thrift shop’s door what exactly you’ll find; sometimes it will be dozens of unappealing t-shirts and other times there will be unique pieces with unbeatable prices that you wouldn’t be able to find anywhere else. It is also important to mention the positive societal impact of thrifting: apart from the environmental benefits, these establishments often raise funds for various causes. Customers are also often able to donate goods to locations which serve as a more sustainable, and sometimes even more profitable, option to simply throwing unwanted clothes away.

In the area around the University of Maine there are several options for someone looking to pick up thrifting as a hobby. Located directly in Orono are Orono Thrift Shop and Tokos Boutique, while GoodWill and Salvation Army are located in Bangor. Some reliable online locations for thrifted goods include doubledoublevintage.com and gullygarms.com.