Newspapers / The Guilfordian (Greensboro, N.C.) / Sept. 20, 2013, edition 1 / Page 9
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■ OPINION SEPTEMBER 20, 2013 Media misconception of Millennials, revisited BY ANNA OATES fTAPf WMTfll "They're narcissistic. They're lazy. They're coddled. They're even a bit delusional." That's what Time Magazine thinks of our generation, the one that's currently fighting to make a difference in a world thaf s allowing us little chance. It's not just Time Magazine who thinks so. Many baby boomers make similar narrow minded accusations. And what is their hard-hitting evidence? The number of us attending college is dropping. The number of us wanting to work from home is increasing. We've put ourselves in the middle of social media that centers the world around ourselves. And we feel entitled to benefits. "I don't think they can say much about us because we have different forces working against us," junior Heather Nelson said. "We don't do things the same way because the world is a completely different place ... things have changed, and the way we respond to things has changed as well." Which is more than true — the world is a completely dijBFerent place. What used to insure a secure future no longer does. The entire system has been slowly crumbling the past few years, and for this reason the last generation's expectations of us don't fit. They aren't fair to begin with. A college education used to be something that quickly paid back for its own expenses. Now, it normally takes over a year for a college grad to find any sort of paying job, whether it be in their major or working for a fast-food restaurant. In fact, a third of college graduates end up moving back into their parents' homes because their education no longer assures them any type of future. And those who can get a job are normally faced with extremely low wages, making student loans and their interest rates more than just temporarily crippling. So, we're lazy because not all of us are jumping at the chance to enroll in a university? If that view isn't skewed enough, their generation is also the one making it harder for us to land jobs. For example, USA Today took a survey and foimd "more than 70 percent of older employees are dismissive of younger workers' abilities." This includes those of us who have worked our way through college and the debt it can bring. Perhaps the biggest misconception concerning our generation is that we simply want too much. We only have higher expectations for ourselves because of what our parents were able to do and what we've been told we are able to do. According to USA Today, "(Our generation) has been pampered, nurtured and programmed with a slew of activities since (we) were toddlers, meaning (we) are both high-performance and high- maintenance." It seems to me that the generation which raised us overlooks the "high- performance" part of that equation, seen in our generation's ability to use technology, work aroimd the current-day obstacles that we've grown up fighting, and the fact that we've become financially savvy in a time of economic distress. "I think that (Millenials are) very innovative, because from the very begirming, they've had the opportunity to create through opportunities and technology that the baby boomers didn't have," says Steven Moran, director of Student Leadership and Engagement. "If they're going to look at our generation, they can be concerned," Nelson said. "Not in a way that says we suck, but in a way that says, 'How can we help raise them up?"' After all, we are very different, but we're currently sharing tiie same world. Rather than blindly slamming us, maybe iPs time the baby boomers and the media start respecting both our hardships and our abilities. Let’s empower Native Americans During the Great Depression, the imemployment rate was 29.4 percent. Today, the unemployment rate for urban Native Americans is 52 percent. And this is the low end of the spectrum. According to an article by Albert Blender in "People's World," several Dakota reservations had imemployment rates well over 75 percent. The Senate acknowledges that eight of the 10 poorest counties in the country consist of over 70 percent Native Americai^. With off-the-chart unemployment rates, insufficient health accommodations and a near absence of education in their own language. Native Americans are politically and socially oppressed. Manifest Destiny seems to have never stopped. To fix this, the government must increase their political BY BRENT EISENBARTH Stapp Writir power. Native Americans need more authority in order to oust outdated land usage laws and regain control over health and education. The outdated legal framework surrounding reservations hinders growth. "Unfortunately, I think a lot of the ways tribes are operating and receiving or not receiving resources are based on outdated treaties — treaties that don't reflect contemporary situations," said James Shields, director of the Bonner Center for Community Learning. "If they don't have access to resources, then this doesn't work. 'The area I'm familiar with, the Crow reservation, is a very rich area in terms of natural resources, but until recently, the tribe as a whole wasn't able to take advantage of that. And even then, the only way they were able to receive any monetary value from it was by selling the rights as opposed to them creating their own company." Further problems face Native Americans. For example, many tribes suffer from high diabetes rates and poor general health. "(Native Americans) have a real dependence on commodity food," said Jill Eisenbarth in a phone interview. Eisenbarth worked with women, infants and children as a meal plaimer for the Cherokee and Comanche tribes. "(This dependence) made my job as a food counselor harder, because they couldn't afford vegetables and healthy food," Eisenbarth said. Furthermore, Native Americans require more opportunities toward higher education. Education opens avenues to higher- level jobs so people can buy higher-quality food. Giving Native Americans access to better education will increase employment and health awareness. Additionally, they will have more power to preserve their culture. In short, increasing political power increases self- determination, and until we increase Native Americans' political power, unfair treaties, high diabetes rates and poor health will continue to plague reservations. So here's the big question: how do we increase Native American political power? Here's the solution: reservations should be upgraded to counties. This way, tribes would be able to control their education, promote their language through signage and cultural events and provide more Native Americans with county-level jobs. Additionally, reservations would be able to apply for more federal and state grants to better their economy. It's a win-win for everyone. Shields' and Eisenbarth's only concern is that some corrupt tribal leaders may gain power, as seen in some tribes now. But they agreed it is worth a shot. This solution resembles the Nunavut policy in Canada. Established in 2002, Canada carved out a new territory where the Inuit people live. So far it has been successful in promoting colleges and bettering the quality of life of the people who live there. We can't continue to turn a blind eye to Native Americans' plight. If America really is a democracy, then she must value the voices of all her people — including the people who got here first. It's our new Manifest Destiny to fix this. ms MS Torrenting ban deserves dialogue "Important Message: Guilford College does not endorse the Peer to Peer file sharing program you are running." Peer-to-peer file sharing is more commonly *known as torrenting. Torrenting is a popular way of transferring just about anything and everything. Music, videos, games, books, blueprints, applications — you name it. A study conducted by Canadian broadband management company Sandvine found that in 2012 during the peak hours of Internet usage torrenting accounted for 10.31 percent of all U.S, Internet traffic. In 2010 that number stood at 17.3 percent. There's no denying that torrenting takes up an incredibly significant amount of Internet bandwidth. The only user that takes up such a drastic portion of the Internet's bandwidth is Netflix, which clocks in at a whopping 28.8 percent. Over the past year, Guilford's IT department has taken steps to keep Guilford's aging network infrastructure up with the college's ever- increasing data usage, from throttling ffie amount of bandwidth available for the streaming of Netflix during midterms and finals to installing a new firewall to handle more simultaneous connections. However, this year Guilford has seemingly taken a more draconian attempt to manage Internet usage on campus. While the Network Acceptable Use Policy in the student handbook has prohibited peer-to-peer downloading, it h^n't ever been outright blocked. Why has Guilford Aosen to target peer-to-peer file sharing? Is it taking up a massive amount of our broadband? Is it an attempt to foist morals upon students who wish to share cop5nighted material? Whatever the reason^ it most certainly has students furrowing their brows and shaking their heads. However the consequences of this decision are more far-reaching than simply preventing students from accessing the unfiltered and ultra- convenient world of file sharing. A fellow Guilfordian pointed out that with the new network guidelines she can no longer set up her wireless printer. A wireless printer sets up its own wireless connection which you then choose and print fix>m~yet the new guidelines don't let you set up alternate wireless connections. It seems odd to go from loosely warning students about torrenting on page 29 in the student handbook to blocking any and all use of a peer- to-peer downloading program. If it were such a strain on the network, that would imply that it was something students cared about enough to use often. Perhaps Guilford would be better off warning individual users who use inappropriate amounts of bandwidth instead of enforcing a complete ban on torrenting. Reflecting Guilford College's core Quaker values, THE TOPICS AND CONTENT OF StAFF EDITORIALS ARE CHOSEN THROUGH CONSENSUS OF ALL 16 EDITORS AND ONE FACULTY ADVISER OF The Guilfordian’s Editorial Board.
The Guilfordian (Greensboro, N.C.)
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Sept. 20, 2013, edition 1
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