Newspapers / University of North Carolina … / Oct. 16, 2018, edition 1 / Page 2
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THE BLUE BANNER EDITORIAL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF SARAH SHADBURNE SSHADBUR@UNCA.EDU NEWS EDITOR MAGGIE HADDOCK MHADDOCK@UNCA.EDU ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR LAURA BROWNE LBROWNE@UNCA.EDU ARTS 8 FEATURES EDITOR TAYLOR SEXTON TSEXTON@UNCA.EDU ASSISTANT A8 F EDITOR MADDY SHERER MSHERER1@UNCA.EDU SPORTS EDITOR SARAH SHADBURNE SSHADBUR@UNCA.EDU PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR EMMA JORDAN EJORDAN@UNCA.EDU COPY DESK CHIEF BRAILEY SHERIDAN BSHERIDA@UNCA.EDU MULTIMEDIA EDITOR LAWSON RUDISILL LRUDISIL@UNCA.EDU FACULTY ADVISER MICHAEL GOUGE MGOUGE@UNCA.EDU 1776 Blue Banner is UNO Asheville’s student newspaper. We publish each Tuesday except during summer ses sions, finals week and holiday breaks. Our office is in Karpen 019. The Blue Banner \s a designated fo rum for free speech and welcomes letters to the editor, considering them on the basis of interest, space and timeliness. Letters and articles should be emailed to the editor-in-chief or to the appropriate section editor. Letters should include the writer's name, year in school and major, or other relationship to UNCA. Include a phone number to aid in verification. All articles are subject to editing. CONVERSATIONS ABOUT SEXUAL ASSAULT DO NOT END WITH KAVANAUGH’S CONFIRMATION SARAH SHADBURNE Editor-in-Chief sshadbur@unca.edu Despite Christine Blasey Fords hearing before Congress, with a testimony regarding sexual misconduct allegations arguably more concise and composed than that of Supreme Court Nomi nee Brett Kavanaugh, his appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court was confirmed on Oct. 5 with a Senate vote 50-48. The nomination and vote were the most fiercely contested since Clarence Thom as’s nomination in 1991 after allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced from Anita Hill. In her opening statement for the Senate hear ing on Sept. 26, Ford noted the extreme compro mise of her safety following the allegations. Due to the overwhelming death threats she received. Ford and her family were forced to move out of their home and into several secure locations, protected by guards. Ford and her family are still unable to move back into their home after the ap pointment of Kavanaugh, as the threat of danger is still too high. To begin to explain how deep our disappoint ment at Kavanaugh’s confirmation goes, we would need all the pages of this newspaper and probably more and that would only capture a fraction of the feeling. Disappointment like this cuts right to the core, becomes disillusionment and invites us to lie down on the floor and feel hopeless. When Kavanaugh was sworn in, survivors of sexual vio lence everywhere received a devastating message that their voices and experiences don’t matter. The whole hearing process felt grim from the start. Conversations about sexual assault in this country have been completely derailed by conversations about false allegations, when the percentage of people who actually make false claims is shockingly low in contrast to the amount of people who experience sexual violence in their lifetimes. The willingness and speed with which people are ready to cast allegations aside is astonishing, equally so the people who attempt to MAGGIE HADDOCK News Editor mhaddock@unca.edu jump through every hoop they can to justify their support of abusers on local and national levels. Congratrdations, you apologists have all scored a perfect 10. If these past few weeks have been immensely tiresome for you and you’ve felt yourself reliving your past traumas, or doubting the validity of your own experiences, the editorial board at The Blue Banner hears you and we are angry too. We stand with you against those who try to discredit you because we believe you. The conversation does not stop here. This week’s issue contains several articles about sexual assault, accompanied by trigger warnings if you are not quite ready to re-engage with such mate rial. And it is okay if you need to take time to care for yourself, it does not make you weak in the face of this evil. We will never stop writing for you and we will be here when you get back. According the the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, calls to their national sexu al assault hotline increased 147 percent above normal volume during the hearing. The staff of the Me Too Movement, headed by Tarana Burke, released a statement to Ford titled “A Love Letter to Dr. Christine Blasey Ford,” which provides the option to digitally sign the public letter. Ford’s hearing did not persuade the opinions of voting Senate members, but it did solidify one thing: the support to Ford remains strong in the hands of fellow survivors of sexual violence, iden tifying and uniting them, now more than ever. To send a note of gratitude or support to Ford: Dr. Christine Blasey Ford do Palo Alto University 1791 Arastradero Rd. Palo Alto, CA 94304
University of North Carolina at Asheville Student Newspaper
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