controversy – Houghton STAR

To the Editors of the Star,

Last week, Hannah Smith wrote an excellent opinion about Metz, targeting students who claim that Metz is the sworn enemy of student satisfaction. And that has been the most controversial opinion in the Star this year.

For contrast, find a copy of the Star from five or ten years ago and turn to the opinions. You’ll find thought-provoking responses to issues like immigration, carbon taxes, sexual education, the March for Life, the Republican primary, and Houghton’s handling of racism. Where are those issues in the Star today?

We claim to be an institution that values hard conversations, yet we no longer represent those conversations in our student newspaper. Maybe those conversations happen privately; maybe we’re overly sensitive to others’ opinions; maybe we’re tragically apathetic. In any case, students do not engage with hard issues in a way that contributes to the common good. We cannot be the institution we claim to be when our public discourse is watered down by disengagement.

We must be brave enough to use forums like the Star to broach those issues, learn from one another, and engage with the world beyond the Houghton Bubble. Surely, students have opinions that go deeper than the menu in the dining hall. I hope they will use the Star to share those opinions and contribute to our public discourse so we can be the institution we claim to be.

Cody Johnson ’24

Cody,

Thank you for your letter. The Opinions Section of the STAR has always been a place where students can freely express their thoughts in a public setting. While we cannot explain the shift away from controversial opinions over the last decade, we want to make it clear that we have never closed the door to these types of opinions. The STAR would love to publish articles on the topics you discussed if any student wished to work with us to publish them.

Our only requirement for Opinion pieces is that they do not unjustly attack an individual person or group. For example, “Christian is a terrible human being, and everyone should hate him” would not be accepted, but “I do not agree with Christian on X because he never considered Y” would be a perfectly valid response. As long as you are considerate of the other side, we are willing to publish your piece.

So, to the Students, Staff, and Faculty of Houghton, if you are willing to express your opinion on hot-button issues facing either Houghton or the world at large, we are willing to help you do exactly that. Please feel free to send either a Letter to the Editor or an Opinion Piece to either star@houghton.edu or Victoria.Arndt25@houghton.edu.

Thank you,

The STAR Editors★

The Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics will be closing Sunday night at 20:14 Sochi local time. Though they are almost finished there was a lot of controversy surrounding the Games; including the expensive cost, the construction leading up to the Games, and the Russian laws banning “homosexual propaganda.”

With the estimated price tag of $51 billion, the Sochi Winter Olympics have been the most expensive Game of all time. The previous Winter Games, 2010 Vancouver, cost only $1.7 billion. According to USA Today, the United States’ own 2002 Games, hosted in Salt Lake City, cost less than $3 billion. Sochi even passes the previous budget record, held by China’s 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics which, according to Pravada News, cost $44 billion.

The high price tag was supposed to be a show of Russian power but also, many believe, a result of corruption. In an article by Fox News, Boris Nemstove, a Russian politician, estimates that two-thirds of the $51 billion was lost to corruption. In the same article, anti-corruption activist, Alexei Navalny, claims that over 10 of the Olympic buildings costed double what they should have. A 25-mile road and railway combination that connected the coast to the ski resort came with the price of $9.4 billion dollars according to Fox News. Costing $200 million per kilometer. Some speculate these investments will not pay off and Russia will face economic crisis in the near future.

Despite the large amounts of money being spent, delayed and poor construction also affected the Sochi Winter Olympics and lead to the world wide hashtag of “Sochi Problems.” Issues varied from dangerously unfinished hallways to urine-colored water coming out of faucets. Right before the Olympics began, it even inspired a Buzzfeed article titled “Photographic Proof That Sochi Is A Godforsaken Hellscape Right Now,” which included images of grass being painted green, pavement still being laid, and poorly-placed wires and fire hoses. Perhaps the most popular image circulation was the one of two toilets next to each other without a divider.

Besides the criticism surrounding spending and construction, Russia has also received grief for its “anti-LGBT laws.” These laws which do not criminalize being gay, do detain and fine anyone promoting “nontraditional relationships.” The New York Times reports a transgender woman and former member of the Italian parliament was arrested on Sunday for holding a sign in the Olympic Park that read “Gay is OK” in Russian.

Much of the issues come not only from the government and this law, but also vigilante groups, who lure and harass gay people with the Russian government turning a blind eye. BBC showed footage of gay men being shaved, forced to drink urine, and publicly humiliated in other ways. Videos of this humiliation were then posted online. The vigilantes claim that they are targeting pedophiles, not gay people.

Putin and other Russian politicians who support the anti-propaganda law say that it is not intended to discriminate against gay people, but aims to protect children. Supporters also say it is protecting traditional relationships and promoting Russian values, instead of western liberalism. The law was quite popular in the Duma, according to Al Jazeera, it passed with a 436-to-0 vote and passed through the Russian law system without issue.

Despite these large controversies Sochi faced, the Olympics will be closing Sunday with so far no large political hiccups have affected the Olympic events. During his speech at the Game’s opening ceremonies, International Olympic Committee President, Thomas Bach, urged countries to leave politics out of the Olympics. Rule 50 of the Olympic Charter states: “No kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas.” Athletes have honored this and the podiums have remained protest free. The focus remains on the Games.