Monthly Archives: March 2017

Love your curves? What curves?

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By ALISON GOEBEL

The very popular store, Zara, has been criticized for skinny models being the centerpiece of its new “Curves” campaign.

Zara’s message seemed harmless, urging women to “love your curves,” but the body-positive message was featured by very slender models.

There was nothing wrong with how they looked or anything against the model’s bodies, but it was the fact that the campaign was to love your curves and these women had little to none of the sort.

Zara has stores all over the world and describes itself as one of the largest international fashion companies.

It’s ironic that this story is so big because I was online shopping on Zara exactly 12 hours ago and I remember thinking that all of the models didn’t really have any curves and were extremely skinny, just a mental note to myself.

The fact that the Zara campaign was to “love your curves,” but none of the models had any was a little bothersome and, for me personally, it rubbed me the wrong way as well as millions of other people across the globe.

This article was spread over pretty much every large news organization you can think of, and it should be.

The news organizations did a very good job covering this because Zara is a huge brand and their message didn’t resonate well with a lot of people, so I believe it was crucial for them to cover a story like this.

Another reason why I think a lot of news organizations covered this story was because of body image and the new “curvy” trend.

Writing about something like this gives them attention and pulls in readers because of the delicate topic of what exactly is beautiful and should we be advertising women that are 110 pounds and an unhealthy-skinny?

This is a very big deal in not only the fashion and modeling world, but in the world as a whole.

Society really does a grand job at painting a picture of what you should look like, that being most of the time you’re not skinny enough, you don’t have a thigh gap, you can’t see your ribs, and heaven forbid you have a teeny bit of fat under your belly button.

Companies and advertisers throw in your face of what ‘beautiful’ is or what your body should look like, and guess what, we all fall for it.

We are going through a massive shift in society right now where curvy is the new beautiful and slowly getting away from the stick thin look.

Zara attempted to go with the new trend of curvy is sexy, but this new campaign did more bad than good.

Debate over court storming returns

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By JIHAD SHATARA

Court storming has been a trending topic on college campuses and in the national news media as of late.

Storming the field or court has been a long-lasting tradition after “upsetting” a high ranking team. After Miami beat Duke on Saturday, many people criticized the university saying it was too dangerous. Web sites like “State of the U” came out saying “who cares, they’re college kids.” Everyone seems to have an opinion on this matter.

In 2014, Sportscenter did a piece on how court storming in college basketball was affecting how schools bolstered security. It even showed a clip of Coach K at Duke stopping kids from running on the court after a huge win against archrival North Carolina.

Sportscenter proceeded to show more clips of court storming gone wrong. More news media outlets showed kids falling out of wheelchairs, cheerleaders getting trampled and even players were getting injured. The argument lives on and is carried by the news media simply due to the fact that it is dangerous and could result in serious injury, and the school could be liable.

The news media are hot on this debate. Many will argue let kids enjoy college. Many will argue how dangerous it is. But this is a topic I do not see losing steam any time soon.

Media compare Russia issue, Watergate

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By AMANDA PRATS

Unable to resist the allure of a catchy nickname, the writer of a CNN opinion piece wasted no time in dubbing the latest White House controversy “Russiagate.”

Much of the news media have been quick to draw comparisons between the investigation regarding the apparent communications between the Trump campaign and Russian officials and the Watergate scandal.

The opinion piece run by CNN argued that it’s time for “a Watergate-style select committee” to investigate the issue. Vox published an interview with President George W. Bush’s ethics lawyer, who told Vox that, “the facts now in this investigation are much worse than the facts in the early stages of Watergate.” The Fix, a politics blog for The Washington Post, wrote that “Nixon’s former attorney sees ‘echoes of Watergate’ in President Trump’s first month.”

In The Fix’s article, the writer shares that attorney John Dean, who sat before the Senate Watergate Committee, feels an air of familiarity between the current administration and Watergate. In the article, reporter Cleve R. Wootson Jr. writes, “Dean said in an interview aired Friday that President Trump’s first month in office — with its anti-media tirades and efforts to use intelligence agencies for political purposes — has “echoes of Watergate.”

Following the chronology of Nixon’s presidency, The Washington Post piece ended by acknowledging the concern of Trump’s presidency mirroring the ending of Nixon’s, questioning the possibility of impeachment.

The suggestion raised by the question itself could be seen as further evidence of the news media’s rocky relationship with the president; some may argue it was just evidence of wishful thinking.

Canes outfielder fights off a curveball

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By JOSH WHITE

To many Hurricanes fans, opening weekend was just a normal start to the baseball season with hopes of reaching the College World Series come June. However, for University of Miami junior outfielder Michael Burns, this year means so much more.

For Burns, playing on the fresh-cut grass and the smooth, orange clay paving the 90-foot base paths at Mark Light Field seemed improbable just one year ago.

During his sophomore season at Cisco College, a junior school in Texas, Burns developed a “bump” on his left leg. Burns didn’t think it was anything serious and kept playing, hitting .363 in 30 games. A visit from his parents would change the course of his season and life.

Miami outfielder Michael Burns.

Last March, Burns was out to dinner with his parents along with fellow Cisco transfer and best friend Jeb Bargfeldt.

Bargfeldt brought up the bump on Burns’ leg to his mom. Anita Burns’ instincts told her something was wrong and the next morning, she took her son to the hospital.

Burns underwent surgery to remove the abnormality in his leg. At first glance, doctors were unsure what it was, but ultimately, they diagnosed the bump as myxoid liposarcoma – a rare form of cancer.

Following the procedure, Burns underwent 37 radiation treatments running through July 2016 and now has a 17-inch titanium rod running down his left femur.

While the odds seemed almost insurmountable at one point, Burns overcame the disease with a hard-fought battle. He credits his friends and family for helping him through the difficult time.

“The people in my life – I try to surround myself with the best people I can,” said the Littleton, Colorado, native. “That’s why I came here. I feel like I’m surrounded by people who keep me going. The people in my life kept me going.”

Burns, who committed to UM before the procedure, feels right at home in this Hurricanes lineup.

“I’m 5-foot-9 and a buck-80,” Burns said. “I try running it out of the yard, but I don’t think a lot of them are leaving, so that’s kind of my game. That’s exciting that there are eight other guys that play the same game as me.”

Burns started in right field for Miami opening weekend and picked up his first hit as a Cane against Rutgers on Saturday night. He finished with a two-hit, three-RBI game as the Hurricanes won 8-4. The victory was nice, but to Burns, just playing baseball again was more than enough.

“It’s like a dream,” Burns said. “I’m floating on a cloud at The Light.”

Burns is also enjoying the experience of playing in Miami’s historic home turf.

“The Mark Light magic,” Burns said. “At Cisco, there weren’t a lot of people. It’s exciting to see how the fans are about this team.”

Burns and the Hurricanes will host Dartmouth this weekend as they look to extend their winning streak.

With splits, players are not scapegoats

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By LUIS GONZALEZ

Divorces are rough.

Choosing which parent’s home you want to wake up in on Christmas morning. Award ceremonies turn into awkward moments of diffusing subliminal jealousy. And there are step parents.

The same goes for sports.

When Kevin Durant left for the Golden State Warriors, for many his career became plagued with villainy. Taking the coward’s way out in pursuit of a ring by joining the team fresh off record-setting greatness.

Between the funny memes, burning jerseys and a slew of expletives come from homes across the country, it is easy to be influenced to place the blame on the individual rather than the institution.

The fans love for a player creating their fondest sports memory grows a unique relationship.

The marriage to a player’s impact and that they will retire in favorable colors.

However, the common fan’s input often permeates into the news media too often.

“Don’t give a damn what anyone says: weak move by KD. You go to GSW, the team who beat you, when you’re already on a title contender? Please!,” ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith wrote on Twitter.

It is understandable to have a personal opinion and a professional opinion, but turning to a morning of SportsCenter with Smith, the reaction even extended beyond talent.

“Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook have broken up,” Bleacher Report announced when the move became public.

Athletes work on a contract basis. As soon as the contract is up, it is either time to renegotiate or move. Nothing owed, nothing borrowed.

At any given moment, a team could end their relationship with a player faster than it takes to walk up the stage during the draft. It is a business.

The Thunder could not put the pieces around Durant to succeed at a championship level. But the blame towards the front office for not doing a well enough job in negotiations or on the transaction reports is scarcely placed.

The whole thought of leaving a legacy is a legitimate argument, it is why we love sports. Growing with a player from their rookie year, to a championship is the draw to the industry, and the quickest way to sell tickets.

But when someone wants to take a different direction at the end of the tenure, they may disagree with their decision but continue to cover fairly.

If you think sports team act beyond a business, the New York Jets just released the cornerstones of their team — Center Nick Mangold, Cornerback Darelle Revis, Wide Receiver Brandon Marshall, respectively — in less than a week.

Will ‘Get Out’ become the best?

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By ANDREA HUETE

By now, you might’ve heard of Jordan Peele’s intellectual thriller, “Get Out.” It’s been a trend on the news, social media, and even celebrities like Chance The Rapper and The Game are igniting conversation surrounding the film by giving out free tickets. I’m here to break down not only the finances, but the incredible intellect that went into creating this film. Note: spoilers ahead in chronological order of the movie.

Right now, according to Box Office Mojo, the highest grossing horror film of all time is M. Night Shyamalan’s “The Sixth Sense” at $293,506,292 in it’s “lifetime” of 18 years. You may have heard of Shyamalan earlier this year for his horror film “Split.” Opening weekend in 1999, “The Sixth Sense” made $26,681,262. “Get Out” made $33,377,060 opening weekend. Over the course of 18 years, will “Get Out” surpass “The Sixth Sense”?

The thing that is the most terrifying about “Get Out” is that it conceptualizes the actual reality of racism in America all while entertaining you for 103 minutes. If you look for the subtle foreshadowing from the beginning, you’ll see a bunch of clues leading up to the bigger story line.

In the opening credits of the movie, they show a bunch of black and white photography, representing the initial contrast between colors, drawing you to think about the lines between black and white society. They show these images as Childish Gambino’s “Redbone” plays in the background. Lyrics state:

n***** creepin’,
they gon’ find you,
gon’ catch you sleepin’,
now stay woke,
n***** creepin’,
now don’t close your eyes

The lyrics alone play into the idea of staying “woke” in a white America as a black person. The lyric of sleeping and closing your eyes connects to the movie from the very beginning. The two main characters are Chris, the black boyfriend in an inter-racial relationship with white girlfriend, Rose.

The couple goes to visit Rose’s family. On their way there, they hit a deer and the police are called. The police officer gives Chris a hard time. This represents subtly the police brutality and differences in treatment due to race.

Upon arrival to the house, we learn that Rose’s family has a black groundskeeper and a black maid. Upon Chris’s initial bonding with Rose’s father, he learns that Rose’s grandfather was a white supremacist who was beat out in the track finals to be invited to the Olympics by a black man. This is foreshadowing for what we learn down the road about Rose’s grandfather switching minds with the groundskeeper, who is shown doing sprints in the middle of the night in the back yard.

This ties into black athletes having an outstanding natural athletic ability. Which is actually blatantly said by Rose’s brother at the dinner table with Chris. This “natural” ability is still currently showing in numbers in basketball, track, tennis and American football. I feel like Peele was tying athletic ability in relation to race in with the 2016 Olympic games when Usain Bolt proved he was truly the fastest man in the world. I think this also subliminally sheds light on athletes speaking up against racial injustices such as Colin Kaepernick and the Black Lives Matter movement during the 2016 NFL season.

Other points within the conversation that Chris has with Rose’s father is that Rose’s white father would have “voted for Obama for a third term.”

If you’re a person of color, some white Americans will use Obama to discredit the reality of racism in America. I’ve heard the words “but how can racism still exist when we have a black president?” come out of the mouths of white Americans way too often.

Jordan Peele is stating very clearly, voting for Obama does not mean you care about the black struggle or that you are not racist. Actually, after Obama was elected in 2008, KKK submissions grew tremendously.

From 2014 to 2015, active hate groups had a 14 percent increase. There are 917 active hate groups in America to date, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

During the couple’s visit at Rose’s parent’s house, they announce a party that they’ll be having for her grandfather, that includes many friends of Rose’s family.

Rose proceeds to introduce Chris to all her family friends, almost all of which are white. They each had something to ask him that is stereotypical to the black community, athletics, art, and even if the sex is better.

New England Patriots tight-end, Martellus Bennett, touched on this earlier in the year with a series of tweets capitalizing on the fact that black children too often are pushed into thinking being a pro-athlete or a rapper is the only way of life.

And too often you hear the phrase “once you go black you never go back” putting potentially unattainable sex standards on black men.

Chris decides he needs a breather, and goes out into the woods to photograph. While this is happening, he and Rose have a conversation about the strange events happening at the house. While they are having this conversation, the movie switches to the father auctioning off Chris to his party goers. There is a photo of Chris and they are auctioning his body off without him knowing in complete silence.

This silence represents how quiet society and the government is in regards to the treatment of black life. That even in modern day, black people are still considered property by some and are in less control of their own life.

They are hosting a modern-day auction of Chris’s body to their guests, just as what was done in slave days, tying in black history.

Within the group of people at the party, there are two people of color. One Asian man, and one black man. The Asian man represents the blind eye that other people of color have towards the black community. The black man’s demeanor represents how it seems white people would prefer blacks to be in America to gain respect.

Once Chris flashes the camera towards the black man, character name billed as Andrew Logan King, he warns Chris about the mental manipulation that is taking place. The camera flash eventually saves Chris’s life at the end of the movie as well. The flash triggers their true self. This represents people being able to “see the light” and “be enlightened.”

Near the end of the movie you learn that Rose’s mother has hypnotized each black man and women that they have kidnapped and enslaved, and brainwashed them into believing that they are doing these actions out of their own free will. Meanwhile, their soul is in “the sunken place” longing to “get out.”

This represents the brainwashing of black America into believing that the system is truly set for everyone to succeed, and that all men are treated equal, as well as believing in “truth liberty and justice for all,” when there are so many injustices done to black America on the daily.

The reason why the family kidnaps, brainwashes, and experiments on black people is because there is an obsession in the white community with certain aspects of black culture. There is a fear of greatness in people of color and a need to continue to suppress and yet attain themselves. There is such a power within, that there are continual campaigns to diminish it.

This continues in society, and we must truly “stay woke” and fight against this oppression and division within society.

Trump notes Women’s History Month

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By COURTNEY ADELMAN

President Trump declared March to be recognized as Women’s History Month on Wednesday, following the tradition of the National Women’s March.

This is very interesting for Trump to talks about as some of the news media outlets have viewed trump as a “women hater or sexist.”

The newly claimed month roots from International Women’s Day, which is celebrated on March 8. This day has been marked by the United Nations since 1975.

According to the National Women’s History Project, the success of local projects back in the day during Women’s History Week bubbled up back to the Carter White House.

Jimmy Carter issued the very first presidential statement on Women’s History Week in 1980.

Originally this was for the Equal Rights Amendment, which was passed by Congress and became the 27th Amendment.

Throughout history women have struggled with equality and especially with things like equal pay.

Each president has done something different for National Women’s History Month.

Women have come a long way, but most recently have felt attacked by the new president.

Trumps remarks throughout his campaigning have been degrading to women and many women felt victimized by him.

Although, not all women felt that way it is very important to recognize what Trump is saying, if anything about women.

It is also important to recognize what Trump has said or is doing in the media, so that everyone knows.

So far he hasn’t done much, but this is one progressive step in equality for women.

CNN, Fox offer different views of speech

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By ERYKAH DAVENPORT

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump indicated his interest in seeking to help pass an immigration reform bill.

In CNN’s coverage, this new source referred to it as his “great immigration fake-out” in an article titled “Trump cruel bait-and-switch on immigration.” CNN also reported that another one of Trump’s interests were to propose and potentially pass a bill that could grant legal status to millions of undocumented immigrants. This would allow for those individuals to gain the opportunity to become legal citizens of the country of their desire.

CNN’s outlook on Trump’s address was seemingly more focused on the shortcomings of anything that was discussed. While emphasizing such limitations, this was said: “While Trump stopped short of endorsing a path to citizenship for the undocumented, this was nonetheless a startling break with his past hard-line stance on immigration.

A senior administration official also told journalists that Trump would be open to legalization for undocumented immigrants who have not committed serious or violent crimes.” This statement portrays the idea that Trump is only willing to consider being open to legalization if the person is accompanied by a clean slate.

Fox News’ approach on his address was more pro-Trump. Some of the political language used in the article titled “Mr. Trump’s very expensive address” delineates Trump as a more conservative president.

The article stated that “compared to his campaign filled with “Trumpisms,” this address was the more positive and optimistic, telling of his new nationalism. He added grace notes about minority groups, shied away from taunting or tormenting his rivals, and summoned his countrymen to the project of restoring, what else, American greatness.

Fox News tends to support the brighter side of things and hardly ever, if ever, mentions the downfalls associated with President Trump’s address.

Rihanna honored with Harvard award

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By SHELLIE FRAI

Grammy award-winning singer Rihanna is no longer just recognized for her influence in the music and fashion industries but also for her impactful involvement in a number of charitable causes.

On Tuesday, Rihanna accepted the Harvard Foundation’s prestigious 2017 Humanitarian of the Year Award. It is an honor that was given to gender-right activist Malala Yousafzai and workers-right activist Dolores Huerta in years past.

For most of Rihanna’s career she has worked to better the lives of children, the poverty-stricken and the sick.

When she was just 18 she founded the BELIEVE Foundation, a charity to help critically ill children.

Six years later, she founded the Clara Lionel Foundation, after her grandmother passed away from cancer, where she was able to build a state-of-the-art oncology center in her hometown of Barbados.

As a pop star and fashion icon she has used her influence to become a global advocate for access to healthcare, women empowerment and education.

She has served as an ambassador to the UNICEF Tap Project, which raises money for clean drinking water, as well as being involved in the Global Partnership for Education and Global Citizen Project, which helps children get an education in more than 60 developing countries.

When she accepted her award, Rihanna gave an inspiring speech that was followed by a standing ovation from the crowd, which included dean of Harvard College, Rakesh Khurana.

She explained how she use to watch television commercials that asked to donate 25 cents to save the life of a child that was suffering. She would wonder how many quarters could save all the kids in Africa.

“People make it seem way too hard, man. The truth is, and what that little girl watching those commercials didn’t know, is that you don’t have to be rich to be a humanitarian. You don’t have to be rich to help somebody. You don’t gotta be famous,” said Rihanna accepting her award.

While, Rihanna’s philanthropic endeavors include a global scholarship program and bringing education to developing countries, Rihanna herself has never attended college.

In her speech, she acknowledged her regret for never going to college and her wish to be able to go.

“I mean I wish I was [college educated], especially today. I might come back. So, I made it to Harvard. Never thought I’d be able to say that in my life, but it feels good.”