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The views expressed in this article are the views of the author.

On Nov. 5, Jeff Sessions visited Northwestern University. Northwestern’s student newspaper, The Daily, covered his speech and the two student protests organized outside. One protest became disruptive, and a newspaper photographer snapped photos of the students’ clash with police. The Daily used the student directory to find the contact information of those who attended the protest and asked for interviews. The next day, The Daily published the article. 

And then the controversy started. 

Northwestern students protested The Daily’s coverage of the protests and criticized the use of the student directory to contact attendees, specifically the newspaper’s use of photos without concern for students’ privacy — calling it “trauma porn”— and the “invasive” coverage of the event itself. On Nov. 10, The Daily published an editorial apologizing for the coverage of the protests, emphasizing the importance of the trust and safety of the student body. 

Backlash for the correction was also swift. 

Professional journalists voiced their outrage at the request of the student protesters and the concessions made by The Daily. Many outlets criticized the student protesters’ claims that The Daily should prioritize student privacy and mental health. The Chicago Sun Times asked, “Isn’t that what Counseling and Psychological Services is for?” and the Chicago Tribune went a little further in stating, “To be frank, that’s not journalism. That’s the language of campus coddling.”

Many others weighed in to criticize how quickly The Daily editorial staff rescinded their professional coverage of the event and straightforward journalistic practices in the face of an offended barrage from “cancel culture.”

I very much believe in safe spaces on universities and the use of content warnings in class discussions. I believe that students have a right to not be forced into traumatic or triggering situations, especially if such forcing can be prevented. I also believe that individuals have a right to privacy that should be respected by the government and independent businesses alike. However, these protections and allowances are left behind once an individual enters the world of political protests. 

The expectation of privacy is one we all hold dear. However, as technology advances to become more and more invasive and ubiquitous, the distinctions between private and public life become blurred. In the legal sphere, a “reasonable expectation of privacy” describes the publicly held belief that a given area, action, or method of communication is not accessible to the public (or investigators without a warrant). Two things must be satisfied for an individual to have this reasonable expectation: that an individual has demonstrated a desire for their privacy (for example, closing their curtains or covering their face) and that society at large has reason to expect that personal privacy in this circumstance be respected (for example, someone’s location information or actions within a home).

In this case, there were clearly neither. Protesters attending the event, in a public space, made no indication that they expected their identities to be concealed. Additionally, most people would agree that people are open to being photographed at a public event, especially one as newsworthy and controversial as a political protest on a college campus. 

In addition, the newspaper was well within their rights to access students’ contact information through the student directory, a public record made available to all individuals in connection with the university. The idea that the student reporters at The Daily somehow violated the students’ privacy by using this directory to ask for comments about the event is ridiculous. As far as we are aware, there was no [compelling or threatening] involved, not even an attempt at a formal interview. Student reporters simply reached out and asked if student attendees had any thoughts to share about the event. The Daily operated well within their rights as a student newspaper, and there was no reason to issue a retraction and an apology. 

The views expressed in this article are the views of the author.

On Thanksgiving Eve, former Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley (D) bumped into the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Ken Cuccinelli at a pub in DC. There, according to witnesses, the former Governor berated Cuccinelli for enacting policies to target and subjugate immigrant families and children. O’Malley shamed Cuccinelli for following the racist and xenophobic themes exuded by the Trump administration. The altercation nearly escalated to a face-to-face screaming match, with both men threatening a fight. 

O’Malley is not the first to publicly confront Trump administration officials about their policies. In fact, the former Maryland governor is joining the trend of publicly shaming officials for pushing racist rhetoric and abusing immigrant children and families. This year alone, we’ve seen officials like former Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders getting kicked out of a restaurant in Virginia and former Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen chased out of a Mexican restaurant by protestors. Even on this very campus, protestors booed First Lady Melania Trump during a youth summit on opioid awareness.

Naturally, the response is a conservative cry for civility. The right cries for civility at every inkling of civil unrest. Gone are the days of stripping human rights by day, then carousing in public at night, unscathed by a guilty conscience or any public correction.

The right remains averse to any form of guilt. Within the last four years, the sitting President has tried to strip healthcare from millions of Americans, enacted inhumane conditions and containment policies on the border, sought help from a foreign power to meddle in a US election twice (Russia in 2016 and Ukraine in 2019), abandoned our foreign allies and outwardly bashed members of the media.

And yet, in the midst of the most scandalous and chaotic White House in modern American history, the biggest form of protest from members of the Republican party came from one lowly House representative, Justin Amash in July. That’s about it. On occasion, a representative would be ‘disappointed’ in one of Trump’s tweets or a senator would ‘disagree’ with Trump’s wording, but no real backlash.

O’Malley overreacted when he confronted deputy secretary Cuccinelli. I am not advocating for violence in any manner. However, the underlying intention is still right. This isn’t an issue of civility. This isn’t about cordially disagreeing. The current administration has dissolved all the formal ties of the political discourse. After every Trump transgression, the public lies in wait for someone from the Republican party to speak out against the administration. But no one speaks out. The administration is steamrolling the nation’s checks and balances, and no Republican even budges. Every Republican knows that the White House has gone too far. They know that Trump is in the wrong. Still, they mark their names on the wrong side of history. 

If this were an issue of political civility, conservatives have broken the bonds of bipartisanship long before Trump took office. The civil ties have been broken. Public shaming seems to be the only effective method of invoking a sense of guilt into complicit actors of Trump’s terroristic reign. If it takes interrupting some Senator’s supper to get some action, I am all for it. Verbal condemnation may be the only method left to properly chastise the conservative movement.

When our elected officials are complicit in actions we disapprove of, it is our duty to make our grievances known. Conservatives may abhor any real criticism, but it is our duty as citizens to keep our politicians in check, whether by election or by interruption. No, you shouldn’t be able to publicly eat in peace after destroying the foundation of our democracy. Get over it or get it together.

When Rahne Jones transferred to the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in 2006, she never could have predicted the trajectory that her career would take over the course of the next 10 years.

Namely, that she would eventually star in a Netflix TV series alongside stars like Gwyneth Paltrow, Jessica Lange and Broadway’s Ben Platt. 

During her time at UMBC, Jones didn’t study acting or theatre; instead, she majored in English on the communication and technology track, and was unsure what she wanted to do with her degree. She considered a career in journalism and even spent some time working at The Retriever (then The Retriever Weekly) as an Arts and Entertainment writer; during her tenure she wrote about Baltimore’s Great Blacks in Wax Museum, a T-Pain Quadmania concert and the audition process for “America’s Next Top Model.”

Ultimately, though, she ended up working in the government when she graduated, a job she found through one of her former basketball coaches. Though she worked for the Department of Homeland Security for four and a half years, she didn’t enjoy the work; “I’m a creative person,” Jones explained, and the job wasn’t cultivating that. “At that point, I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but I knew it wasn’t that.” 

Though she knew she would miss the benefits and security of her job in Homeland Security, she took a major leap and decided to move to New York City. At that time, she had never acted before. She says that she “was always a lover of watching other people perform” and that she admired how vulnerable a person had to be to put their art on display for the public. Still, stage fright prevented her from trying it for herself.

In New York, however, Jones finally got involved with a local community theatre, AfterWork Theatre, which she described as an “open community of friendship and expression” where there was “no real pressure, just people trying to have fun with it.” There, she was cast in her first ever production, Stephen Schwartz’s “Godspell,” in which she played a gender-bent version of Judas.

The experience was revelatory for Jones. After “Godspell” closed, Jones realized, “I’d love to do this professionally. I’m thinking, ‘I’ll do commercials, I’ll do whatever, I just want to be a working actor.’”

But, from there, things moved much faster than Jones anticipated. Soon after, she got a manager despite her sparse resume, and her manager subsequently got her the audition for “The Politician.” After callbacks (“O Magazine” reports that Jones was the only person called back for her character, Skye), Jones got the part, and within a week, she was flying to Los Angeles to begin working on the show.

Few, if any, other actors have the opportunity to spend their first professional gig being directed by someone with the star power of Ryan Murphy and acting alongside Broadway and film veterans. It’s no wonder, then, that once the excitement of getting cast wore off, she grew nervous. “You’re riding on cloud nine when you first get the notification that you’re in the show. You’re like ‘yay!’” Jones says. “And then you have a period of ‘oh no!’” She had to learn the ins and outs of TV production on the job, but says that it helped that she wasn’t afraid to ask questions when she needed to.

Of course, becoming a celebrity overnight certainly has its perks. Before the show even hit the small screen, Ben Platt took her backstage after a Barbara Streisand concert at Madison Square Garden. “We ended up going into a room that was probably the most famous room I’ve ever been in,” Jones says, explaining that the Clintons, Whoopi Goldburg, Billy Crystal and Mariah Carey were just a handful of the famous faces present. “That was a moment where I was like, ‘Okay this world is different.’”

So, what’s next for this UMBC alum? Currently, the cast of “The Politician” is focused on filming season two, but Jones says she’d love to get the opportunity to do a feature film as her next project. Of the sorts of parts she’d like to get cast as in the future, she says, “I would love to be a superhero. I would love to be a romantic love interest in a film. I want to be what everybody else gets to be without being the token black person or the token gay person.”

Indie rock and pop band from Chicago, Illinois, Beach Bunny visited D.C.’s Songbyrd Record Cafe and Music House with its electric beats and poetically inclined lyrics. Lili Trifilio steps forward and leads the band with her spunky vocals and guitar skills to match. Accompanying her melodies are Jon Alvarado on drums, Matt Henkels on guitar and Anthony Vaccaro on bass. Together, they create an impossibly fun and energetic environment. 

Beach Bunny’s music sustains a peculiarly saddening vibrancy. Past EPs “Pool Party,” “Animalism,” “Crybaby” and “Prom Queen” all share this foundational theme. The band’s music speaks forth the quieted thoughts that many share in adolescence. Its music gives attention to commonly neglected emotions such as those suppressed by toxic beauty standards and ill-mannered relationships. Beach Bunny talks for those who are too afraid, for those who are hurt and those who just “wanna be okay.”

The choice to pursue pop-esque music beautifully contrasts with the band’s often heartbreaking lyrics. The irony is also present in the connection between the band and the listeners; by being able to relate to Beach Bunny’s portrayal of haunting devastation and looming anxiety, listeners are enlightened with a sense of encouragement and warm welcoming. Beach Bunny reminds listeners that they are not alone, that sadness is not rare, but it is, nonetheless, defeatable.  

In this way, there is a sense of both intrapersonal and interpersonal understanding woven into Beach Bunny’s music, creating an environment enriched with individual experiences and shared feelings. Beachy Bunny’s audience is home to hard rockers as well as bubbly romantics. The band brings together a variety of people and appeals to them all with ease.

Live, Beach Bunny is outstanding. The band sounds exactly the same as on their recordings, proving its mesmerizing musical talent and overall authenticity. The ability to translate high production quality onto the stage is exceptionally admirable and laudable. Trifilio’s solemn voice and heart-rendering harmonies push the voice of defeat and helplessness that may come when facing heartache and harmfully unrealistic beauty standards in songs such as “Boys” and “Prom Queen” while the rest of the band enlivens the crowd with its fast-paced beats and catchy rhythms. 

The band handpicked songs to share from its upcoming debut album, “Honeymoon,” including its latest release, “Dreamboy.” “Dreamboy” influences listeners to expect something different from Beach Bunny’s usual painful interpretation of love in its new album, taking a different route. With lyrics like “If you’re gonna love me, make sure that you do it right,” the song suggests confidence and the idea of accepting love while knowing one’s worth, of being happy with oneself while giving the opportunity for love to enhance one’s life, not fulfill it. “Dreamboy” shows optimism for “Honeymoon” and hints at the more bright aspects of love, specifically of love after having learned from heartbreak.

This was maybe the most shining moment of the entire night: Beach Bunny amplified the crowd’s energy with a performance of “Party in the U.S.A.” A chorus of nostalgia flooded the venue as Trifilio chanted Cyrus’ masterful lyrics. Every person was left glowing with cheesy smiles. 

The band topped off the night with “Painkiller,” a display of the utter vulnerability the lack of love in a relationship can drive a person to. It is a beautifully heart-wrenching piece, vocalizing the imprinting pain and ongoing confusion of insincere love. “Painkiller” serves as a great representative piece, characterizing the connecting thread of theme in Beach Bunny’s music thus far.

Beach Bunny radiates talent for both its lyrics and sound. The band’s music is an expression of the unspoken. And that expression is absolutely stunning. Beach Bunny’s debut album, “Honeymoon,” will be suitably released on Valentine’s day in 2020 on all music streaming platforms. With the success and artistic dedication of Beach Bunny’s pieces so far, “Honeymoon” is sure to serve as a beautiful addition to its already phenomenal discography.

The views expressed in this article are the views of the author.

“To protect and to serve” is the official motto of the Los Angeles Police Department, and other police departments have adopted a similar mantra. We could have a long and arduous conversation about whether that ideal is the goal of all police departments. However, my question is why is the professed goal of law enforcement in the U.S. focused on protection instead of rehabilitation? Certainly, the idea of protection seems to be integral in our conceptualization of criminal justice. The people who are doing wrong are prosecuted and receive consequences for their transgressions, for having harmed others within their community by refusing to follow laws that were put in place for the common good.

However, I raise this question: Why does this system prioritize enforcing the law over protecting the citizen? Or maybe the question is, “How does one switch from being ‘the protected’ to becoming someone from whom others need to be protected? Simply put, some people commit certain crimes that deserve immediate punishment. That’s fair. Even so, punishment does not have to be at the center of our vision for criminal justice. Instead, we could focus more on navigating the best way to support the people that have been deemed criminals. That seems counterintuitive even as I type it, but many don’t consider the idea that the people we so quickly withdraw support and protection from may be those who need it most.

As an example, instead of rushing to judge and castigate people who sell illegal drugs, a better idea could be to solve the underlying issues that could cause them to turn to selling drugs. We could find some form of recourse that does not involve them spending years in a cell for minor drug charges. 

As another example, some state laws require that one register as a sex offender as a repercussion for public urination. The point of making public urination illegal is just to prevent chaos, and it should not be used to make people suffer. While some states do not require it,  the door is left open to bring about a harsh judgment of someone for what could be chalked up as irresponsible decision making. 

Certain opportunities to support people who have committed crimes exist within our criminal justice system already, such as community service, drug or alcohol treatment programs, attending certain lectures or courses or meeting with victims or families affected by similar crimes.

I am proposing a radical expansion of our willingness to use some of these alternative methods. The whole idea of trying to ensure that the punishment fits the crime negates the idea that some laws are more for order than to punish people. We do not have to let actions go without consequences, but the definition of consequence is the result of an action. We could try harder to make the results of peoples’ actions that they be offered opportunities to change and improve and reevaluate. We could also do the same ourselves and question what might lead people to commit some of the crimes that they do. Our houses have too much glass for the boulders we cast.