Jocelyn Molina
Roma, Tex.

Illustration by Juliana Kim

If the candidates vying for the Republican Party’s nomination succeeded at anything on the debate floor last Thursday, it was making our party look even more ridiculous — and further damaging our chances for the presidency.

When the top 10 Republican candidates met for the first GOP debate of the 2016 campaign season, a few — such as former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Republican and Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. — succeeded in getting their points across and in generally seeming reasonable. Most of the others, however, accomplished just the opposite. And it wasn’t only Donald Trump.

It’s a given that Trump, with his polling numbers at an impressive 20 to 24 percent, is damaging to the Republican Party. But many other candidates were no better on Thursday. On the debate floor, Sen. Rand Paul, R-K.Y. utilized much of his speaking time to undermine Trump, saying that he “buys and sells politicians of all stripes.” He later engaged in a heated argument about the Patriot Act with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and yet another with Trump concerning a “single-payer system” for healthcare. Both featured a great deal of yelling. Rather than undermining Trump, Paul only appeared as undesirable as the candidate he was trying to tarnish. Continue reading →

Marsriana Datta
Memphis, Tenn.

Illustration by Samuel Lee

In a recent interview I asked Jerry Price, the senior associate director of athletics and athletic communications at Princeton University, whether he considered cheerleading a sport. This will be my first year as a cheerleader at my high school in Memphis and I am curious about people’s opinions on cheerleading.

Price said that at Princeton, “The cheerleaders are a club, not a varsity sport,” referring to how the school classifies the team for funding. I had never met anyone who does not believe that cheerleading is a sport, but he’s not the only one. Many sports administrators don’t believe that cheerleading is a sport, which can be illustrated by a case in Hartford, Conn.

In 2012, Quinnipiac University made a case at a federal appeals court to consider cheerleading a sport. The court ruled that according to the components of a varsity sport under Title IX, cheerleading doesn’t meet the standards (yet). In the future, cheerleading could be recognized as a varsity sport if it is better organized and creates defined rules. For example, competitive cheerleading does not have a recruitment system or many other teams to compete against. Continue reading →

Jada Fitzpatrick
Queens, N.Y.

Illustration by Jeannie Regidor

I’m proud of the girls who have respect enough not to dress inappropriately and to follow the dress code as the warm weather approaches.”

This is a statement that may sound familiar to many high school students. In fact, this is something my principal said recently.

I did not have an immediate reaction, but as I sat and thought about the words my principal had uttered, my blood began to boil. Respect? It was as if wearing shorts and revealing my belly button equated to a lack of self-respect.

What was even more horrifying was the fact that my guidance counselor said she agreed with my principal’s perspective. She implied that wearing a crop top or similar clothes attracts negative attention and girls who dress inappropriately contribute to the possibility of their rape. She’s a woman, by the way. Continue reading →