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January 31, 2023

Providence College's Student-Run Newspaper Since 1935

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Pope Benedict XVI: “Santo Subito”?

The late Christopher Hitchens once counted Pope Benedict XVI among “the three contemporary figures he most despised, along with Henry…

David Salzillo Jr. ’24

Incessant Cycle: Mass Shootings Continue in America

It’s happening again and no one should be surprised. Mass shootings are nothing new, and the more we hear about…

Samantha Dietel ’23

New Year, New Records

by Kaelin Ferland ’23
Opinion Staff


2022 Ranks Fifth Hottest Year Ever Recorded

The past nine years have been the hottest on record, and 2022 has proved to be no exception to this trend. According to NASA, 2022 was the fifth hottest year on record, tying with 2015 at 1.6 degrees Fahrenheit above average. NASA adds that 2022 was two degrees Fahrenheit hotter than average pre-industrial levels. When converted to Celsius, this equates to 1.1 degrees. This number is particularly striking, as climate scientists have constantly warned about the dangers and devastating potential consequences of the planet warming an additional two degrees Celsius. With 2022’s temperature averages already more than halfway there and experts predicting 2023 to be even hotter, it is more crucial than ever to take climate action. 

This doesn’t just mean we’ll see increases in the frequency of heat waves. A warming planet leads to a variety of other environmental issues that are often overlooked including sea level rise, food and water scarcity, severe weather events, and species extinction. 

Sea level rise is one of the most detrimental consequences of global warming. As our planet warms, massive glaciers in the polar regions begin to melt, adding more water to our oceans. Scientists have been talking about the threat of glacial melt for years; however, recent reports detail that the glacier that will have arguably the greatest impact on the planet has already begun to break apart. The Thwaites Glacier, otherwise known as the Doomsday Glacier, could break off completely within the next few years. This glacier, which stands at 74,000 square miles, would cause the global sea level to increase by two feet. The breaking of this glacier would be devastating to coastal communities. 

Increasing global temperatures also have a significant effect on our planet’s food and water systems. Not only do they cause our food supply to decrease, but they also lead to spikes in food prices. A report from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change states that every ten years, food production decreases by two percent as our planet continues to warm. They explain that this is equal to approximately 4.4 million metric tons of food loss with each passing decade. As long as natural disasters like drought, flooding, hurricanes, and extreme heat become more severe, we will continue to see a devastating toll on our planet’s food supply as crops and cropland are destroyed. The WMO estimates that flooding frequency has increased by 134 percent since 2000, and that drought frequency has similarly increased by about 29 percent since the same year. This causes catastrophic damage to not only crops and cropland but also communities and the surrounding environment. In terms of water availability, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), by 2050 over five billion people will have insufficient access to water. Currently, about 3.6 billion people are already experiencing this problem.  

Many scientists agree that we are currently in the sixth mass extinction. According to several sources, 99 percent of species have already gone extinct, with some researchers estimating that we could be losing over 100 species every day. As our world changes, it becomes more and more difficult for species to adapt to these hostile conditions or find important resources they need to survive like food, water, and shelter. Also, if we see natural disasters begin to worsen due to temperature rise and climate change, this will make habitat loss and species extinction even more prevalent. 

Our 2023 new year’s resolution is to make changes that mitigate the effects of climate change in order to prevent this trend from continuing. 2023 can and must be a year for overdue environmental action.  


Devin Carter - Men's Basketball - Providence College Athletics

Devin Carter – Men’s Basketball – Providence College Athletics

Athlete of the Week: Devin Carter

Ever since the non-conference schedule was released for the Providence College Friars, it became clear that one week would be circled on everyone’s calendars. Coming into this past week, the Friars had a record of 5–2 but lacked any statement…

Will Murphy ’23

Image credit: The Academy Awards

Image credit: The Academy Awards

Not the Oscars, but Close

Throughout this year, hundreds of new movies crossed our screens. Two years after the start of the pandemic, audiences were ready for new films to occupy their minds. These five movies were released in 2022 and were standouts in their…

Claudia Fennell ’24

Under the Hood

Providence College’s Student-Run Newspaper Since 1935


Editor’s Column

“What is The Cowl?”
eaton street housing

Campus

“Darty Season” Spells Impending Disaster: Off-Campus Parties Anger Many Members of PC Community

Sports

2022 College Football Season Preview

Why the To-Go Boxes Shouldn’t Be Seen as an Inconvenience


In spring 2022, PC Dining announced its plans for Eco To-Go, a program that allows students to use reusable to-go boxes in Ray instead of wasteful single-use containers. While the initiative is supported by many students, others complained that it is inconvenient. Considering the significant environmental impact of paper and plastic, which these containers are made of, this is an ignorant complaint given our current ecological state. 

While some may argue that these boxes aren’t environmentally harmful because they can be recycled, this is not the case. It is important to reduce our consumption before recycling, which is why the phrase “reduce, reuse, recycle” is in this order. First, we’re supposed to reduce, then reuse, and finally recycle, meaning that recycling is not the solution. 

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, in 2018 only 8.7 of plastic was recycled, leaving plastic in landfills and oceans. There is a significant impact of plastic pollution on our marine ecosystems. It’s estimated that every year, eight to 10 million metric tons of plastic enter our oceans. The effects of this are devastating, as plastic breaks down to form microplastics, which many small organisms mistake for food. This is also an issue in terms of biomagnification, as organisms who consume these organisms indirectly ingest this plastic. This is one of the reasons why scientists have recently discovered microplastics in human blood for the first time. 

Read More

A Totally Unnecessary Rant About Hallmark Movies 

by David Salzillo Jr. ’24
Opinion Staff


This article might be upsetting both to regular viewers of Hallmark movies (if such people really do exist) and to children who still believe in Santa Claus. To the latter group, I offer my sincerest apologies.  

Ah, Christmastime—the season for caroling, hot cocoa, and…bad Hallmark movies. Why humanity must suffer through that last one is a mystery. Yet here we are: the filmmakers (one uses that term VERY loosely) behind these cinematic travesties are at it again.  

Technically, they were at it again long before now. Hallmark’s chief executives seem to believe that Halloween marks the first day of the Christmas season. Forget waiting until after Thanksgiving; forget about waiting until the first of November. These people have managed to outdo those infamous radio stations that play Christmas music 24/7 from November to January. Ugh. Doesn’t Hallmark have any sense of shame?  

Now, if the movies were halfway decent, maybe some of this shove-it-down-your-throat-until-you-die-in-a-Christmas-induced-coma consumerism could be forgiven. But alas, trying to find a halfway decent Hallmark movie is like trying to catch Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. Where does one even begin? How about with the filmmakers’ complete lack of effort? Seriously, do they care about what they are doing, insofar as it is not bringing them a paycheck? Don’t they understand that snow on someone’s clothes will melt after a few minutes, as opposed to staying there for an entire scene? And don’t they understand that people generally swallow after drinking coffee? If you ever have the displeasure of watching some of these movies, you will be able to find countless other egregious errors like these. It does not take a Francis Ford Coppola or a Martin Scorsese to get these things right.  

Then there’s the incessant presence of hot chocolate, cookies, and bake-offs. The bake-offs in particular irk me: I have never seen nor been to a bake-off in my life, yet somehow they always manage to be a central plot point of Hallmark’s Christmas programming. They would make you think that bake-offs are a fixture of the average American’s life. They have to keep up that small-town aesthetic.  

This brings up another falsely represented aspect of Hallmark movies: their inane platitudes about small-town life. To be sure, I don’t hate small towns, nor do I hate people who like small towns. Living in a big city is not paradise on Earth. Yes, big cities have pollution, traffic, and, worst of all, people. But must their messaging be so clumsy and obvious? By the way, where are the homeless people in these small towns? Where is the trash? Most people have been to enough small towns in their lives to know that they have not eradicated poverty and garbage. 

And don’t get me started on those corny love stories or that stupid derivative rom-com music that plays whenever the main love interests of the stupid plot first meet in the stupid way that they always do. Couldn’t these writers come up with a better way for the true loves to meet, without the clumsily concocted pratfalls? Hallmark characters appear more accident-prone than even the worst of klutzes.  

But why bother getting so upset about this? Because I am upset for you, dear reader. I am upset that you must be subjected to this for the next three months or more. As the great writer Ralph Ellison said, “who knows but that, on the lower frequencies, I speak for you?”  

Or maybe not. In that case, try to develop better taste in movies.  




Christmas

Sweetly Sour
Sara Junkins '23

Love, Your Christmas Baby
Meg Brodeur '24

Listomania
The Cowl Editor




Sports Short

12/01/22 Sport Shorts
Will Murphy '23

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O'Livia Lopes '26

Sport Shorts 09/29/2022
Margaret Maloney '23

About Us

Established in 1935, The Cowl is Providence College’s only student-run newspaper. It boasts six sections and approximately 100 members. Issues are distributed every Thursday evening to roughly 50 locations on and off-campus. High volume areas include the Slavin Center, Phillips Memorial Library, and the Ruane Center.

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