by thecowl.opinion on April 27, 2017
Opinion
Marching For Facts
$2.6 billion. That’s $2.6 billion less dedicated to clean air, water quality, reducing emissions, and climate studies after President Trump cuts the budget of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Billions of dollars taken away from the commitment not only to environmental care, but public health and safety as well. To ignore environmental concerns is to ignore the plain facts, and that’s why people marched for science last Saturday.
With the creation of the EPA, President Nixon once said that protecting the environment was “a cause beyond party and beyond factions,” and for good reason. So much of politics today is one viewpoint versus another, but all signs of science (otherwise known as facts) point to a climate that is under threat.
The fact that Trump plans to take money out of the budget suggests that scientific research has all been for nothing, that it holds no significance in our society. But this couldn’t be further from the truth. Scientific investigation has helped immensely in terms of dealing with the issue of climate change, to the point where 97 percent of experts agree that humans are responsible.
For those who might say that the March for Science won’t change any minds, that is not necessarily the point. Science matters. The facts matter. Taking care of the planet matters. Reducing the environmental budget is not going to change the fact that the conservation of the earth is of primary concern.
– Hannah Paxton ’19
Take Advantage of Spring Shows
A musical, a band concert, a dance club performance, an A cappella show—these are just a few of the artistic performances that have happened or will happen during these last few weeks of the semester. They are events that are sometimes simply passed over by students as just another blurb on that colorful card on the tables at Ray, but they are really a unique opportunity that college students should not miss out on.
We are in a rare position at Providence College, as are those in colleges around the country, in having many different kinds of entertainment just steps away and often at a reasonable price, if not completely free. And though we all have busy schedules, we should try our best to attend as many of these events as we can while we are here.
Professional singers, dancers, and performers all started somewhere, many of them on stages just like the ones in Smith. The student performers on campus will be these people someday too, and it will cost a lot more to see them once they leave.
I attended a performance of Into the Woods a few weeks ago and a student ticket was only $5. Where else but a college campus can you enjoy such quality entertainment for the price of a cup of coffee?
-Taylor Godfrey ’19
No Progress, Just Nuisance
Walking to my VW Beetle is usually a quick, pleasant trip, especially after I snag a coveted spot in the Glay Parking Lot. However, now when I walk to my car, I’m greeted by an ugly, inconvenient fence blocking off Huxley for a construction project with non-existent progress.
The fence, which stretches from the Cunningham lawn to the Glay Lot entrance, annoys anyone who walks down Eaton Street or parks his or her car. It turns my two minute walk into ten because it takes away one of the entrances to the lot and forces students to walk around. It’s a massive, literal roadblock in the middle of campus, ruining the spring aesthetic just in time for graduation.
Sure, the fence exists so that Huxley can become a walkway rather than a street, and construction is a messy affair. I would be willing to sacrifice beauty and convenience for a few months in the name of progress if actual progress were being made. However, the only thing that has changed in the fenced-in area during the last few weeks is the transformation of the Cunningham lawn into a mud pit.
If you’re going to start construction, please start construction. If you’re not going to start construction, please give me my walkway back. I’m just trying to get to the grocery store.
-Brianna Abbott ’17