Tangents & Tirades

by The Cowl Editor on October 7, 2021

Opinion

Tangents & Tirades

Worse than Parallel Parking

by Christina Charie ’25

Opinion Staff

Those who attended the Homecoming festivities this past weekend understand the difficulties of navigating Providence College by car. Parking lots quickly fill while numerous drivers opt for parking tickets on Providence streets. CVS and Target are highly inaccessible for those without a car. After recent public safety announcements, many students might have concerns about walking to these locations. Decreasing the need to walk to off campus locations would put students at ease.

The College has multiple options regarding the transportation issue. With the rising cost of Uber and the unreliability of the RIPTA, offering a student shuttle run by the College on a regular basis would be incredibly helpful for those without cars. Thayer Street, Providence Place, and CVS would be excellent locations for students to get takeout food, necessities, and hang out with friends. Keeping PC students together on the shuttles helps to ensure safety by eliminating the time students potentially travel alone.

The second response to the issue would be to increase the amount of parking available on campus. Huxley Avenue has become difficult to traverse, with cars parking up to the stop sign near Admiral Street. If seniors who live off-campus take their car to reduce walking time, a parking space should be available for them. Parking on Huxley has created a hazard for other drivers. The campus has beautiful green spaces. Some of the least utilized areas could make excellent parking lots. Additionally, the current commuter garage at Anderson stadium is only two levels, with the tennis courts on top. Relocating the tennis courts and adding more levels of parking could also alleviate the strain.

Nevertheless, PC must do more to increase transportation and parking options on-campus.

Let’s Push Back Landscaping

by Erin Garvey ’22

Opinion Staff

Imagine you stayed up late studying or doing work, and when you finally go to sleep, you are woken up only a few hours later to a leaf blower right outside your window. While some may be able to continue sleeping with this disruption, the majority of students on campus will find they have no choice but to get the day started.

During the week, we all would like to take advantage of a few extra minutes of sleep before we need to get up and start the day. However, when we find that we are woken earlier than necessary because of lawnmowers, leaf blowers, and other gardening tools, it can be frustrating.

On a college campus where sleep and education are placed as the highest priority, landscapers should not be allowed to start until at least 10 a.m. This might seem late, but in reality it would allow for the majority of students on campus to ensure restful sleep without being disturbed earlier than necessary.

If sleep production goes down, so will grades, involvement, and other tasks that students are responsible for, which the College thrives and depends.

While, yes, it is important to keep the campus looking its best, it is also important to ensure that the students and their well-being are being considered at all times.

Printing Help Desk

by Jezel Tracey ’24

Opinion Staff

Have you ever been charged for printing 30-plus pages for class and only received two sheets: one being the title page and the other saying “error”? Well, me too!

At times, it is hard to finish a large number of readings from a computer. Instead, it might be easier to follow along if those documents are printed. However, this becomes frustrating when one is constantly stricken with the fear that their printing balance will be lowered each time they print something.

What makes this anxiety even worse is when one is charged for documents that were not able to be printed. Often, when this situation happens, it is assumed that the money will be restored into the account, and this is where the problem lies.

Depending on one’s major, readings are assigned for almost every class, and some students rely on printing hard copies of those readings. Due to this reliance, the printing system should be treated with an equal amount of importance.

While you can be refunded for printing errors at the HelpDesk in the library, the process of doing so is a bit tedious. Especially on the occasions of last-minute printing, this process will be an inconvenience.

Simply receiving a warning about an error or being refunded through a faster method would make printing at PC a better process. It is important to note that this is not a complaint, rather a request for change.

Who is the Academy?

by The Cowl Editor on September 30, 2021

Opinion

Who is the Academy?

Questioning the Voting Procedures of the Emmys

by Christina Charie ’25

After watching the Emmys on Sunday night, viewers were angry about the results, as they found many of the shows selected were quite out of touch for a 2021 awards show. From a simple glance at the Academy’s executive board page, it became evident that there is a significant lack of diversity, which has prompted the Twitter trend #EmmysSoWhite.

The voting process for the Emmys is incredibly vague from the description found on the official website. In fact, according to the website, an individual or program can self-nominate. Voters are composed of peer groups representing the various categories within the industry. All 16,000 voters (about the seating capacity of Madison Square Garden) decide the nominations in the larger categories, such as Best Comedy or Drama, while peer groups vote on Best Actress or Best Actor awards. The Academy also names the Ernst and Young Accountants as their ballot checkers. Final round voting is based on peer groups as well.

The voters are required to verify that they watched the shows, but the verification process is not defined, leading to questions of how actively engaged voters actually are with the shows. Additionally, when going through the nominee lists from the late 2000s, finding a nominee of color is difficult.

Even this year, people questioned how Josh O’Connor won Best Male Actor in a Drama Series, beating out Regé-Jean Page, the breakout star from Bridgerton. Out of six nominees, four were men of color. Billy Porter from Pose won in 2019 and Sterling K. Brown from This Is Us took home the trophy in 2017, but neither was selected for the award this year. A common thread between these two award years includes the absence of The Crown—a show with a predominantly white cast—from the nominees in those years.

Talented men of color are represented in the nominations, but another British man portraying Prince Charles still came out on top. One of the reasons why shows become successful is the relationship between viewers and characters, and Page’s representation of the Duke was certainly successful in doing just that. While many overlook the show, categorizing it as another trend, Bridgerton is a period piece for modern society, with a diverse cast, romance, and elaborate scenery and costumes. Page ushers in a new era of period pieces along with the rest of the Bridgerton cast. The entire show was overlooked again in the Best Drama category.

Even though O’Connor is certainly talented, the role he acquired does not present any innovations or room for creativity. The Crown is a refined Royal Family TV adaptation, but the concept has been overused. The Crown continues the period piece tradition of fussy costumes and unrelatable characters. In terms of Best Actress in a Drama Series, Emma Corrin as Princess Diana made an incredible impact on pop culture, reviving interest in the figure. The selection of Olivia Coleman is another example of traditionalism in the Academy. Coleman plays Queen Elizabeth II, who is a slightly more stereotypical female character, and Coleman sought no innovation in her role.

The Academy also has a habit of selecting the same show year after year for the same award. This year, The Crown took home eleven awards, while Game of Thrones has acquired over twenty awards during its run. The Academy clearly has favorites, with The Crown being one of them. Therefore, to uncover the truth, one must discover the motives behind their decision-making and ensure that voters are truly engaged in the content that they are watching, rather than just doing so passively and voting on the one show they truly watched. Additionally, creativity, innovation, and diversity should be more celebrated, along with the actors who are trailblazers in those roles.