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(09/20/17 12:41am)
Master storyteller Neil Young looks back on 2016 with his latest album 'Peace Trail.'
By Breanna Cooper
The year 2016 has been interesting and not necessarily in a good way. Many Americans are fearful of the administration set to be sworn into office in a few weeks, and many more citizens have to protest to convince people that their lives matter.
That's why Neil Young’s latest album Peace Trail is so important. In his 37th studio album, Young voices his frustrations with the state of America today, specifically with the events happening in Standing Rock, North Dakota in regards to the construction of the Dakota Access pipeline.
Like any Neil Young album, the highlight of the record is the lyrics. Young has a knack for discussing complex and controversial issues in a poetic, yet simple way. Tracks such as “Indian Givers” and “Terrorist Suicide Hang Gliders” focus on the plight of Native Americans and Muslim Americans, respectively.
While both issues are highly debated in the political sphere, with related conversations revolving around oil pipelines and national security, Young strips away the politics and instead focuses on the humanity of our fellow citizens.
Young makes listeners realize that they have been programmed to focus on our differences as opposed to our common ground as human beings. With lyrics like “I think I know who to blame/ all those people with funny names,” in “Suicide Terrorist Hang Gliders,” Young forces his listeners to confront their own biases that they may not even be aware of.
This is a powerful poetic tool which makes Young a master storyteller.
Despite his musical talents, listeners will find that the instrumental tracks on this album are downplayed in order to emphasize the arguments Young makes throughout his songs.
However, tracks like “Texas Rangers” and the title track “Peace Trail” both have a strong, steady guitar tracks that drive the songs.
The strongest track of the album is “John Oaks,” which Young uses to create an argument for the model citizen, someone who “won't take shit lyin’ down/ he calls it like he sees it.”
Always one to promote social activism through his music, Young urges listeners to be like the protagonist of the song, fighting for what you know is right.
The album ends on a mellow note with “My New Robot,” which focuses on our dependence on technology. A pleasant acoustic guitar track is coupled with robotic sounds to create a strangely beautiful and powerful track.
For an album that focused on our need for humanity and understanding, this song wrapped up the album nicely and drove Young’s message home.
For those concerned about the state of the nation and the planet, Peace Trail speaks to those concerns, as well as promoting the idea that to make change, one must always be ready to stand up and fight for your beliefs.
With all of the changes that 2016 brought, this album was a great way to wrap up the year.
https://youtu.be/CLVHgDNqqFE
(09/20/17 12:38am)
As Donald Trump’s inauguration grows nearer, citizens ought to push President Obama to pardon whistleblower Edward Snowden.
By Breanna Cooper
The 2016 election certainly caused a stir. We now have a President-elect who has been recorded bragging about grabbing women by their genitals, who has promised to deport millions of people who call America their home, and who has been endorsed by the Klu Klux Klan.
Scared? I don’t blame you.
While the anti-Trump protests that have been popping up over the nation are speaking out against the bigotry expressed in the Trump campaign, as they should, there’s another issue that must be discussed before Mr. Trump becomes the most powerful man in the world:
Our constitutional right to privacy.
Whistleblower and former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden has been living as a political refugee in Russia since August 2014, and was granted a three-year residential permit after leaking information to The Guardian. This information proved that the American government spies on their citizens.
While Snowden argues that he is just one piece in a very large puzzle, saying: “While I care what happens to me… this is not about me, it’s about us,” Snowden represents a rare form of bravery and patriotism that, while it may empower the people, threatens the government.
Snowden had the courage to risk his life and freedom to put the Fourth Amendment rights of American citizens above the government. He fought to uphold the Constitution when those sworn to do so failed. This, of course, is where his fight to remain free began.
With less than 70 days before Trump, who has called for the execution of the “traitor” Snowden, takes office, American citizens have been calling on President Obama to pardon Snowden.
For any American concerned about their privacy and the lives of those who fight to maintain this constitutional right, the pardoning of Edward Snowden is a huge movement. Not only would it be a victory for our democracy, but it would also signal a bit of a shift in Obama’s administration.
While often overlooked, the Obama administration has been the worst administration for whistleblowers. Throughout his presidency, there have been eight people prosecuted under the 1971 Espionage Act, more than twice the amount of prosecutions made under all previous administrations combined.
Pardoning Snowden will not erase the Obama administration's history of silencing those who dare to call out their government's misdeeds, but it very well may save Snowden’s life, or at least the quality of his life.
While the Trump presidency is likely to mirror the Trump campaign in terms of its unpredictability, one recent news story, reported by MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow, should frighten anyone concerned with our Constitution and the state of our democracy today.
On July 15 of this year, a faction of the Turkish armed forces, known as the Peace at Home Council, attempted a coup against state institutions, including Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Citing an erosion of democracy and a disregard for human rights, the council fought for one day before their mission failed. Over 300 people were killed and thousands more were injured.
Since the coup has ended, at least 40,000 people have been arrested, including judges, journalists, and civilians. President Erdoğan has built over 100 new jails, and officers involved in the coup are now seeking asylum in NATO countries.
The Turkish government is looking to arrest a man they believe to be the leader of the coup, Fethullah Gülen. Gülen is a preacher and political figure that was once tied to Erdoğan. He is currently living in Pennsylvania as a legal resident of the United States. The United States government does not believe that he is tied to any terrorist organizations, differing from the views of the Turkish government.
After Donald Trump’s historic win, Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim has called for Trump to extradite Gülen back to Turkey.
The frightening part? Aides to the Trump campaign agree. Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, an advisor to the Trump campaign and a likely contender for a cabinet position, has called for Gülen to be extradited.
“What would we have done if right after 9/11 we heard the news that Osama bin Laden lives in a nice villa at a Turkish resort while running 160 charter schools funded by the Turkish taxpayers,” Lynn asked.
Lynn went on to argue that “forces of radical Islam derive their ideology from radical clerics like Gulen, who is running a scam. We should not provide him safe haven. In this crisis, it is imperative that we remember who our real friends are.”
For those fighting for Snowden’s freedom as a United States citizen, this is a bad sign. Looking at the oddly friendly relationship between Trump and Russian President Vladmir Putin, it is not outrageous for one to predict Trump asking of Russia what Turkey is asking of America.
We the people have an obligation to each other and to our posterity to fight for our freedoms that the Constitution allows. When we see that our government, whether Republican or Democrat led, is failing to uphold our Constitution, we must stand against those who defy it, and stand for those who fight to uphold it.
The worst case scenario for Snowden, at this point, would be extradition to the United States. If found guilty, he faces a sentence of over 30 years in prison for speaking out. If he were to find another country to seek asylum, he may very well end up as Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, who has been living in the Ecuadorian embassy in London since 2012.
Either way, time is running out. With the countdown clock on for Trump’s inauguration, Americans concerned about their Constitutional right to privacy and their fellow citizens ought to call on President Obama to pardon Edward Snowden.
https://twitter.com/StandSnowden/status/798578905032572928?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fthecampuscitizen.com%2Fthe-latest%2F2016%2F11%2F18%2Fopinion-the-push-to-pardon-snowden
https://twitter.com/Snowden/status/796007358749147136?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fthecampuscitizen.com%2Fthe-latest%2F2016%2F11%2F18%2Fopinion-the-push-to-pardon-snowden
(09/20/17 12:34am)
The Rolling Stones have gone back to their roots with their 25th studio album Blue & Lonesome. Comprised of 12 songs written by blues legends, the Stones, along with musical guests, put their own unique spin on previously released works.
By Breanna Cooper
The Rolling Stones have gone back to their roots with their 25th studio album Blue & Lonesome. Comprised of 12 songs written by blues legends, the Stones, along with musical guests, put their own unique spin on previously released works.
The band’s musicianship is evident throughout the entire album, and this listener was pleasantly surprised by Mick Jagger’s vocals. Tracks such as “Commit a Crime” and “Just Like I Treat You” suggest that Jagger’s voice is much better suited for blues music than rock ’n’ roll.
“Just Your Fool” starts the album off with a high tempo and energetic guitar. It sets the tone for the rest of the record.
“Commit a Crime” follows, written by Howlin’ Wolf, a hero for the Stones since their early days. This track about a femme fatale, a motif for The Rolling Stones’ songs, has incredibly strong drums and guitar, which mirrored Jagger’s powerful vocals.
The hero of this album, like much of the works released by the Stones, is drummer Charlie Watts. For decades, Watts has produced a sound that is distinctly his own, and that power and precision shine through on “I Gotta Go” and “Ride Em On Down.”
The latter is certainly the highlight of this album. Written by blues musician Eddie Taylor, “Ride ‘Em On Down” incorporates Jagger on harmonica, providing the track with a distinctive blues sound. Along with Watts’ drumming, the song also showcases the talent of guitarists Keith Richards and Ron Wood.
Despite having two lead guitarists, The Rolling Stones found a great balance that is evident in this album. They never ran into the problem that The Yardbirds had, with multiple lead guitarists fighting for the spotlight. Instead, “Ride ‘Em on Down” and “Just Like I Treat You” include small guitar jams that allow both guitarists to showcase their abilities.
Richards and Wood are not the only guitarists playing on this album, however. Former Yardbird Eric Clapton, who just released his latest album, I Still Do, in May this year, lent his talents to the Stones. Playing on the tracks “Everybody Knows About My Good Thing” and “I Can’t Quit You Baby,” Clapton shows no signs of slowing down. Both tracks have incredibly strong guitar tracks and high tempos that build on the great energy of the album.
Clapton isn’t the only helpful addition to this album, though. Darryl Jones on bass guitar shined through on the track “All of Your Love,” along with Matt Clifford on keys in the same song. The keys break in the middle of the track made the song stand out.
Further, Jim Keltner played additional percussion on “Hoo Doo Blues.” Keltner is a renowned session musician, known for his work with the Traveling Wilburys, among several other artists. Given Watts’ talents on the drums, it seemed unnecessary at first for the Stones to bring in additional percussionists. However, after listening to the track, Keltner helped to add a sound that could only be done by Watts alone if they used multiple tracks. By not using multiple tracks, the Stones were able to keep the blues sound authentic.
While a strong album overall, there is one track that should have hit the cutting room floor. “Little Rain” seemed misplaced among the rest of the songs. It has a much slower tempo than the rest of the album, which in itself isn’t a bad thing. However, the slow guitar tracks seemed muddled, which was likely for effect. The guitar mixed with the tempo was distracting, and it failed to hold the listener's attention.
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The album ends on a high note with “I Can’t Quit You Baby,” another contribution from Clapton. With a moderate tempo, strong guitar, and surprisingly pleasant vocals from Jagger, the track nicely wraps up what was mainly a high energy album.
If Blue & Lonesome did anything, it proved that the Rolling Stones show no signs of slowing down, despite seeing their 50th anniversary last year. With this album, they went back to their roots without sounding dated. With all the talk about rock ’n’ roll dying out, the Stones proved that the roots are still breathing, and perhaps a rebirth of the genre is on its way.
https://twitter.com/AmazonMusicUK/status/804637463541071872?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fthecampuscitizen.com%2Fthe-latest%2F2016%2F12%2F2%2Fmusic-review-the-rolling-stones-return-to-roots-for-blue-lonesome
https://youtu.be/qEuV82GqQnE
(09/20/17 12:29am)
Despite his reputation as 'the quiet Beatle,' George Harrison had an uncomparable impact on the world of music. Here's a look back at his life and legacy.
By Breanna Cooper
2016 has been a rough year for rock fans. From the death of greats such as David Bowie and Prince to Black Sabbath finishing their final (for now) tour, this year has signaled the end of an era or two.
While enough has happened in 2016 already, this year also marks the 15th anniversary of the death of George Harrison, who lost his battle to cancer on Nov. 29, 2001 at the age of 58.
Despite being known as the “quiet Beatle,” the guitarist had an impact on the world of music that is incomparable. In honor of his life and contributions to music, Beatles scholars, fans, and musicians talked to The Campus Citizen about how George Harrison changed the game.
Dr. David Thurmaier, an associate professor of music theory at University of Missouri-Kansas City and the author of the recently published essay “New Critical Perspectives on the Beatles: Things We Said Today” notes Harrison’s influence on the sounds of the 1960s. After traveling to India with the rest of the Beatles, Harrison picked up skills on the sitar and philosophical ideology that would shape his work for the rest of his life.
“After he came back from India, almost everything had a religious or philosophical tone to it,” Thurmaier said. Even before Dark Horse [Harrison’s record label], even the last Apple records had those themes. Living in the Material World was definitely the most spiritual, and there are several songs after that album that were very spiritual as well. He just got that spiritual sense in the ‘60s and never left it.”
Along with Eastern philosophy weaved throughout his work, learning and incorporating the sitar in songs shaped not just The Beatles, but some of the other major works of the 1960s.
“Basically, after he put sitar on “Norwegian Wood,” it became the new hippest thing for anyone to do, so a lot of rock groups started to use it,” Thurmaier continues. “The Rolling Stones started to add sitar and Indian instruments, which you can hear on ‘Paint it Black.’ Groups like The Stones, The Byrds, and several other bands in that era started to copy the idea of including Eastern sounds. When you listen to the sitar on ‘Norwegian Wood,’ it was very simple, but it was so exotic that it made people say ‘what is that?’”
Beatles scholar Aaron Krerowicz agrees. As the only Beatles scholar in the United States, Krerowicz is currently working on a project that explores Harrison’s progression as a songwriter while with The Beatles.
“The gist of the project is that music can be broken down into two fundamental parameters. You have pitch and rhythm. So what I’m doing is tracing Harrison’s role as a composer on how he uses those dynamics. As he develops, you see pretty clearly the step by step growth, we start finding more pitch and rhythm. You can really hear this on his two songs on Abbey Road, ‘Something’ and ‘Here Comes the Sun.’ That’s George Harrison at his best.
As for Harrison’s role as an innovator, Krerowicz refers back to his use of the sitar and Eastern sounds.
“I think he had a very big influence. There was a huge infatuation for Eastern culture in the 1960s. In 1968, they [The Beatles] flew to India and spent several months studying meditation. I think they had a very big contribution to those fields and I think they contributed more to that popularity than other bands. I think they’re the real innovators there.”
Despite Harrison’s innovations and songwriting, he was oftentimes overshadowed by John Lennon and Paul Mccartney.
“A lot of the songs on All Things Must Pass[Harrison’s first solo record] were originally presented to the Beatles, but John and Paul never treated George with much respect, untilAbbey Road,” Krerowicz explains. “George was constantly bringing music to Let It Be, but they never got on. They were rejected by Lennon and McCartney.”
For example, Harrison’s 1970 hit “What is Life” was originally written to go on Let it Be, but didn’t make the final cut.
“Most songs on All Things Must Pass were supposed to be on Let it Be and were rehearsed but never put on album,” Thurmaier explained. “They were hacked through in sessions, but that’s the extent.”
This ultimately led to frustration on Harrison’s part, which contributed to much of his work.
“He was very frustrated. The one time he quite was during the making of Let it Be. George was a very honest songwriter. I think the songs he was writing about his frustrations with Lennon and McCartney hit home a little too much,” Thurmaier said. “But that’s the great thing about Harrison’s music. You know exactly how he’s feeling, and it’s very genuine. That’s something that you don’t ever really get from McCartney, at all. George would always tell listeners how he was feeling.”
“He talks about the day that he walked out, they were recording Let it Be, and he just got fed up with it,” Krerowicz said. “He was constantly bringing in songs and the others would dismiss it. You can hear the frustration in the song ‘Wah-Wah.’ It’s evident in the name itself. Not only is it playing off of the sound the guitar makes, but it’s sort of mocking Lennon and McCartney, like they’re whining until they get their way.”
Despite some of the frustrations that came with being a Beatle, there is still a sense of wonder when audiences hear a George Harrison Beatle track.
James Paul Lynch is the lead guitarist for American English, a Beatles cover band based in Chicago. His introduction to Harrison’s music was finding his father’s record collection when he was a young kid.
“I found some albums like Abbey Road, and I played them on my little Fisher Price record player,” Lynch said. “I played them so much, I literally wore them out.”
“My favorite song to play live is probably ‘Old Brown Shoe,’ if I had to pick one just because it’s got such a cool bluesy vibe and the lyrics are cool,” Lynch explains. “I think that’s George really coming into his own. I think my second runner up is ‘Something,’ because it’s soulful and I love the lyrics.”
You can’t discuss Harrison without noting his unique guitar sound.
“There are two things that really stand out about his guitar playing,” Lynch said. “First of all,he has a very unique way of playing guitar solo that aren’t always fluent like Clapton or Page, for example. He was choppy and broke them up into little segments. They’re genius. The solo in ‘Saw Her Standing There’ is so strange but for him and that band it worked great.”
Harrison’s unique playing likely stemmed from his formal training, or lack thereof.
“It’s not the usual way to play guitar, because he learned on the street, like a lot of us learn,” Lynch continued. “Some people take lessons. This is a guy that learned how to play in his living room. He was almost a genius in the sense of how he used his limited ability, and that’s not putting him down at all, he’s like a god to me But he used what he taught himself to do to just make great music. That’s what’s so cool about George, and I think any guitarist will tell you that’s what makes him stand out.”
Beyond his decade with The Beatles and 12 studio albums on his own, Harrison also worked alongside Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne, and Roy Orbison to form the supergroup Traveling Wilburys. The group released two albums in their two year span.
“All the guys in that group, except for Tom Petty were all on a down turn,” Thurmaier said. “Bob Dylan had some of his worst music in the 1980s. It [the band] was a way to bring them all back, but they all used pseudonyms on the album.”
“I think that was a funny way to get back into the limelight and say ‘hey we’re still here,’ but you had to look twice to see who it was. It hit a peak at that time, because George had just done Cloud 9with Jeff Lynne, and they got the group together. Traveling Wilburys were important not only because the music good, but also because it brought together five popular musicians that really helped to shape their genre.”
15 years after the death of George Harrison and 46 years since The Beatles dissolved, Harrison’s contributions to rock’ n’ roll and the spirituality of the 1960s is still relevant today.
While we’ve lost many great musicians from the height of rock' n' roll, Harrison’s legacy is proof that while all things must pass, great music may just live on forever.
(09/19/17 7:52pm)
On what would have been David Bowie's 70th birthday, a previously unreleased single and music video looks at the darkest, and inevitable, part of life while incorporating a sense of beauty and hopefulness uncommon for the subject matter.
By Breanna Cooper
January 8, 2017: On what would have been David Bowie’s 70th birthday, fans of the late rocker received a gift: a four song EP entitled No Plan.
Three songs accompany a single: “Lazarus,’ “When I Met You,” and “Killing A Little Time” were previously released on Bowie’s final studio album Blackstar and the musical soundtrack to his stage production “Lazarus,” respectively.
The highlight of the release is the single itself. The track is accompanied with a music video directed by Tom Hingston.
The previously released tracks and the new single alike all convey the emotions that listeners now know to be those of a man haunted by his own mortality.
While “Lazarus” conveys a sense of hope about life after death: “oh, I’ll be free/just like that bluebird,” “No Plan” offers listeners a grim prediction for what awaits us all: nothingness.
With a subdued musical intro, Bowie informs his listener “ there's no music here/
I'm lost in streams of sound,” later saying, wherever he is, “there’s no traffic here.”
One of the great things about art is its subjectivity. There are no wrong or right answers when it comes to music interpretation. However, in this case, it’s difficult not to speculate the meaning behind Bowie’s lyrics.
In a recently released BBC documentary, “David Bowie: The Last Five Years,” it was revealed that Bowie received a terminal cancer diagnosis just three months before he died. In total, Bowie lived with cancer for 18 months before dying of liver cancer just two days after his birthday and the release of his 27th studio album.
Lyrically, “No Plan” conveys a sense of hopelessness and loss. After surviving cancer for 15 months before learning that death was imminent, “No Plan” expresses the fear that would presumably come with such a bleak prognosis.
The single is strong by itself. Unlike some of Bowie’s famous singles, “No Plan” has no flash, no glam. With hindsight, the single and the three songs released with it are clearly songs written and performed by a man who knew his time was running out.
However, in a way that only true artists can, Bowie was able to use his talents to make something beautiful out of tragedy.
At times, music videos can detract from the power of a song. Often times, it takes away subjectivity. While the video for “No Plan” does the latter, British director Tom Hingston uses his own talents to create a powerful tribute to one of the most recognizable performers of the last century.
With rows of televisions outside of a storefront named Newton Electrical, paying homage to Bowie’s protagonist role as Thomas Newton in the 1976 film “The Man Who Fell To Earth,” a crowd gathered to watch what appears to be the final message from Bowie.
As Bowie did with Blackstar, there seems to be more in Bowie’s message than meets the eye. Despite the bleak outlook of the singer in the lyrics, throughout the video, images of a flying bird appear on the television screens. Perhaps the aforementioned bluebird in “Lazarus,” the motif adds a gleam of hope in a music video focusing on the career of a musician who did not live to see its release.
The idea that Bowie presents of “being lost in streams of sound” may not be referring to a sense of a lost, wandering spirit. Instead, as the video seems to suggest upon a second viewing, perhaps it’s the idea that, regardless of the existence of an afterlife, the legacy we create while here on Earth is all that there is.
And Bowie’s is one hell of a legacy.
https://youtu.be/xIgdid8dsC8
(09/19/17 7:48pm)
Families filled the Indianapolis International Airport to protest President Trump’s immigration ban.
By Breanna Cooper
Since his inauguration just over a week ago, citizens opposing the policies and executive orders imposed by President Trump have been taking to the streets to protest what they believe to be unjust.
In recent days, concerned citizens have been filling up airports across the nation to protest President Trump’s executive order, titled “Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States,” which was signed on Friday, Jan. 27.
This executive order bars citizens from seven nations: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen, entry into the United States for 90 days. Citizens of these countries who are students, refugees, and visitors were detained at airports around the country and international airports, including a 5-year-old Iranian boy who was detained apart from his mother for several hours.
President Trump argues that the purpose of this order is to protect Americans from terrorist attacks, citing the Sept. 11 attacks. It should be noted that most of the 9/11 hijackers were Saudi Arabian. This order does not include Saudi Arabia, where President Trump has strong business ties.
On Saturday, Jan. 29, an estimated 1,000 Hoosiers rallied in the Indianapolis International Airport, filling the building to capacity. Among the diverse crowd stood many families, mothers holding infants as speakers such as Sen. Joe Donnelly addressed the crowd. Toddlers sat upon their fathers’ shoulders, carrying handmade signs saying things like “The children are watching.”
Not only are they watching, they have questions.
Stacey S., a mother of two 5-year-old boys, brought her sons to the rally in an attempt to give them answers.
“They’ve been asking me questions for weeks, through the election and through the things that followed,” Stacey said. “They’re scared and confused, and they don’t know what they can do. They had seen Facebook posts of other people protesting in the airports, and they were like ‘Can we do that, too, in our airport?’ and I said ‘Sure!’”
“Adrian’s been asking me ‘What about all the good people? Can they come?’ and Alex has been asking me ‘Why does Donald Trump want to scare people and trick them into not liking other people?’ Those are questions straight from 5-year-olds, and I don’t have answers, but at least I can give them something to do about it.”
Parents also see rallies such as the Resist the List Rally, as it was dubbed, as a chance to teach their children what they believe to be core values.
“I think it’s necessary for parents to involve their children in resistance,” Ata A. said. “Especially resistance against a regime of intolerance, of hate, corruption, and absolute disdain for the Constitution.”
For others, it’s personal.
“We just wanted her to experience it, [the rally] for one thing,” Brian Ruckle said of his 9-year-old daughter Elena.
“She’s biracial, her mother is Chinese and has a green card. I’m not very comfortable with some of the actions and attitudes the administration has been making towards China, and we may need these people to come out here and defend us someday. It’s personal for us. I want her to learn from it and take her freedoms seriously.”
Amid chants of “No hate, no fear, immigrants are welcome here,” a young boy stood holding a sign with a simple message: “My best friend is Muslim.”
Zion, a young boy with a sense of empathy many adults seemingly lack, explains his personal reason for attending the rally.
“One of my best friends in Muslim, and for summer break, he’s going to be back in his home in Jordan,” Zion explained. “I’m just afraid…I don’t want them to not allow him back. This is so stupid.”
Zion also had another reason for protesting.
“I want to stop Trump, period,” he said.
Kim Saylor, a co-organizer of the Indianapolis rally, is proud of the fact that parents are using rallies as a learning experience for their children.
“It feels great to see the next generation being taught what to me is one of the main things that makes this country great: freedom of speech and the ability to protest when we find things we don’t agree with happening in our country,” Saylor said.
As the rally came to a peaceful end Saturday night, one thing was clear: Hoosiers are more than willing to stand up for what they believe in, and bring along their families to join in. As Christiane Hadi, a native of East Germany explained: “I saw people take to the streets for what they believed in, and I saw how many little people can change the world.”
It seems as though the littlest Hoosiers are doing their part to be the change they want to see.
(09/19/17 7:43pm)
In a time of global uncertainty, the time for ethical journalism is now.
By Breanna Cooper
If you’re lucky, there will be a time in your life when you find something you’re passionate about. I was fortunate enough to find that passion early on. It started when I wrote my first story for Ben Davis Spotlight, my high school paper. From that point on, I was in love with telling stories. The ability to tell these stories, however, requires the freedom to do so.
That freedom is under fire.
If President Trump has been consistent with anything, it is his disdain for the media. Ironically, it was the media who allowed Trump the ability to go from the son of a wealthy slumlord to a billionaire mogul with his own reality show. The media, and the public’s, fascination with notoriety and mind-numbing television allowed Trump the platform that he has today. One could argue that it got him to the White House.
In a way, Trump’s disdain for free press makes sense. After all, he’s benefited from the power of the press. Good publicity has the power to turn a nobody into a somebody. That being said, it can also have the reverse effect, and Trump knows this. When hardworking, ethical journalists do their jobs, it can change the course of national events.
Perhaps one of the best examples are two men who changed the course of journalistic history-Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. As writers for the Washington Post, their diligence and dedication to the truth exposed President Richard Nixon’s criminal activity, which ultimately led to his resignation. The power of the media-and the power of the truth-not only kept Americans informed, but it kept a politician in check.
It is this diligence and honesty that all of us in the media industry must strive for. Let’s not be naïve. Like any industry, we have journalists who do the bare minimum. Who do not strive to tell the full story, whose lack of dedication to telling the full truth is troubling to not just the public, but the majority of journalists who make it their mission to keep said public informed to the best of their ability.
We can no longer accept this.
As members of the media, we owe it to ourselves and our readers to hold our colleagues to a high standard. When we have a President with foreign business ties, sketchy interactions with the Russian government, and whose promises threaten our free speech and our fellow citizens, there is no room for mediocrity. There is no time for journalists not committed to telling the truth. When we have the President, and many of his supporters, citing Breitbart and Alex Jones, some of the kings of “alternative facts,” the need for ethical journalism has, at least in my lifetime, never been greater.
This is where the job of readers begins, as well. As members of the media strive for diligence amongst ourselves and our colleagues, it is just as important that our readers keep us in check. In a world where fake news has become a phenomenon, it is crucial that consumers of media question everything, both your government officials and those who report on it.
Most importantly, we cannot let our fear keep us from reporting. Journalists are not exempt from human emotions. We are affected just as much by Trump’s policies and rhetoric as any other citizen, and whatever reactions or feelings those evoke in us are valid. However, we have a job to do.
In order to do this job, we must act. We must push forward through our fears and doubts and fight not just for our right to report on events, but for the freedom of our fellow citizens to know what’s happening in their country and the world around them.
In times like this, when tension is high and our freedoms are threatened, it is helpful to look to your heroes for inspiration.
For me, that person is Dan Rather. In his last broadcast on CBS News, Rather closed out the show with words of encouragement for those around the world, including journalists, saying: “To my fellow journalists in places where reporting the news means risking it all; and to each of you: courage.” If the six reporters arrested for covering the Inauguration protests are any indication, reporting the truth in Trump’s America may come with risks that we haven’t seen in recent years.
That can’t stop us.
If we, as citizens and as journalists, truly want to stand up to the threat that Donald Trump poses to our nation and world as President of the United States, our passion and dedication to the truth must outweigh our fear.
Courage.
https://twitter.com/BarbaraBoxer/status/824767665482854400?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fthecampuscitizen.com%2Fthe-latest%2F2017%2F1%2F27%2Fuvp7zyn1ni6rn3tk423pm9g503ih2s
(09/19/17 7:37pm)
The latest information acquired and shared by Wikileaks points to government surveillance.
By Breanna Cooper
When people camp out for the latest technology, they may be getting more than they bargained for. The latests releases from WikiLeaks, known as “Vault 7,” allege that the CIA may be hacking personal devices to spy on consumers. Apple has adapted its servers to ensure the security of customers.
A major cause of concern after the 9,000 pages of documents were released was the notion that the government could bypass encryption apps like What’sApp and Signal, applications that are designed for encrypted private chats.The official Twitter page for WikiLeaks sent out a Tweet hinting that the CIA successfully compromised these popular apps.
They didn’t. Nothing within the leaked documents suggests that those applications were compromised in any way. The software used by these apps is completely secure, not even the companies providing the service can see data when it’s passed between two cell phones.
Cell phones and other personal devices, however, are not as hard to hack into. The documents claim that the CIA can hack into smartphones, an act typically reserved for nation-state agents. This would allow the hackers total access to the contents of the phone, including messages, the camera, and the microphone.
The Vault 7 documents state that Samsung smart televisions may be compromised. According to the leak, the televisions can have a “false off,” meaning that a microphone may be recording when the consumer believes the television to be off. This is similar to information provided by whistleblower Edward Snowden regarding the privacy of cellphones and other personal devices.
While the CIA is still scrambling to do damage control and find the source while reporters are still working out the fine print on the released documents, it’s understandable that citizen consumers may be panicking.
While panic may not be necessary, citizens can still take steps to ensure their privacy on the internet.
Dr. Connie Justice, associate professor of Computer and Information Technology at IUPUI, suggests staying vigilant about what you post, search online, and who you give your information to.
“Remember anything that has a network connection has the potential of being surveilled,” Justice said.
Justice also suggests keeping your smartphone and any other digital device up to date on security patches, and to use anonymous browsing, as well as using “at least two factor authentication.”
That’s where DUO steps in. Introduced to IUPUI’s campus this year, DUO serves as a two factor authentication system meant to protect students from data breaches.
Daniel Calarco, Chief of Staff at Information and Technology Services at Indiana University, argues that DUO is an effective form of security for students, staff, and faculty.
“It combines what you already have, knowledge based factors, which are usernames and passwords, and it adds another step,” Calarco said.
The other step includes setting up your smartphone to your account, which sends a “push” notification to your phone which must be verified to log into your account. Those without a smartphone receive a token, which provides the user with a code to complete the login process.
“Even if a bad actor manages to compromise one part of the process,” Calarco said, “that is not enough to access data.”
The DUO service protects student information such as financial information, Box accounts, and Google Drive files, among other things. While it just became a requirement for students, the program has been in use for nearly 20 years by the University.
It may be too early to identify the full implications of the Vault 7 documents. While the CIA can neither prove nor disprove at this time if the person responsible for the leak of information was an operative, there remains a large portion of the released documents that need to be carefully read through and examined to determine the level of overreach, if any, that was committed by the CIA.
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In the meantime, while WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange argues that this leak is proof that the CIA has “lost control of its arsenal,” there are steps that consumers can take to ensure their cybersecurity and privacy.
https://twitter.com/business/status/839920100912193536?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fthecampuscitizen.com%2Fthe-latest%2F2017%2F3%2F10%2Fa-warning-to-consumers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wo9arZs21WI
(09/12/15 11:27pm)
Molly June was the only solo female artist from Indianapolis to perform at Chreece. She took the stage with her face painted as a macabre skull and shocked the audience with her talents.
(09/12/15 11:24pm)
Ke’ondris is a rapper and guitar player from Norcross, Ga. Everyone could feel his passion for what he was doing onstage at Joyful Noise. Wanting to get another song in, he played until he had to be stopped by the stage manager.
(09/12/15 11:21pm)
enre-bending, raunchy, electropop rapper Andy D sounds different than some hip-hop acts but still earns their respect. Andy D focuses less on fitting into a genre and more on making the music he wants to make. Andy D and his wife Anna Vision play party music that wins over fans of punk and rap.
(09/12/15 11:18pm)
Harry Otaku is the most respected producer in Indianapolis.
(09/12/15 11:16pm)
MF Goon is a rapper from St. Augustine, Fla., who was brought up to perform by Oreo Jones. Goon was introduced to Ghost Gun Summer by Andy D. The respect he gets from these rappers is hugely deserved.
(09/12/15 11:14pm)
Pope Adrian Bless was the essence of Chreece. He went out and networked with as many people as he could and danced at every show he could make it to. Pope was jumping with other musicians, freestyling with people he just met, and even dancing with homeless women.
(09/12/15 11:11pm)
John Stamps is part of Ghost Gun Summer and got the audience jumping every time it was his turn to rap a verse in the Hi-Fi. Stamps is also featured on Sirius Blvck’s most popular song, “Bill Murray.”
(09/12/15 11:01pm)
Southside rapper Flaco discusses performing, the state of the art of hip-hop, and Muncie.
(09/12/15 10:58pm)
Shadow Village is a collective of eight young artists who pride themselves on having talents beyond hip-hop. They want to change the scene by adding more layers of art and not just music.