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Gustave Caillebotte, Man at His Bath Man Drying Himself 

A Slap On the Wrist Just Isn't Good Enough Anymore by Hannah Gibbons
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Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits gender discrimination in all schools that receive federal funding. On May 1, 2014 the U.S. department of education released a list of 55 schools that receive federal funding and are currently under investigation for mishandling cases of sexual assault complaints from students. There are more than a few recognizable names on the list including Harvard, Princeton, University of California- Berkeley, and Arizona State University. The list was released on the day that students were to make their final decisions about where to attend college. Education secretary Anne Duncan said there was “absolutely no presumption” of guilt (as to U.S. News). The point of releasing the list was to bring transparency to the work of the department of education and to “foster better public awareness of civil rights,” as put by assistant secretary for civil rights, Catherine E. Lhamon.

Sexual violence refers to physical sexual acts perpetrated against a person’s will or where a person is incapable of giving consent. Sexual assault cases have been prevalent on college campuses. With just a simple google search you can find more than a few open letters to school administrations and complaints about students’ reports of sexual misconduct being ignored. On April 29 the White House released a minute long video on YouTube.com entitled 1 is 2 Many. The video feature Daniel Craig, Steve Carell, Seth Meyers, Benicio Del Toro, and Dulé Hill, as well as President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden. The video is not so subtly directed at males explaining that if a woman doesn’t or can’t consent then it is considered rape. With over 1 million views on YouTube so far, it has been a successful campaign so far. The press release on the U.S. department of education’s website says, “The Obama administration is committed to putting an end to sexual violence-- particularly on college campuses.”

Between the openness of the department of education and the progressive anti-victim blaming 

video released by the White House, it looks as if progress is beginning when it comes to sexual 

harassment in the U.S.   



The Grinch Steals Summer  by Talia Briant
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"Our school calendar is antiquated both educationally and culturally. Life in 2014 demands something more for our students. It is time to lengthen both the school day and school year in New Jersey,” New Jersey Governor Chris Christie announces his opinion at the annual State to State address in January. Christie has high hopes for the 600 k-12 school districts in New Jersey. He is pushing forward “more than 12.9 billion dollars for k-12 education funding,” he says at the State Budget Address. Christie first brought up his motives in January with the high hopes of increasing the length of the school day and the school year to improve competitiveness and increase student learning time.

After his approach was addressed, reactions have been very mixed. Deputy executive director of the New Jersey School Boards Association, Frank Belluscio, along with chairwoman of the Senate education committee, Teresa Ruiz, are in favor of the elongated year. Some schools in New Jersey have attempted changes such as having longer winter and spring breaks and shortening the summer break, possibly adding up to 30 more days to the school year.

Other than board members and administrators of the schools in New Jersey, the students of school have a lot to say of the potential change. Though most students, along with Nathalie Spidle, a junior from Columbia High School (CHS) in Maplewood, New Jersey, think the proposal is a bad idea, some see where Christie is coming from. “I wouldn’t want to spend more time in school then we do already, 5 out of 7 days a week and 10 out of 12 months of the year, if he took away anymore he would just be abolishing the summer completely,” argues Spidle. In contrast, another junior from CHS, Olivia Kasdin, see’s what Christies real motives are. “Elongating the school days and year could potentially enhance the knowledge levels of all the schools in New Jersey, we could all be much more intelligent and mature, preparing us for the real world more effectively than the way we’re prepared now,” explains Kasdin, “If you think about it, adding the time now could actually get rid of a full year of school moving graduation a year earlier, or simply giving students time to learn more before graduating and going off on their own.”

Christie also proposed funding the PreSchools of New Jersey with $5 million initiatives and for the Interdistrict Public School Choice Program by $4.8 million and protecting $12 million for charter school funding. The funding is aimed to help the school districts to implement online computer-based testing. His plan also includes money sponsoring higher education, $2.3 billion dollars, which is $159 million higher than the previous year. This also includes $14 million to help students find money to pay for their college tuition.

"If student achievement is lagging at the exact moment when we need improvement more than ever in order to compete in the world economy, should we not take these steps — every possible step — to boost student achievement?" Christies arguments in his Address show that everything he is doing is for the right cause, its just a matter of proving to the state and everyone in it that what he wants to do is the right thing for us all.