The 2020 Fall semester is in full swing! Despite its historically unprecedented online instruction, Queens College faculty and staff are tirelessly working to ensure that students receive a quality education. With more students being infected by COVID-19 on college campuses across the nation, the fear of a local spike in cases still remains prevalent amongst members of the community. The majority of students are receiving synchronous, asynchronous, or a combination of both lecture types through diverse platforms such as CUNY Blackboard Collaborative Ultra, Zoom, Google Meets, Slack, Dropbox and others. But what happens to those students and professors who need access to science laboratories as per their major or minor…
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Elijah McClain: “A beautiful soul”
On Aug 24th, 2019, Colorado police responded to a call from a resident living in the city of Aurora who spotted a “sketchy” man. The man in question was Elijah McClain, a 23 year old professional massage therapist and self taught violinist. McClain was on his way home from the convenience store after buying an iced tea while wearing a ski mask. What police didn’t know is that McClain suffered from anemia and wore the mask as a protective covering in order to keep his face from getting cold. Shortly after police arrived on the scene, they approached and accosted McClain before pinning him down on the ground for eighteen…
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Yale University Accused of Discriminating Against Asian-American Applicants
On August 13th, the Justice Department made a bold claim that Yale University has been discriminating against its Asian-American and White applicants. This came at the heels of a two-year-long investigation against the school, which began shortly after Harvard was accused of committing the very same crime. If this allegation is in fact true, Yale would be violating Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Acts, which prohibits any school from turning away potential candidates purely on the basis of race, sex, or national origin. Last October, Harvard’s trial came to a close as the school was found innocent, but next month, arguments are set to be heard for the…
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Breonna Taylor: A Young Life Full of Potential Taken Too Soon
When George Floyd, 46, was murdered by four police officers in Minneapolis, MN, the effect caused a shockwave impact throughout the nation. As a result, the American public has begun calling out the state and national government, police, and elected officials to eradicate the common occurrences of racially based crimes within America’s justice systems. But before George Floyd’s life was unjustly taken, Breonna Taylor, 26, faced the same fate just two months previously. Just after midnight on March 13, 2020, Jonathan Mattingly, Brett Hankison, and Myles Cosgrove used a ram on the door of Breonna Taylor’s apartment to enter her home where she and her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, lay asleep.…
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Music Review: Taylor Swift drops new album entitled folklore
On July 23rd, Taylor Swift surprised the world by announcing the release of her latest album entitled, “folklore.” The album is a heartfelt tale of many different stories. Swift’s fans, often referred to as “Swifties,” have shown nothing but complete adoration for Swift’s recent release. Whereas I wouldn’t necessarily categorize myself as a Swiftie, the album certainly had me “in the feels.” My personal favorites from the album were “cardigan,” “seven,” “the last great American dynasty,” and “illicit affairs.” The debut song, “cardigan” premiered on YouTube with its own music video had many (including myself at one point) reaching for a tissue box. It reached number 1 on the Billboard…
