The first month of Fall 2013 has passed, and you know what that means: Library West is more crowded than The Beatles’ farewell concert.
It was another crazy week on both a local and national scale. According to The Washington Post, yesterday top House Republicans rejected a proposed short-term spending plan that was expected to pass in the Senate in a few days — rendering a government shutdown likely. Miley Cyrus and her wagging tongue posed topless for Rolling Stone. And Gainesville Man — who is in the running to replace Florida Man in the weirdness category — threatened a lawn crew by brandishing a samurai sword.
So here we go: your I-have-three-exams-in-one-day-and-I’ve-forgotten-what-sleep-feels-like edition of Darts & Laurels.
First, a LAUREL to Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity, which has become the first fraternity to promote mental health and suicide prevention at universities across the country through a partnership with The Jed Foundation.
It’s no secret fraternities tend to get a bad rep as groups of snapback-wearing, Natty-Light chugging d-bags, and fraternities like FGCU’s Pike chapter only reinforce that stereotype. It’s heartwarming, then, to see some use their organization to spread goodness.
Sports Illustrated’s ongoing investigation into the dark underbelly of Oklahoma State University’s football scene becomes more disheartening by the minute. The Atlantic published an analysis of the university’s practice of using attractive hostesses to “recruit” high school football players — sometimes sleeping with the boys in order to convince them to choose the university.
“The Sports Illustrated report and the publication of ‘The System’ come at a moment when the use of women by college football programs and the sexual abuse of women at the hands of college football players deserve as much attention as ever,” The Atlantic’s Jessica Luther wrote.
A DART, then, to OSU and other schools — both high schools and sprawling public universities with hefty athletics budgets — that prioritize football over the well-being of its female students.
Even though Americans eat a disgusting amount of cheese, as we mentioned on Wednesday, things are looking up in the high-calorie fast-food market. The New York Times reported yesterday that McDonald’s plans to roll out more healthy options to its menu and stop marketing unhealthy items toward children. Side salads will be available for McCombo meals, fresh fruit and raw vegetables will be offered in the adult menu and McDonald’s plans to make over its Happy Meals packaging by featuring healthy foods in a “fun” way.
McDonald’s, you get a LAUREL! We wish you the best of luck in pushing your sad salads over those golden French fries that glisten with grease.
Finally, a DART to Badger, a brand of sunscreen for children, that recalled 30,000 tubes of its lotions after discovering they were contaminated with bacteria and fungus. Gross! People were slathering that stuff on babies! Between Naked juice and Chobani yogurt, these food and sun-protection giants need to pull their acts together.
Happy Friday!
A version of this editorial ran on page 6 on 9/27/2013 under the headline "Darts & Laurels"
