Editorial – Page 7 – The Columbia Chronicle

Supporting Austin bombings’ victims means addressing racism

By Editorial Board

April 2, 2018

After mass violence, do we remember the victims or the perpetrators?A string of bombings beginning March 2 in Austin, Texas, terrorized the community. Of the seven explosive devices authorities connected to suspect Mark Anthony Conditt, three detonated in East Austin, home to the majority of the city’s black and Latino residents. The first three bombs were hand delivered to the victims’ homes, killing two men and injuring o...

Update still loading: Online privacy has a major glitch

By Editorial Board

March 26, 2018

Our right to privacy is under constant threat, and we don’t seem to mind.In January, the online chat service Discord shut down a group used to distribute doctored content of female celebrities in pornographic videos made without their consent. The members of the “deepfakes” group created the videos with FakeApp, an artificial intelligence program allowing users to place images of people onto footage. Members had rule...

Gubernatorial endorsement: Daniel Biss is the governor Illinois needs

March 12, 2018

With the March 20 gubernatorial primary elections nearing, The Chronicle is proud to endorse Democratic candidate Daniel Biss for Illinois governor. Biss received approximately 87 percent of the staff...

Corporations struggle to do what health-care system won’t

By Editorial Board

March 12, 2018

Uber launched Uber Health on March 1, a new form of non-emergency medical transportation.The new service allows patients to schedule rides to and from medical appointments hours before or up to 30 days in advance. Providers who order the rides do so through an online dashboard, and patients receive a text message or phone call for information about their trip, making rides accessible to those without smartphones.Lyft Conci...

CityKey ID needs everyone to unlock Chicago opportunities

By Editorial Board

March 5, 2018

Chicago plans to launch its municipal ID program this month, and residents will have the most accessible form of activism readily available to them.The Chicago CityKey Program, which city officials began developing in October 2016, will provide an alternative to residents who are often unable to obtain government-issued identification. The homeless, undocumented or recently incarcerated will finally be able to use the “...

Food box proposal a new low, even for Trump administration

By Editorial Board

February 26, 2018

President Donald Trump’s administration has gotten creative in exhibiting its disregard for the poor.A proposal in the administration’s budget request for the 2019 fiscal year would drastically affect low-income people’s access to and choice of food. About half of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients’ benefits would come in a “USDA Foods Package.” Recipients currently use a stored value card wit...

Good news for student journalists: Your work matters

By Editorial Board

February 26, 2018

Somewhere in a U.S. classroom, there is a student who will one day break a news story that will change the world. Schools nationwide are training the up-and-coming voices in journalism, and some new legislative efforts are ensuring they are heard.The Missouri House of Representatives passed the Cronkite New Voices Act, a bill that would guarantee protections from censorship for student journalists in public high schools, u...

No cold shoulder: Columbia can give support in extreme weather

By Editorial Board

February 19, 2018

Chicago was swept under a blanket of snow Feb. 8 as Winter Storm Mateo blew through in the late hours, becoming the worst snowstorm this winter. By the evening hours of Feb. 9, 10 inches of snow had fallen in some areas. Before the snowfall began, city officials, the National Weather Service and local news outlets stressed the dangers that would come with the storm. During a Feb. 8 press conference, Mayor Rahm Emanuel warn...

Public needs to understand Russia investigation to act

By Editorial Board

February 12, 2018

The American public is watching as significant developments are aired in the ongoing investigation into the White House administration’s relationship with Russia, but is the public—and college students in particular—able to understand this complex scenario? Will they be able to react if Special Counsel Robert Mueller is fired or even gauge the significance of what is happening?The confusion is understandable but the st...

Students need to know about, learn from hate on campus

By Editorial Board

February 12, 2018

In The Dwight student residence, free expression is championed in a graffiti room where students can freely draw on the walls without restriction. That free expression was used for hate imagery, however, when students found multiple swastikas drawn on the floor, as reported on Page 3.After the discovery, Dwight residents were notified Feb. 2 via email that the graffiti room would be closed for repainting without further exp...

GoFundMe can show what we get wrong about charity

By Editorial Board

February 5, 2018

Does a Chicago Police Department officer with a history of harming civilians deserve your donation?Officer Robert Rialmo and his attorney think so. Attorney Joel Brodsky posted a GoFundMe campaign Jan. 23 to cover his client’s legal fees as Rialmo faces misdemeanor charges for an alleged Dec. 17 bar fight. The city refused to cover the cost of Rialmo’s legal representation after he fired the law firm provided to him by the...

After government shutdown, where is the line drawn?

By Editorial Board

January 29, 2018

A three-day government shutdown came to an end Jan. 22 after Congress passed a short-term spending bill, but the cause of the shutdown has yet to be addressed. The government shutdown began at midnight EST Jan. 19 because Senate Democrats refused to sign off on a bill that did not include protections for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals immigration program recipients. It seems honorable that Democrats risked their re...