Author: BRANDON JOHNSON

Rather than wasting your time reading something that is so personal to me, let me use some of this space for some things I wish I knew when I was an 18. These are some tidbits of information I’ve picked up along my Monmouth journey. While I’m still “just a kid” by most accounts, these are some things that have had the biggest impact on who I am.

Students, faculty and scholars gathered in Magill Commons Club for the 4th Biennial Interdisciplinary Conference on Race, hearing national and international researchers present their papers from April 16-18.

The Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) that has been causing a stir in Indiana and Louisiana, among other states, has its roots in a 1990 Supreme Court case in which a Native American man lost his job after testing positive for a drug. Alfred Smith, a resident of Oregon, used peyote (a hallucinogenic) as part of a religious ceremony and was fired from his job as a counselor at a drug rehabilitation clinic. When Smith applied for unemployment he was denied because his dismissal from work was deemed misconduct.

As with any private institution, the American news media often does itself a disservice. It has an agenda which largely revolves around raising viewership, highlighting controversies, and while presenting information in a clear and concise fashion. Publicizing nicknames like “Jihadi John” for ruthless terrorists and killers aids in creating sympathy for him as well as demeaning the seriousness of the problem.

Americans are more likely to identify as conservative, according to a Gallup poll published Jan. 10, 2014. This ideological classification of liberal vs. conservative permeates American politics and is often the basis by which individuals frame their political beliefs and spark everyday conversation with others.