Throughout the past couple of weeks, trails and other outdoor areas have begun to reopen. Like most of us, I have been looking for a way to safely get out and experience something other than the inside of my home. A great place to check out to get some safe exercise is the Point Whitehorn Marine Reserve.
2020 has been a very different year
than normal for all of us. COVID-19 has affected everyone in ways we never
thought would happen, and for the most vulnerable of our communities, it has
made life even harder.
For many in our community, the shutdown means no job, no opportunity to earn money, and no guarantee of food on the table. Nearly 20% of Bellingham visits the food bank on a regular basis, according to data released by the Bellingham Food Bank, and COVID has only made it more difficult for already struggling families to get the food they need.
In the past two weeks, the coronavirus toll in the U.S. surpassed
100,000 deaths, people around the world protested against the killing of George
Floyd, and more than 400 journalists have had their First Amendment rights
infringed upon.
The unjustified deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud
Arbery, sparked a series of protests beginning on May 26 all over the country and
the world. Since that first day, journalists have had their voices and their
rights stripped away as police officers everywhere threaten, arrest, and
physically attack them for covering these protests.
Imagine you are facing a
wall with two friends. This wall is 7 feet tall. You are about 6-foot-2 and
your friends are 5-foot-10 and 5-foot-2. You need a stool to see over the wall,
so you get yourself a box that is 10 inches tall. The principle of equality
would say that this same box should be provided for your two friends as well,
and that is sufficient. You all are provided the same materials to do the same
task. Is this not fair?
This method of doling out
boxes according to the principle of equality does not work. Clearly, if you are
any good at mental math, you know that it is only you who can see over the wall.
Your friends, having different needs in accordance with their heights, are still
stuck staring at bricks.
Every issue, I ask my writers to scrounge the campus for any student they can find to ask them our bi-monthly Whatcom Voices question. As a team, our staff will sit around our conference table and try to pick a winning question.
This can take a while because I very strongly detest basic questions.