one twenty seven

Are there Partisan Rebels Anymore? Whither Alex P. Keaton

By Paul A. Djupe A hundred years ago in the 1980s, Alex P. Keaton was the Wall Street-worshipping, Republican child of reformed hippies on the sitcom Family Ties. Played by Michael J. Fox, Alex was a mystery to his parents – where did he come from? But the 1980s were a different time, when partisan…

How democratic is the US according to Denisonians?

By Paul A. Djupe By most accounts, the United States is facing its most severe test in my lifetime and arguably since 1876. The sum of those tests is the impeachment trial of the former President Donald Trump for inciting the January 6 Insurrection. So it’s a good time to take stock, to see how…

Socially isolating before it was cool

By Shayne Silver-Riskin In September of 2018, I entered social isolation because outside felt scary. COVID-19 had not yet reared its ugly head, but social anxiety had already reared its ugliness inside my head. I would often go days without leaving my dorm because even when I hurriedly paced down the hallway to the bathroom,…

Their Covid-19 Policy Worked: Do Students Trust the Administration?

By Siobhán Mitchell As Denison enters what may be one of the most difficult times in its history, the fate of nearly 2,000 students hinges on the Weinberg administration. (POTUS gets their time in office identified by their surname, so it seems appropriate that Denison do the same for our president.) Although there is an…

Is the Holocaust Already a Faded Memory?

By Jacob Dennen and Marc Mitchell As I scrolled through my Instagram this past week, I saw only a couple people, all of them Jewish, posting about this week being the anniversary of Kristallnacht, a night when virtually any Jewish-owned property was attacked and destroyed in 1938 in Nazi Germany. Last year, my father, a…

Campus Safety in the Time of the Novel Coronavirus

By Sarah MacKenzie This semester has been one like no other. Masks are required on campus grounds, many classes are remote, and the social life has taken a sharp right turn to the Tower, the deck of Silverstein, and the “Blue Garden” (that muddy patch outside of Myers). No longer are Sunnies apartments crowded with…

Ideological Tensions on Campus?

By Jacob Dennen and Paul Djupe The 2020 Democratic nomination contest again featured squabbling over the direction of the party. Remember back in 2016 when Bernie Sanders continued his fight all the way to the convention? Well, 2020 was much more unified, which makes sense given that they were facing a greater menace: Donald Trump….

Can You Social Shame Without an Instagram?

By Sarah MacKenzie Over the last couple of months the Denison community has undergone changes that perhaps compare to no other time in Big Red history. However, the size and demographic of the student population has remained relatively the same and so has the drama that comes with it. Now instead of being shamed for…

The Politics of COVID-19 Policy Support

By Siobhán Mitchell Outside of our Denison bubble, COVID-19 cases hit record numbers in the United States and uncertainty for the winter looms. While the future viral health of the nation remains unknown, the upcoming presidential election offers little reassurance. Masks, social distancing, and healthcare are at the forefront of American politics and the two…

Vote 2020 :: Campus is “Ridin’ with Biden”

By Paul A. Djupe We’re in the final days before the historic 2020 presidential election, in which the fate of American democracy arguably hangs in the balance. Not to my knowledge has a president ever before inspired such a high level of defection from elite members of his party, such as previous Republican National Committee…

Who Bends the Covid-19 Rules? Exceptional Thinking on Campus

By Paul A. Djupe Denisonians have done an amazing job so far this year adhering to draconian, if necessary rules designed to keep the campus safe and enable the academic year to proceed. The rest of the country, not so much. Researchers are now suggesting that the Sturgis (South Dakota) motorcycle rally with roughly half…