01/07/18: 75th Annual Golden Globes

The 75th annual Golden Globes, hosted by Seth Meyers at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, was held Sunday evening. The Golden Globes were the first major awards ceremony to be held since the sexual harassment accusations against Harvey Weinstein and several other notable names in the movie industry. The #MeToo movement powered by Time’s Up, an organization for anti-harassment founded in response to the Weinstein effect, decorated the Golden Globes. Attendees wore black to recognize this silent movement, several deciding to add Time’s Up pins to show their support. Notable moments during the night include Debra Messing scolding E! Entertainment during an interview with E! about the wage differences between their male and female co-hosts. Interviewers also opted to ask celebrities why they were wearing black as opposed to asking the usual “Who are you wearing.”

01/08/18: Tanker collides into ship off of China

Late Saturday evening, an oil tanker known as SANCHI crashed into a freight ship off the east coast of China. The accident caused SANCHI, which was carrying over 136,000 tons of oil from Iran to South Korea, to catch fire. This causedthe tanker to lose connection with its crew. Chinese maritime rescuers have launched eight vessels for a search and rescue operation. South Korea also dispatched a coastguard ship and fixed wing aircraft to assist with the operation. According to China’s Ministry of Transport, all 21 Chinese passengers on the tankers were rescued as of Monday; however, there are 32 sailors missing from Iran and Bangladesh. Despite the responders on scene, the tanker is still engulfed in flames due to the expansion of leaked crude oil.

01/09/18: North Korea to bring athletes to Winter Olympics

On Tuesday, after North Korea accepted South Korea’s offer of official meetings, the countries met in what would be the first “high-level contact” between the two countries in over two years to hold talks to release military tension. During this meeting, held in Peace House in the Joint Security Area, North Korea agreed to send a delegation to the 2018 Winter Olympics, held next month in South Korea. North Korea plans to send athletes, a cheering squad, an art troupe, press corps, as well as a visiting group to Pyeongchang, where the Olympics will be held. While some express concern about possible North Korea propaganda during the Olympics , many are optimistic about this interaction between the two countries. The meeting, however, had some tense moments. North Korea’s chief negotiator, Ri Son Gwon, expressed strong discontent when the South Korean media claimed that denuclearization was discussed at the Tuesday meeting. In addition to discussion regarding the Winter Olympics and denuclearization, the leaders also led talks of family reunifications. 

01/10/18: Devastating mudslides in Southern California

After receiving heavy rain throughout Tuesday and Wednesday, parts of Southern California were struck with sever mudslides, some describing it as “river of mud.” Some of the areas affected included Santa Barbara County where Montecito and Carpinteria were heavily damaged. Southern California received more than one inch of rain per house. The downpour fell in areas where recent fires destroyed the vegetation and soil, contributing to the extreme damages done to already steep and vulnerable affected areas. Despite the mandatory evacuations issued to the residents of Santa Barbara County before the storm hit, 17 people were killed with tens missing. However, landslides and mudslides are not uncommon in the this region: in January 2005, Ventura County experienced a landslide that killed 10 people.

01/11/18: Police placed outside of university after threats

At Florida Gulf Coast University, a new sociology class titled “White Racism” caused controversy. Although the professor of the course, Ted Thornhill, expected backlash from the public, he was “shocked by their vitriol,” pulling up 46 pages of emails that he received in the weeks prior to the first day of class. Despite the controversies, the class- which only had enough spots open for 50 students- was filled immediately. This, however, is not the first incident in which professors attempted to tackle this social issue. In 1995, Professor Noel Cazenave, a sociology professor at University of Connecticut, introduced a class with the same topic and name. The 1995 class, too, was met with criticism and was disbanded. In regards to Professor Thornhill’s class, while no incidents have happened yet, the university has taken extra precautions by placing police outside of the classroom. He stated ““My White Racism course is not anti-white; it is anti-white racism…Clearly, not all white people are racists; some are even anti-racist. However, all people racialized as white derive, in some measure, material and psychological benefits by virtue of being racialized as white.”