This week, our staff voice their frustrations to fill the void. Here’s the newest edition of Staff Rants.

On Executive Orders:

The confusion about these executive orders is downright dangerous. Besides the danger of what they propose — a Muslim registry, reinstating the “global gag rule,” restarting construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline — the fact is that few citizens thoroughly understand how executive orders work and how they’re made into law which means that few people can process the actual impact of these orders. This confusion makes our reactions complex — people behave according to things that aren’t law but sound frighteningly official, and human rights are being violated left and right. It is ruthlessly effective on President Trump’s part to instill a sense of immediacy in his actions, and grossly frustrating for its power, whether legal or ideological. — Hailey Nuthals, Arts Editor

On Brothers:

Today started as an average day. I woke up tired due to heaps of sleep debt that likely take a lifetime to make up. I went to class. I took a nap. And then I walked down to the WSN office to start multimedia production. While completing my responsibilities, I received a random call from a random number — only somewhat familiar because it had the same area code as my hometown. I picked up my phone to hear heavy breathing and loud background noise on the other end. Then the stranger hung up. After a few minutes of confusion, I received a text from that same random number asking who I was, since he had found my number written on a desk in his Spanish classroom. I assumed the stranger was from my former high school, since I know my younger brother also takes Spanish. As I interrogated the stranger regarding his identity, the pieces came together. My brother had put my number on a random desk for strangers to find and contact me. Does he not understand privacy? What about common decency? How are we from the same uterus? I would never do something like this to him. The audacity. — Veronica Liow, Deputy Multimedia Editor

On Toilets:

As a heavyweight water chugger, I frequent the restroom more often that than the average person — public restrooms are lifesavers. However, they are also extremely unhygienic, so I do not understand why people want to make them even worse. For some reason, the toilet seat lid is always down on the bowl, which makes absolutely no sense: why do people want to make extra contact with something so germ-filled? Quite frankly, it’s kind of shitty. — Diamond Naga Siu, Editor-in-Chief

On Water:

Honestly, as someone who pretends she enjoys — or is even good at — staying hydrated, I get really dissatisfied when I see a misleading bottle of Fiji water. Hear me out — theoretically, Fiji water should taste great, right? You’re supposed to be sipping water that comes from the depths of the crystal-clear, Asian waterfalls. Plus it’s expensive as hell, so I really should be getting a high-quality drink. Unfortunately, due to false advertising, when you take a swig of Fiji, you’re met with a bland, unsatisfying version of water. Who knew water could taste bad? — Natasha Roy, News Editor

On Harry Potter:

The Harry Potter series is one of the greatest artistic masterpieces of our generation. If you don’t believe me, just look up how many copies the books have sold. It’s astounding. Yes, they are children’s fantasy novels, but if they were so trivial they wouldn’t have spawned numerous theme parks, a second series of movies and a West End play two decades after the first book came out. Just because you can’t appreciate the series’ contribution to our generation it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t deserve your respect. — Taylor Nicole Rogers, Features Editor

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