Author: Gwenna Salazar
Opinion: Bezos doesn’t need your money, local businesses do
Shop Small Saturday is a tradition to encourage supporting local businesses in the holiday season. The retail holiday immediately follows Black Friday and includes sales from local shops. If you haven’t participated in the past, this is the year to start. Local businesses are hurting this year. The pandemic significantly impacted their profits, forcing many to close despite their successful ...
Good horror is feminist because being marginalized is scary
When people tell me they don’t like horror movies, or that horror movies aren’t feminist, I understand where they’re coming from. Some of the genre’s tropes include valuing virgin women and killing the rest or long, drawn out, arguably “sexy” murders of women while their male co-stars get a quick headshot. That being said, I think horror deserves credit as a space where women and other margi...
Rape Recovery Center celebrates adapted Sexual Assault Awareness Month
Employees at the Rape Recovery Center, located just down the street from Westminster College at 2035 1300 E, Salt Lake City, have spent a year planning their Sexual Assault Awareness Month activities. However, the week after the event schedule was released, Salt Lake County’s stay-at-home order made most of their activities impossible, said Stephany Murguia, director of education and outreac...
Theatre students cope with canceled performances, lost opportunities
Lavinia Adams said she was pressured by her friends to audition for the school play back in junior high school. She was cast in a leading role and said that was when she fell in love with theatre. “From then on I knew this was something I wanted to do,” she said. This year, her junior year at Westminster College, she was cast as the lead in Sweet Charity. “This was my semester that I was hit...
Restorative justice event emphasizes healing, indigenous roots
“If I hold them in their humanity, then I hold them accountable,” said Jannet Conners about the men who murdered her son. Conners is one of the mothers featured in “Circle Up,” a documentary about restorative justice. The goals of restorative justice include healing for the victims and rehabilitation for the offenders so they do not hurt others, according to the documentary. Restorativ...
Religious inclusion is left out of diversity conversations, some students say
Westminster College prides itself on its diversity efforts. But some students say that within those efforts of being more inclusive to all genders, races and sexual orientations, religion is left out of the conversation. Practicing religious sensitivity Kehaolani Pati, coordinator of student involvement, leadership and orientation, works with student faith-based clubs. She said sometimes stu...
Young people are capable of more than posting on social media, activists say
Jamie Margolin, Saida Dahir and Karina Popovich are young, female activists. The women told audience members that youth are leading modern political and cultural movements at the Young Women Leading Change: Three Activists Forging a New Future Vision in Gore Auditorium on Tuesday. Felecia Maxfleid Barrett, Executive Director of the Utah Council for Citizen Diplomacy, said her organization brought ...
Opinion: Mx. Westminster is fun and more people should be doing it
As a first-year student, I attended as many on-campus events as possible. One night in February 2018, I convinced my sister to come with me to something called Mx. Westminster. That night I saw stand-up comedy, lip-syncing, a choreographed fruit salad and more. Ultimately, Maggie Regier was crowned Mx. Westminster for her presentation on comprehensive Sex Education. I remember leaving with a...
Academic persona and fantasy character aren’t so different, says English professor
The student is the character. The consultant is the dungeon master. The piece of writing is the campaign. Together they make Dungeons and Dragons—or a trip to the Writing Center. Christopher LeCluyse, the director of the Westminster Writing Center, said students develop academic personas, particularly in their writing. When students get a consultation at a writing center, the consultant serves as ...
Tuition increase causes family tension for some
Over winter break, students had the opportunity to talk about the tuition increase with their parents and family members. Some families pay or help pay for their student’s tuition and say they share the stress of covering the higher cost. Kiernan Jett is a senior studying public health who said her mother would not have been able to afford the increase tuition if Jett was not graduatin...
Getting to know Westminster’s new provost
After a long and specific hiring process, Westminster has hired Dr. Debbie Tahmassebi to serve as provost for the college. Tahmassebi started her new position as provost on July 1 of 2019. Tahmassebi says many people aren’t aware of what her position entails. She said the provost is the chief academic officer on campus, meaning she is responsible for academic programs and priorities. “...