Gavin Swanson
- None, The Daily Utah Chronicle
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Articles by Gavin Swanson
Swanson: How to Talk Politics at the Holiday Table – The Daily Utah Chronicle
(Illustration by Alex Garcia | Daily Utah Chronicle) (Illustration by Alex Garcia | Daily Utah Chronicle) (Illustration by Alex Garcia | Daily Utah Chronicle) By Gavin Swanson, Opinion Writer December 3, 2019 Send email to this address Enter Your Name Add a comment here Verification As we steel ourselves to go home and interact with family members for the winter holiday season, we know there are three topics that you don’t bring up at the dinner table — money, religion and politics.
Swanson: Trump's Blunder In Syria Reminds Us To Vote For Strong Foreign Policy In 2020 – The Daily Utah Chronicle
President Donald J. Trump and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey at the United Nations General Assembly (Courtesy Wikimedia Commons) President Donald J. Trump and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey at the United Nations General Assembly (Courtesy Wikimedia Commons) President Donald J.
Swanson: Trump's War On The Press Feels Familiar – The Daily Utah Chronicle
The New York Times Building in Manhattan. The New York Times has been a regular target of the Trump Administration. (Courtesy Flickr) The New York Times Building in Manhattan. The New York Times has been a regular target of the Trump Administration. (Courtesy Flickr) The New York Times Building in Manhattan. The New York Times has been a regular target of the Trump Administration.
Swanson: Warren Can Rally Democrats, But Can She Win it All? – The Daily Utah Chronicle
Senator Elizabeth Warren (Courtesy Flickr) Senator Elizabeth Warren (Courtesy Flickr) Senator Elizabeth Warren (Courtesy Flickr) By Gavin Swanson November 9, 2019 Send email to this address Enter Your Name Add a comment here Verification Biden may still be in the 2020 presidential race, but there are two other frontrunners with a credible shot at winning the nomination — Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders.
Swanson: People Of The World Unite In Solidarity For The Struggle – The Daily Utah Chronicle
Protestors in Hong Kong in June 2019 (Courtesy Wikimedia Commons) Protestors in Hong Kong in June 2019 (Courtesy Wikimedia Commons) Protestors in Hong Kong in June 2019 (Courtesy Wikimedia Commons) By Gavin Swanson November 7, 2019 Send email to this address Enter Your Name Add a comment here Verification For the last seven months, the protestors of Hong Kong have been fighting one of the most powerful governments in the world.
Swanson: If You’re Going to be a Single Issue Voter, Please Vote on Health Care – The Daily Utah Chronicle
(Courtesy Pxhere) By Gavin Swanson October 26, 2019 Send email to this address Enter Your Name Add a comment here Verification The debate over the future of healthcare has been at the forefront of American domestic policy for over 70 years. It was the number one issue among Democratic voters in 2019 and has been on the top 5 list for decades. Nearly 30 million U.S. citizens do not have health insurance and over 40 million find themselves underinsured.
Swanson: Biden’s Viability is Unsustainable. Democrats Ought to Jump Ship.d – The Daily Utah Chronicle
Vice President Joe Biden (Courtesy Flickr) Vice President Joe Biden (Courtesy Flickr) Vice President Joe Biden (Courtesy Flickr) By Gavin Swanson October 22, 2019 Send email to this address Enter Your Name Add a comment here Verification Former Vice President Joe Biden entered the 2020 presidential race at the front of the pack. He was leading the polls even before officially throwing his hat into the ring.
H2H: Should Democrats Pursue Impeachment? – The Daily Utah Chronicle
This impeachment inquiry should’ve been launched on July 24. That is when special counsel Robert Mueller testified before the House of Representatives’ Intelligence and Judiciary committees regarding his report into Russian interference of the 2016 election and the president’s efforts to obstruct the investigation. A question-and-answer between Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler and the special counsel signaled to the House that further investigation was required.
Swanson: House Democrats Have One Shot at Impeachment. It's Time They Committed. – The Daily Utah Chronicle
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (Courtesy Flickr) Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (Courtesy Flickr) Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (Courtesy Flickr) By Gavin Swanson October 16, 2019 Send email to this address Enter Your Name Add a comment here Verification This impeachment inquiry should’ve been launched on July 24.
Swanson: Student Fees Belong in Student Hands – The Daily Utah Chronicle
Laura Seymour and Mina Brown at the welcome desk at the ASUU offices in the Ray A. Olpin Student Union on the University of Utah Campus, Salt Lake City, UT on Thursday, July 13, 2017(Photo by Adam Fondren | Daily Utah Chronicle) Laura Seymour and Mina Brown at the welcome desk at the ASUU offices in the Ray A.
Swanson: Israel's Unspoken Complicity in the Israel-Palestine Conflict – The Daily Utah Chronicle
(Courtesy Flickr) By Gavin Swanson September 23, 2019 Send email to this address Enter Your Name Add a comment here Verification On September 13, 1993, Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat shook hands before the world, juxtaposed between a grinning President Clinton. It wasn’t an all encompassing agreement that brought the two adversarial nations together. However, it was a monumental step in the direction of deescalation and building a peaceful future. These agreements were called the Oslo Accords.
Swanson: It's Okay to Experience the Art of Terrible People – Daily Utah Chronicle
Kanye West made headlines when he returned to the public sphere earlier this year. He made tweets in support of Donald Trump and infamously said that slavery was a choice in a TMZ interview. At the same time he also announced his line of short albums that he planned on releasing in June. In reaction to what many considered to be his abhorrent opinions, people flocked to social media to voice that they will be boycotting his music and encouraged others to do so.
Swanson: Presidential Pardons Aren't for the President – Daily Utah Chronicle
“My fellow Americans, our long national nightmare is over.” These were some of the opening words of Gerald Ford’s inauguration speech, in reference to the Watergate scandal that plagued the Nixon administration just weeks before. A month later he would announce a full pardon for Nixon in a televised announcement from the Oval Office. It proved to be disastrous for Ford’s standing in the nation. Before the pardon, Ford’s approval rating was a strong 71 percent. After, it dropped to 50 percent.
Swanson: Consider Living on Campus your Freshman Year – Daily Utah Chronicle
During the summer before my first term at the University of Utah, I tried to find a cheap one bedroom apartment for rent close to campus. I remember thinking it’d be the best, as I was a huge introvert, and the thought of having to share a living space with complete strangers seemed like a special kind of nightmare where I wouldn’t be able to feel comfortable in my own home. However, my dad insisted that I apply for housing on campus.
Swanson: Another Day, Another Campus Event – Daily Utah Chronicle
It starts with orientation. It’s your first actual campus event as admitted students of the U. It can be scary and a bit of a shift and it can potentially turn people off the idea of attending future campus events or getting involved in them. This piece is here to put you at ease. Yes, there are lots of events that happen on campus throughout the year, but they’re not as threatening as orientation can be and they’re worth going to. Every day, you can find some club doing something at some building.
Swanson: College Friends Aren't Forever – Daily Utah Chronicle
Nothing lasts forever, and as I’m sure many of you have experienced by now, that includes the relationships you have with your closest friends. It’s a fact of nature we like to ignore and that catches us by surprise every time it happens, but rare is the case where a best friend forever is actually forever. We’ve likely already experienced this.
Swanson: Defend Your Taste and Choose What You Like to Enjoy – Daily Utah Chronicle
Criticism has always been a part of enjoying media. From hecklers at Greek plays to columnists writing weekly for a newspaper, people have made their opinions of film, music, writing and art publicly heard by others, whether they like it or not. In the age of the internet, this saturation of opinions concerning the arts that we like and dislike has exploded. At times, it seems inescapable.
Swanson: Zuckerberg's Congressional Hearing Only Helped Facebook – Daily Utah Chronicle
After his questioning from members of the Senate, the internet was saturated with memes making fun of Mark Zuckerberg for his behavior. Everything from using a seat lift, the way he drank water and his facial expressions were jumped on by the people of the internet. It might come to a surprise to those who are only familiar with the memes that Zuckerberg actually had a very beneficial visit to Capitol Hill, despite Twitter and Reddit suspecting that he may actually be a robot in disguise.
Swanson: The Ethics of Mocking the President's Family – Daily Utah Chronicle
It’s a semi-universally accepted notion by the American media that the family of the president is off limits for satire. This, of course, has not always been respected, and there have been notable incidents where major media figures openly mocked residents of the White House.
Swanson: Examining Our Culture of Nostalgia – Daily Utah Chronicle
Our childhoods are arguably the most important and integral periods of our lives. They define what we will come to like, dislike, find important and unimportant. As we become adults, the desire to throwback and experience nostalgia is becoming a popular trend. That’s not to say this phenomenon is exclusive to our generation. It seems every generation is going through a similar process.
Accepting the Temporary Nature of College Friends – Daily Utah Chronicle
Nothing lasts forever, and as I’m sure many of you have experienced by now, that includes your closest friends. It’s a facet of nature that we like to ignore and catches us by surprise every time it happens, but rare is the case where a best friend forever is actually forever. We’ve already likely experienced this. We all had a friend in elementary school or middle school that we swore we would ride or die with forever, only to drop communication sometime in junior high or high school.
Swanson: Child Marriage in America – Daily Utah Chronicle
It came as a surprise, to me, to hear that child marriage is still a problem in western civilization. It surprised me even further to learn that it was all legal and the people who engage in it do so with the law on their side. Generally, the legal age of marriage in America is 18. However, every state has exceptions and allows under-aged marriages to occur regardless of age. These exceptions include parental consent, pregnancy and judicial consent.
Swanson: ‘Adulting’ as a Millennial Phenomenon – Daily Utah Chronicle
Ever since I was in middle school I knew I wanted to go to college. I wanted to grow up, leave my small town and choose what classes I took at some good school in some big city. Now that the goal has assuredly been met, what with upgrading from my small town of 7,000 residents to Salt Lake City’s 1.1 million and attending a Pac-12 school, is adulthood as cut out and awesome as I anticipated as a kid?
Swanson: Logging Off – Daily Utah Chronicle
As people living in the digital age, it has become almost required to be active on social media. Facebook has been around for more than a decade, and with the explosion of popularity with Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat, social media has more involvement in our everyday lives. For most of us, this isn’t a problem. We all know why we use social media. There’s a nearly addicting draw to sharing your life with others and vice versa.
Swanson: Learning From What Happened at Nottingham Trent University – Daily Utah Chronicle
On March 7, Nottingham Trent University student Rufaro Chisango tweeted a video of people chanting racist remarks outside the door of her dorm. The tweet was spread worldwide and received support from friends, student leaders and members of Parliament. Shortly after, police detained two men, but released them on March 9. So, what can students and universities across the globe learn from this incident that sets it apart from other racist incidents on campuses?
Swanson: Reach Peace of Mind through Art – Daily Utah Chronicle
Catharsis is one of those words you have probably heard but maybe aren’t entirely sure what it means. It’s essentially the act of relieving old negative emotions. I’ve talked about reaching catharsis in previous articles I’ve written for The Chronicle. Talking with friends, engaging in physical activity and meditation are all great ways to reach it, but the method I use most often is art. Art can mean either indulging in someone else’s creations or making your own.
Swanson: Abolishing Term Limits for Chinese Presidency is a Step Back – Daily Utah Chronicle
There is a proposition being considered by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) which would eliminate the two-term limit for the office of the Chinese presidency. This fundamental change to the system would allow Xi Jinping, the current president, to remain in office for life, essentially turning him and the office into a dictatorship. This is a giant leap back for the Chinese political system and one that reflects a failure to learn from history.
Swanson: MeToo Should Hold Women Accountable – Daily Utah Chronicle
In the past six months, several female and male celebrities in Hollywood have come out to target the men of the industry who have sexually assaulted them during their careers. The wave of support that followed from fellow celebrities and the American and international public at large was huge. Its waves were heard and stretched from Twitter to the Golden Globe Awards and the 2018 Women’s March.
Swanson: Marco Rubio Should be Applauded for Attending the CNN Town Hall – Daily Utah Chronicle
On February 22, Senator Marco Rubio joined Senator Bill Nelson, Representative Ted Deutch, Sheriff Scott Israel and NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch in a CNN moderated town hall debate with teachers and parents of Stoneman Douglas High School along with survivor students on gun rights in America. This was an incredibly brave move on part of all panelists, but especially Rubio and Loesch who are both firm supporters of the second amendment and are paid by the National Rifle Association.
Swanson: You Don’t Have to be a Martyr to be a Good Person – Daily Utah Chronicle
If you’ve worked in service before I’m sure you’ve had someone instruct you to end your interactions with customers with something like, “You’re welcome,” or “It was my pleasure,” and that saying, “Of course,” or “No problem,” is the absolute wrong thing to say. However, it just seems so natural for us to end with “of course/no problem.” Why is that? Why does it bother older generations so much if we fall back on more casual language? The answer lies in different perspectives of helping people.
Swanson: It’s Normal to be Sad – Daily Utah Chronicle
Depression is the worldís leading cause of physical and mental disability. If you donít suffer from it yourself, you probably know someone who does. An estimated 7 percent of the United States population has had a major depressive episode in the past year. Since coming to the University of Utah, I have met several people who claim to be depressed and claim to understand.
Swanson: College Activists, if You Want to Change Gun Control in America, Now is Your Chance – Daily Utah Chronicle
We should all be fully aware by now of what happened in Parkland, Florida on the 14th of February, and we should all be equally upset that this isn’t an isolated incident. In the wake of another tragedy to target students simply going to school to obtain an education, it now becomes our duty to make the stand that students should have made a long time ago. It’s what should have happened after Columbine, Virginia Tech and Sandy Hook.
Swanson: No, Not Liking Black Panther doesn’t Make You a Racist – Daily Utah Chronicle
It kind of makes me upset that this is an attitude that has been accepted and embraced. Marvel’s “Black Panther” has been far and away one of the most hyped up releases of 2018. With the announcement of a primarily black cast, the movie set in Africa and Kendrick Lamar along with the rest of Top Dawg Entertainment taking the reigns for the soundtrack, it’s easy to see the appeal.
Swanson: People Who are Glorifying Kim Jung-un’s Sister are Victims of Propaganda – Daily Utah Chronicle
The 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang made history by reintroducing the unified Korean team that made its Olympic debut in Sydney, 2000. It’s always exciting to see the vast political divides between the broken nations being able to come together as a united people, even if it’s just for a sporting event. That being said, the North Korean presence in Pyeongchang has been incredible.
Swanson: Trump Says He’s Not a Feminist - What Does This Mean for Women’s Rights in America? – Daily Utah Chronicle
“No, I wouldn’t say I’m a feminist. That would be, maybe, going too far,” said President Trump in an interview with Piers Morgan on Super Bowl Sunday. The question on Trump’s status on gender politics was brought up in the context of the Women’s March held this year for the second year in a row in protest against Donald Trump. “You’re always going to have marches. The march, I guess, was a lot smaller than it was last year.” So what does this mean for women in America?
Swanson: If We Want America to be Open to Refugees, Immigrants, Europe Needs to do Better – Daily Utah Chronicle
Since the beginning of 2015, member nations of the European Union have seen an incredible increase in immigration from Muslim-majority nations of Northern Africa and the Middle East. Pressed by the crisis going on in Syria and the campaigns of ISIS, millions fled to countries like Germany, the United Kingdom and Sweden to start building new lives in Europe.
Swanson: Hillary Clinton’s “Fire and Fury” Cameo at the Grammys was Dumb – Daily Utah Chronicle
On Jan. 28 the Grammys were broadcasted live to the world. The annual ceremony is the biggest televised celebration of music in the world, and as a result is quite the platform for political messages. However, unlike the Golden Globes held just weeks prior the Grammys weren’t heavily focused on politics and activism. For the most part, it was moderately tame with only the occasional political message from attendees like Alicia Keys and Logic.
Swanson: The Unexamined Song is Not Worth Listening – Daily Utah Chronicle
Why do you like the music you do? It’s probably not a question you ask yourself very often, but I think it’s one worth asking. For most of us, I’m sure the question doesn’t even make sense. You like the music you like because you like it, so why should you have to justify it? I don’t pose the question in a judgmental way to make you think the music you listen to is bad, but rather, so you can appreciate the music you listen to even more.
Swanson: It Goes Without Saying, Trump’s “S***hole Countries” Comments are Flat Out Un-American – Daily Utah Chronicle
On January 12 The Washington Post reported that in a meeting held at the Oval Office with congressional leaders, President Trump referred to Haiti, El Salvador and some African nations as “s***hole countries.” The meeting was centered on protection for immigrants from these nations. Word of this spread across all mediums of media. Critics on both sides of the aisle voiced outrage at how un-presidential Trump had acted along with how bigoted his comments came across.
Swanson: Consider A Life Without Labels – Daily Utah Chronicle
What word would you use to describe yourself? Friend? Brother? Daughter? Republican? Feminist? Jewish? Black? Gay? Swedish? Gamer? Female? Whenever I’m asked to describe myself using words, there’s only one term that I’m ever really comfortable using to describe who I am: my name. Sure, if you’ve never met me and all you had to estimate my character by was my name, you might find it to be a tad useless. Maybe you’d wish that I was less pretentious and would just give the “appropriate” labels of who I am.
Swanson: Identifying ‘Whataboutism’ and Why It Doesn’t Progress Anything – Daily Utah Chronicle
On January 7, the Golden Globes were broadcasted live to the world. It is the first major entertainment award show to be hosted since the explosion of the #MeToo movement and sexual abuse allegations made public against major figures in Hollywood such as Harvey Weinstein, Woody Allen and others.
Swanson: In Defense of Taking A Semester Off – Daily Utah Chronicle
Welcome back, fellow students. For most of us, it seems a bit jarring that we’re even starting the spring semester since it feels like we just recovered from the hurt we received from fall semester. For some, like me, they probably haven’t fully recovered yet. Nonetheless, it’s back to renting textbooks we won’t read and attending lectures we’ll find reasons to skip in the future. Actually, I barely made the cut for this semester due to some holds that weren’t resolved.
Swanson: ABC News’ Blunder has Demonstrated How Out of Control the Trump-Russia Hysteria has Gotten – Daily Utah Chronicle
On December 1, chief investigative correspondent Brian Ross broke to the world that former national security adviser Michael Flynn was ordered by candidate Donald Trump to make contact with Russian officials. This would confirm once and for all after many months of speculation from the mainstream media and concerned citizens of America that Donald Trump colluded with the Russian government to be elected president of the United States.
Swanson: It’s Up to Us to Prevent Trump’s FCC from Taking Away Our Net Neutrality – Daily Utah Chronicle
If you use the internet moderately frequently you’ve probably already heard of the net neutrality craze that has consumed websites worldwide. The users of major websites like Twitter and Reddit have led an aggressive campaign to bring attention to the threat of the FCC against our net neutrality.
Rotary Reading Challenge: 'Wonder' by R. J. Palacio
In Ms. Reich’s fourth grade classroom, we read the book, “Wonder” by R.J. Palacio.Auggie Pulman is a boy with a facial difference that prevented him from going to school. Then he decides to attend public school. Kids treat him rudely and badly because he looks different from everybody else. He begins to meet a few nice friends. These friends stick up for him and realize he is a good person.August goes on a field trip with new hearing aids. Older kids break it, and his friends stick up for him.
Swanson: It’s Important to Not Go Alone into Finals and the Holiday Season – Daily Utah Chronicle
With the passing of the great turkey feast and the beginning of all-day trips to the mall, the most stressful time of a college student’s year is upon us. It’s also the most stressful season for lots of people. The holidays means increased power bills for lights, cold weather, icy roads and the stress and cost of buying presents for friends and family. For us we have the added stress of the great behemoth that plagues the lives of every university student in December: finals.
Swanson: Facebook’s Anti-Revenge Porn Program is Lacking to Say the Least – Daily Utah Chronicle
The matter of revenge porn is probably one of the more understated yet serious problems facing the Internet. For the uninitiated, these are pornographic images and videos uploaded online, of participants who did not consent to having those images shared. This is usually done out of spite towards an ex, hence the name revenge porn. It’s been a source of unwarranted embarrassment and harassment towards innocent people for years and has been outlawed in 38 states (Utah included) as well as DC.
Swanson: Donna Brazile Has Revealed the Corrupt State of the DNC in 2016 and We Should All Be Furious – Daily Utah Chronicle
On Nov. 2, former head of the Democratic National Party Donna Brazile wrote an article in advance of her upcoming book “Hacks” for Politico. Both the book and the article focus on the state of the DNC after the end of the reign of Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Hillary Clinton’s loss last November. To be blunt, it doesn’t paint the organization of the party in the most flattering light. The party that Brazile presented in her article is one in dire straits.
Swanson: Don’t Snub Local Elections, Go Vote – Daily Utah Chronicle
A lot of you may not be aware that this Tuesday, Nov. 7, is Election Day in the United States. I’m sure you many of you can recall how much adults emphasized the importance of voting and making your voice heard when you turn 18 and earn the right to do so. For the vast majority of us, we have this opportunity and, unfortunately, do not take advantage of it.
Swanson: It’s Time that Pakistan Cracked Down on Its Savage Tribal ‘Justice’ Problem – Daily Utah Chronicle
One of the most elite clubs in the world is the group of countries with nuclear capabilities. Thirty states worldwide have nuclear energy capabilities, but only the most powerful have managed to turn that energy into world-ending weapons. Nine countries have attained this level of prestige: the United States, Russia, France, China, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, India, Israel and North Korea.
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