100 Word Rants

Outdated systems

Amy Tang

Goldenrods: the insignificant half-sheets of paper that come with textbooks every year. Their supposed purpose is to account for damages; however, most students don’t bother searching through 500 pages of text for every imperfection. Many vaguely write, “Corners slightly bent,” without even glancing at the book. Some simply discard their goldenrods, or don’t even get them in the first place. And those who don’t turn them in escape punishment, encouraging others to ignore the “mandatory” slips as well. Instead of being forced upon students, goldenrods should only be an option for books with major defects that students don’t want to be held accountable for.

 

Gold medal for sexism

Amy Tang

The Rio Olympics has showcased some of the most phenomenal feats by female athletes in history (namely, Katie Ledecky in swimming and Simone Biles in gymnastics). Some media outlets, however, managed to reduce these athletes’ worth to, at best, a pretty face. A recent Fox News segment said all female athletes should be required to wear makeup to look “beautiful” on television. This not only diminished these women’s achievements, but also promoted the idea that not wearing makeup reduces the beauty of an individual. A guest on the segment said, “Would you put money behind a gal that won the gold medal who looks like a washed out rag?” It’s truly disgusting that a major sporting event like the Olympics can be reduced to a beauty contest. 

 

Star athletes should not get a free pass to the Olympics

Julia Miller

The U.S. men's basketball team has come out of each summer Olympics with a gold medal since 1992. 2016 was no different.

Although the team played hard, they have only been standing on the first place podium for 24 years because NBA players make up the whole team roster. Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), created the Olympics in 1894 with the philosophy that athletes who practice a sport professionally have an unfair advantage over those who practice the sport as a hobby. 

Viewers want to see high-level competition, but sports like basketball aren't true to the founding values of the Olympics. To keep the amateurism alive in the Olympics, the basketball team, along with any other sport where professionals are fill the rosters, should mix up the professionals with a number of amateurs, such as college players. The Olympics should be about more than expanding the brand names of athletes who are already millionaires many times over.