Stuff YOU Should Know

Another Sexual Harassment Charge

New York attorney general Eric T. Schneiderman has become the latest politician to resign in the wake of the powerful #MeToo movement. Schneiderman–a Democrat, vocal defender of women’s rights, and anti-Trumper–has been accused of physically abusing four women. Aside from their anger over the incident itself, Democrats have also been angry about the White House’s response to it–they seem almost happy about it.

Politically, this makes sense. Trump’s own history of sexual misconduct and sexual harassment have caused women–especially Democratic women–to vote against him, march on Washington protesting his inauguration, and run thousands of female (usually Democratic) candidates in the upcoming midterm elections. When a fellow Democrat, and someone who has been outspoken about women’s rights, is found to be guilty of the same misconduct, it makes the Democratic moral “high ground” a whole lot shakier.

However, this response from the White House has angered many of Trump’s critics, because, while Schneiderman has willingly stepped down, Trump himself has faced little punishment for his own bad behavior toward women.

So what happens when so many Democratic and Republican men in political office are faced with allegations of sexual misconduct? Some political experts believe that this will make voters on both sides of the aisle more likely to cast their ballots for female candidates in 2018.

Dig Deeper Using Internet resources, research how many congressional primary races on May 8 included a female candidate. How many of these female candidates won their primary? Why do you think this might be?

Scouts and Mormons Part Ways

Boy Scouts of America has undergone many changes over the past few years in order to broaden its membership in largely positive ways. In 2013, they began allowing openly gay scouts. In 2015, it began allowing openly gay leaders. And last year, they opened their doors to transgender and female members as well. However, in an effort to expand their membership, Boy Scouts will now face losing one of its original core supporters: Mormons.

The Mormon Church (also known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) was the first U.S. sponsor of the Boy Scouts in 1913. The two groups began their partnership based on shared beliefs in responsibilities and morals, as well as in serving God and country. (The Mormon Church has no similar partnership with the Girl Scouts.) In recent years, however, the paths of the two organizations have diverged. The faith tenents of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is not in line with the recent changes allowed within the Scout organization.

In place of Scouts, the Mormon Church will begin offering its own youth programming, which will be more in line with its teachings. (Girls will also receive programming, though separate from boys.) So how much will this division affect the Boy Scouts? On the one hand, according to some statistics–one out of every five Boy Scouts is Mormon. So the organization could lose up to a fifth of its membership. On the other hand, Boy Scouts is expecting a huge surge in membership now that girls are allowed to join.

What Do You Think? In your opinion, should Boy Scouts allow female members? Why or why not? Please remember to be respectful with your answer.

A Presidential Go-Between

Were you surprised when Donald Trump was elected to the presidency in 2016? A lot of people were–including many large corporations. Many corporations–who are always interested in which direction the national government is headed–were preparing to deal with President Hillary Clinton. When she didn’t, these businesses had to quickly figure out how to get on the new president’s good side.

Luckily for them, they found someone who was willing to help them with that: the president’s personal lawyer, Michael Cohen. Over the past few weeks, stories have begun to emerge about corporations that have been willing to pay huge sums of money to Cohen in the hopes that they would gain access to, and influence with, President Trump. AT&T, for example, paid Cohen $600,000 for advice on a corporate merger they hoped to push through. And Novartis, a Swiss drugmaker, paid Cohen $1.2 million for giving them insider information about Trump’s views on health care.

Interestingly, Cohen himself isn’t exactly an insider. He had hoped to become Trump’s Chief of Staff, but Reince Priebus got the job instead. As a result, Cohen retired from the Trump team last January. And it’s unclear whether or not he was able to actually help any of his wealthy clients in their attempts to woo Trump. One company ended their contract with Cohen. Another continued with it because they had to by law, but admitted that Cohen didn’t do what he had promised he would.

Still, many of the companies involved continue to defend their actions, saying that it isn’t unusual for corporations to hire consultants for this purpose, especially when there’s a new president in the White House.

Dig Deeper Using Internet resources, spend a few minutes researching Michael Cohen’s background. Based on what you’ve found, if you were the head of a corporation, would you hire Cohen to give you advice on how to get on the president’s good side? Why or why not?

A “Wild” Prom

When you imagine your Senior Prom, what do you think of? Maybe it’s dancing, or expensive outfits, or a good time with friends? Students at Christopher Columbus High School in Miami, Florida, will have something unusual to add to their memories of their Senior Prom: a live tiger.

The theme of their dance was “Welcome to the Jungle,” and a live tiger was brought in halfway through the night in a cage to entertain the students. While this might make for some interesting Prom night stories, many people are concerned, and not just for the safety of the students involved. Many animal experts have criticized what they call the mistreatment of the animal. A video of the event (which has since been deleted) shows the tiger pacing rapidly back and forth in its cage–a sign of stress–while loud drum beats play on the dance floor, spotlights circle, and two dancers in striped bodysuits holding lit torches dance around the cage. And though it’s the tiger that’s receiving the most attention, other animals were brought in as well to pose with the students for photographs, including a lemur, an African fennec fox, and two macaws.

The principal of the all-male Catholic prep school, David Pugh, initially defended the decision to include the animals. However, as the backlash of this event grew, Principal Pugh issued a statement of apology. Also, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is currently investigating whether or not any laws were broken. Technically, wildlife exhibits aren’t prohibited at public events, so long as all rules and permits are followed.

What Do You Think? Do you support the decision by Columbus High School staff to include live animals in their Prom night celebrations? Why or why not?