The Prospector

By Shradha Singh, Staff writer

“Breaking Bad” was a television show that aired from 2008 to 2014, and received a great deal of critical acclaim and audience praise for its riveting storyline and heightened suspense. But when it comes to its new line of action figures, the show has received more mixed results.

A Florida mom, Susan Schrivjer, was outraged when she saw dolls of Walter White, the show’s main character, a former high school chemistry teacher who becomes a crystal meth dealer during the course of the show, and his student sidekick, Jesse Pinkman, on sale at Toys R Us. The dolls come equipped with accessories that include a fake bag of meth and detachable sack of cash.  Schrivjer considered these children’s toys, “a dangerous deviation from [the company’s] family friendly values,” according to the petition she started on Change.org to remove the toys. Over 9,000 other people agreed with the Fort Myers mom resulting in an “indefinite sabbatical” for the dolls at Toys R Us.

But the show has not taken the blow lying down. Bryan Cranston, the actor who portrays the character of Walter White, has made numerous tweets, including, “Toys R Us puts Breaking Bad toys on ‘indefinite sabbatical.’ Word on the street is that they were sent to Belize. Nicely played Florida Mom.” Aaron Paul, who plays Jesse Pinkman, has been a bit more vocal, tweeting, “Wait, so @ToysRUs pulled all of the Breaking Bad action figures from their shelves but still sells Barbie? Hmmmm…I wonder what is more damaging?” Paul has also shown support for a petition to return the dolls to store shelves, which has gained about 60,000 signatures so far.

This entire fiasco raises the question: what was Toys R Us thinking? Although admittedly the company has said the action figures were meant for adult collectors ages 15 and up, the fact remains that it is a toy store, one that is primarily known for its market geared towards younger children and the family demographic in general. The dolls may be placed in a separate aisle, but they are still only a stone’s throw away from other playthings such as G.I. Joe, Super Mario Brothers, and Ninja Turtles figures that, and this should go without saying, are definitely of interest to children. If you want to sell drug dealing dolls, then at least do it in a setting more appropriate for such merchandise. A comic book or novelty store for adults perhaps?

As for Aaron Paul’s comment regarding the toy store and its connection to another controversial product, Barbie, he does have a point. Toys R Us does not always promote entirely positive merchandise, even for its younger customers, and toys like Barbie do perpetuate eating disorders and other body image issues. However, does that really mean that we need to add to negative images with dolls dedicated to the drug trade, that even have props related to crime? We already are selling video games with excessive violence and breastfeeding dolls for little girls. TV has been less than perfect, displaying more violence and sex lately than family friendly programs. Psychologists estimate that children as young as 8 or 9 are already being exposed to sexually explicit material through media outlets. How far do we have to go until we start legislating what children are exposed to? Barbie and its related counterparts may be, unfortunately, legal. The drug trade, on the other hand, is mercifully not.

Toys R Us has just gone too far in trying to boost profit. Though it may be true that sales of “typical” children’s toys have gone down (with the exception of LEGO, which seems determined to take over the world), that is no excuse to potentially expose kids, especially little kids, to something most decidedly NOT child friendly. It is just too much to ask from a store which has already been a less than perfect influence, and which seems to get worse with every new, “fun” toy it decides to add to its shelves.

Grow a conscience, Toys R Us. Understand that you have a huge part in shaping a child’s psyche and determining their ideas of right and wrong, normal and not, depending on the toys you sell and they play with. As for collectors, try and find somewhere else to buy your merchandise. I hear Walmart has a pink “Breaking Bad” teddy bear on sale.

By Kathryn Riley, Staff writer

There’s a new kind of sexual revolution occurring on college campuses- one against campus sexual assault. The manifestation of this revolution is Emma Sulkowicz, although many know her as “mattress girl.”

As a sophomore at Columbia University, Emma was raped in her dorm room. She didn’t report anything at first, until she heard from two other girls that they had been abused by the same man. Sulkowicz then went to the Columbia administration, but they offered no help. In an interview with the New York Times, she claimed they acted “idiotically during the interview process, making several errors.” After six months, the Columbia dean ruled in favor of the alleged rapist, and according to the school’s laws, his ruling was final. Then came the mattress.

As a performance art piece called “Carry That Weight,” Emma Sulkowicz began hauling her dorm mattress (the mattress where the incident occurred) wherever she went, acting as the symbolic weight she will carry for the rest of her life as a rape victim. She refuses to use anything but her hands to carry it, but she does allow help from other students (if they offer), especially those who have also been abused, calling the group efforts “collective carries.”

For her senior thesis, Sulkowicz continues to carry her mattress, now as a protest, until the Columbia administration appeals the ruling. Aside from just capturing the attention of her school, “Mattress Girl” has the eyes of the nation on her. Even Hillary Clinton has commented on it, calling the student’s movement “indelible” and stating, “that image should haunt all of us.”

The Columbia administration has responded in some respects. The president of the school, Lee Bollinger created a new sexual assault policy. Students of the college now must have “unambiguous communication and mutual agreement” or verbal consent before sexual acts. The new policy is a progressive step for Columbia but it has done little to overcome the power of a girl and her mattress.

Outside Columbia, the conversation about sexual assault on American college campuses has been elevated to the national level. There is a new White House-sponsored campaign called “It’s On Us” which aims to “recognize, identify, and intervene” sexual assault, according to the campaign’s website, itsonus.org. The government has also taken a direct attempt to try and reduce college rape by threatening to cut the funding of public universities that do not reform.  As a result multiple states, including California, have passed laws that will hopefully put an end to assault on campus. Governor Jerry Brown recently signed a bill that requires colleges and a universities to redefine consent for sexual activities. The progressive new law is the first of its kind in the country. Under the California, every state-funded college and university must educate his students about a new standard of consent known as affirmative consent, which it will begin enforcing immediate. Affirmative consent means “an explicit and voluntary ‘yes’ whether verbal or nonverbal, is required to agree to any sort of sexual activity with a partner,” as defined in the National Journal.

By Lilia Quevedo, Staff writer

When I was a kid, trick-or-treating was the highlight of October. I loved to wear all sorts of costumes, like cat outfits and witch dresses. Back in elementary school, all everyone cared about was how scary you looked. When I got to middle school, everything changed.

There are a ton of scary, Halloween-related movies out there, many of which feature a party where all of the high school kids go to so they can drink and pass out. Then some scary monster or murderer comes, killing the mood (pun intended). In these parties, what everyone wears—more specifically the girls—is pretty much the same: a tight piece of cloth that covers as little of the body as possible. If you want to be a sailor, here is a miniskirt and a tube top for you to wear. If you want to be a nurse, here is a dress that shows your butt if you bend one inch. But wait—if you’re a guy and want to be a sailor, you can buy long pants and a long-sleeve t-shirt! What? Yes, you’ll actually be a realistic sailor.

What the media portrays clearly reflects what the stores sell, too.  If you’re a teenager/young adult, good luck trying to find a costume not labeled as “sexy.” The days of looking scary for you are over. Remember, though, this is only applies to you if you’re a girl. Even little kids costumes might raise a few eyebrows among parents. Of course, you can always find Bucky the Winter Soldier costume replica online that actually looks like the real thing–if you’re willing to pay $300, that is.

Why is it that women continue to wear these costumes? There are tons of articles and rants online that talk about how these sexy outfits should not be sold any more because they degrade women and objectify them. While that’s true, no matter how many petitions there are, no matter how many protests and anti-sexy Halloween campaigns there are, the Halloween companies will never stop selling those sexy nurse costumes. Society has conditioned women to be “sexy and beautiful” so much that some women don’t even question the costumes. They wear it because everyone else is wearing it. If everyone stopped wearing the costumes, then maybe the companies and the world would realize how degrading they are. There’s nothing wrong with showing off your body, though. If those are the kinds of costumes you want to wear, go for it. What’s not right, however, is the belief that those are the only things women should wear. Don’t just give women one option, give them many. Sell an Assassin’s Creed Costume that isn’t only made for men! Sell a real-looking nurse outfit, not just those skin tight mini dresses that look nothing like what the workers wear.

Don’t stuff all women into one category—give them a choice.

By Preetika Narayan, Staff Writer

Do you ever go scrolling down your news feed on Facebook or just on any website and watch a video that you immediately regret watching it ? There are so many videos like that, especially ones involving animal cruelty. I once watched a video of a poor small puppy being burned alive by these sick, heartless kids. They dragged the poor thing by its leash while it whined in pain and covered it in gasoline. Then they lit a match and lit the dog on fire. It was painful watching the dog screaming and crying while these stupid kids were laughing like it was the funniest joke in the world. How do people even find this funny ? What kind of sick humor do they even have ?

There’s this big thing going on where these organizations go undercover in farms and record what is actually happening.. All farms would promise they treat their animals well and not put them in a stress-filled environment. Well the recordings proved otherwise. There is video of farms treating their animals brutally and with violence. Yes, we all know that the animals are most likely going to get killed and eaten anyway, but that’s no excuse to treat them that bad. I watched this video where somebody from PETA went undercover and recorded how KFC treats their chickens. They would throw them, kick them, and even punch them. The saddest part is that when they put the chickens upside down to cover them in sauce, most of them are still conscious. This other farm would bury the living chickens with the dead chickens to kill them. There’s other videos of pigs getting beaten and stomped on. There was this report of where some of the pigs were so sick that their intestines would hang out their bodies. The workers of the farm had no intention in getting the pigs some veterinary care or even getting them any medicine. It’s awful knowing that these are the animals being slaughtered for meat, and can end up in your grocery store, which can end up in your house.

Sheep fur may not seem harmful to get from the sheep. Well depending  who’s shaving the sheep, it can be pretty painful. There’s a video of men who are supposedly shaving the sheep, but actually they spend more time trying to sock and hit them than getting the fur. One of the sheep even  got hit multiple times with a  hammer. They are animals of prey, so they panic when they are getting pinned down and once they try to move they get beaten by the men. It’s awfully sad seeing them get beaten for just doing their own natural instincts.

Halloween is coming up so if you have any cats please hide them! There are many reports and even a couple videos where cats are getting burned or even “sacrificed”. Some stupid, sadistic people would light a trash can on fire, throw the cat inside and close the lid. They won’t open the lid until they know the cat is fully burned. Others would slit the throat and/or mutate the poor thing. This happens not only to black cats, which are usually the main target, but recently all white cats have been a huge target also. They will take a cat of any color to “sacrifice”, and there was even reports of dogs getting “sacrificed”.

I don’t understand how people can abuse and hurt these animals for just the fun or thrill of it. Abusing animals is a sign of psychopathic disorder. People tend to abuse animals since they know they’re weaker than them. People who are bullied can’t take out their anger on anybody else except on the ones that are weaker. They feel like they gain some bit of power back, because they become the “bully”. People really need to realize that animals have feelings and can feel pain just like all of us.

By Miranda Miller, Staff writer

When most kids get called from their class to go to the office, it’s usually not going to end well. However, on October 3rd, when 17-year-old Malala Yousafzai was called from her chemistry class, it was to congratulate her- for winning the Nobel Peace Prize.

Malala began advocating for girls’ education at a very young age in her hometown Mingora, Pakistan. She started speaking out when the Taliban started attacking schools in her area. Her first speech, in September 2008 was entitled, “How dare the Taliban take away my basic right of education?” After this speech, she was asked to blog for BBC under a hidden identity. Eventually, however, her identity was revealed. Her activism resulted in a nomination for the International Children’s Peace Prize in 2011. That same year, she was awarded Pakistan’s National Youth Peace Prize. Malala quickly became a symbol of Pakistan’s struggle against Islamic extremist violence.

As Malala’s efforts became more and more successful, the Taliban began to target her. When she was 14, Malala learned that the Taliban had a death threat out for her. On October 9, 2012, a man boarded Malala’s bus home from school and demanded to know which girl was Malala. The man shot her and the bullet hit the left side of her head, travelling down her neck. After surgeons placed a titanium plate in her head, Malala made an incredible recovery and wasted no time before beginning to speak out again. On her 16th birthday she gave a speech at the United Nations, and a few months later she released her book, I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban.

After her recovery, Malala shifted her focus away from Islamist violence and more towards a general advocacy for children. She has joined forces with Indian children’s rights activist Kailash Satyarthi, resulting in not only a huge step for children’s education, but for the relationship between Pakistan and India. She has won countless awards, and this October she became the youngest person to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Malala shows no signs of stopping and will continue to fight until the voices of the children are heard. On accepting the award Malala responded, “This award is for all those children who are voiceless, whose voices need to be heard,” she said. “I speak for them, and I stand up with them.”