Good morning Her Campus! With a break-neck news cycle, there is no possible way for you to stay on top of every story that comes across your feeds—we’re all only human, after all.
But, life comes at you fast. So grab a cup of coffee and settle in for this quick and dirty guide to stories you might’ve been sleeping on (like, literally. It’s early.)
Pennsylvania Issues New Court-Ordered Congressional District Map
Back in January, Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court found that the state’s existing congressional map was drawn in a way that created an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander in favor of Republicans — and on Monday, the court issued a newly drawn map that will be used in the 2018 election, BuzzFeed News reports. Pennsylvania, in which Democrats outnumber Republicans, is often considered a swing state in most elections. While the state’s previously drawn map only had around 5 of the state’s 18 congressional districts being represented by Democrats, the court-ordered version of the map gives Democrats a “good chance” of winning 11 of the state’s congressional districts, with a possible chance for 12.
The Supremes have spoken: The new Pennsylvania Congressional map, drawn by the state Supreme Court, is on the left. 2011 map is on the right. #redistricting #gerrymandering pic.twitter.com/J8PZjTdj6m
— Wallace McKelvey (@wjmckelvey) February 19, 2018
New Report Says USA Swimming Could Have Covered Up Hundreds of Sexual Abuse Cases
An investigative report published by the Southern California News Group found that USA Swimming either ignored or actively covered up hundreds of sexual abuse cases in which coaches were able to prey on underage athletes, in many cases having sexual relationships with them. The report alleges that at least 590 victims have been identified since 1997, and at least 30 coaches and officials from the organization had been listed by USA Swimming as being arrested for or accused of sexual abuse or possessing child pornography. As the Huffington Post points out, the report paints a picture that is all too similar to what happened at USA Gymnastics, where former team doctor Larry Nassar was able to sexually abuse over 200 young girls throughout his career.
Our exclusive investigation revealed that top USA Swimming executives, board members, top officials and coaches acknowledge that they were aware of sexually predatory coaches for years, in some cases even decades, but did not take action against them.https://t.co/NMFjTo4H8Z
— O.C. Register (@ocregister) February 16, 2018
People Keep Running into the Glass Doors at Apple’s New Headquarters & LOL
We’ve all been there: you’re walking down the sidewalk, scrolling through your Instagram feed, only to run into some inanimate object — or worse, another person. Well apparently, this exact type of situation is a regular occurrence at Apple’s new headquarters, where many of the walls and doors are made of glass. Pair that with some employees who are constantly distracted by the iPhones they helped create, and well, you get the idea. (That also must be some seriously clean glass.) In all seriousness, there have thankfully been no reports of serious injuries on the new campus — though some employees have reportedly started putting Post-It Notes on the glass panes to warn themselves, which is probably helping just a bit.
Apple employees keep walking into glass walls pic.twitter.com/l0g4Edmj1x
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) February 19, 2018
What to look out for…
Today is Love Your Pet Day — and while most of us aren’t lucky enough to have our pets on campus with us, it’s an amazing excuse to spend the day scrolling through adorable dog memes. (Or if you’re lucky, stage a photoshoot with your IRL pup.)