This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Bucknell chapter.

Government Pushes Colleges to Combat Sexual Assault

President Obama created a task force this year in order to combat the issues of sexual assault and rape on college campuses. The force has created a comprehensive list that includes certain steps colleges must follow when dealing with sexual assault. The list includes anonymous surveys about sexual assault cases, anti-assault policies that have been considered successful at other universities and ensuring that the reports of such crimes are attended to immediately and remain confidential.

The Obama Administration reacted to a series of highly publicized rape cases on college campuses, and they are now increasing pressure on universities to more aggressively fight sexual assault.

Most people know Title IX for the positive impact it has had on college sports by creating more equality among men and women. However, Title IX also protects women against any gender discrimination where federal funding is involved. This extends to college campuses, as women have a right to privacy and protection when it comes to issues of sexual violence. The task force has now opened an investigation on 55 universities that may have handled sexual assaults wrongly in the past.

I think this is an excellent move by the Obama administration, and the fact that they have made it public just goes to show how transparent the initiative is. Obama is cracking down on the issue of sexual assault by making sure victims feel safer and perpetrators are brought to justice.

LA Clippers owner, Donald Sterling is Banned for Life

Donald Sterling, the LA Clippers owner has been receiving serious heat after the weekend when TMZ posted a 10-minute recording of a conversation he had with his girlfriend where he makes explicitly racist comments. “It bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that you’re associating with black people,” the man identified as Sterling says at one point in the recording, scolding his girlfriend for posting photos of herself with black people. “I’m just saying, in your … Instagrams, you don’t have to have yourself with, walking with black people.”

Former LA Lakers player Magic Johnson also singled out Sterling for making some crude and racist comments toward him. In response, Johnson tweeted, “I will never go to a Clippers game again as long as Donald Sterling is the owner.”

Many other important NBA players and fans have made statements demanding a serious punishment for Sterling. These important figures got what they wanted, as the NBA is enforcing punitive sanctions against Sterling by banning him from the NBA for life and demanding a $2.5 million dollar fine—the maximum fine allowed under the NBA’s constitution.

It saddens me that there are still people who think this way and are willing to voice their opinion in such ignorant ways. I think the NBA did a good job of policing this incident, and after seeing the penalties Sterling is facing, it is doubtful that anyone else will make such racist comments in the future.

Rewind: Gabby’s Two Cents on Current Events

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