It’s no secret that women have been historically underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. For many women of the early 20th century, becoming a scientist wasn’t exactly encouraged. Marie Tharp, a female geologist at a time when women earned less than 5 percent of degrees in the earth sciences, discovered the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, Earth’s largest physical feature beneath the ocean floor. However, her finding, which would later play a crucial role in ocean drilling initiatives, was at that time dismissed by a male colleague as “girl talk.” Another victim of this offhand discrimination is British chemist Rosalind Franklin, whose images of DNA in the early 1950s were the first evidence of its double helix shape. However, Franklin received almost no credit for the discovery, which is now primarily attributed to male colleagues James Watson and Francis Crick.

Two weeks ago, the University of Chicago found itself in the center of national debate after Dean of Students John Ellison sent a letter to incoming freshmen condemning the use of trigger warnings and safe spaces.

You are on a boat. Its captain brings everyone on deck together and makes an announcement. As the leader of the boat, the captain has set a course for the foreseeable future. However, some of your fellow passengers are unhappy about the direction the captain has chosen for the vessel. It is about 20 degrees off the direction they hoped to go in—and they are pissed. And that’s fine. People disagree; people have opinions they feel strongly about. That is simply a fact of life. But the people unhappy with the captain’s decision decide this simply won’t do.

By Gwen Schanker, editorial columnist During my six-month internship at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), I wrote about a number of exciting questions that oceanographers attempt to answer in their research. The researchers I covered ranged from a doctoral student...

Ramadan is about righteousness. Ramadan is about learning to empathize with the suffering of others. Ramadan is about stripping down the material parts of yourself to bring forth kindness and devotion. Ramadan is about family.

As a person who prides herself on having a strong vocabulary, I have always had a particular interest in unusual adjectives. Some of my favorites include pompous, effervescent and volatile. In the past three years of my college career, the term interdisciplinary has loomed large, particularly since my studies combine two very different disciplines: Biology and communications.

There is no way this column could be focused on anything but the tragedy in Orlando. When 49 people are murdered and 53 more are injured at an LGBTQA+ club for nothing more than existing at the wrong place at the wrong time, all other topics and problems and discussions fall to the wayside. This was the deadliest shooting in United States history, and not writing about it would be almost disrespectful. But what is there to say?

About two months ago, when I was getting ready to register for fall classes and face the fact that my co-op couldn’t last forever, I stumbled upon a journalism elective titled “Climate Change Communication, Energy Politics and Journalism.” As an aspiring scientific communicator, I was immediately intrigued and emailed the professor, Matthew Nisbet, asking for a class description. Nisbet, who is the editor-in-chief of the Oxford Encyclopedia of Climate Change Communication and therefore an established climate communication expert, described how the class, if it ran, would use a combination of writing and discussion to address controversies like nuclear power and climate change denial.

In what has quickly become an infamous video, Hillary Clinton blasted a woman who had asked her about campaign donations from the fossil fuel industry. Clinton claimed these accusations were lies put forward by the Bernie Sanders campaign. Later, on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” she said “I feel sorry sometimes for the young people who, you know, believe this. They don’t do their own research.”

So far in my education, my understanding of what it means to be a scientist has been a little fuzzy. However, with the combination of doing research the past two semesters and working at my current co-op in communications at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), I’ve realized that scientists are simply trying to answer questions no one knows the answer to. They’re exploring unknown realms and finding solutions to questions most people haven’t even thought to ask – which is pretty awesome.

By Sean Connolly, editorial columnist I have recently seen the appearance of American Eagle advertisements on Boston trains. Many of these feature conventionally beautiful women with the caption “the real you is sexy.” The photos are apparently not airbrushed. The implication...

I’ve been working on Cape Cod for more than two months now, and I still don’t get tired of staring at the water. Almost every day, I take a walk to a stretch of beach located near the building I work in at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). The water looks a little different every day, but it’s consistently gorgeous and pristine. The pure blue and sound of the waves lapping always makes me feel calmer during a hectic day.