The Topics in Politics (TIP) Talks was held at noon on Tuesday March 3 at Meiley- Swallow Hall. This was the fifth TIP Talks North Central has hosted, and about 70 people attended.
The TIP Talks, based off of TED Talks, was about an hour and a half in which four professors each talked about a topic related to politics.
The professors included Dr. Abigalle Vanhorn, Dr. Steve Macek, Dr. Stephen Maynard Caliendo and William Muck.
Dr. Vanhorn, adjunct professor of political science, talked about marijuana and how it relates to federal and state law.
In her speech, Vanhorn went through the history of the uses and legality of marijuana, but her main focus was on why legalizing marijuana has become such a problem.
Legalizing marijuana has become such a highly debated topic, not because of morals or pros and cons, but because the federal and state government do not agree on how to handle this topic.
Dr. William Muck, associate professor and chair of political science/sociology and anthropology, focused on the satirical magazine ‘Charlie Hebdo’ and the globalization of Blasphemy.
In his speech, Muck, talked about the globalization of our world, and how magazines, newspapers, and broadcasts can be accessed all around the world. This causes the need to discuss how religion should be protected against blasphemous language.
“There is a profanity loop in our society in which the outraged, those who are angered by the lack of restrictions on freedom of speech, and outrageous. Those who take advantage of freedom of speech, feed off each other,” Muck said.
Dr. Stephen Caliendo, professor of political science and chair of the division of human thought and behavior, talked about the borrowing of notes, melodies, and lyrics in music.
He played songs to show how “borrowing” a musical melody or beat without gaining the rights to it can infringe on copyright law, and land a musician in court.
“The protection of musical creations brings up the questions of who owns sound? How much can be used freely? What short of credit must be given when borrowing?” asked Caliendo.
Dr. Steve Macek, professor of speech communication and coordinator of urban and suburban studies, discussed the recent election of the group Syriza in Greece.
Syriza is a group whose goals revolve around recovering from the great recession, and combating the 1.1 billion euro bailout Greece was proposed. Syriza hopes to decrease the public debt of Greece, and propose a deal that would help those in debt by giving them free electric, public transit, and health care.
“Syriza represents hope against the continuing pressure of cutting costs wherever possible,” Macek said.
