Pass: SA holds courses on sexual prevention

The Student Association sponsored a series of Rape Aggression Defense training sessions, an informative seminar on teaching women self-defense techniques, which end today.

These sessions were a great addition to NIU because they brought awareness to violence against women. Self-defense sessions can help increase a woman’s confidence and assertiveness while also increasing her ability to resist violence, according to an Oct. 1 study published by SAGE.

In a study of undergraduate women, “19 percent experienced attempted or completed sexual assault since entering college,” according to a 2012 Centers for Disease Control report. Self-defense training sessions can help lower these numbers.

The Rape Aggression Defense instructors have been thoroughly trained to handle stressful confrontations on a daily basis and can teach women how to evenly distribute their weight and hold proper stances.

The Rape Aggression Defense training system is a program that should be applauded in its efforts to teach women what to do in a bad situation and spread awareness. These training sessions should be done at least twice a semester because of how they benefit women on campus.

Fail: People don’t agree with minimum wage

An increase in Illinois’ minimum wage is essential for the survival of many college students.

The minimum wage should be raised and make life easier for students, but others disagree. Kim Clarke Maisch, state director of the National Federation of Independent Business, said raising the minimum wage wouldn’t be wise for business owners, according to a Wednesday Chicago Tribune article.

“That’s a huge jump for small business owners to absorb,” said Clarke Maisch. “Going all the way to $11 would again push Illinois toward having one of the highest minimum wages in the country … . We believe strongly that this puts Illinois small business owners at a competitive disadvantage.”

About 43 percent of full-time college students worked in October 2013, according to an April 22 Bureau of Labor Statistics news release.

A lot of people don’t have a choice but to accept low-wage jobs during and after school because they’re pressured to start paying off loans or risk defaulting. The director thinks raising the minimum wage will ruin the economy. But, the more money minimum wage workers have, the more they’ll spend, which will put more money into the pockets of little and big businesses.