Déjà Vu — All Over, Again?
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The Wilmington Wave Wednesday, November 4, 2020 DÉJÀ VU — ALL OVER, AGAIN? Donald J. Trump claims victory as early results for the presidential election release. Carlos Barria Reuters Thompson Stupak ballots turning the tides for unde- Wilmington Wave clared swing states. Trump had a different take Political beliefs nest at home As of 5 a.m. Wednesday on the mail-in ballots still being Annabelle McCracken with multiple types of views be- morning, the results of the 2020 counted, “Votes cannot be cast Wilmington Wave cause I have seen them more now,” Presidential Election still remain after the Polls are closed!” Trump Blevins said. in limbo. tweeted at 12:49 a.m. “Aware” and “open-minded”; Blevins also stated that she Despite the uncertain- Trump followed up with these were the two most common has more freedom to form her own outcomes, President Donald a speech at 2:21 a.m. calling the words used by college students political beliefs now that she is no J. Trump declared his victory mail in ballots “a fraud on the when asked how college has shaped longer under the influence of her against former Vice President American public.” Trump prom- their political beliefs. family and friends from home. This Joseph R. Biden later in the night, ised to bring the issue of mail-in In light of the 2020 election, seems to be a commonality for when many key swing states pre- ballots to the Supreme Court of several college students were ques- many college students. viously predicted to turn the United States as seven swing tioned about how their college expe- “The exposure to others and blue, appeared in the Rebuplican states had yet to be called. rience has shaped or changed their what they believe has helped me president’s favor. Without any major news political views. not feel judged by others for having Much of the night looked networks making a final call on “My political views have kind my own opinions now that I have closely at the race between Biden the election, Trump declared vic- of changed, but if anything I have the freedom to do so,” Blevins said. and Trump in each major state, tory in the same speech. “We will just come to realize there is a lot “Freedom” was another ten of which win this and as far as I’m con- more grey than white,” said Kamer- word that was used often by col- make up 193 of the 270 electoral cerned, we have won it,” Trump on Williamson, a senior biology lege students when describing the college votes required to win. At said. major at the University of North Car- transition from home-life to col- 3:30 a.m., Trump held the major- The Biden campaign an- olina Wilmington. lege. ity of swing states. Many mail-in nounced that they are ready for According to Williamson, he Like Blevins, Abby Yount, a ballots are still being counted, so a legal battle to defend mail-in has not strayed far from his origi- sophomore special education major experts agreed it’s too early to ballots. As of 3:30 a.m., Biden nal political beliefs while attending at the University of North Carolina call. has not released any announce- UNCW, realizing that, despite seem- at Charlotte, agreed that the free- Former White House Press ment detailing how he plans on ing primarily conservative, there are dom she was granted in college Secretary Robert Gibbs stated combating Trump in the Supreme other individuals also on campus played a huge role in the shaping that many Upper Midwest States Court to defend mail-in ballots. who have a more liberal mindsets of her political beliefs. could not count ballots until Elec- Three or the ten major like his own. “Growing up, my parents tion Day, meaning election results swing states announced victory, “It was nice to meet those did not keep politics in the house may be delayed for several hours with Biden winning Minnesota who attend that are more open so I never formed an opinion, mov- if not several days. Biden stressed and Trump winning North Car- minded,” Williamson said. ing to Charlotte and being around patience in consideration of the olina and Georgia. Five of the The idea of open-mindedness so many different opinions impact- remaining mail-in ballots. remaining seven swing states are is something Tara Blevins, a sopho- ed how I was able to form my own “We’re going to have to be projected to favor Trump. The re- more nursing major at the Universi- along with the freedom to do so,” patient,” Biden said, exercising maining swing states range from ty of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Yount said. caution during one of his Election 72% to 95% of votes counted. is familiar with. Day speeches. “I have definitely become The former Vice President see PRESIDENT on page 3 more open-minded. I am more okay see BELIEFS on page 3 expressed optimism in mail-in Wilmington Wave, Wednesday, November 4, 2020 2 UNCW & Wilmington Photos: Tyler Earles, Dylan Saunooke, Anna Mohr Illustration: Grayson Toal Wilmington Wave, Wednesday, November 4, 2020 3 PUBLISHER’S STATEMENT Twenty-two UNCW students, from two different sections of “In- that it’s hard to come up with story ideas, and call people out of the blue. troduction to Journalism,” came together on Election Day (and Night, It’s hard to sort through notes and write leads and keep subjective lan- and the long, lonely hours before dawn) to create this paper on deadline. guage out of a story. Headlines are hard. Deadlines are hard. They’ve aptly named it the Wilmington Wave. But it’s all necessary. Our world is vast, and news of it, relentless. Stories crest and crash It’s necessary because we live amidst a sea of misinformation and on readers, portents of hope and despair. These waves of information can misdirection. Riptides of alternative facts, anti-science, and conspiracy the- be exhilarating, and they can feel dangerous. We’re drawn to the news, as ories—in other words: lies—threaten how we understand our world and we are to the sea, to watch, to listen, and to feel. how we understand each other. And it is the journalist’s job, it was the job I’m not sure these students considered all of that when they signed of these students, to wade into those waters and separate fact from fiction. up for this course. Few of them are journalism minors; most confessed to Like all journalists, they cannot control how readers, listeners, and viewers taking the course because it satisfied certain general education require- use the information they provide, but they can control the rigorousness of ments. And yet they came together during a pandemic, during the most the reporting and the fairness of their articles. contentious, most vital election in the past 100 years, during the stress of And so they came together, many meeting each other for the first quarantine and multimodal-learning to make a newspaper. To arrest, for time tonight. They spread out across three classrooms, masked and socially one day, the main currents of a campus, a city, a state, and a nation. To distant. They synched via Zoom. They chatted across Slack. They com- commit those stories to print, and to share them with their community. mitted themselves to a project of unknown depth, and here, at 6:00 a.m. Our paper is 14 pages long, and those students are responsible for Wednesday morning, they still have not touched bottom. There are still every element you are holding in your hands. They reported. They wrote. many unknowns about this election and what it means for the future of They edited. They photographed. They paginated. They created graph- this nation. But journalists, including some of these students, will continue ics, and cartoons, and cutlines, and jumps, and in-house ads. They have to be there, meeting those waves wherever they may take us. learned the lingo of the newsroom. And they can’t wait to put this paper to bed. Dr. Josh Roiland They’ve also learned the realities of journalism. That it is steeped Assistant Professor in professionalism, accuracy, and fairness. That “fake news” is a bogey- Department of English man designed to confuse, undermine, and sow conflict. They’ve learned University of North Carolina Wilmington WILMINGTON WAVE INFORMATION DIRECTORY EDITORS IN CHIEF NATIONAL EDITOR OPINION/EDITORIAL EDITOR REPORTERS REPORTERS Jay K. Byrd Thomas Stupak Brendon Dorrance Anna Mohr Tyler Earles Shaun Edwards FEATURE EDITOR PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR CAMPUS EDITOR Ava Reed Tyler Earles Canvas Pegues Joseph Giltinan Grayson Toal DESIGN EDITOR COPY EDITOR Hannah McDonnell Carter Hartgrove CITY EDITOR Blake Freeman Hayden Franklin Dylan Saunooke Ian Higgins Ava Reed ASSISTANT DESIGN ASSISTANT COPY EDITORS STATE EDITOR EDITORS Malachi Dansby Anna Ross Simpson Sierra Reynolds Malachi Dansby Grayson Toal Hannah McDonnell Anna Ross Simpson Annabelle McCracken Bryce Rush Annabelle McCracken Sierra Reynolds Anna Ross Simpson Connor Ryan Brendon Dorrance According to Raymond, ent while attending college. #PRESIDENT #BELIEFS she has not taken any liberal arts continued from page 1 continued from page 1 Annika Ashcraft, a freshman style courses that could sway her environmental studies major at Registered Democrats The exposure and free- beliefs and she tends to stick with UNCW, felt awareness was the vital made up a majority of mail-in dom that is granted with the like-minded individuals. aspect of her beliefs. She mentioned ballots, leaving Republicans as college experience are largely “I am a bleeding red conser- that her parents are both political the majority of in person voters.