The Current | Vol. 31 Issue 30

April 14, 2021 | nsucurrent.nova.edu 11 It isn’t uncommon for companies to release exclusive products only sold at one or two stores. Musicians have done it with special editions of their albums, films have done it by releasing extended cuts or behind the scenes extras and companies with large fan followings often release exclusive merchandise in partnerships with certain stores. While this may be all well and dandy if we all went to stores in person, the availability suddenly becomes even more limited when you introduce online shopping. While online shopping does potentially broaden the audience that can purchase special edition items from exclusive product partnerships, it also opens up the opportunity for scalpers It’s April, and with a little over one month away from graduation, I have everything ready. My family has booked flights and hotel rooms and got extra masks and vaccination appointments. I even have my outfit picked out for the ceremony, but there is one problem, though. I have no cap and gown— and of course, the fancy golden tassel. On April 8, graduating students received a formal invitation from NSU with the first detailed information about how to purchase graduation regalia, reserve guest tickets and RSVPing to the ceremony itself. Like most seniors, I submitted my graduation fee and processed my degree during winter break on Dec. 28, 2020. For the roughly 101 days following, I didn’t have any information as to our caps and gowns. It was such a weight off my shoulders to finally receive this important information, but after being in the dark for so long, I wonder, why was it so hard to give us this information? I am not the only member of NSU’s class of 2021 that struggled with finding to buy a significant portion of the stock and resell it to desperate fans for a much higher and unfair price. A recent example of this happening would be when Nintendo partnered with Target stores to re-release special Amiibo cards for the “Animal Crossing: New Horizons” game. Their announcement got a huge amount of attention, and when the cards were finally available online and in stores, they sold out in less than an hour. While the cards were originally selling for about $7 a pack, scalpers had them on resale websites within the hour for over $100. This isn’t the first time something like this has happened, either. It happens with out information about this important day in our lives. Until now, there had been no information or NSU communication to any of us about where to purchase our cap and gowns or who we need to contact to find out that information. I spoke to my academic advisor about this months ago and was told that my college, Halmos College of Arts and Sciences, would reach out to me. I have heard countless other seniors voicing the same opinions in daily conversations and over messages in group chats. We were all contacting NSU representatives, but all we got back was “soon,” directed to contact another department or a simple “I’m not sure.” I get it. We’ve all had a tough year, but you have to keep students in the loop about these things — it’s important. I know it may just seem like a navy polyester smock to you, but to us, it means we’ve made it through the past four years of all- nighters, finals weeks, quarantine, social isolation and the COVID-19 pandemic. It means we made it to graduation despite it all. Christina McLaughlin Co-Editor-in-Chief that fuel far right extremism. As these conspiracies gain more traction and become more mainstream, the fools that spout them gain entry to government positions and have even made their way into the U.S. capitol building -- and I am not just talking about the ones that broke into the capitol building on Jan. 6. Take, for instance, Georgian Representative and QAnon conspiracy theorist Marjorie Taylor Greene, who, aside from believing in Jewish space lasers and Satanic cannibal cults, went full “Alex Jones” and harassed the victims of the Parkland shooting. Greene claimed that maybe having “good guys with guns’’ in schools would make people feel safer. Trust me, it does not. I was a senior in the Broward County School system when the Parkland I understand that certain circumstances of this particular graduation ceremony are different from other ceremonies. It is a week or so later than usual, it is going to be held in the Hard Rock Stadium instead of the Rick Case Arena and we still won’t have a definitive answer on how many guests can attend until April 15. All of this is based on CDC guidance and is dependent on COVID-19 infection rates. As a class, we understand that and appreciate the university’s efforts to hold in-person graduation, but even with all of those specifics still up in the air, I should still have had access to information as to when I will be able to make those final arrangements for the ceremony. Even though we now have this pivotal information, I believe the university failed to consider the price point of the graduation regalia being a struggle for students. I can only speak for the undergraduate experience, but $70 ($55 with taxes and shipping cost) is a steep price for a gown with an obsolete NSU logo — considering we already gave the university tuition Opinions Why was it such a hassle for a tassel? Harassment and violence are not free speech Alexander Martinie Opinions Editor A win for the company, a loss for the fans: Why exclusive product partnerships no longer work Sofia Gallus Arts&Entertainment Editor the past four years and paid the $100 graduation fee. I thought that was what the graduation fee went towards. Students have a deadline of April 26 to purchase this for graduation and if you are out of work or in between paychecks, I guess you can’t attend graduation. You’d think with the unprecedented times we are in and the financial stress we are all under, students would be cut a break. I guess that’s where we get the saying, “The tassel is worth the hassle.” People really do not understand the First Amendment. Just because you can say whatever you want, does not mean that you are completely free from the consequences of your comments. Therefore, harassment is not free speech. If you verbally threaten and harass the parents of the victims of a mass shooting at an elementary school, then you probably deserve whatever consequences are thrown your way. Last Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court threw out an appeal by conspiracy theorist Sandy Hook, denier and all- around nut job, Alex Jones. He appealed for the sanctions placed on him and his show by the Connecticut Supreme Court in a 2019 decision. The case focused on defamation against Jones by the relatives of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Barely three months ago, I wrote an article saying that domestic terrorism is not protected by the First Amendment when Jim Jordan, a representative from Ohio, claimed the impeachment of former president Donald Trump on the grounds of inciting violence and insurgency is a part of “cancel culture” and a violation of the First Amendment. Jordan’s claims are historically and legally wrong, but when have far right nationalists ever cared about the truth? They would rather spout conspiracy theories about Satanic cannibal cults or chemicals in the water that turn the frogs gay. American politics have become a cesspool of lies and conspiracies shooting happened, and starting the next day, my school had an officer from the Broward Sheriff’s Office walking around with a military grade assault weapon around campus. It did not make anyone feel safe, and it especially did not make us feel safe when we learned that the man carrying around the giant gun supported the same nonsense that Greene does. We cannot continue to let these ideas foster and spread. The more of a foothold they gain, the less important that truth and facts become in our society. Conspiracy theories and lies cannot be what we base our beliefs on moving forward, and it most certainly cannot be what we base legislation off of either. concert tickets, special album releases and many other limited edition items that are the product of exclusive product partnerships. Because scalpers often use bots that buy up stock quickly, actual fans who need to shop online because they can’t go to the store lose out on opportunities to buy and either have to wait for a restock or buy from scalpers at a much higher price. Additionally, sometimes, stores underestimate the amount of stock they need to release and even more fans lose out when items sell out in minutes. When this happens, it not only causes fans to feel upset, but also tarnishes the name of both the brand and the store they’re partnering with. If you look in the comments of Target’s social media posts, you can still find fans complaining about their release of the Amiibo cards. While both companies that are partnered ultimately benefit, when things like this happen, consumers lose trust in those companies. While exclusive product partnerships may be financial wins for the companies, in a world where scalpers run rampant online, both companies lose the trust of their consumers and possible future purchases. Exclusive product partnerships no longer work in a day and age where stock sells out in seconds or even minutes. With permission to print from Madison Nicole photography