Affirmative action and merit scholarships are not new systems, but today we hope to offer a new view on the paths students take to higher education. Affirmative action is a process of offering opportunities to women and minority students who have been historically underrepresented in education and industry. The processes are meant to remedy past discrimination, and some allude to “leveling the playing field.” What factors do UNC students think should be taken into account when selecting students to attend college? What do UNC students know about affirmative action? 

Merit scholarships are a type of scholarship given to students by the admissions office. This money is given with no regard for financial status, and is only based on achievement. Merit scholarships, while seeming to support high academic performance, may perpetuate a system of generational wealth. What do UNC students think about a system that gives money to those whose achievements are based on already having money? Do we need merit scholarships, or do we need more financial aid?

Pit Perspectives takes soundbites recorded candidly in The Pit at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and mixes them with commentary and statistics to create a comprehensive review of the student body's thoughts on an important social issue. Our method allows regular students to share anonymous opinions and gives a voice to those who have thoughts on the topic but do not have access to more formal outlets of expression.

Check out our Instagram @PitPerspectivesUNC to stay up to date on the podcast.

For a list of our sources, click this link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/158MxHIjheFdVxsfXS1Pa8fZlsskzyodr/view?usp=sharing 

Study drug usage, specifically of Adderall and Vyvanse, has become ingrained into student culture at universities across the nation. Here at UNC, prescription stimulant misuse is no different, although it seems to occur in self-reinforcing social circles. This episode tells the story of an Adderall acquisition from the original prescription to a student with ADHD, through a diversion of the medication, and then use before an exam. 

Pit Perspectives takes soundbites recorded candidly in The Pit at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and mixes them with commentary and statistics to create a comprehensive review of the student body's thoughts on an important social issue. Our method allows regular students to share anonymous opinions and gives a voice to those who have thoughts on the topic but do not have access to more formal outlets of expression.

Pit Perspectives does not condone the use of illegal substances, and we do not have any identifying information of the students featured on today's episode. These students offered to share their experiences, although we cannot verify if any of their statements are true. This episode offers insight into drug usage on our campus from the voices of students with firsthand experience, and to our knowledge, we are providing the first anonymous voice recordings on this topic at UNC.

Check out our Instagram @PitPerspectivesUNC to stay up to date on the podcast.

For a list of our sources, click this link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Rb36-iPidfbdjZXdBoE_sjjlcSyzPlUd/view?usp=sharing

Additional links to explore:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5140739/
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2141368-adderall-might-improve-your-test-scores-but-so-could-a-placebo/

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This episode is the second in a two-part series on student-athletes. UNC, although a top-ranked academic institution, is known for its athletics. Student-athletes make immense contributions to the culture and reputation of our school, but are they deified by our student body, and are women's teams given the same respect? This episode covers gender disparities, viewership, revenue, deification, respect, and unfair resources. To learn more about the way student-athletes are compensated (or not) by the NCAA and UNC, check out Part 1: the Exploitation of Student-Athletes.

Pit Perspectives takes soundbites recorded candidly in The Pit at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and mixes them with commentary and statistics to create a comprehensive review of the student body's thoughts on an important social issue. Our method allows regular students to share anonymous opinions and gives a voice to those who have thoughts on the topic but do not have access to more formal outlets of expression.

Check out our Instagram @PitPerspectivesUNC to stay up to date on the podcast.

For a list of our sources, click this link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/15YcUsvwU2TkqIm0v6-B_gQCQCNI6rbOB/view?usp=sharing

Links:
https://static.goredfoxes.com/custompages/pdf/hour-limitations.pdf

http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/w_basketball_RB/2022/Attend.pdf

http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/m_basketball_RB/2022/Attend.pdf

https://goheels.com/news/2017/8/25/2017-carolina-field-hockey-fast-facts.aspx

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This episode is the first in a two-part series on student-athletes. UNC, although a top-ranked academic institution, is known for its athletics. Student-athletes make immense contributions to the culture and reputation of our school, but are they given enough in return? This episode covers academic scandals, plantation mentality, graduation rates, and compensation through NIL. To learn more about the way students perceive athletes, check out Part 2: the Glorification of Student-Athletes.

Pit Perspectives takes soundbites recorded candidly in The Pit at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and mixes them with commentary and statistics to create a comprehensive review of the student body's thoughts on an important social issue. Our method allows regular students to share anonymous opinions and gives a voice to those who have thoughts on the topic but do not have access to more formal outlets of expression.

Check out our Instagram @PitPerspectivesUNC to stay up to date on the podcast.

For a list of our sources, click this link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/15YcUsvwU2TkqIm0v6-B_gQCQCNI6rbOB/view?usp=sharing

Links:
https://static.goredfoxes.com/custompages/pdf/hour-limitations.pdf

http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/w_basketball_RB/2022/Attend.pdf

http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/m_basketball_RB/2022/Attend.pdf

https://goheels.com/news/2017/8/25/2017-carolina-field-hockey-fast-facts.aspx

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This episode covers the history and current state of sex education in America, the narrative of pleasure within sex education, the misinterpretation of porn, the orgasm gap at UNC and within the LGBTQ+ community, and the nature of hook-up culture at UNC.  The episode was created with the input of 190 UNC students.

This episode also features a Pit Poll; we asked students about their pattern of orgasming during sex and organized the results according to gender and sexual identity to explore who orgasms and who doesn't. Hint: the numbers were much lower for straight women than for straight men. To find out more about the poll, check out our Instagram @PitPerspectivesUNC. 

Pit Perspectives takes soundbites recorded candidly in The Pit at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and mixes them with commentary and statistics to create a comprehensive review of the student body's thoughts on an important social issue. Our method allows regular students to share anonymous opinions and gives a voice to those who have thoughts on the topic but do not have access to more formal outlets of expression.

There are mentions of topics relating to sex and intimacy in this episode.
For UNC students interested in these topics, check out The Pleasure Activists: https://heellife.unc.edu/organization/thepleasureactivists

For a list of our sources, click this link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/12gYlIX_c5OEJ0EdkH2m3pUve15IdWmCY/view?usp=sharing

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For our third episode and final release for the fall 2021 semester, we are bringing you student commentary on the return to in-person classes here in Chapel Hill after a year of online school. Hear student opinions on UNC's resources during this transition, how our mental and emotional health has been impacted, and how we feel being back on campus.

Pit Perspectives takes soundbites recorded candidly in The Pit at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and mixes them with commentary and statistics to create a comprehensive review of the student body's thoughts on an important social issue. Our method allows regular students to share anonymous opinions and gives a voice to those who have thoughts on the topic but do not have access to more formal outlets of expression.

There are mentions of depression and mental health issues in this episode.
UNC CAPS: https://caps.unc.edu/services/
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or in Spanish by calling 1-888-628-9454 
Text Support Line - text STEVE to 741741 to connect with a trained crisis counselor

Click this link: https://groupme.com/join_group/66654516/N3HMzuLb to access the UNC student mental health group chat mentioned in the episode. 

For a list of our sources, click this link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IgjQud99yMBoSV1xqprIxlX-o4uLIv10/view?usp=sharing

Thanks, Tar Heels, for a great first semester. See you in January!

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For our second episode, we are discussing performative activism, both at UNC and beyond. Today's subtopics include the definitions of performative and real activism, the Black Lives Matter movement and racial injustice on campus, and anecdotes about the Israel-Palestine conflict's presentation online.

Pit Perspectives takes soundbites recorded candidly in The Pit at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and mixes them with commentary to create a comprehensive review of the student body's thoughts on an important social issue. Our method allows regular students to share anonymous opinions and gives a voice to those who have thoughts on the topic but do not have access to more formal outlets of expression.

For a list of our sources, click this link:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1exCxbWwwoNgDgYJWXAunp8AS78E74pCf/view?usp=sharing

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 For our first episode, we are excited to present the UNC student body's thoughts on Greek Life, covering subtopics including hazing, race, class, and sexual assault.

There are mentions of rape, sexual assault, and sexual violence in this episode.

Pit Perspectives takes soundbites recorded candidly in The Pit at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and mixes them with commentary and statistics to create a comprehensive review of the student body's thoughts on an important social issue. Our method allows regular students to share anonymous opinions and gives a voice to those who have thoughts on the topic but do not have access to more formal outlets of expression.

For a list of our sources, click this link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1C8HGvSbNWJv2bCB5SDiJ44xc6h94RvFv/view?usp=sharing

Support the show