Rachel Barney

Dear Readers

by OIDJ Editor

Being depressed, anxious, scared or in pain is normal. Something that life just throws at you to keep you on your toes. There are a lot of people in this world. Some people might make you laugh and laugh, but others might do anything to make you feel like you’re not important. In those moments, know you are strong, confident, brave and most of all, beautiful. At the Oklahoma Institute for Diversity Journalism at the University of Oklahoma, we are writing stories about mental health this week. Some of the topics my fellow high school peers and I are writing…

A perhaps unexpected source of veterans’ PTSD: Sexual assault

by OIDJ Editor

By Rachel Barney Some veterans come out of the military with post-traumatic stress disorder. For nearly one in four women veterans, a source of PTSD may be sexual assault. According to the Battered Women’s Justice Project, nearly 25% of women veterans who seek health care services from the Department of Veterans Affairs remember being assaulted at least once while in the military. Victims in the military – both men and women – frequently do not report the assaults for many of the same reasons as the victims outside of the military: Embarrassment, fear or shame. The justice project notes that…

Incoming OU freshman sees politics as a way to make a difference

by OIDJ Editor

By Rachel Barney What does politics mean to Chloe Dean? To her it’s everything. Chloe is an 18-year-old Cherokee woman fresh out of high school and ready for the next chapter of her life. Her love for politics and Native American studies led her to the University of Oklahoma. She will be the first person in her family to have gone to college. At Broken Arrow High School, she played softball and took a lot of AP classes. Over time the love for politics outweighed the love for softball because, as she explained, politics affect everyone and she wants to…