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HC Wake-Up Call: Amtrak Collision Kills at Least 2, New Tennessee Bill Could Ban Greek Life & Lengthy FBI Investigation into USA Gymnastics May Have Caused Dozens More to Be Abused

Caroline Pirozzolo

Good morning Her Campus! With a break-neck news cycle, there is no possible way for you to stay on top of every story that comes across your feeds—we’re all only human, after all.

But, life comes at you fast. So grab a cup of coffee and settle in for this quick and dirty guide to stories you might’ve been sleeping on (like, literally. It’s early.)

At Least 2 People Have Been Killed in an Amtrak Collision in South Carolina

Two people were killed and 70 more were hospitalized for their injuries after an Amtrak train carrying 139 passengers collided with a freight train in South Carolina on Sunday morning, BuzzFeed News reports. Both people killed on the train, which was traveling from New York to Miami, were reportedly Amtrak employees. Officials have also said that around 5,000 gallons of fuel had spilled as a result of the collision, but that it caused no current threat to the public. According to Amtrak’s online system map, the collision was reportedly caused by the Amtrak train traveling on the wrong track. The accident is Amtrak’s second in less than a week after a train carrying Republican lawmakers hit a garbage truck in rural Virginia earlier last week.

A Newly-Introduced Bill May Ban Greek Life in Tennessee

Tennessee lawmaker John DeBerry introduced a bill in the state’s House earlier this week that could ban fraternities and sororities from all public university campuses in Tennessee, Time reports. Though the bill would not affect professional greek letter fraternities or honor societies, it would ban all fraternities and sororities from being, “recognized by, associated with, or operating on the campus of, any state institution of higher education.” It would also not affect private schools in the state. DeBerry, a Democrat, says he introduced the bill as a response to multiple deadly incidents of hazing throughout the country last year, many of which received national attention. 

“We ought to be able to send our young people to school, they ought to be able to be in a safe environment, and if they want to join a fraternity or sorority, it ought to be such that they come out better people and we’re not watching a national news story about someone being hazed and falling down stairs,” DeBerry told Time.

Lack of Urgency in FBI Investigation into Larry Nassar Could Have Lead to More Abuse

According to a report by the New York Times, the lack of urgency show, in the FBI’s investigation into Larry Nassar, the USA Gymnastics doctor who sexually abused upwards of 200 young women, may have caused dozens of additional women to be abused as the investigation slowly proceeded. Per their report, the Times says it has identified at least 40 of Nassar’s youngest victims who were abused by the doctor after the FBI investigation began in July 2015. It reportedly took nearly a year after that for the FBI to interview the first victim to come forward, Maggie Nichols, who says it took 11 months for the FBI to contact her after she provided them with the information that lead to the investigation being opened. The FBI has reportedly declined to answer the Times‘ questions about the matter or comment on the pace of the investigation.

Meme of the day:

Because let’s be real: a good outfit makes tackling Mondays about as easy as it’ll ever be.

Caroline is the Evening/Weekend Editor and Style Editor at Her Campus, a senior public relations major at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a leather jacket enthusiast.  You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram @c_pirozzolo.