U.S.
Since the rise of anti-Asian rhetoric during the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent affirmative action Supreme Court case heavily centering on Asian American students, discrimination against Asian Americans has become more public than ever [1]. From anti-hate crime legislation to civil rights training, the government has taken an active approach to combating anti-Asian racism in the past five years ...
U.S.
While a stark 97 percent of the scientific community tirelessly advocates that human-induced climate change is, indeed, occurring, most Americans are not losing sleep over it [1]. Nearly a quarter of American adults claim to not have any concern about climate change, while more than half do not believe that the effects of climate change will have serious consequences in their lifetime [2]. Why doe...
U.S.
Despite intensifying partisan divides, Americans broadly agree that money wields too much power in politics [1]. Candidates, parties, and independent interest groups spend increasingly large sums of money to influence election outcomes, with total expenditures on advertisements for the recent presidential cycle totaling around $11 billion [2]. Outside spending by super PACs accounts for $2,728,202...
U.S.
(Political cartoon drawn by Dave Granlund. Source: Sturgis Journal.)
Firearms have become a leading cause of death among young Americans, ages 1 to 14 [1]. In 2022, firearm injury deaths among this age group accounted for 1,120,312 years of potential life lost before the age of 65—a life threat that outweighs the risks of diabetes, stroke, and liver disease combined [2]. Nearly all fift...
U.S.
On September 30, 2024, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed State Assembly Bill (A.B.) 1780—which bans consideration of family legacy and donor status in admissions for all California universities—into law [1]. While these practices do not guarantee an applicant’s acceptance, they often boost a subpar or borderline student from the waitlist or rejection to admission. Donor and...
World
Gang members fix their weapons in Cité Soleil Slum in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday, May 28, 2019. (Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery)
Haiti is currently in a state of anarchy. Gangs control the majority of the capital, Port-au-Prince, with some estimates claiming that as much as 80 percent of the city is under gang control [1]. The Haitian government is in shambles, unable to maintain r...
World
Background
In the midst of a serious security crisis, Burkina Faso finds itself entangled in a power struggle between Western and Eastern influences, with France and Russia as the primary contenders. Ever since the mysterious killing of popular leader Thomas Sankara in the 1980s— for which French involvement has always been suspected —Burkina Faso has undergone periods of ...
World
On September 29, 2024, the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), came out ahead in the country’s parliamentary election after receiving twenty-nine percent of the vote, the highest in the party’s history. In 2019, the FPÖ had won only fifteen percent of the vote. Voter turnout was high, with close to eighty percent of eligible citizens casting a ballot [1].
The 2019 el...
World
Eighty years ago, Japan was a nation locked in a titanic struggle for the survival of its fledgling empire stretching from Indonesia to northern China. Its society had been nearly totally upended by the arrival of Europeans and Americans intent on carving up Asia into distinct spheres of influence. Japan’s rapid transformation and military buildup, unexpected victory against Russia, and ambition...
World
On October 1, 2024, Mexico swore in its first female president: Claudia Sheinbaum. She won by a landslide victory, with the largest number of votes of any candidate in Mexican history [1]. Sheinbaum, the former mayor of Mexico City, has long been a loyal ally and mentee of Mexico’s former president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO). Running with the country’s largest le...