U.S.
As a result of rapidly increasing globalization, social media usage, and post-pandemic frustrations, the past decade has become one characterized by a surge in youth-led activism. College students, in particular, have expanded upon previous movements to advocate for an end to police brutality, the preservation of the environment, and justice more generally for marginalized groups both at home and ...
U.S.
Remeritocratizing College Admissions: Why Our Top Universities Must Require Standardized Test Scores
In just five years, the landscape of elite college admissions has undergone a sweeping transformation. From the striking down of affirmative action to the Varsity Blues scandal, the systems in place to determine our society’s next generation of leaders have been scrutinized under the microscope. The most drastic of these recent shifts, however, is the widespread adoption of test-optional policie...
U.S.
California faces yet another dangerous outbreak, but this time it is characterized by ski masks rather than surgical ones. From armed robbery to petty theft, crime in the state has been on the rise since the reversal of quarantine orders. This increase comes as a surprise from an economic standpoint, considering the forgiving nature of COVID-19 relief checks and payment suspensions. According to P...
U.S.
“Alabama has done it, and now so can you,” boasted Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall [1]. Marshall was referring to nitrogen hypoxia, a new method of carrying out the death penalty, first used by the state of Alabama this past January. Yet, was this new method as effective as Marshall implies?
On January 25th, 2024, Kenneth Smith, 58, was executed using nitroge...
U.S.
The validity of our political elections is in question. The problem of low voter turnout in the United States and the increasing political polarization between Democrats and Republicans have led many to question the success of America’s electoral system. However, in searching for the answers to why our voting system is flawed, previous court rulings that are still affecting voters today have...
World
Walking into a local grocery store, you would not expect to see corrosive materials such as highly concentrated hydrochloric and sulfuric acids stocked on the shelves. These deadly substances, branded as necessary cleaning agents, are easily accessible and cheap in many stores in India. Yet, these “cleaning agents” are strong enough to melt down human skin and bone. Unsurprisingly, malicious p...
World
Introduction
Since 2011, Ethiopia has built a dam creating a reservoir that will eventually hold almost double the water of Lake Tahoe [1]. Recently, Egypt and Ethiopia have been in heated debates regarding Ethiopia’s building of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the upper Nile River. Fears have risen about an escalation of this conflict between the two nations which could turn bl...
World
The streets of Hamra, where my mom grew up. Source: Christina Panossian
Lebanon – a country with 33.12 billion USD loss in national GDP between 2018 and 2022 [1], 10.51 percent interest rates [2], 283.2 percent gross debt [3], a growing annual inflation rate of 171.2 percent in 2022 [4], and a 98 percent decrease in value of the Lebanese pound [5].
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World
In a first-of-its-kind summit in April this year, U.S. President Joe Biden met with the leaders of Japan and the Philippines to discuss military ties and alliance commitments.This trilateral summit underscores the growing integration of the U.S. alliance network in the Indo-Pacific region [1]. In the region, the U.S. has placed significant emphasis on Northeast Asia, forming strong bilateral ties ...
World
Since Russia invaded Ukraine two years ago, observers around the world have become increasingly wary of a, supposedly, impending Chinese invasion of Taiwan. The U.S. went so far as to amend its foreign policy regarding Taiwan; President Biden vowed that the U.S. would defend Taiwan in the event of an invasion by China, seemingly ending the U.S.’ decades-long policy of strategic ambiguity reg...