Op-Eds
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Why the Green New Deal Isn’t Right for 2019’s America
While the Green New Deal sets forth the type of ambitious goals necessary to tackle climate change, it also alienates key political actors and encourages politicization of climate action.
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The Invisible Issue
Over half a million people spend their days without a roof over their head. Almost 200,000 sleep on the streets each night. This is a crisis of humanity and a failure of the market. Despite this, homelessness remains a non-issue on the national political stage and the government has not passed legislation that might provide the solution that our most vulnerable citizens desperately need.
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Night Falls For Insects
Devastating loss of insect biomass and diversity has made the rounds in headlines, but how effectively is the science communicated? Science communication of the insect collapse is well communicated due to the framing of scientific articles, but it doesn’t necessarily lead to political action.
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And the Winner for Best Political Activist Goes to … Taylor Swift
Celebrities may well have the most impactful political endorsements given their significant influence on their fans.
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Democrats Took the House? So What? No Worries from Trump!
The 2018 midterms have created a unique situation for the Republican party and President Donald Trump. Although Democrats have created a divided government, Republicans and the President still have quite a few strategies they can use to accomplish their goals and prepare for the 2020 election using two vital tools: judicial nominations and the economy.
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How the Republican Revolution Broke Congress
Today’s problems with congressional dysfunction have been brewing for decades, but the biggest source may be the Republican wave of 1994.
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Political Art in 2018: Parquet Courts' Wide Awake!
What happens when you can't keep watching the news because it's terrifying, but you can't look away because you have to stay informed? Tune in to some angry punk-rock.
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Democratic Upsets Could Spell Disaster For Lasting Climate Action
For Democrats, November’s midterms gave them the ability to block the President’s agenda. In the process, they may have unintentionally destroyed any potential for bipartisan action on climate change.
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American News and What Really Matters in the 2018 Pakistani Election
American media coverage of the recent election in Pakistan displays a continuous and trite rhetoric towards politics in Pakistan. The press outlets insist on sticking to rudimentary and outdated reporting that offers nothing new and does not push the envelope towards a new understanding of a society on brink of a societal change. The election of Imran Khan and the victory of Pakistan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf has historical importance for the people of Pakistan, even if not from the political standpoints of the United States.
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The Affordable Care Act’s Delicate Balance Is Causing Its Demise
The framers of the law now commonly referred to as “Obamacare” went to great lengths to mix privately-administered healthcare with government funding and regulation. That effort left the law complicated, controversial, and completely open to political sabotage.
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Charlottesville’s Housing Crisis is Coming
What steps is Charlottesville taking to stave off its impending shortage of affordable housing?
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The Surprising Politics of the Hallyu Wave
Hallyu, literally translated as the “flow of Korea,” refers to the recent explosion of South Korea cultural exports around the world. The most significant mainstays are in the realm of entertainment, spearheaded by the booming popularity of Korean pop music and trailed by the rise of beauty, food, and television. The rise of cultural popularity may not seem particularly influential, but for a small political hotspot like South Korea, hallyu is a big deal. South Korea has moved to make preparations to make it the main industry of export in anticipation of its future prosperity.
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Climate Change Denial is a Humanitarian Crisis
We are running out of time for American climate policy to evolve.
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#WeAreNotInvisible is Asian American History in the Making
This past October, the Asian Leaders Council (ALC) at U.Va. released a report pushing for academic reform, citing the need for increased Asian/Pacific Islander American representation in both faculty hiring and course offerings. This recent bout of activism parallels and follows a long, fraught history of academic reform in American history, one in which students at the University can both learn from and contribute to.
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Looking back at Virginia’s 5th District Congressional Race, by the numbers: Promising Signs for Democrats Outweighed by Gerrymandering
Results from the Congressional election in Virginia’s fifth district show promising signs for Democrats while underscoring the state’s intractable gerrymandering.
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Democratizing Discovery with Citizen Science
Citizen science gives nonscientists the opportunity to participate in setting research priorities, tackling scientific crises, while also creating a world of new data for scientists to explore.
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A Case For Globalization In A World of Trumps
The 2010s has seen a dramatic rise in nationalist rhetoric and leaders across the globe, damaging the fabric of international trade and cooperation that brought increased prosperity worldwide for so long. In order to fix this damage, world leaders must ensure that no one is left behind by globalization.
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The Case for Collaboration
The artificial division between sciences and humanities is entrenched in the University, but individual collaboration can help to alleviate the separation.
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The Politics of Impeachment
Considering closely the Mueller investigation, an analysis of the effects of partisan politics on the safeguards of democracy.
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Presidential Power to Impose Tariffs: Does it Make Sense?
President Trump has caused quite a stir in the headlines recently due to enacting tariffs on numerous countries abroad. This has resulted in many Americans, both Republicans and Democrats to question why the president has this Authority in the first place. This article seeks to explore the president's power to enact tariffs and what Congress can do about it.
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Hate in America: The Trolls Undermining the Bridge
The alt-right holds an unusually powerful sway over the discourse we hold online. Unless we pay careful attention to their growing influence, violence and political chaos will inevitably result.
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Perpetual Threats to Native Sovereignty in the Borderlands
The Native American Tribe, the Tohono O’odham Nation continues to face excessive surveillance a century and half after the U.S.-Mexican border was drawn straight through their territory.
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The Way Forward for Social Democracy
The center-left’s legacy is under assault across Western democracy, but parties in the United Kingdom, Spain, and Portugal, are showing the way forward.
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Dinosaurs and Dollar Signs
The recent publication of The Dinosaur Artist, focusing on the illegal importation and sale of vertebrate dinosaurs by a high-profile smuggler, has renewed interest in the debate between science and commercialism.
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Brett Kavanaugh and America's Sickness
The Kavanaugh controversy is symptomatic of a larger sickness in American politics that threatens to fundamentally corrupt public discourse.