Searching For Answers in the Aurora, Colorado Shooting When something like the Aurora movie theatre massacre happens, the first question is always “why?”. Why did this happen? The brutal act of violence seems so senseless, so inexplicable. It’s hard to make sense of it all. However, the problem lays in our follow-up question- “how do …
Category: Band-aid for a heart attack
Jul 06
What is the Purpose of Imprisonment?
Over the last month and a half I’ve written a lot about prison reform and the changes that I think are necessary to fix our system. But it occurred to me today that before we can implement any truly sustainable fixes there needs to be an attitudinal shift regarding the purpose of imprisonment. Right now …
Jun 29
No Controversy – The fight for contraceptives
When you think about Women’s rights what comes to your mind? The right to receive an education? Abortion? What about the right to plan their own families? Whenever women’s reproductive and health rights are being discussed, there is always controversy surrounding this issue. Especially when it comes to using contraceptives, also known as birth control. …
Jun 22
Who shoulders the refugee burden?
Another week, another UN holiday commemorating a global social issue. This week we had World Refugee Day on June 20th, a day to “honor the courage, strength and determination of women, men and children who are forced to flee their homes under threat of persecution, conflict and violence.” With the situations ongoing in the Middle …
Jun 21
DREAMers Goal in Sight? Maybe
Immigration issues have been in the news a lot over the past few months. With this being an election year and the hispanic vote supposedly “up for grabs”, politicians from both parties have been trying their best to appear favorable to the immigrant community without isolating any of their other traditional supporters. But up until …
May 22
Problems with Alabama’s New Immigration Law
Immigration has been a hot button issue throughout the Southern United States for years now. With an undocumented population of approximately 11.5 million, state and federal governments have proposed a multitude of ideas on how best to manage the situation. The most extreme responses have come from Arizona and Alabama with the Support our Law …
May 17
A Step in the Right Direction
Homelessness is a very evident, and very visible problem in the United States. It is not unusual to pass by a homeless man sitting on the side of the street on your way to work, or to see a whole crowd of sleeping men while running through the park. The hard truth is that after …
May 16
Economic Argument on Prison Population: A Quick Fix?
Jails, prisons, and criminals used to be taboo topics associated with the worst of the worst of the population, but now with the sheer volume of people sent prison, mass incarceration is an issue that people can no longer ignore. It has finally become a topic of conversation nationwide and a problem that politicians and …
May 15
Linking the War on Drugs and Mass Incarceration
America’s effort to end drug trafficking and drug use with its War on Drugs has had a profound impact on the nation and our neighbors for the last 40 years. It has strained our relationship with many Latin American countries and put undue stress on their local populations, while hurting our people unnecessarily at the …
May 07
Hidden factor of food price volatility
In the context of our fragile economic recovery, the prices of food, oil and other commodities have risen again. In December of 2010, the FAO food price index reached its 2008 peak; sugar, oils and fats being among the agricultural products that most significantly increased. For instance, the price of rice rose by 127%: wheat …