The Epstein Effect: Can We Stop Caring Yet?

J Elizabeth Mascoli

Jeffrey Epstein is dead, and thank God about it.  We can all move on with our lives. Right? It took me a while to be able to sit down and write this article, because I wasn’t sure what exactly I wanted to argue.  I will start off with a mandatory content warning: what I’m talking about is disturbing.  It’s about abuse, exploitation, and systematic sexual oppression.  But it’s not something that we can just not talk about.  It’s not something to be avoided just because it’s disturbing or uncomfortable.  If…

The Ethics of Unpaid Internships

Allyson Ryan

Internships, both paid and unpaid, have become a recent phenomenon in 21st century United States. Undergraduate college students experience pressure to graduate with an internship on their resume to prove to employers that they have the work ethic necessary to succeed in today’s competitive workforce. However, students who take unpaid internships are often required to perform meaningless tasks, left vulnerable to experiencing sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace, and must have a degree of financial means in order to participate in these programs. It is ingrained in the minds…

Iran Lifts Ban on Women Entering Stadiums: Will It Last?

Bahar Ghandehari

Her name was Sahar Khodayari. A 29-year old Iranian woman with a simple dream: to attend a soccer match and cheer for her team. In March 2019, she decided to stand against the misogyny and oppression of Iranian law. She disguised herself as a man and entered the Azadi Soccer Stadium in Iran. When the guards confronted her, she did not hide behind her disguise. She was arrested and later detained for two days in Garchack prison, a place for criminals convicted of violent crimes.    After being released on…

What the Green New Deal Says About the Young and Progressive Left

Austin Sacker

When freshman Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Ed Markey’s Green New Deal resolution failed to pass on the Senate floor by a staggering 0-57 vote, her reaction (and those of her supporters) was one of both upset and outrage. Disappointedly absent from this rant was any glimmer of introspection. Ocasio-Cortez is the millennial voice in Congress, and her and Markey’s resolutions are, by its description, the legislative panacea that this generation apparently desires. The lack of presented policy action and the unrealistic cost are well-documented criticisms, but less often considered…

The Electoral College: Preserving our Republic

David Andreas

In the past twenty years, two presidents, George W. Bush and Donald Trump, have won the presidency with much controversy. Bush’s triumph over Al Gore had to be decided in the Supreme Court, where the justices decided that Bush did in fact win. Their decision was based on the deadline that a state had to determine it’s electors six days before the electoral college met. The decision did not sit well with many Americans, even after Gore conceded. Then, in 2016, Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton with 304 to 227…

Rehab vs. Control

J Elizabeth Mascoli

Over 2.3 million people, adults and juveniles alike, are currently in some sort of correctional facility in the United States. Our country has the highest rate of incarceration per capita in the world, yet over the years, many have come to realize that our prison system does not work. The main source of this error is the prison system’s hyperfocus on punishment and control rather than the rehabilitation of its inmates. Prison itself should be a system of rehabilitation. Most people who go to prison do not go for life…

Biden and 2020

Allyson Ryan

Despite the fact that former Vice President Joe Biden has not yet announced his candidacy for the 2020 election, he has been shown to be leading in many polls for the 2020 Democratic primaries. Despite this, Joe Biden is not what the Democratic party needs for the 2020 election. What the party needs is to focus on the fresher, more progressive faces that are rising through the ranks of the party. The Democratic party needs to be strategic in who becomes the nominee for the 2020 election. The current status…

The Threat of Brexit for the UK’s Welfare State

Samantha Butzen

Since the founding of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP), a British exit from the European Union has been on the minds of many in the United Kingdom. In order to maintain the support of UKIP, the Conservative government promised  a referendum on the UK’s membership in the EU.  In 2016, many promises were made by the UKIP aligned Leave.EU campaign as well as the 2015 founded Vote Leave campaign regarding a boost to the welfare state should the UK leave the EU yet in the years of negotiations following…