Education is essential to prison reform


In 1989, five 14-to 15-year-old boys, four black and one Hispanic, were convicted of a crime they did not commit. They spent between five and  11 years in juvenile delinquent centers and prisons in New York. Though the boys were victims of institutional racism and a flawed justice system that robbed them of a significant […]

Students can help reduce pollution


When we agreed to attend university in Los Angeles, a smoggy skyline was the catch to palm trees, beaches and year-round good weather. But air pollution remains much more than an ugly stain on the Southern California aesthetic — and more, even, than an environmental issue. Research conducted by USC and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles […]

Congress must close Guantanamo


Opponents of Guantanamo Bay, the high-security detainment facility in Cuba used to house detainees believed to be connected with the War on Terror, decry the prison as a violation of civil rights and an  unignorable failure of justice. A report released last week by the Government Accountability Office indicated that U.S. prisons could safely absorb […]