Americans must respect military privacy


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Just when everyone thought they had gotten a glimpse into what really happened during the military operation that killed infamous al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, another account comes out contradicting it. This additional account arrived last week from a member of SEAL Team 6, the military unit that executed the May 2011 raid on bin […]

Microfinancing helps with crisis


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Kiva announced last week that it has passed the $400 million milestone in microloans, a landmark achievement for an organization that relies on private donors to finance loans as small as $25 in developing countries. This field, known as “microfinance,” has recently become immensely popular, inspiring similar movements across the nation. In 2009, New York […]

Focus on ignorance, not just racism


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It’s not uncommon in 2013 to hear a media outlet of some sort calling on Americans for a “frank and honest discussion about race.” Quite honestly, a large proportion of articles I’ve read that document racial and cultural tensions seem to conclude with an anecdote about how Americans need to talk about race in order […]

Fat tax possible pragmatic solution


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After years of battling with economic decline and rising fuel prices, airlines were recently presented with a tentative solution from an unlikely source. CNN reported that Dr. Bharat P. Bhatta, an associate professor of economics at Sogn og Fjordane University College in Norway, proposed that air ticket costs be calculated according to passenger weight. Media […]

Does the US need to intervene in the Syria conflict?


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The U.S. has a moral responsibility to aid those suffering in a civil conflict and stop the use of chemical weapons.  According to CNN, last week’s chemical attacks in the Syrian province of Aleppo might have been carried out by the Syrian army, though the army insists that it was the work of rebels. In […]

Public perception does not define Court


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A survey released Monday revealed a dismally low approval rating for the Supreme Court among the American public. The survey, released by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, came just days before the Supreme Court was set to begin hearing two highly anticipated cases regarding gay marriage. Though some might view […]

Hillary Clinton could aid businesswomen


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A Quinnipiac poll issued last week found that in a potential 2016 presidential matchup former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would crush former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush by 51-40 percent, a particularly shocking finding since Clinton is not currently a candidate for the 2016 election and because Florida is known as a generally conservative state. […]

Do colleges have the right to search faculty emails?


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Institutions of higher education should be allowed to monitor the potentially illegal activities of its students and staff. In this age of technology, questions of security and privacy are in constant motion. Unfortunately, the Internet is far too vast of a wasteland to truly enforce and guarantee full privacy — and one should not expect […]

Soda ban intrudes on personal freedom


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Monday afternoon, just hours before New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposed ban on large sugary drinks was to take effect, a state judge blocked the measure because of the law’s “arbitrary and capricious” nature.   The court held that the city’s Board of Health encroached on the authority of the City Council in its […]

GMO labeling a smart move for Whole Foods


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In an effort to increase transparency and reinforce its commitment to consumers, high-end grocery store Whole Foods announced Friday that it would be mandating labels for genetically modified organisms, GMOs, in food products by 2018. The decision was seen by some as an effort to reintroduce Whole Foods as one of the quality produce distributors […]