Politics

KRAVITZ’S KORNER | Trump Was Right To End DACA

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President Donald Trump is in many ways the antithesis of former President Barack Obama. In the beginning months of his presidency, Trump has attempted to do away with many of Obama’s signature policies, including the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the Paris Climate Accord, and the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Trump’s recent decision to end DACA has come under fire for endangering childhood illegal immigrants. Much of this criticism, however, is misguided, since the termination of DACA restores the limiting of Constitutional powers while motivating Congress to pass robust immigration reform. DACA was introduced by Obama after the Senate failed to pass the DREAM Act—legislation that would have provided a pathway to citizenship for alien minors.

Politics

EMEM ELEMENT | Psyche and the Presidency

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There is something to be said about people-watching; something to be said about sitting in Olin Library staring out at the people playing Frisbee in the Arts Quad, or perhaps walking down Ho Plaza figuring out how to dodge the quarter card mania properly (NOT me though, I love all of your quarter cards… STAY #woke). From an outsider looking in it’s interesting to ponder, even for a millisecond, the thought processes that encapsulate another person’s mind. As humans, we love to analyze, we love to group, we love to categorize. It’s a basic human process that we do consistently—consciously, or even subconsciously. Through analyzation, the basis of our human psyche strives to delve into the psyche of others for clarity, confirmation, and/or understanding.

Politics

NOBODY’S OPINIONS | The Death of a Dream

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Since Trump rescinded the DREAM Act a few days ago, a number of articles have appeared on the internet citing the extreme cruelty of his decision. Many of these articles make their point by showing a Hispanic male in their early 20s doing something admirable—graduating as Valedictorian from high school, saving people’s lives during Hurricane Harvey, researching a cure for cancer—and juxtaposing it with the inevitable fate Trump has forced upon them just to gain a few political points: being deported to a country they have never known. While all DREAMers are skilled workers with no criminal record who have little memory of their country of origin, in many respects this picture is highly inaccurate. It exemplifies the tendency of our media to make its readers complacent by not painting an issue with stark, clear strokes, but rather a blurry impressionism that elicits emotion rather than a logical response. In this article, I will explain why Trump’s rescission of the DREAM Act is significantly more damaging to the soul of this nation than the media would have you believe, by repudiating these headlines piece by piece.

Politics

KRAVITZ’S KORNER | The More Important Issue of Charlottesville

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The violence that erupted in Charlottesville, Va. this August turned the idyllic town on the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains into ground-zero of the debate on statues and white supremacy in America. There’s been much discussion on what to do with Confederate statues across the country. But, more interestingly, there is much public confusion over the motives of the rally organizers and their connection to Confederate statues. Despite the rally organizers opposing the contemplated removal of a Robert E. Lee statue from a Charlottesville park, the rally really wasn’t about the Confederacy or statues.

Politics

CULTURALLY SHOOK | How the Trump White House Is Turning Children into Political Puppets

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Last week, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the new White House Press Secretary, read a 9-year-old boy’s letter to President Trump during a press briefing. This lucky 9-year-old boy is Dylan Harbin, also known by the nickname Pickle. Pickle is only in the 3rd grade, but he doesn’t know “why people don’t like” Donald Trump—he likes Trump so much he even had a Trump-themed birthday party!  

I don’t need to tell you that Pickle’s childlike fascination with the rude, noisy NSFW animation that is Donald Trump—while troubling—is clearly not rooted in any nuanced understanding of Trump’s domestic and international policy decisions. Liberals, leftists and anyone else who grows nauseated by the mere mention of our traffic cone-tinted Commander-in-Chief traipsing through the White House with all the grace of a tactless Neanderthal can agree that Pickle’s object of obsession is, to say the least, unfortunate.

Politics

KRAVITZ’S KORNER | The Casual Stereotyping of Affirmative Action

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One of the most frequently cited arguments in favor of affirmative action practices at universities is that they help those with societal disadvantages succeed. Yet, by propagating stereotypes about the relative achievement of certain classes of individuals, affirmative action policies have perpetuated discrimination on the basis of race. Affirmative action assumes that groups such as African Americans and Hispanic Americans are uniformly underprivileged and that all other groups are uniformly privileged. In order to correct for these differences in background, affirmative action makes it easier for African Americans and Hispanic Americans to gain admission and, since college admission is a zero sum game, more difficult for all other groups to gain admission. A big problem with this system is that not all African Americans and Hispanic Americans are poor and underserved, and not all other groups—such as Asian American and white American—are privileged.

Politics

WELCOME TO THE ZOO | References to God in the Government

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With an open mind and two sides of the story, you’re bound to learn something new. Welcome to the zoo! This is a blog where both the Republican and Democratic viewpoints are represented. The blog is not meant to sway you either way necessarily, just to present both sides of the story. You may not agree with the whole article, but hey, you’re likely to agree with half!

Politics

OUTSIDE THE MAINSTREAM | 5 New Executive Orders, Graded by Me

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In the first weeks of his term, Trump issued a great many executive orders that have caused a lot of outcry and hurt a lot of people. He tried to ban Muslims from coming to the United States, raised border security and cut down financial regulations. Of course, the media grew disinterested, but the parade of executive orders continued.  For your convenience, I have selected five executive orders you probably never heard about and graded them according to my own imaginary criteria. Executive Order 1: Providing an Order of Succession within the Department of Justice
Date issued: January 24th
Description: This executive order focuses on so-called “Transnational Criminal Organizations,” which are basically cartels or violent groups similar to them.

Politics

KRAVITZ’S KORNER | The Health Insurance Pre-Existing Conditions Folly

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Over spring break, I had the opportunity to purchase my first car. The salesman at the dealership told my father and me that if I was the sole owner of the car, I would have to pay a lot of money for automobile insurance—compared to a “normal” adult. My dad and I eventually decided to be co-owners of the vehicle in order to save money through the insurance plan, since my father is cheaper to insure. Historically, insurance plans were created to cover serious accidents that seldom occur. Property insurance arose in the 17th century in order to protect landowners from fire damage. Life insurance policies emerged a century later as a means of financially protecting families against the unexpected deaths of family members.

Politics

WELCOME TO THE ZOO | The Electoral College

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With an open mind and two sides of the story, you’re bound to learn something new. Welcome to the zoo! This is a blog where both the Republican and Democratic viewpoints are represented. The blog is not meant to sway you either way necessarily, just to present both sides of the story. You may not agree with the whole article, but hey, you’re likely to agree with half!