Dina Rosin (CMC ’20) Administered by the United States Department of Education, a Pell Grant is a subsidy given to students to help pay for college, an expense that is rapidly rising at institutions across the nation. The Pell Grant is awarded to students with demonstrated financial need, and the amount given to students is determined by a standard formula derived from information given on...
Dina Rosin (CMC ’20) On May 28, 2007, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) was passed as an Act of Congress to prohibit the use of genetic information in cases of healthcare and employment. This means that healthcare providers cannot withhold insurance on the basis of genetic predispositions to certain diseases or conditions. Furthermore, this act states that employers are...
Dina Rosin (CMC ’20) The Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act, commonly known as House Bill 2, or HB2, was passed in North Carolina in March 2016. The bill is officially called “An Act to Provide for Single-sex Multiple Occupancy Bathroom and Changing Facilities in Schools and Public Agencies and to Create Statewide Consistency in Regulation of Employment and Public Accommodations.”...
Dina Rosin (CMC ’20) On March 20, 2017, James Comey, Director of the FBI, testified before the House Intelligence Committee. Comey reported that the FBI was investigating the tie between the Trump Campaign and Moscow in the 2016 election. He claimed that Russian President Vladimir Putin clearly favored Trump over his opponent Hillary Clinton and that it is unclear if any crimes were...
Dina Rosin (CMC ’20) The Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America states that “the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” Since 1789, the right for an individual to possess a gun has generally been upheld by the Supreme Court. In 2008, the landmark Supreme Court case District of Columbia v. Heller overturned a ban on handguns in D.C...
Dina Rosin (CMC ’20) Over the last decade, voter identification (ID) laws have been an increasing factor in American electoral politics. By some, voter identification laws are seen as an essential safeguard against voter fraud. Others contend that the laws function mostly to limit the ability of low-income and minority voters to vote by limiting accessibility to the polls. The issue has re...
Dina Rosin (CMC ’20) With the recent shift in leadership from Barack Obama to Donald Trump, many observers have expressed concern about President Trump’s issuance of a number of executive orders. However, neither the existence nor the proliferation of Trump’s executive orders are out of the ordinary among past presidents. While the notion of executive orders conjures a vision of government...
Dina Rosin (CMC ’20) Within days of Donald Trump’s inauguration as President of the United States, Israel announced the construction of about 5,500 new housing units. Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, wrote on Twitter: “We are building – and we will continue to build.” This plan of settlement expansion in the West Bank and East Jerusalem is in violation of international...
