Tag / chicago
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Toward More Humane College Admissions
The Washington Post described the decision as a “watershed.” One industry expert quoted in the Wall Street Journal considered it “breaking the ice.” The Chicago Tribune simply called it “a big change.” Whatever name you give it, the University of Chicago’s decision to allow American students to apply for admission without standardized test scores is…
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Why the 2016 Election Was Not the Worst Election in American History
I generally despise using generalizations without near-encyclopedic citations. However, it must be stated: the 2016 election received universal criticism. Nobody beamed with pride at either set of candidates. Many Americans loathed both tandems and gritted their teeth at the ballot box. If an American did vote for one of the two sides enthusiastically, they firmly…
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Religious Minorities in Some of America’s Largest Cities
Despite the First Amendment’s role in the separation of church and state, the United States is far from a secular nation. God is invoked in our Pledge of Allegiance, dollar bills, and in nearly every inaugural address since James Monroe’s in 1817. Biblical references in these inaugural speeches, during elections, and following national tragedies suggest…
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Mapping Violent Crimes
One key element of the United States’ crime problem is that violence varies greatly between cities, states, and regions. While Chicago, for example, is infamous for its sheer number of murders, several smaller cities have higher crime rates. The map below serves to contextualize some of the nation’s violent crime. We have profiled the five…
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A New Solution to a New Kind of Gang Violence
On January 24, 2017, just four days after taking office, President Donald Trump tweeted, “if Chicago doesn’t fix the horrible ‘carnage’ going on, 228 shootings in 2017 with 42 killings (up 24% from 2016), I will send in the Feds!” His rash instinct to resolve violence in Chicago with federal troops represents a dangerous misunderstanding…
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Secretary Arne Duncan: “One of the President’s Best Appointments”
At the beginning of winter break, I had lunch with the then-incumbent United States Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, in his office in Washington, D.C. The meeting was an amazing opportunity, so I used it as my impetus to complete an independent research project about the Department of Education and Duncan’s life and impact during…
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A Call for Academic Freedom
BY MEYTAL CHERNOFF Over winter break the students of Washington University received an email from Chancellor Wrighton declaring our university’s refusal to participate in the American Studies Association’s (ASA) academic boycott of Israel. The ASA is one of many medium sized academic associations, but its actions are indicative of a larger trend. This January, the…
