By Kristen Tolbert, Staff Editor While it’s not a topic on most people’s minds, elder abuse is a huge problem in Virginia.[1] The Virginia Department of Adult Protective Services has received over 12,000 reports of elder abuse within a year. 60% of those cases required intervention.[2] However, many victims do not ever report their abuse.[3] Federally, elder abuse was first dealt with in the Older … Continue reading How Virginia Can Prevent the Financial Exploitation of Elderly Adults

By: Sidney Balman, Staff Editor From 2008 to 2016, social justice issues rose to the forefront of domestic policymaking across the United States. The Obama Administration spearheaded criminal justice reform with the enactment of the Fair Sentencing Act, the creation of the Smart on Crime Initiative, and the establishment of the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing.[1]A few years later, the Republicans enacted additional … Continue reading 2020: The Decade of Criminal Justice Reform?

By: Parker Allen, Staff Editor While millions of Americans enjoy increased minimum wages, Virginians are being left out. The current minimum wage in Virginia is $7.25 an hour.[1] While Virginia’s minimum wage is tied to the federal minimum wage, many other states have decided to introduce their own laws.[2] Some states have also taken increased steps to prevent wage theft, the illegal practice of withholding … Continue reading Working Dignity: The Minimum Wage in Virginia

[1] By Samantha E. Teets, staff editor   Regardless of what you believe causes climate change, we can all agree – it’s getting hot out here. The Earth’s temperature increased from 1.1 to 1.6-degree Fahrenheit between 1906 and 2005.[2] That statistic alone may not mean much to you, but couple it with the fact that the rate of temperature increase has nearly doubled in the … Continue reading Change is Coming– and Bringing Security Threats With It to the Artic

By Lindsey Sweetgall-Brock, Staff Editor As at-home DNA test kits grow in popularity, consumers need to be aware of what is happening to their genetic information after sharing it with the company. Some answers may lie in the consent forms and privacy information, but what about privacy risks that are not shared with the consumer? At-home genetic testing companies started with a simple goal: to … Continue reading The Risky Business of DNA At-Home Test Kits

By: Sahba Taslim Saravi, Managing Editor On November 17, 2017, U.S. Park Police Officers Alejandro Amaya and Lucas Vineyard murdered my friend Bijan Ghaisar on George Washington Parkway in Northern Virginia.[1] The case was immediately handed over to the Federal Bureau of Investigations and all information was quickly sealed, blocking access not only to the public but also Bijan’s family.[2] Fairfax County Police were also … Continue reading The Bijan Ghaisar Case: Should the Officers Have Approached Bijan’s Vehicle with their Firearms Out? Short Answer: Absolutely Not.

By Edward Lebar, senior staff editor In October of this year, VCU Health, a health services network with seventy locations in the state of Virginia,[1] announced that they would no longer be filing suits against patients that failed to pay their medical bills in a timely manner.[2] Over the last seven years, over fifty-one thousand suits had been filed for over eighty-one million dollars in medical … Continue reading As Virginia’s Hospitals Cut Back on Suing Patients, the Focus Needs to Shift to Transparent Billing.

By: Dorie Arthur, staff editor Bankruptcy is a bad word. Those in bankruptcy often keep it a secret from their friends and colleagues. After all, the idea of an individual declaring bankruptcy is often used as a tool to shame or otherwise undermine the confidence we should be vesting in that person. To be sure, paying one’s debts is an ideal prudent people strive for, … Continue reading The 10-Letter Word: Pursuing Happiness Through Bankruptcy

  By: Samantha VanWinter, staff editor   According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), “families who pay more than thirty percent of their income for housing are considered cost burdened and may have difficulty affording necessities such as food, clothing, transportation, and medical care.”[1] However, millions of Americans divert a much higher percentage of their income towards their homes. About twelve million … Continue reading Defining “Affordability” and Why it Matters in Navy Hill

By: Olivia Seksinsky, staff editor Every year, 23,000 youth age out of the foster care system, often unprepared for independence.[1] The consequences of aging out of foster care include high rates of homelessness, unemployment, lack of educational achievement, and involvement in criminal activity. Twenty-five percent of foster youth who age out will experience homelessness within their first year of aging out, and fifty percent will be … Continue reading The “Age Out” Crisis: Supporting Foster Youth Beyond the Age of Majority