By: Mitchell Beebe, Staff Editor Of all the challenges facing our country today, it is my opinion that there is no greater threat to our economy and national security than America’s infrastructure. Yet, it has gone almost unnoticed by mainstream politics and the public for decades. In many ways, the Oroville Dam in northern California exemplifies the general condition of the rest of the nation’s … Continue reading The Dam Thing is Broken: Fixing America’s Infrastructure

By: Rachel N. Hott, Communications Editor Domestic violence can occur in many forms.[1] Women are disproportionately affected by domestic violence; homicide committed by an intimate partner is the number one cause of women’s death’s in the workplace.[2] An early study examining the relationship between domestic violence and employment found that between 35% and 56% of employed battered women were harassed at work by their batterers; … Continue reading Safety and Empowerment for Domestic Violence Survivors: Implications and Benefits of the Security and Financial Empowerment Act

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