In recent years, the U.S. and the World Health Organization (WHO) have had a relationship that makes Hollywood breakups look tame. In 2020, President Donald Trump walked out, slamming the door on what he called a dysfunctional, China-biased bureaucracy. A year later, Biden rushed to patch things up, eager to restore American influence in global […]
Tag: COVID-19
Fitness Influencers and the Unseen Market of Teenage Exploitation
Being trapped inside the house for months during the COVID-19 lockdowns gave everyone new options for how to spend their newfound free time: one could turn to binge-watching a new Netflix series, picking up a new hobby, or for many, attempting a new workout regimen. Thanks to social media, during quarantine, it became a trend […]
A Comprehensive Defense of Astrology
Cancers are sensitive. Virgos are uptight. Leos are passionate. Everyone is uncertain. Throughout history, humans have placed varying amounts of faith in the unknown. Whether that be the vengeful gods of Ancient Greece or the Catholic saints who still maintain relevance in some cultures, the belief that there is something beyond what we can sense […]
The First Amendment Security Blanket
Prior to January 24th 2021, if you were to open up Spotify and click on the “Podcasts & Shows” tab, “The Joe Rogan Experience” would take up the entire top half of your screen. This Spotify exclusive is the largest podcast in the world, where notoriously controversial comedian Joe Rogan has smoked marijuana with Elon […]
Clipping Hong Kong’s Wings: Cathay Pacific’s Downward Spiral, and How Hong Kong Will Suffer
The image of a Cathay Pacific 747 on final approach towards Kai Tak Airport, making a sweeping turn over Checkerboard Hill, mere feet above the sprawling concrete apartments and neon signs of Kowloon, forever remains ingrained in the consciousness of Hongkongers as a symbol of their city. Today, people can no longer witness this sight […]
Misinformation: A Catch-22 For Facebook And Big Tech? Hint: The Future Is Not Meta
In today’s world, information is a valuable currency. While the age of social media has inarguably broadened our horizons and our accessibility to information, our society is facing a massive crisis of counterfeiting due to the flood of misinformation. Social media sites and big technology companies continue to grace headlines for their oversight or lack […]
A Tale of Two Cities and Their Homelessness Crises During COVID-19
New York and San Francisco have quite the reputations for their homeless populations, but there is one key difference between these two cities. Although New York City has a similar rate of homelessness to San Francisco, only 5% of homeless New Yorkers were unsheltered in 2020. On the other hand, nearly 75% of San Francisco’s […]
Who Calls the Shots?: Vaccine Inequity in Africa
Vaccine scarcity. Vaccine famine. Vaccine apartheid. An indictment on humanity. In whatever colorful language it is couched, the conclusion is the same: Africa is not getting vaccinated, and something needs to be done. Since Africa announced its first confirmed case of COVID-19 in February of last year, the pandemic has broken over the continent in […]
Oh, Aaron Rodgers Is Most Definitely Immune
The man who wears number 12 for the Green Bay Packers is many things. Super Bowl champion. Reigning NFL MVP. Three-time first-team All-Pro and nine-time Pro Bowler. By far the greatest quarterback UC Berkeley has ever produced. We now know, by way of his testing positive for COVID-19 last Wednesday, that he is also unvaccinated. […]
America’s Epidemic of Antidepressants
Although the end of the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. appears to be in sight, the mental health consequences of the pandemic, as well as rising rates of antidepressant use in the past decade, reveal another public health crisis. Antidepressant use has skyrocketed since 1999, leading it to become one of the most popular types […]
Transgender sex workers disproportionately vulnerable to COVID-19 pandemic in the Dominican Republic
The COVID-19 pandemic is already a significant issue in the Dominican Republic. The country reached 100,000 cases by September 2020, and over 250,000 by March 2021, reducing key economic activities like tourism. Consequently, the pandemic has posed financial difficulties for many Dominicans, increasing global poverty rates and reducing healthcare accessibility. Specifically, 40,000 jobs have been […]
The Paradox Between Pension and Promise
This last year has resurfaced issues leading to greater action towards change and exposed new crises that have left Americans feeling fearful of change. The Black Lives Matter movement protested the murder of George Floyd and advocated for the defunding of the police. At the same time, the high-risk environment that healthcare professionals and teachers […]
We Must Invest in a Public Healthcare System: Medicare for All Now!
The coronavirus pandemic may have started in the East, but China, a country with a population four times the size of the United States, kept its death totals to 90,000. This number is dwarfed by the now 517,000 deaths being reported in the US, the most in the world by approximately 250,000 deaths. Considering that […]
Vaccine Disparities: The Future of Foreign Policy?
As the end of Covid-19 slowly dawns, and with it the advent of a vaccine, a troubling trend is on the rise. Faced with worldwide lockdowns that had a crippling effect on the global economy, public health, and the world at large, scientists from all over rushed to create a vaccine that would finally put […]
The Debate Around Reopening K-12 Schools in the Bay Area
Covid-19 has undoubtedly harmed our most vulnerable communities disproportionately. This effect has not just been seen on overall public health— it is also apparent throughout our education system. Due to the structure of public school funding, each school throughout the state differs enormously with varying degrees of resources. Public schools are beginning to face unprecedented […]
Everything You Need to Know About the COVID Vaccine: Part 2
It’s over in a second. A quick prick and then you’re done. You don’t feel any different in the moment, but that tiny shot has such far-reaching implications. It symbolizes the pandemic slowly grinding to a halt. For me, getting vaccinated was like finally being able to breathe fresh air after a year. It gave […]
Dog Overpopulation in New Mexico: A Symptom of Chronic Poverty
Notoriously overcrowded and underfunded, New Mexican animal shelters struggle every day to keep up with the number of strays and surrendered pets that come through their doors. Every year, these shelters act as the final destination for thousands of dogs. The pandemic has only worsened conditions inside the shelters –– in the past year, the […]
Farmworkers: Victims of COVID-19 and Climate Change
Farmworkers are a crucial sector of the labor force who often go without praise. Despite the harsh working conditions, low wages and the increasing threat of climate change, farmworkers are putting their lives even more at risk during the global pandemic. Farmworkers serve an essential purpose in our society as the backbone of our food […]
Do You Hear the People Sing? – How Chinese censorship of the coronavirus is spurring an online revolution.
“There should be more than one voice in a healthy society.” Dr. Li Wenliang’s words renewed a rebellious spirit within the Chinese people, and his death prompted the start of an ongoing online revolution protesting the government’s increased censorship. After Dr. Wenliang’s attempt to warn the public of the emergent virus that threatened China in […]
A Death Sentence for a DUI — The Devastating Impact of the Pandemic in Prison
In March of 2020, as it became increasingly clear that COVID-19 would be a catastrophic threat to the United States, numerous criminal justice experts warned that the impending pandemic would have a devastating impact on correctional facilities and their surrounding communities. These early warnings proved to be prescient, as seven months later, amidst an unprecedented […]
Coronavirus Vaccine Development: Urgency and Dilemma
The space of COVID-19 vaccine and therapeutic development is crowded in 2020. As these companies race to the finish line of research and development, the problem of drug discovery and distribution has been politicized. This has subjected some companies to tighter development deadlines due to political pressure while others find their work prematurely disclosed and […]
Lockdown within a Lockdown: COVID-19 in the Gaza Strip
On August 25, the Gaza Strip went into lockdown after a family of four that had recently returned from the West Bank tested positive for COVID-19, the first case of the virus in this densely populated territory outside of isolation centers. Since then 2,613 cases have been reported, although a shortage of testing kits means […]
Artificial Intelligence and the Loss of Humanity
The term “artificial intelligence,” or AI, has become a buzzword in recent years. Optimists see AI as the panacea to society’s most fundamental problems, from crime to corruption to inequality, while pessimists fear that AI will overtake human intelligence and crown itself king of the world. Underlying these two seemingly antithetical views is the assumption […]
Everything You Need To Know About The COVID-19 Vaccine
It was the kind of statement that made you pause and look at the person wondering, “What on earth would prompt them to say something like that?” Unfortunately, this was a fairly regular occurrence. As someone who began every morning searching for the phrase “coronavirus vaccine” and reading the latest news articles, I became a […]
Funding for California Public Education Takes Great Hit in the Wake of Covid-19
When Covid-19 entered the United States, local and state California officials banded together to eradicate the spread and growth of the virus, implementing and re-assessing the functions of most of the states’ institutions and businesses. Indoor operations such as bars, movie theaters and restaurants were mandated to immediately close at the start of California’s stay-at-home […]
Banning Wildlife Markets is a Good Start, But Not Enough to Prevent the Next Pandemic
Wildlife markets do pose a health risk, and authorities should permanently close them. However, if the world is truly dedicated to stopping future disease outbreaks, it must address larger issues.