I made my first visit to Washington, D.C. over spring break. It was prime time in the city for elementary and middle school field trips, so a constant mass of children roamed the halls of our nation’s museums alongside me. I attempted to distinguish myself — convey my maturity and wisdom (and my Georgetown-chic sensibilities) […]
Tag: donald trump
Make America Thin Again?
My recollections of summer 2016, in all their vividness, often have me worried that I am dismissing the larger, more uncomfortable details that dotted that year. What more could I have asked for at eleven, after all? The weather was absolutely perfect. The beach was never too full. Starbucks produced new drinks like the CEO […]
The New H-1B Wage-Weighted Lottery is More Than a Policy Change
For a recent UC Berkeley international graduate looking to take a job at a small research lab or a small community hospital, the H-1B visa used to be an opportunity. Now, it might serve as a barrier to creating a life in the United States. When the Department of Homeland Security revamped the rules for […]
Dominion Voting Systems and Erosion of American Election Trust
The line cut through UC Berkeley’s campus before finally pooling into the Public Service Center, where volunteers handed out pizza and stickers to students voting in the 2024 presidential election. Before their turn in the booth, every student in line already knew the result of their vote: California and its 54 electoral college points are […]
The Future is for Sale on Polymarket
The 2024 U.S. presidential election was one of the most disheartening nights of the last year. It was also the first time I heard about Polymarket. This was not a coincidence, of course. As a group of friends and I were crammed in a claustrophobic dorm room watching a map of states flipping red or […]
The American Dream is Our Mirage
The American Dream: the ideal that the United States is, without fault, the land of opportunity. This doctrine promotes the notion that any individual who is willing to persist through hard work, toil, and determination will inevitably achieve social progress. Throughout centuries, whether rich or poor, people viewed the American Dream as the only way […]
Meet the Man Doing America’s Diplomacy in the Shadows
On October 13, President Donald Trump stood in front of the Knesset to give a speech following the U.S.-brokered ceasefire and hostage exchange deal in Gaza. In his remarks, he thanked just a handful of Americans who made the agreement possible, figures like Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Before all […]
Marching on a “Sacred Trust”
In 1770, eight British soldiers pointed their muskets at unarmed civilians, and six years later, America was born out of the idea that a government is built on consent, not coercion. The Boston Massacre wasn’t just about anti-British sentiment reaching its breaking point; it was also about defining what kind of nation America would become. […]
Not a Citizen, but Not Un-American
Uprooted from Korea, raised in Cupertino, sent back across the Pacific only to return a decade later — all of it felt worth it, if it meant that I would finally be able to make a life for myself in the U.S. The American Dream carried me through it all. Like many other international students, […]
Violating Constitution, Congress Lowers Majority Threshold to Confirm Presidential Nominees
New changes to the Senate present a striking change to congressional power. Article Two, Section Two, Clause Two. “Provided two-thirds of the Senate concur, the President shall appoint Officers of the United States.” This is a constitutional clause dictating that the Senate must have a supermajority to confirm Presidential nominations to the Bureaucracy. However, it […]