Politics & Policy

Double Take of Ban the Bottle: FOR

This piece is part of a “Double Take”, where two parties argue on either side of a premise. A writer does not necessarily share the view they are arguing; instead, this is an exercise to fully flesh out a discussion.  The premise: “Single-serve, plastic water bottles should be banned in the United States.” I am

Double Take of Ban the Bottle: AGAINST

This piece is part of a “Double Take”, where two parties argue on either side of a premise. A writer does not necessarily share the view they are arguing; instead, this is an exercise to fully flesh out a discussion.  The premise: “Single-serve, plastic water bottles should be banned in the United States.” I am

Science Advising: Shaping Our Past, Present, and Future

Kelvin Droegemeier– you may be wondering why the internet has suddenly exploded with information about this man. Dr. Droegemeier was recently appointed to the prestigious position of Director of the Office of Science Technology and Policy (OSTP) under the Trump Administration. As OSTP Director (otherwise known as the President's Science Advisor), Dr. Droegemeier will be

Know Yourself, Know Your Supreme Court Justice Nominee

On June 27th, 2018 current Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy submitted his letter of retirement to President Trump, to go into effect after July 31st. On Monday, July 9th, President Trump announced his 1st nominee for the second Supreme Court seat to be filled during his presidential term: Brett Kavanaugh. In response, many are eagerly

End of Net Neutrality is Inevitable, but Open Access is Not

Whether you're checking your Gmail or streaming the finale of Handmaid's Tale, your Internet usage is treated equally by the companies that have built the infrastructure of the internet, Internet Service Providers (ISPs), like Comcast and AT&T. This is broadly called net neutrality. However, net neutrality cannot be preserved in its current form. The Federal

A Tariff-ible Policy

There's an old joke that goes something like this: teach a parrot to say ‘supply and demand' and you've created an economist. And, honestly, there is some truth to this common trope; after all, economics is not called the ‘dismal science' for no reason. However, even with all the criticisms, the economic laws of supply

Do These Genes Make My Butt Look Big?

  Today's chickens are bigger than ever before, which raises the question – how did we do that? Over the years, companies have selected chickens with the healthiest growth and size for breeding, to help them get the best start possible. Understandably,food animal production is an emotionally-charged topic, and with conflicting information readily available online

NSF Says #Metoo

Title IX of the Education Amendments was signed into law in 1972, but only recently has begun to achieve its intended purpose: to ensure justice for sexual harassment and assault victims in academia. For decades, institutions have been able to protect their reputation through twisting the use of Title IX to play their own detective,

Right To Try, A Legislative Placebo

On May 30th President Trump signed the “Right to Try Act” into law. This legislation lets terminally ill patients try experimental medications that have completed Phase 1 clinical trial testing but have not yet been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). On the surface, this legislation seems like a victory for patients without

When water becomes dangerous: pollution in the Smokies and beyond

During the summer, I love to visit the Smoky Mountains to enjoy the fresh mountain air and to get away from the pressures of life. However, on a recent trip, I ran into a surprising fact on a small placard: the Smokies have the highest deposits of sulfur and nitrogen of any monitored national park.

W(H+)AT’S IN YOUR WATER, ATHENS?

Cover photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/121935927@N06/13579500953/ Water is something we all use every day in Athens. We shower with it, brush our teeth with it, water our gardens with it, and of course, we drink our tap water, too. Most of us don’t even think twice about taking a drink from our taps, but at the same time,

Modern Day Eugenics

Throughout all of my training as a geneticist, I've never been taught about the original Eugenics Movement. What is Eugenics and why does it sound so familiar? The definition that I've found that best describes Eugenics is by Edward Larson in his book, Sex, Race, and Science:  â€œEugenics is that science which studies the inborn

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