Colleges’ Actions on Sustainability are a Draw for Students

Younger Americans – millennials and adults in Generation Z – are more engaged in addressing climate change on- and offline, according to a 2021 Pew Research poll. Compared with older adults, Gen Zers and millennials are talking more about the need for action on climate change, including discussing and sharing information on social media platforms and by volunteering and attending rallies and protests on climate change, Pew found. Colleges and universities in the U.S. are taking note of students’ increased interest and are finding ways to become more environmentally sustainable, The Washington Post reported.  Read the story from Amudalat Ajasamore

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Ouster of State Lawmakers Draws Nation’s Eyes to Tennessee 

In an episode that fuses simmering conflicts in the United States over race, gun control, and the country’s deep political divide, Republican legislators in Tennessee have come under widespread criticism following a vote Thursday to expel two Democratic members from the state’s House of Representatives. The expulsion votes came just days after the two lawmakers, Representatives Justin Jones and Justin Pearson, interrupted a House session to demand that lawmakers implement stronger gun control laws. Jones and Pearson are both Black men. A motion to expel Representative Gloria Johnson, who participated in the protest with Jones and Pearson, failed by onemore

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Trump Is Indicted — Now What?

The Manhattan district attorney’s indictment of Donald Trump on 34 felony charges and the prospect of more charges to come have injected more uncertainty into the November 2024 race for the White House. Trump, who has declared himself a candidate for next year’s Republican presidential nomination, was formally charged this week with falsifying New York business records to conceal his role in paying hush money to an adult film actress before the 2016 election. He is also facing potential charges in at least three other cases. Never before in American history have criminal charges been brought against a former president,more

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Harris Travels to Tennessee After 2 Lawmakers Expelled 

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris traveled Friday to the Southern U.S. state of Tennessee, where she criticized Republican lawmakers for taking the rare step a day earlier of expelling two Democratic lawmakers from the legislature because they participated in a protest at the Capitol calling for more gun control. In a speech at Fisk University, Nashville’s historically Black university, Harris said the ousted lawmakers were being silenced for standing up for the lives of schoolchildren, referencing last month’s deadly school shooting in Nashville. The vice president met privately with the expelled lawmakers — Representatives Justin Jones and Justin Pearson —more

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Is the ‘Death of the Humanities’ Real?

Between 2012 and 2018, U.S. enrollment in humanities majors dropped by over 14%. Many students think that the humanities, like history or English, won’t get them a good job or aren’t relevant to their interests. But the true picture may be less dire. Some colleges are bringing their humanities programs into the 21st century, and students are responding in earnest, as Johanna Alonso of Inside Higher Ed reports. (April 2023) …

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Everyone Agrees Campus ‘Free Speech’ Is in Crisis – but What Exactly do They Mean by Free Speech?

Republicans in Congress convened a hearing on free speech, calling witnesses who claimed new language rules and diversity requirements have made healthy disagreement impossible. Democrats countered by noting Republican efforts to restrict public school curricula and ban books from public libraries. Eva Surovell of the Chronicle of Higher Education analyzes the debate. …

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Why Are Fewer Americans Enrolling in Community College?

Community colleges offer two-year degrees, which are often meant to be a steppingstone to a full bachelor’s degree. But nearly half of two-year community college students drop out, and the number of students enrolling has plummeted by 37% since 2010. Some would-be students are taking advantage of a lucrative job market before school; others are questioning the value of college in the first place. Read the story from Jon Marcus of the Hechinger Report, published by the Associated Press. (April 2023) …

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Trump Pleads Not Guilty to 34-Count Hush Money Indictment

Former U.S. President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty Tuesday in a New York state court to a 34-count indictment accusing him of falsifying business records in furtherance of an unspecified crime – described by prosecutors as a bid to hide a hush money payment to a porn actress to help him win the presidency in 2016. In the first-ever criminal case against a current or former U.S. leader, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg alleged in a “set of facts” accompanying the indictment that Trump “repeatedly and fraudulently falsified New York business records to conceal criminal conduct that hid damaging informationmore

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Explaining the Criminal Charges Against Trump

Thirty-four counts of “falsifying business records in the first degree.” Those are the charges against former President Donald Trump in the first indictment of a current or former U.S. president. The indictment, handed down by a New York grand jury last week, was made public Tuesday afternoon after Trump was arraigned in a New York state court, where he pleaded not guilty to the charges. The charges stem from a hush money payment of $130,000 that Trump’s then-lawyer Michael Cohen made to porn actor Stormy Daniels in the final days of the 2016 presidential election. The payoff, prosecutors say, wasmore

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White House Refrains From Commenting About Trump Arraignment

As his predecessor was entering not guilty pleas to felonies in a courtroom, U.S. President Joe Biden met with his science and technology advisers and commented about the potential risks and benefits of artificial intelligence. He ignored reporters’ questions about Donald Trump’s arraignment. The president on Tuesday was not paying attention to the activities in New York, according to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. “It’s an ongoing case, so we’re just not going to comment on the case specifically itself,” said Jean-Pierre. “Look, the president is just going to focus on the American people like he does every day.” more

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Ex-Arkansas GOP Gov. Asa Hutchinson is Running for President

Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson says he’s running for president in 2024, offering himself as an alternative for Republicans ready to turn the party away from Donald Trump. “I’m confident that people want leaders that want the best of the America, not those who appeal to their worst instincts,” Hutchinson told ABC’s “This Week” in an interview aired Sunday. He said he would make a formal announcement in April in Arkansas. “I have made a decision and my decision is I’m going to run for president of United States,” Hutchinson said. Hutchinson, 72, left office in January after eight yearsmore

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Former US President Trump Expected to be Arraigned Tuesday

Former U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to be formally arrested and arraigned Tuesday, the first time a former occupant of the White House has faced criminal charges. In a move without precedent in U.S. history, a grand jury in New York voted Thursday to indict Trump on charges related to paying off a porn star during his 2016 presidential campaign. The highly anticipated charges come as Trump seeks a return to the White House after losing a reelection bid in 2020, making him both the only president, current or former, as well as the only presidential candidate, to bemore

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Donald Trump Has Been Indicted. Here’s What Happens Next

Every day, hundreds of people are taken into law enforcement custody in New York City. Former President Donald Trump will become one of them next week. Trump was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury and is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday afternoon after an investigation into payments made during his 2016 presidential campaign to silence claims of an extramarital sexual encounter. The indictment itself remains sealed for now in the first criminal case ever brought against a former U.S. president. Trump — a Republican who assailed the case Thursday as a Democratic prosecutor’s “political persecution” of “a completely innocent person”more

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