StudentNation

Interns' Favorite Articles of the Week (4/19/2013)

StudentNation on April 18, 2013 - 9:09 AM ET

As Glenn Greenwald and others have written, this week is a time for checking racial stereotypes. Elsewhere from the Boston Marathon, as this week's Nation intern roundup indicates, world-turning questions abound. What is Africa? Who was (is) Jesus? How human are animals? And what is this journalistic "view from nowhere"?

— Alleen Brown focuses on education.

Follow @AlleenBrown

“New Memo Implicates Michelle Rhee in D.C. Schools Cheating Scandal.” All in with Chris Hayes, April 12, 2013.

Chris Hayes interviews PBS education reporter John Merrow, who broke news that Michelle Rhee received an "open invitation" to investigate suspected DC schools cheating while she was chancellor. The warning came in the form of a memo that said multiple schools likely cheated on standardized test. Unlike Atlanta Superintendent Beverly Hall, Rhee has not been charged with any wrongdoing. Said Merrow, "The difference is that the Atlanta newspaper stayed on the case; that didn't happen in Washington. The state of Georgia stayed on the case, and that did not happen in Washington."

— James Cersonsky focuses on labor and education.

Follow @Cersonsky

“The View From Somewhere,” by Laurie Penny. Jacobin, March 13, 2013.

The cis white male has, as always, survived the "newest" journalism. As Laurie Penny narrates, journalistic "embeddedness," or extraction, is a deeply sexualized materiality floating through the empty offices of print media and onward to the great liberated beyond of the left.

— Catherine Defontaine focuses on war, security and peace-related issues, African and French politics, peacekeeping and the link between conflicts and natural resources.

“Africa Is a Great Country.” Foreign Policy, April 11, 2013.

In recent years, Africa has become the world’s fastest-growing continent, attracting emerging-market investors. Africa’s 6 percent GDP growth rate has even exceeded that of Asia. However, westerners continue to view Africa either as a dying continent, plagued by wars, famine and diseases, or as a romantic place with its beautiful as well as exotic landscapes and animals. The Swedish photographer Jens Assur wants to change this perception. With his collection of 40 photographs focusing on big African cities, Assur wants to show people “not how ‘Africa is dying’ but rather ‘how Africa lives’.”

— Andrew Epstein focuses on social history, colonialism and indigenous rights.

Follow @andeps

“One of Us,” by John Jeremiah Sullivan. Lapham’s Quarterly, Spring 2013.

The Nation's next-door neighbors have produced a fascinating meditation on the history of humanity's relationship with animals. This essay is among the best. It begins, "These are stimulating times for anyone interested in questions of animal consciousness." Indeed.

— Luis Feliz focuses on ideas and debates within the left, social movements and culture.

Follow @lfeliz12

“Stepping on Jesus,” by Stanley Fish. The New York Times, April 15, 2013.

Obedience to religious symbols has been inscribed into social practices and institutions since time immemorial, becoming, in Pierre Bourdieu’s terms, an unquestioned aspect of the “habitus” of everyday life, or in Gramsci’s terms, the common sense assumptions that shape our most deeply held but scarcely obvious convictions. When Deandre Poole, a professor at Florida Atlantic University, challenged his students to write Jesus on a piece of paper and step on it, Poole might have reasoned this a very useful, and gutsy, way to show how beholden people are to ideology. Little did Poole realize that the lot of humanity would rather be duds satisfied than thinkers dissatisfied.

— Elana Leopold focuses on the Middle East, its relations with the US and Islam.

Follow @lanaleepo

“The Boston bombing produces familiar and revealing reactions,” by Glenn Greenwald. The Guardian, April 16, 2013.

As usual, Glenn Greenwald offers a sensible, thoughtful reaction to this week's bombing at the Boston Marathon. He advises restraint, warning against "the limits of selective empathy, the rush to blame Muslims, and the exploitation of fear," which have all been quick to emerge.

— Alec Luhn focuses on East European and Eurasian affairs, especially issues of good governance, human rights and activism.

Follow @ASLuhn

“‘Please don’t let it be a Muslim,’” by Wajahat Ali. Salon, April 17, 2013.

Among some publications and pundits, the jury was already out on the Boston Marathon bombings the day of the attack, and the perpetrator was undoubtedly a "jihadi." Regardless of who will be found to have done it, these assumptions discount the real elephant in the room, which is that mass shootings have killed far more Americans in recent years than Muslim-American terrorism (but the Senate nonetheless just cashiered background checks). And if the bomber does turn out to be a Muslim, David Sirota points out in a separate Salon piece, we can expect another overreaching ramp-up of national security measures a la 9/11.

— Leticia Miranda focuses on race, gender, telecommunications and media reform.

Follow @miraleti

“Facebook flexes political muscle with provision in immigration bill,” by Peter Wallsten, Jia Lynn Yang and Craig Timberg. The Washington Post, April 16, 2013.

What happens when tech giants like Facebook get into immigration politics? They get their business interests written in law.

— Brendan O’Connor focuses on media criticism and pop culture.

Follow @OConnorB_

“This Is A Tragedy—Does It Really Matter Exactly How Many People Died Or What Any Of The Details Are?” The Onion, April 16, 2013.

The Onion pillories the New York Post's atrocious coverage of the Boston Marathon bombing. "How could you even think about accurately reporting a tragedy at a time like this?"

— Anna Simonton focuses on issues of systemic oppression perpetuated by the military and prison industrial complexes.

“Hell Has Come Home,” by Linh Dinh. CounterPunch, April 17, 2013.

The progeny of America's domestic and foreign policies meet on a Greyhound bus.

— Cos Tollerson focuses on Latin American politics and society, and United States imperialism.

Follow @cosbtollerson

“After a High-Profile Rape, Rio Cuts Vans Used by Its Poor,” by David Lavin.The Atlantic, April 16, 2013.

In the lead up to hosting the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016, Brazil is attempting to discard its reputation for poverty and violent crime and recast the country as the ultimate tourist destination. While the national government has enacted policies that address the deeply engrained structural inequities in Brazilian society, local attempts to transform negative perceptions about Brazil's cities have relied too heavily on short-term strategies that hide poverty and crime from tourists' gaze without elevating the living standards for the majority of urban residents. Most recently, Rio de Janeiro has responded to the rape of a tourist on a public transportation van (after neglecting to investigate the rape of a Brazilian in the same van) by banning the vehicles from neighborhoods that tourists frequent. Never mind that the vans are the cheapest and most reliable way for the city's working-class residents to travel to service jobs in touristy, affluent areas and to the city's famous beaches. Also forget that the policy does nothing to acknowledge or combat rape culture. It's good PR.

— Sarah Woolf focuses on what’s happening north of the US border.

“RCMP spied on Rita MacNeil, feminists in 1970s.” CTV, August 4, 2008.

Canadian folk singer Rita MacNeil, "Cape Breton's first lady of song," has died at age 68. MacNeil is sometimes thought of as the Maritime provinces's answer to Céline Dion, though MacNeil never found the same level of fame outside Canada. An obituary for MacNeil can be found in The Toronto Star, but in tribute to her career-long focus on women's and working class issues, here is a 2008 article about RCMP surveillance of MacNeil and other feminists in the 1970s.

Kent State Students Demand Debt Redress

Kyle McCarthy and StudentNation on April 17, 2013 - 11:18 AM ET

College students in Ohio currently graduate with nearly $28,000 in student loans, which ranks seventh highest in the United States. In addition to incurring large debts to attend college, graduates also now face a job market where average starting salaries have declined for six straight years.

At Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, students are taking on even more debt than both the state and national average. According to the Project On Student Debt, for the year 2010, 77 percent of Kent State graduates took out student loans. Even worse, the average debt upon graduation was $28,186! Why? Look at the rising tuition and fees. Since 2003, tuition and fees have increased by 46 percent. Moreover, KSU students have recently been informed that they will also be charged $440 per each credit hour for each one they take over 16. Such a plan will only force more students to incur more debt and extend the estimated date of graduation for many and is far less generous than most other colleges and universities in Ohio, which don't charge additional fees until 18 credit hours or more are reached.

In an effort to raise awareness about excessive tuition hikes and fees, the KSU Young Democratic Socialists (YDS) are organizing with other student groups, creatively utilizing social media to connect with others on campus and organizing digitally to stand in solidarity with students mobilizing at other campuses in the state.

Today, April 17, KSU students plan to demonstrate in Risman Plaza and will be tweeting using the hashtag #RAISEHELL and #NoTo16. The "RAISEHELL" hashtag is in reference to the slogan "raise hell, not tuition" which is being used at other student demonstrations across the country this week. Students far and wide are encouraged to stand in solidarity and tweet using the hashtags, #RaiseHell and #NoTo16.

Student Labor Action Movement Calls Foul On NYU Law Trustee Daniel Straus

Paul Pastore and StudentNation on April 16, 2013 - 1:18 PM ET

At last week's Deans Cup Basketball game between NYU Law School and Columbia Law School members of the Student Labor Action Movement or S.L.A.M. unfurled two banners in protest of Law School Trustee Daniel Strauss. He has sat on the Law School's Board of Trustees since 1998 and endows the University with an ongoing gift of $1.25 million a year to run the Straus Institute for the Advanced Study of Law & Justice, which is located in a townhouse at 22 Washington Square North.

The students also handed out popcorn with flyers attached asking NYU to cut ties with Strauss. Strauss owns both the CareOne and Healthbridge management companies which own dozens of nursing homes in New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. S.L.A.M. claimed in an April 11 press release that Strauss' companies had "illegally intimidated, fired, and locked out nursing home workers in their facilities in New Jersey and Connecticut".

In September a court ordered that CareOne rehire illegally fired workers. S.L.A.M. also claims that Strauss hired thugs disguised as counter protestors to intimidate them at a September protest. According to an article in the Villager S.L.A.M. claims that they were threatened and pelted with homophobic slurs. One allegedly told the students “Either you’re gonna leave by yourself or you’re gonna be carried out.”

Students have repeatedly appealed to the dean of the Law School and John Sexton for Strauss to be removed, but to no avail. In a statement a University Spokesperson said “The university is not a party to this labor dispute, [and] has no input into how either side is managing its PR campaigns to convey its views,” but that “the students’ right to express their views peacefully and without fear of intimidation must be unambiguously respected”. However a Law school spokesperson called Strauss“upright and honorable person.”

Ad Policy

Dispatches From the US Student Movement: April 15

StudentNation on April 15, 2013 - 2:55 PM ET

Students at Berkeley form a chain gang. (Photo courtesy of Patricio Yrarrázaval)

E-mail questions, tips or proposals to studentmovement@thenation.com. For recent dispatches, check out posts from January 18, February 1, February 15, March 1, March 15 and April 2.

1. Beyond Chapel Hill
In January 2013, we, together with two other students and a former dean, filed an Office for Civil Rights Compliant and Clery Act Complaint against our alma mater, UNC Chapel Hill. As survivors, we both witnessed the lack of support when trying to report our assaults, and after hearing over fifty similar stories, reached out to students at Amherst and Yale, and created an underground network to begin to hold UNC and other schools accountable. We learned the law, and realized that the pervasive culture of sexual assault at UNC is a violation of Title IX, and as 20-somethings (without attorneys) began consulting others survivors across the country.
—Andrea Pino and Annie Clark

2. Newark’s Youth Uprising
On April 9, the Newark Student Union mobilized a mass walkout of class and marched to a hearing of the New Jersey Assembly Budget Committee as it considered Governor Christie’s proposal to take funding away from low-income and ESL students. The budget would shortchange New Jersey schools by $1.4 billion and lead to $56 million in local cuts for Newark, while at the same time giving away over a billion dollars in tax breaks to corporations and the richest 1 percent. Over 500 students rallied outside the hearing, and several testified before the committee to demand that legislators put students ahead of corporations and the wealthy by following the school funding law and rejecting Christie’s cuts. The event was inspiring and empowering, but it’s just the start of our campaign—we have until July 1 to stop Christie’s cuts.
—Jaysen Bazile

3. Arizona Lawmakers Stifle Student Autonomy
Following in the footsteps of the failed Prop 204, Arizona’s HB 2169 is a direct attack on Arizona students. Signed on April 5, the bill makes it illegal for student organizations to use fee money to advocate, electorally or legislatively, for students. Under the lead of Jan Brewer and John Kavanagh, select conservatives and the Arizona Board of Regents have stripped students of their constitutional rights. Rather than allocating money towards education in Arizona, elected officials have balanced the budget on students' backs. We will not stand by as our education is hijacked. We are working to collect signatures and write letters to editors and legislators to gain support. We will storm the capitol if necessary.
—Chula Robertson

4. Anti-Racist Activists March From Detroit to DC
On April 10, we—black, Latino/a, Asian, Arab and white, with and without papers—boarded six buses in Detroit and joined thousands of others to march on DC for full citizenship rights for all undocumented immigrants. As a high school sophomore, I mobilized students from my school to the march—and although it was scary speaking in front of them, it was exciting. Now, taking from my experience organizing with BAMN for affirmative action on the basis that everyone is equal and should be treated with dignity and respect, I'm ready to join the millions of young people across the country who want to realize our demands for full citizenship rights and equality through mass actions like Wednesday’s march.
—Nakia Wallace

5. Berkeley’s Prison Break
On April 3, a multicultural group of seventy students reenacted a prison chain gang, tying themselves together by the ankle and marching onto UC Berkeley's Sproul Plaza. As facts were read off about how deeply the prison industrial complex has wounded communities of color, the "prisoners" were silently assigned labels that named the corporations that benefit off prison labor, specifically those that Berkeley's student senate was invested in. The students formed lines and began chanting their demands: that the student senate, the university as a whole and all University of California campuses divest from the prison system, and that the system be abolished. That same evening, the action was met with success as the Berkeley's student senate voted to divest all its funds from the prison industrial complex. This was part of a week of action featuring panels, workshops and poetry slams focused around prison issues, coinciding with a greater Endowment Week of Action.
—Patricio Yrarrázaval

6. How Long Will Adidas Last at Maryland?
Since 2011, Adidas has refused to pay $1.8 million in severance to the workers of an abandoned Indonesian factory it once contracted. Justice at Maryland, a coalition of students, workers, staff and faculty committed to ending worker abuse at the University of Maryland, College Park, has been pressuring the university to cut ties with Adidas. After JAM petitioned the university and hosted the Adidas worker tour, university and Adidas representatives met but their talks produced anemic results. Although the university suspended approval of new designs from Adidas, it gave the corporation 90 days to ambiguously “remedy” the situation, at the end of which it would “contemplate terminating the licensing agreement.” In response, JAM presented the university’s licensing director with a meatier plan: immediately suspend the contract and provide 30 days to Adidas to fully pay up with the certainty of losing the contract otherwise. He has yet to answer.
—Priya Kareddy

7. Is Racial Profiling at Wesleyan Over?
Last fall at Wesleyan, there was a spate of petty crime on campus. As a precaution to ensure safety, e-mails were sent out describing the events that took place. However, the reports only included race, height, clothing and gender of the suspect, and a description of the event itself. In November, the Diversity University Forum highlighted issues and examples of racial profiling within the Office of Public Safety. Subsequently, the university created a student-led Public Safety Reform Committee, which felt that the use of race in the Public Safety Alerts was ineffective and opted to take it out in favor of other descriptors. It is important to add, however, that Public Safety still collects all information in internal reports—all that has changed is what goes out to campus.
—Christian Hosam

8. The Gathering Storm at Skidmore
On April 5, students at Skidmore College stormed a faculty meeting to protest this year’s graduation speaker. The United Minds, a grassroots organization at Skidmore committed to social justice, has been fighting the decision to bring former Anglo American mining CEO and BP “non-executive director” Cynthia Carroll to speak at commencement and receive an honorary degree. To have Carroll and her corporations’ abysmal record of exploitation represent the graduating class of 2013 was an affront to our active desire for a world free of poverty, war and racism. About 30 to 40 students stood with Skidmore senior Jovany Andujar and I while we stated our positions against Carroll and collective exploitation and for student and community empowerment. Despite hisses and hostility from the crowd, we asked faculty to stand with us. The United Minds plan to continue to educate and organize the Skidmore community, and we’ve contacted Occupy Albany for further support.
—Daniel Pforte

9. The Chicago Five
The IIRON Student Network is organizing students across the Chicago metro area to take on urgent issues facing students today. Our members are overwhelmed with mounting student loans, concerned about lack of jobs available upon graduation and worried about the future of our planet. Students from five Chicago-area campuses (DePaul University, Loyola University, North Park University, the University of Chicago and the University of Illinois at Chicago) held a public meeting on April 13, "Our Future, Our Voice,” at the Chicago Temple. We unveiled our platform to make education affordable, limit student debt and address climate change. We're calling on our elected officials and university administrators to stand with us and listen to our voices on these issues. Students from other universities are welcome to join our network.
—Elizabeth Scrafford

10. The Real “Students First”

Leaders of Students United for Public Education speak at Occupy the DOE 2.0 on April 7. (Video: James Cersonsky)

An Open Letter to Harvard President Drew Faust

StudentNation on April 15, 2013 - 11:50 AM ET

This letter was recently written by three Harvard undergraduates, Pennilynn R. Stahl, Krishna Dasaratha and Chloe Maxmin, on behalf of Divest Harvard, as part of the group's ongoing campaign to convice its university to divest all investments from the leading fossill-fuel companies. On Thursday, April 11, President Faust declined to meet with students herself but she did send a visibly tense Marc Goodheart, Vice President and Secretary of the University, outside to accept the signatures.

Dear President Faust,
During this past academic year, we have called upon Harvard to divest from the top 200 fossil fuel companies that own the majority of the world’s fossil fuel reserves. By sponsoring climate change through our investments, our University is threatening our generation’s future.

Fossil fuel companies are corrupt institutions. They have exploited their workers, violated treaty rights of indigenous groups, and poisoned local communities with little risk of retribution from these marginalized populations. Internationally, these corporations have allegedly been complicit in torture and murder as a means of protecting their reserves. In some cases, they have even been accused of provoking the execution of activists who opposed them.

The business practices of these corporations are directly linked to accelerating global warming. If these companies burn more than 20 percent of their reserves, our planet will likely be locked into irreversible warming at a rate above two degrees Celsius. Scientists agree that this will have devastating consequences. Human health, clean water, clean air, and reliable food supply will all be compromised by the widespread effects of climate change. Fossil fuel executives are choosing to sacrifice the wellbeing of our society in favor of their short-term profits. By investing in these companies, we are making the same choice.

The dominance of the fossil fuel industry is clearly incongruous with the futures of Harvard students and of our planet. The question is: How do we pass meaningful climate legislation that will reduce carbon emissions and promote renewable energy?

Last semester, you claimed that “our most effective impact on climate change is not going to come through any kind of divestment activity. It’s going to come through what we do with our teaching, our research, the people...we support.” Addressing climate change through academic pursuits and the endowment are not mutually exclusive. The urgency of climate change demands action on several fronts. The university is fully capable of continuing academic work in areas such as climatology and environmental engineering without purchasing fossil fuel stocks.

It is intellectually inconsistent for Harvard to invest in fossil fuel companies while our faculty publicize the consequences of inaction on climate change and continued fossil fuel use. Furthermore, companies such as ExxonMobil have spent millions of dollars on, the words of the Union of Concerned Scientists, “disinformation tactics...that seek to confuse the public on global warming science.” Scientific discourse should not be controlled by the biggest spenders. Harvard should not associate with companies that actively undermine the conclusions of our research and education.

We cannot rely solely on political pressure to weaken the industry and pass climate legislation. On February 17, 50,000 people rallied outside the White House to protest the Keystone XL pipeline. It was the largest climate rally in history, and individuals showed President Obama and elected officials that they were serious about stopping tar sands extraction. Yet a few weeks later, the Senate passed a non-binding approval of the pipeline, despite recent public opposition. Unsurprisingly, senators who voted in favor of Keystone received, according to a study by Oil Change International, 3.5 times more money on average from the fossil fuel industry than Keystone opponents.

Since neither research nor education nor the largest climate rally in history can make a dent, we must divest from the fossil fuel industry. It has actively chosen to profit from destruction. By investing in this industry, Harvard has made the same choice. But we can change course, divest from major fossil fuel companies, and refuse to support their business model.

We invite you to meet with us on Thursday, April 11 at 4:30 p.m. outside Massachusetts Hall at our rally for divestment. You can directly hear from your students on why divesting from the top 200 fossil fuel companies is necessary. At that time, we’d like to deliver to you over 1,100 student signatures and over 125 alumni signatures that we have collected in support of fossil fuel divestment.

If you are not available to meet with us at that time, we request that you send one of Harvard’s vice presidents or a member of the Harvard Corporation in your place.

Sincerely,
The Divest Harvard Team

Arizona's Unprecedented Assault on Students

Maxwell Love and StudentNation on April 12, 2013 - 4:06 PM ET

The next battle in the right’s war against young people is playing out in Arizona.

On April 5, Governor Jan Brewer signed into law HB 2169. The bill specifies that a university cannot transfer money to student organizations if that money will then be used to influence “the outcome of an election or to advocate support for or opposition to pending or proposed legislation. Additionally, if the bill were passed, a student enrolled in a university would have to consent to the transfer of their tuition or fees to a specified student organization. Without consent, the fees would not be transferred.

This bill is a clear act of retribution against the student association by Brewer and her allies. In last year’s election cycle, the Arizona Students Association (ASA) spent around $122,000 in support of Proposition 204, which would have approved a one cent tax increase for education spending. Instead of working with students to hold tuition down and fund affordable higher education, Brewer decided to attack students’ right to get involved in politics.

In the past, similar measures to ban the use of student fees in politics have failed in the Arizona state house. This time around, the Goldwater Institute, a conservative think tank, threw its weight into the fight. In its report pushing for the ban on the use of student fees in politics, the institute named other states with strong student associations where similar legislation could be pursued.

As a student in Wisconsin, I have seen the damage done by a rogue state legislature and an over-zealous governor. The parallels are striking in the way they came for the unions in my state, and the way they are destroying student organizations in Arizona. As with anti-collective bargaining legislation in the Midwest, and defunding Planned Parenthood across the country, the Republicans are trying to suppress the voice of any group they can’t win over in elections.

Students and student organizations are being retaliated against for supporting unpopular positions with the right. The move comes at a time when Republicans nationally are trying to rebrand the party to reach out to young people. Statewide student associations, along with their national counterparts, are vital to establishing student’s voice in politics. These organizations spend most of their time educating young people about electoral and other political issues and registering them to vote.

Arizonans are not strangers to such hostile politics. SB 1070 set the precedent nationwide for anti-immigrant legislation. Now students are feeling the heat as the right sets a target and continues to pick off their political opposition one-by-one. This time it’s in Arizona—but next time it could be anywhere.

Max Berger and Jackson Foote contributed to this piece.

Interns' Favorite Articles of the Week (4/12/13)

StudentNation on April 12, 2013 - 11:07 AM ET

In education news, essays may soon be graded by machine, but at the same time two community activists tell the Huffington Post about organizing to take back kids' schooling. Elsewhere, economist Richard Wolff has broken into primetime with his critique of our financial system and negotiations between FARC and the Colombian government could finally end a half-century conflict.

— Alleen Brown focuses on education.

Follow @AlleenBrown

“Essay-Grading Software Offers Professors a Break,” by John Markoff. The New York Times, April 5, 2013.

In the latest ed tech news, the non-profit known for making MOOCs edX introduced its automated essay grader last week. The technology reflects a system-wide move towards automation and standardization in education. Fans say it will give fast feedback to students and save teachers time. The organization Professionals Against Machine Scoring of Student Essays in High-Stakes Assessment points out that computers are not so good at judging "accuracy, reasoning, adequacy of evidence, good sense, ethical stance, convincing argument, meaningful organization, clarity, and veracity.”

— James Cersonsky focuses on labor and education.

Follow @Cersonsky

“Organizing for Educational Justice Rooted in Community,” by Donna Nevel. Huffington Post, April 9, 2013.

Count on HuffPo to put this piece in their "Impact" section rather than... Education. The ideas elaborated in this piece, an interview of Leticia Alanis from La Union in Brooklyn and Ujju Aggarwal from the Parent Leadership Project in Manhattan, could (should!) be the basis of how society thinks about education. Namely, participatory action research and community organizing, led by students and allies (most immediately, their parents), to define, investigate and lobby around issues that affect their schooling.

— Catherine Defontaine focuses on war, security and peace-related issues, African and French politics, peacekeeping and the link between conflicts and natural resources.

“Korea: B2 bombers offering a path to peace?” by Pepe Escobar. Al Jazeera, April 9, 2013.

As the tensions between the United States and North Korea escalate, this article questions the underlying motives of the American administration. As Pepe Escobar points out, can we really believe that “mighty superpower Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) is about to bomb the poor, undefended United States of America into the Stone Age”? Indeed, as The Wall Street Journal “revealed,” the US wants to provoke North Korea, which proves to be very easy. North Korea’s paranoia is well known and the country still has the Korean War in mind, when “the North was virtually flattened” as the US “dropped more napalm in Korean cities than in Vietnam.” But then, what are the real motives of the Obama Administration? War? Invasion? Or just satisfying arms producing companies? In any case, it seems highly improbable that Kim Jong-un is insane enough to provoke a nuclear war with the United States.

— Andrew Epstein focuses on social history, colonialism and indigenous rights.

Follow @andeps

“Richard Wolff on Curing Capitalism.” Moyers & Company, March 22, 2013.

Richard Wolff represents the best of the left tradition. With wit, clarity and common sense, he explains what economists have worked so hard to mystify (largely to justify their existence). And at a moment of unending crisis, his message is starting to break through. Wolff's appearance on Bill Moyer's program in February generated such response, he was asked to come back a month later. In this video, he takes questions from viewers around the country.

— Luis Feliz focuses on ideas and debates within the left, social movements and culture.

Follow @lfeliz12

“The Secrets of Princeton,” by Ross Douthat. The New York Times, April 7, 2013.

Ross Douthat writes well and thinks clearly, attributes that can easily beguile well-meaning liberals more accustomed to the digestible mishmash of cliché and moralism that mixes into the pablum of mainstream commentary. Underlying the seemingly progressive argument in this op-ed lurks a reactionary core. As expected of a bona fide traditionalist, Douthat counterposes the meritocratic elite against the noblesse oblige sort of a bygone aristocratic ideal society. Read, weigh, consider and refute.

— Elana Leopold focuses on the Middle East, its relations with the US and Islam.

Follow @lanaleepo

“Death of a Revolutionary,” by Susan Faludi. The New Yorker, April 15, 2013.

This week my article has nothing to do with the Middle East, Islam or the US's relation to either. Instead, it is a fascinating profile of Shulamith Firestone, the second-wave feminist radical who died last August. Firestone was an incredible figure, and this is a must-read.

— Alec Luhn focuses on East European and Eurasian affairs, especially issues of good governance, human rights and activism.

Follow @ASLuhn

“Investigator Bastrykin and the search for enemies,” by Richard Sakwa. openDemocracy, April 10, 2013.

At a recent panel of Russian investigative journalists at Columbia University, one concern in particular was shared by all the speakers: the Investigative Committee's failure to open cases against the venal officials they exposed. As of late, the Investigative Committee has been ramping up its activity against opponents of the regime, and it will soon conclude its investigation of the 27 protestors detained after clashes at a rally in June, in which no law enforcement officials have been charged. Although Sakwa, oddly enough, makes only passing mention of this case, he has contributed a highly relevant piece of Kremlinology by explaining the history and allegiances of the committee's head, Alexander Bastrykin (previously known mainly for threatening a journalist with decapitation).

— Leticia Miranda focuses on race, gender, telecommunications and media reform.

Follow @miraleti

“‘Obama phones’: Right wing’s latest bogus obsession,” by Jillian Rayfield. Salon, April 10, 2013.

A short myth buster and relevant history lesson about the right's campaign against the Lifeline program.

— Brendan O’Connor focuses on media criticism and pop culture.

Follow @OConnorB_

“Gabriel Garcia Marquez, The Art of Fiction No. 69,” interviewed by Peter H. Stone. The Paris Review, Winter 1981.

If I had been standing up when I read this, I probably would have had to sit down: "If you say that there are elephants flying in the sky, people are not going to believe you. But if you say that there are four hundred and twenty-five elephants flying in the sky, people will probably believe you."

— Anna Simonton focuses on issues of systemic oppression perpetuated by the military and prison industrial complexes.

“Report: Ohio Is Illegally Throwing Poor People In Jail For Owing Money,” by Annie-Rose Strasser. ThinkProgress, April 5, 2013.

As surveillance and punishment extend beyond the institutional structures typically associated with the Prison Industrial Complex, more and more life situations are becoming criminalized. In February, Human Rights Watch issued a report detailing how, in Arkansas, tenants who don't pay their rent on time can face jail sentences. Now, a recent ACLU report has shed light on another state where falling behind on your bills is considered a crime.

— Cos Tollerson focuses on Latin American politics and society, and United States imperialism.

Follow @cosbtollerson

“Colombia peace marches draw thousands,” by Peter Bolton. The Guardian, April 9, 2013.

In Havana, ongoing peace talks between the FARC and the Colombian government could bring an end to an armed conflict that has endured for over half a century and caused an estimated 70,000 deaths. The progress in negotiations is a cause for celebration on the streets of Bogotá, but former president and US ally Álvaro Uribe objects to the talks on the grounds that they might allow for the FARC's incorporation into Colombia's democratic process. In a region that has seen several leftist individuals and movements successfully transition from armed struggle to democratic politics, Uribe's fear that the FARC's political agenda will resonate with the Colombian electorate is hardly surprising.

— Sarah Woolf focuses on what’s happening north of the US border.

“We Are All to Blame for Rehtaeh Parsons' Suicide,” by Anne Theriault. Huffington Post, April 9, 2013.

By now, most Americans will probably have heard of Rehtaeh Parsons, a 17-year-old from Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, whose rape (and subsequent death) is horrifyingly reminiscent of the Steubenville rape case. Writing about rape is incredibly difficult for an infinite number of reasons; I chose this piece not because I necessarily agree with the writer word-for-word, but because it was compellingly written with nuance, compassion, rage, bewilderment and, most importantly, a call to action.

Harvard Vice President Reluctantly Accepts Signatures for Fossil Fuel Divestment

Alli Welton and StudentNation on April 12, 2013 - 10:29 AM ET

Students rally for divestment at Harvard. (Courtesy of Camilla Gibson.)

The Divest Harvard campaign achieved a short-term victory this morning when the University unexpectedly sent a high-level official to accept 1,300 student and alumni signatures in support of fossil fuel divestment in front of over 150 people who had rallied to deliver them.

In an open letter published on April 2, students had requested that either a member of the Harvard Corporation or a Vice President attend the rally to publicly accept the petition signatures. President Faust had initially declined the students’ request, offering instead to send her assistant. Less than an hour before the rally, students received word that the Corporation had changed its position and, after the crowd swelled to over 150 students, faculty, staff, and alumni, the University sent a visibly tense Marc Goodheart, Vice President and Secretary of the University, outside to accept the signatures.

Harvard students have been campaigning for fossil fuel divestment since September 2012, part of a national movement with more than 315 other campuses currently participating. Last November, 72 percent of Harvard undergraduates voted to support fossil fuel divestment during a campus-wide referendum. The Harvard Corporation responded by stating that the university had a “strong presumption against divestment.”

Please support our journalism. Get a digital subscription for just $9.50!

On April 9, Harvard Corporation member Nannerl Keohane sparked controversy by suggesting that Harvard could “thank BP” for its investments in renewable energy as an example of using shareholder advocacy rather than divestment to help change the fossil fuel industry’s business practices. Students objected to this proposed strategy, citing BP’s numerous oil spills, closed solar plants, and recently sold wind farms as examples of corporate behavior that deserve no gratitude.

“Despite the fact that we are speaking about an industry that has actively chosen to profit off the destruction of our futures and hundreds of millions of lives, the Corporation has given the impression that they do not take our concerns about fossil fuel corporations seriously,” said Hannah Borowsky, a sophomore involved in Divest Harvard. “It was empowering to see them publicly acknowledge the strength of our community’s voice today by sending Vice President Goodheart outside to accept our petition.”

Tara Raghuveer, the President of the Harvard Undergraduate Council, spoke at the rally along with Harvard alumnus Reverend Fred Small of First Parish Unitarian Universalist Church, Professor David Keith, Harvard College student Hannah Borowsky, PhD student Benjamin Franta, and Harvard Law School alumnus Craig Altemose, Executive Director of Better Future Project.

In another divestment victory, a Brown University committee recommended that its institution divest from big coal companies.

IU on Strike

StudentNation on April 11, 2013 - 12:28 PM ET

Indiana students rally outside of Franklin Hall. (Courtesy of Matthew Bloom).

Hannah Smith, an undergraduate student reporter for the Indiana Daily Student, filed this report today on the on-going strike actions taking place today and tomorrow at Indiana University, Bloomington. Follow @idsnews to keep up with paper's invaluable reporting on the strike and other campus and community issues.

The doors to Ballantine Hall were pushed open, and shouts of "Raise Hell, not tuition!" echoed through the halls. Students came to the doorways of classrooms to watch as nearly 250 participants in IU on Strike reached one of the last stops on their march across campus to protest tuition hikes, wage freezes and lack of diversity at IU, among other things.

Strikers congregated at the red clock tower behind Woodburn Hall at 10:30 a.m. and began marching at 11 a.m. Strikers wore red patches of felt pinned to their chests to show "solidarity for the struggle of students around the country."

Half a dozen IU Police Department officers followed behind the strikers on bike.

The strikers marched behind the Indiana Memorial Union, past the Chemistry Building, into the old Crescent, and then back to Ballantine, where they then flooded the second floor and called out for IU students currently in class to join them.

Along the marching route, students hung out of windows in classrooms in buildings above to cheer on the strikers.

The march will end where it began, at 12:30 p.m. at Woodburn Hall after a stop at the School of Education at 11:30 a.m.. At 1 p.m., they will be marching to the Board of Trustees meeting, followed by a "block party" at 2:30 p.m. on Forrest Avenue between Ballantine and Woodburn.

Get up to speed on this action with our article "What You Need to Know About the Indiana University Strike."

Brown University Investment Committee Recommends Divestment from Coal

StudentNation on April 10, 2013 - 3:27 PM ET

Students rally for divestment. (Courtesy of the Brown Divest Coal Campaign).

Earlier this week, in another victory for the growing movement pushing colleges and universities to divest from companies profitting from fossil fuels, a Brown University oversight committee voted to recommend that the university divest from the country’s 15 largest coal companies.

The divestment campaign began last October, when a student group, called the Brown Divest Coal Campaign, implored the university to stop investing in coal.

The committee, ACCRIP (Advisory Committee on Corporate Responsibility in Investment Policies), is charged with ensuring that the university’s investments match the institution's ethical principles, and it has recommended divestment only three times in its entire history – from companies operating in Darfur during the genocide, from tobacco corporations, and from HEI Hotels. In each case, the board of trustees complied with the committee’s recommendations.

Emboldened by the announcement, student activists are now demanding that Brown’s board of trustees divest from the 15 largest coal companies at its upcoming meeting in May. Brown’s president has confirmed that divestment will be on the agenda at that meeting.

Please support our journalism. Get a digital subscription for just $9.50!

“The board of trustees can’t ignore this recommendation. It can’t ignore the pressure from Brown’s student body and from students around the world. And it can’t ignore the dictates of science and ethics,” said Jordan Schulz, a student leader for the Brown Divest Coal Campaign.

Since September, more than 2,100 undergraduates, along with hundreds of alumni and faculty, have signed a petition urging immediate divestment from the country’s 15 largest coal companies. The university’s student council voted to endorse divestment last month. Tom Steyer, a well-known hedge fund manager, recently wrote a letter to the university’s president recommending divestment and stating that divestment would not threaten the university’s financial status. Brown’s administration has said that the university’s investments in the 15 largest coal companies are worth less than $2 million in total.

The campaign is part of a national movement of students calling for fossil fuel divestment that has already spread to more than 300 campuses. To date, five schools -- Unity College, Hampshire College, Sterling College, Santa Fe Art Institute, and College of the Atlantic -- have agreed to divest, and many more are talking about it.

Student divestment activists have also protested the Keystone XL pipeline, including multiple acts of civil disobedience at TransCanada’s office in Westboro, MA. “Young people will be alive to experience the effects of global warming firsthand,” said Trevor Culhane, another member of Brown Divest Coal. “We’re targeting the fossil fuel companies because they’re the ones standing in the way of action on climate change. Collectively, these coal companies release almost a billion tons of carbon dioxide annually, more than Germany, Canada, or the UK. This is our future and we’re fighting for it.”

Read more at Student Nation about student activism and the 250-plus university divestment campaigns across the country.