How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Drone

October 20, 2014 by Enquiry Editor in Volume 2 Issue 8, Andrew Nachemson

In recent years, we have seen the rise of a new form of military technology called drones. With their arrival has come the inevitable response of critics in a self-righteous hurry to condemn drones – more formally known as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) – as the newest atrocities of modern warfare. This newfound hatred for drones is not surprising, but it is completely misguided and is only a result of misinformation and fear of what we don’t fully understand.

GOP Weaknesses

October 20, 2014 by Enquiry Editor in Volume 2 Issue 8, David Frisk, Guest Contributor

The difficulty in predicting the size of Republican gains next month arises from several factors that seem, thus far, to have shielded the Democrats from the full consequences of Barack Obama’s unpopularity. One reflects closely related political truisms: money talks, incumbency is usually an advantage. The fundraising strength of Democratic Senate incumbents and their national campaign committee is predictable; they’re incumbents and their party has controlled the upper house for eight years. But other factors that have inhibited a strong Republican wave are longstanding within the GOP and its base—problems for which there is no equivalent, or a much smaller one, among the Democrats. Here as elsewhere, analysts of American politics are often mistaken when tending to assume symmetry between the parties.

Tea Party on the Decline

October 20, 2014 by Enquiry Editor in Volume 2 Issue 8, Alex Klosner

The historic 2010 midterm elections proved to be one of the most successful election years for the GOP. Republicans won six U.S. senate seats, 63 seats in the House of Representatives, six governorships, and 680 seats in state legislators. Apprehension towards the Affordable Care Act and the overall perception of the Obama Administration gave rise to the Tea Party, the boisterous, right wing faction of the GOP. Establishment Republicans such as Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski and Delaware Congressman Michael Castle lost their primaries to “anti-establishment” Tea Party candidates.

Regulating School Lunch

October 13, 2014 by Enquiry Editor in Volume 2 Issue 7, Sarah Larson

Public school students are the latest victims of corporate favoritism in national policy. Although policies on school lunch are advertised as beneficial to student health, in reality the only benefactors are the companies that won the contracts to provide lunch to millions of students across the country.

Supreme Court Silent on Marriage Rulings

October 13, 2014 by Enquiry Editor in Volume 2 Issue 7, Taylor Elicegui

On October 6th, the Supreme Court denied seven petitions for writs of certiorari to review same-sex marriage cases from three Courts of Appeals. In doing so, the Supreme Court refused to interfere with decisions that overturned bans on same-sex marriage in Virginia, Indiana, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, and Utah. The course charted by the Supreme Court allows lower courts to continue to address the issue.

Changes to AP U.S. History

October 13, 2014 by Enquiry Editor in Volume 2 Issue 7, Phil Parkes

The College Board recently unveiled a framework for its Advanced Placement (AP) United States History exam that encourages the politicization of American History. The College Board claims that the extensive guide will be just one of many tools in the hands of teachers, who use the company’s content guides to prepare students to pass the AP U.S. History exam. In reality, it stifles freedom of thought and prevents students from examining history from a variety of perspectives.