On January 5, 2018, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) eliminated the “six part test” to determine if the someone could be classified as an “unpaid intern.” The DOL then established a “primary beneficiary test” that does not include a set of requirements to determine if someone could actually be classified as an “unpaid intern.” … Continue reading Unpaid and Unprotected
Category: Human Rights
MSU is known for its sprawling campus, cold winters, and quagmire of transportation. First year students are not allowed to buy a parking pass, and the public bus system (CATA) only runs effectively on weekdays. Students who choose to bike must often navigate through large crowds, sometimes with freezing brakes, or though icy roads and … Continue reading Residential and Hospitality Services: A Stagnant Spot in MSU’s “Culture of Learning and Collaboration”
Nearly 80 miles outside of Salt Lake City, in Uinta County Wyoming, the Management and Training Corporation (MTC) awaits approval from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to construct a new immigration detention center. MTC is the third largest for-profit prison corporation in the US. Their newest business venture in an immigration detention centers follows a … Continue reading America’s Immigration Prison Complex
On October 6th, 1998, Matthew Shepard, 21, was killed in what has been called one of the worst anti-gay hate crimes in American history. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigations, a hate crime is defined as a “criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender’s bias … Continue reading Panic is Never a Justification
We need to change the way we talk about sexual misconduct, specifically in regard to consent. Though recent activism throughout the entertainment industry and college campuses has sparked outcry for such change, policies regarding affirmative consent, as well as societal engagement about consent, still lacks nationwide. We still see consent as something that is nonchalantly … Continue reading The Case for Affirmative Consent Laws
To the Michigan State University Board of Trustees: We at the MSU chapter of the Roosevelt Institute, a progressive public policy organization, are increasingly alarmed at the state of management at this university. In the past month, we have seen the Larry Nassar scandal dominate conversations internationally, nationally, and on campus. We have seen the … Continue reading An Open Letter to the Board of Trustees
DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) is a program started by the Obama administration in 2012 that allows illegal immigrants who came to the United States as minors to apply for 2-year renewable deferred action (delayed deportation) and work visas. As of 2017, 800,000 Dreamers (named after the DREAM Act) were enrolled in DACA. The … Continue reading No Human is Illegal: Why We Should Protect Dreamers
In February 2017, the United Nations accused Myanmar security forces of engaging in crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing in the Rakhine province. Myanmar is not a war zone. In fact, Myanmar is a newly established democracy as of 2015, and their de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi is a nobel laureate. The population … Continue reading Preventing Ethnic Cleansing: Alternative Strategies for Myanmar
On June 26, 2017 the Supreme Court of the United States agreed to hear arguments over President Trump’s executive orders barring the entrance of individuals from 6-7 majority muslim nations (the second executive order removed Iraq from the list of included nations) and the indefinite suspension of the U.S. refugee program. Until the official arguments … Continue reading What’s Really at Stake in the Battle Over the Travel Ban
The way we understand human trafficking is fundamentally flawed. It’s informed by the media we consume daily, from news broadcasts to blockbuster films. Our understanding of trafficking is a reflection of our culture: a culture that prioritizes women’s “purity” and white bodies. These narratives have led to the creation of bad policy. The people who … Continue reading Promoting T Visas: A New Approach for Helping Survivors of Human Trafficking
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