Column

Separating anti-vaccination rhetoric from vaccine hesitancy by rightfully skeptical communities of color As misinformation chipped (and continues to chip) away at the faultline between public trust and science, the Trump administration wasted no time in causing more divisive fractures by promoting uncertainty around the effectiveness of mask-wearing and loose enforcement of stay-at-home orders. Former President […]

Gavin Newsom’s failed environmental commitments need to be addressed with actions, not words From rumors of recall to criticism about his handling of reopening the state, Governor Gavin Newsom has been in the news a lot lately. Although I wouldn’t go as far as endorsing an absolute recall, I would like to highlight Newsom’s many […]

We shouldn’t readily accept all forms of representation in media Asian American identity is both fluid and inarticulable, characteristics that betray its self-determined creation. In 1968, UC Berkeley graduate students Emma Gee and Yuji Ichioka  coined the term Asian American to describe different groups of Asian descent; Its creation was a “radical label […] that […]

Eurocentric beauty standards affect Asian women in harmful and toxic ways “White is clean, white is pure, white is beautiful,” declares an advertisement from Japanese cosmetics company Mosbeau—a portmanteau of “most beautiful”—which specializes in skin-whitening creams and supplements. The 30-second video-ad features a Filipino model who credits her confidence and good looks to the brand’s […]

In a small corner of California, the Biden administration’s climate policies and promise to protect public lands are about to be tested Two universally accepted principles of our country’s plan to fight climate change are the development of renewable energy and protection of open wilderness across the nation. California is a great example of this […]

All the world is an Instagram grid, and all the people are merely posing In July 2010, Instagram co-founder Mike Krieger made the first-ever Instagram post. His shot of a random marina marked the birth of an app that will rule our generation, but, ironically, it also breaks every unwritten rule our generation has created […]

The swift deportation of an American influencer in Bali highlights a phenomenon of “digital nomads” who bypass immigration rules and perpetuate wealth inequality Kristen Gray, an 28-year-old American woman in Bali, Indonesia, has recently come under fire after her Twitter thread encouraging other foreigners to move to the island during the pandemic went viral. In […]

In the last weeks of his presidency, Trump’s Administration just barely recalled a decades long policy by the EPA despite outcry from the scientific community As President Joe Biden attempts to turn a new leaf and focus on the future, the Trump Administration’s final decisions continue to cast a shadow over many of his choices. […]

How discourse around the mental health of reality stars shapes the way we handle stigma The birth of a reality TV star begins and ends in a limbo ripe with contradictions.  They are cogs in the machine of reality television: necessary for our entertainment, but so plentiful that when they are churned out, they are […]

The Park Service’s proposed management plan of the Point Reyes Seashore prioritizes agriculture over wildlife in a national park In Marin County, ranching is more than just a nine to five for many residents, but a way of life. Roughly half the land in Marin County is designated for farming or ranchland. Ranching has existed […]

President-elect Joe Biden has yet to announce several key environmental positions which will show how seriously he intends to take the climate crisis With a new year just around the corner, all eyes are on President-elect Joe Biden for any signs of what his presidency will look like. With a few of his cabinet picks […]

Atrazine, a possible carcinogen and endocrine disruptor, is one of the most commonly used weed killers in the U.S. From recent findings suggesting that COVID-19 was found in sewage samples in Spain as far back as March 2019 to environmental attorney Robert Bilott’s novel “Exposure” on his decades long battle over unregulated chemical contamination in […]