“COVID-19 cases are especially prevalent in prisons due to the large numbers of people in close proximity to each other. In order to slow the spread in these facilities, the Department of Public Safety recommended some inmates should finish their sentence outside of prison. In just the first few months following this recommendation, over 200 inmates were scheduled to be released before their time. However, this attempt at mitigating the number of people infected has actually had the opposite effect.”
Read More
“Social studies and civics teachers struggle to answer this question: how do you address the concerns of your students in the very subject you teach, which often reflects harsh truths? Although it depends where they are teaching, teachers are often required to be apolitical in classroom settings. But as students are living through an era fueled by ultranationalism and right-wing extremism, how can a teacher possibly remain apolitical?”
Read More
“The North Carolina Right to Life organizations had their 23rd annual rally this weekend, featuring keynote speaker N.C. Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson. This march comes quickly after the transition of power following the November election, ensuring this policy is quick to the NCGA legislation table.”
Read More
“Once more unto the breach as the saying goes, for once again the Carolina community is back on campus, at least partially. For many first year students, moving back onto campus was the only way to feel as if they got some college experience this year. Other students also chose to return to operate with some semblance of normalcy, albeit six feet apart, as the few in-person classes available are prime opportunities to get away from the screen and return to the feel of traditional learning.”
Read More
“For N.C., the help of the National Guard teams could be critical in speeding up the process to get North Carolinians their COVID-19 shots. North Carolina, like many states, is experiencing difficulties meeting vaccination goals, and currently ranks as the state with the sixth lowest vaccination rate in the country.”
Read More
“Businesses have been the most outspoken about the new restrictions with many claiming it is going to be harder to conduct business with the new restriction. The restrictions as a whole are especially difficult for small businesses during the holiday season.”
Read More
“Moving the semester’s starting date is just one of many changes designed to prevent a repeat of the fall’s disastrous reopening. Within a week of welcoming students back to campus in August, UNC’s administration reversed the decision to reopen, sending thousands of students back home for a full semester of virtual learning.”
Read More
“In a year of tight races, three of the tightest came in races for seats on the North Carolina Supreme Court. Composed of seven members serving staggered eight year terms, the court, like many throughout the country, is composed of members elected in partisan elections. With a current 6-1 majority in favor of Democrats, Republicans were hoping for a good night, and seem to have gotten it.”
Read More
“As a particularly tumultuous election cycle came to a close this past weekend, voter turnout was at an all-time high in the state of North Carolina. 720,000 more ballots were cast in this election than in 2016. 440,000 have people registered to vote in the last four years. Voter turnout increased by 5.6% in this election cycle. Even among record-shattering voter participation, down-ballot races largely favored Republicans and the makeup of the North Carolina General Assembly stayed in control of the GOP, as it has for the last 10 years.”
Read More
“Many veteran organizers and voter rights activists have taken issue with the language and practice of Trump’s poll watchers and the militant-like operation he is encouraging. Regardless of the state laws on official poll watchers, voter intimidation is illegal nationwide. Pundits are worried that Trump’s encouragement of poll watchers might be understood by his supporters as an encouragement to intimidate voters.”
Read More
“While it may not be as attention grabbing as the tight race in Florida, with its history of hanging chads, or as intriguing as the races in Rust Belt Democratic strongholds that flipped for Trump last election cycle, North Carolina, with its 15 electoral votes, stands out as one of the most important battleground states of this election. The race in North Carolina is exceptionally close—within a polling error—and it could prove to be the consequential state that tips the election one way or the other. Given that, it’s no wonder that the Trump and Biden campaigns have spent so much time here in recent weeks attempting to turnout the vote.”
Read More
“While the race has been largely uneventful, the candidates have made strong statements about each other and have fought over false information. There is no clear leader in the race, but both men are more than qualified for the position.”
Read More
“One factor that makes the North Carolina senate election so important is its competitiveness. North Carolina has become a hotly contested “purple state,” as Democrats have made significant gains in cities and suburban areas and are hoping to translate those gains into success in federal elections. At the Presidential level, North Carolina is one of the tightest swing states—recent polling shows only a 4% gap between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. The senate race is similarly competitive—Cal Cunningham and Thom Tillis have polled neck and neck throughout the campaign.”
Read More
“The lack of racial diversity on the administration board is increasingly problematic, especially among the heightened racial conflict and consciousness in the United States - and right here in North Carolina - at this moment in history. UNC needs to recognize this and change their policies and the demographics of its leadership to better represent their students. Following Allison’s departure as one of the few nonwhite members of the Board, and an active advocate for nonwhite UNC students, the Board of Governors needs to elect a member with a similar commitment to increasing the inclusion and equity of students of color.”
Read More
“Currently, voters will be notified of any mistakes that would invalidate their ballots and be given the opportunity to ‘cure’ those errors, either by signing an affidavit, in cases where the voter’s signature is missing, or, in most other cases, by returning a new ballot… While both sides expressed a belief that they were vindicated by Judge Osteen’s ruling, the court battle is not yet over. The case was appealed, and the State Board of Elections has been unable to implement any changes due to a stay, leaving thousands of deficient ballots yet again in limbo. As court battles drag on, there is growing anxiety that time is running out for deficient ballots to be cured.”
Read More
“Secretary DeVos’ visit likely did not solve the issue of school choice vs. public school funding in North Carolina, though it did provide a glimpse of how President Trump’s education policy would affect NC schools. The round table discussion was yet another proxy campaign event for the president in a state that he desperately needs to win in November. Yet after the election, NC schools will still face the challenge of returning to school during the pandemic, and for public school students this could mean returning with less funding.”
Read More
“As Democrats and Republicans become more starkly divided, political preferences are increasingly less motivated by fact and instead determined by individual party allegiances. Information that is contrary to an individual’s belief is written off as fake news and no longer given any reasonable merit. The recent contentious developments in the North Carolina legislature are examples of a much larger problem of intense polarization that grows in the United States every year.”
Read More
“The COVID-19 pandemic presents a unique challenge to student voters, most of whom left UNC-Chapel Hill’s campus when instruction went fully remote in August. Students who moved home after having previously used their dorm addresses for voter registration have to change their registered voting location.”
Read More