Rita's Current Events Blog!

Multiple universities are dropping their  SAT/ACT requirements in reaction to the growing disenchantment with standardized testing. The debate is if it is a disenchantment with merit or the testing. Schools research shows that the standardized testing scores are strongly linked to family income and the parents education level and race. Although the College Board and ACT Inc. argue that the tests are predictive of college success. If colleges were not to consider SAT/ACT scores then they would look at high school grades more closely. Will this create grade inflation? How will this affect low income students and minorities in inner cities? Is this considered "holistic admissions"?

Lebanon has a revolution once again. The Middle East is having revolutions back to back concerning their corrupt governments. The people are protesting for a complete government reform. They are fighting for their current president to step down, including the rest of their government. The main reason for the revolution is for the decline in its' economy over the years with inflated taxes on apps and certain items. Students and the unemployed are the main ones being affected. This demographic is usually the base of revolutions in the Middle East. Like Egypt's revolutions, Lebanon has its' different and conflicted demographics unite under the flag including people practicing Christianity, Islam, and Druze. The goal they all seek to acquire is a "tax-free rebel economy". Article

New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez recently proposed an anti-poverty bill, "A Just Society" that would authorize new protections for tenants, children, undocumented immigrants, and other demographics that are usually vulnerable to the high costs of housing. The legislation would expand federal benefits to undocumented immigrants and people with past criminal conviction, now this is a controversy in itself. AOC wants the affordable housing crisis to be at the top of the Liberals agenda, multiple Democratic politicians have proposed detailed plans of how they would want to tackle the issue. Although, there are housing experts across the nation that believe this legislation would be more harmful than beneficial. On the other side, people also believe that this proposal will provide just-cause protections against evictions, specifically in areas like San Francisco. With any proposal, many questions need to be asked and answered. The proposal does not address va...

The beginning of September 2019 a second Egyptian Revolution emerged in targeting the resignation of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. The protests started in Cairo, specifically in Tahrir Square. The Square had become a symbol of unification and power in the 2011 revolution and protesters are currently trying to resemble that now. Unauthorized protests were made unlawful after Al-Sisi took power in 2013, of course politicians do not want their people talking if it is going to undermine their power position. Multiple news outlets were banned in order to keep speech monitored. The only social media outlets that are allowed to have a say are pro-government news sources, but even currently they are deciding to stay quiet. Protesters are the ones now posting on social media, letting other Egyptians and outsiders know what is truly going on. Egyptians are trying to get Sisi to resign because "his security forces have escalated a campaign of intimidation, violence, and arbitrary arre...