22
4U
Issue Briefs
Each of our fellows thoroughly delved into a different issue impacting the Penn State community. Our analyses can be found on this page.
HEALTH
Curing the Epidemic of Depression: Yoga and Meditation
By Adwait Chafale
With depression among students rising, are schools providing the building blocks to counter this issue? This issur brief discusses how yoga and meditation is not a religious practice and is beneficial towards decreasing depression
ENVIRONMENT
Restructuring the Dairy Industry: Stopping the Downfall of the Industry
By Hannah Conway
The U.S. dairy farming community has been stuck in a major financial crisis. As nearly all the local, small-scale farms across the nation are victims of the falling milk prices and the rise in large corporate-owned farms. A change in the current dairy industry’s marketing system could help dairy farmers climb out of their financial deficits.
The Impact of Fracking
By Sean Rendar
How is fracking detrimental to you and your community? To protect the many beautiful American landscapes and the people that reside within them, there must be adjustments made to current regulations and research done to combat the environmental destruction caused by fracking.
NATIONAL POLICY
Artificial Intelligence: Education must Precede Regulation
By Michael Paluda
This issue brief addresses the social ramifications of Artificial Intelligence and Congressional Tech Illiteracy. The issue brief proposes to bring back the Office of Technology Assessment to best educate and bring Congress up to date on technological issues.
A Modified Affirmative Action:
Switching from Race-based to Class-based Affirmative Action in College Admissions
By Sophia Datsko
Switching from race-based to socioeconomic-based affirmative action would maintain equal levels of diversity, and provide opportunities for all students battling struggle, without using race as a factor for consideration.
CAMPUS CULTURE
Victims Deserve to be Heard
By Dayna Townsend
Sexual Harassment and Sexual Assault are huge problems and many victims don’t speak out for a variety of reasons. In order to solve the problem, the victims need to be able to go back to the state of mind they were in before the attack happened, therefore the programs that need to be created need to fix those problems.