Researcher: Nancy Shedrack Anwary Faculty evaluator: Julie Andrzejewski, St. Cloud State University The chamber, by far the largest lobbying force on Capitol Hill – having spent more than $65 million in 2009 – is actively campaigning against meaningful climate change legislation. It is also taking a lead role in challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) [...]

Five years in, 168 countries around the world have ratified the World Health Organization’s tobacco treaty to protect the public from the tobacco industry. After five years, the US is still absent from this list. “It’s time for the United States to join the global community and reclaim a leadership role in taking on the [...]

Researcher: Amanda Peterson University: St. Cloud State University Faculty Evaluator: Julie Andrzejewski Islam Siddiqui is appointed to be chief of agricultural negotiator in the office of the U.S. trade representative. A former pesticide lobbyist and part of a pesticide trade group that lobbies to weaken environmental laws. He wants to ensure the perpetuation of pesticide [...]

This program provides a substantial incentive for holders of first mortgages to reduce the original amount of property; however, the program will be creating a situation in which the second mortgage holder (in most cases the banks) will have a huge advantage. By substantially reducing the required payment on the first mortgage, the second mortgage [...]

The biggest human rights scandal in years is developing in Colombia. The largest mass grave unearthed in Colombia was discovered by accident last year just outside a Colombian Army base in La Macarena, a rural municipality located in the Department of Meta just south of Bogota. The grave was discovered when children drank from a [...]

Researcher: Molly Lipinski Faculty Evaluator: Julie Andrzejewski- St Cloud State University Obama plans to “freeze” federal programs and increase military spending. This “freeze” is really a cut, which will cause severe cuts in nutrition, education, energy, and transportation, which is already only 17% of the total federal spending. The proposal spending will be $447 billion [...]

The public never hears about war spending in the corporate media and how much everything actually costs. The United States has been spending billions on military machines, weapons, vehicles, and planes. Even though the estimated cost today per plane is $113 million, the Marines, the Air Force, and the Navy are planning on buying a [...]

President Barack Obama announced more than $8 billion in federal loan guarantees for the construction of the first nuclear power plant in the United States in nearly three decades. Despite Wall Street openly saying that they will not back this loan because of a 50% chance of it defaulting, our government is pushing it through [...]

Researcher: Katie Nystrom Faculty Evaluator: Julie Andrzejewski, St. Cloud State University What was thought to be a quick fix to our global warming issue could be slowly killing off our marine life. Iron stimulates growth of marine algae, which absorbs CO2 from the air. This seems like an easy fix, adding iron to our waters [...]

The U.S. Navy is planning to begin an immense push to defend national security, potential undersea riches, and other maritime interests. The department of the Navy has developed a five year plan of action to expand the U.S. Navy fleet operations into the Arctic. They believe that by the year 2030, the Arctic Ocean will [...]