Policy Forum at Mills College
By Shanalee Gallagher, MPP candidate 2018 Brittany Maynard was a 29-year-old woman who took social media by storm in 2014 when she publicly shared her choice to die on her own terms. She did this in the hope that others could have the same option. In the months before her death, she strongly advocated for … Continue reading Roadblocks, Red Tape, and Dignity: Policies for Ending a Life
By Meghan Hunt, Mills MPP ’17 and all around nasty woman Fighting Trump is as much about keeping up with what’s happening as it is about hitting the streets. If his whirlwind of executive actions has your head spinning, then these five tools are for you. Get the best information at your fingertips so you … Continue reading Five Tools You Need to Track Trump
By Rick Riviera, MBA/MPP Candidate 2018 The closest I’ve come to crying since November 8th was watching Last Week Tonight’s five-minute montage of people describing all the ways 2016 has been horrible (besides the election), followed by John Oliver dynamiting a giant 2016 sign in an empty stadium . It was a catharsis that I … Continue reading Public Policy Still Matters – Where Can We Go From Here?
By Melanie Burgarino, MPP Candidate 2017 In the Bay area, everybody has something to say about the housing crisis. Who is to blame? I’ve got the quick and dirty answer, it’s the NIMBY, and Obama’s got my back on this one. “Not In My Backyard,” or “NIMBY,” is jargon used by planning and policy nerds … Continue reading Don’t be a NIMBY, be a YIMBY
By Zoe Harris, MPP Candidate 2017 For nearly a decade, Wisconsin drivers faced billboards with the nozzle of a gun and the text, “When police kill, should they judge themselves?” The campaign was headed by Michael Bell, whose unarmed son was killed by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin. After the shooting, the Kenosha Police Department’s detective … Continue reading “When Police Kill, Should They Judge Themselves?”
By Meghan Hunt, MPP Candidate 2017 This November, Oakland will ask voters to pass Measure HH, a 1-cent-per-ounce tax on soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages. With this legislation, I am happy to see Oakland tackle this important public health issue. In communities across the Bay Area, we experience higher rates of obesity compared to the … Continue reading Keeping Up with the Joneses: Oakland’s Fight Against Big Soda
By Rick Rivera, MBA/MPP Candidate 2018 Philosophy Professor David Heller was, by all accounts, a brilliant man. Respected by colleagues and students for his dedication and intellectual rigor, his life reflected the core question of his course Ethics, Persons and Values: “Can we be happy without leading a good life?” And, while those close to … Continue reading Surviving the Next Leap Forward
By Alysa Cisneros, MPP Candidate 2017 In the midst of an election between two of the most unpopular candidates in history, many voters are wondering how we could have done this to ourselves. Earnest supporters of Clinton or Trump really believe that it is on the merits that their candidate has persevered. But the American … Continue reading Crashing the Party: Alternative Voting Now!
By Rebecca Wegley, MPP Candidate 2017 Originally published by the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, August 2016 The U.S. Department of Justice recently stated that holding people in jail simply because they cannot afford to post bail violates their Fourteenth Amendment rights under the US Constitution. In an amicus brief, Justice Department attorneys called for … Continue reading California’s Bail System: Reform or Abolish? (Part 2)
By Rebecca Wegley, MPP Candidate 2017 Originally published by the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice (CJCJ), August 2016 On any given day in the United States, there are approximately 450,000 unsentenced people in jails awaiting trial or sentencing. In 2015, California alone accounted for about 10 percent of that figure, with 45,000 unsentenced people … Continue reading California’s Bail System: Reform or Abolish? (Part 1)
