Most colleges appear to require introductory classes, which include topics such as peer pressure, bullying, drug and alcohol use, dealing with roommate conflicts, etc. Many also require completion of online seminars that must be taken either before the first day of class or during their first semester. These are all good and worthwhile requirements. However, when the colleges were asked specific questions related to safety on campus and in student housing, they often had difficulty providing clear, concise responses. 

But in some respects, this may be among the least of the political impacts of social media. Above and beyond Trump’s tweets and his circumvention of traditional media, there is a much more profound but much subtler effect that plays upon certain psychological and social proclivities in America today and that is changing politics generally and has already changed our political leadership. And while this is by no means Trump-specific, it has a very strong affinity for the right wing. 

The 2020 Census has already been listed by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) as a “high risk” federal program in its 2017 High Risk Report. The result? Derailments of important tests and resources, including the measurement element of the dress rehearsal (the only way of evaluation), and assessment strategies of communications, outreach, and partnership programs.

Words. “I have the best words,” Trump famously proclaimed during the campaign, and just the other day he told Maria Bartiromo of Fox News how “well-crafted” his goofy tweets are. The same man announced from the White House lawn on Wednesday that “I’m a very intelligent person” — words that sounded more self-deceptive than presidential. Trump does have a way with words. Unfortunately, it’s a gruesome way. 

We have a lot to lose. Trump issued a racist immigration ban based on religion and skin color. He continues to imperil undocumented students and their families. He threatens to cut critical services that many Americans need to live. The AAPI community needs to be worried—Trump’s agenda makes clear that the rights of people of color are secondary to those of his white constituents. 

The report titled, “African-American Women: Our Science, Her Magic,” was released by Nielsen during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s annual legislative conference; it revealed that African-American women’s consumer preferences and brand affinities are resonating across the mainstream culture, driving total Black spending power toward a record $1.5 trillion by 2021.

Of all the myths the Republicans have perpetrated, and there are a lot of them, perhaps none is more powerful or insidious than the foundational one that this is an overwhelmingly conservative country and that progressives are outliers in it, along with its pernicious corollary that conservatives are “real” Americans while liberals (and the minorities who support liberal policies) are somehow counterfeits.

But medical marijuana comes in many forms. “You can take it as a pill or edible form,” Kaskie said. “You could rub in on your skin lesions. That's what I saw one person with cancer doing, and it provided relief for him. And that just was what really struck me. It's like, wow, there's a whole population of older persons out there who actually see this as a medical benefit.”

As of publication, the death toll in Mexico City and several adjacent states was put at more than 200. It was expected to rise as rescue efforts continued. If Tuesday’s afternoon quake had struck in the early morning as in 1985, the death count would surely be much higher. Worse yet, this week’s earth whammy comes less than two weeks after a shattering quake of magnitude 8.2 killed about 100 people in southern Mexico, mostly in the poor, indigenous state of Oaxaca. 

As the imbroglio deepens, world opinion is shifting toward caution and moderation, not so much in sympathy for the puny underdog taking on the hegemon but out of concern that the confrontation, without a course correction, could lead to catastrophic consequences exceeding any rational imagination. The people of South Korea are relatively blasé about the actions of their neighbor to the north because they believe they understand the North Koreans. They fear instead US President Donald Trump because of his unpredictability and the seeming opacity hiding his real intentions.