Category: StudentNation

Conflicting reports of contamination have worried residents of Florissant, a community that continues to suffer from the legacy of the Manhattan Project. WALTER THOMAS-PATTERSON In October 2022, the Hazelwood School District announced that Jana Elementary in Florissant, Mo., would close indefinitely, after an independent contractor reported elevated levels of radioactive lead dust on school grounds. […]

According to over a dozen student journalists, these are some of the most important issues facing the US, including climate change, health care, child labor, and LGBTQ+ rights. STUDENTNATION In March, a poll from The Wall Street Journal and NORC found that just 23 percent of people under 30 found patriotism to be “very important” to them, compared to […]

With volunteers in middle and high school, approximately 1,400 teen courts in the US allow young people to be defended, prosecuted, and sentenced by their peers. EMILY AIKENS A young person makes an opening statement to the jury in her role as prosecutor during a mock trial demonstrating how the New Bedford Youth Court functions. (John […]

Young Indian-Americans—and Americans at large—cannot ignore President Biden’s tacit endorsement of repression, authoritarianism, and religious intolerance. SHRADDHA JOSHI Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister, and US President Joe Biden meet in the Oval Office of the White House in September 2021. (Sarahbeth Many / Getty) On Tuesday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in New York ahead of his […]

The smoke that blanketed the US Northeast was not incidental or anomalous but yet another manifestation of accelerating anthropogenic climate change. ILANA COHEN In September 2020, West Coast wildfires spread smoke that blackened the skies of the East Coast. I reported on the phenomenon for Inside Climate News, an exercise in detachment from the personal stakes […]

As environmental concern extends beyonds traditional conservation work, recent graduates are seeking sustainable careers—with more options than ever before. ILANA COHEN When Kristy Drutman graduated from the University of California–Berkeley in 2017, she knew she wanted to pursue a career in environmental communications, but she didn’t know where to start. Years later, after an initial […]