New Blog Posts

  • Equity and the D.C. Better Bus Initiative

    Equity and the D.C. Better Bus Initiative

    Chase Karbon is a staff writer and first-year MPP student. Equity will be one of Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s (WMATA) focuses as it implements its Better Bus redesign during the summer of 2025 after three years of community input, hearings, and draft network maps. WMATA stated that this would be the most comprehensive redesign…

  • The Costs of Mass Deportation

    The Costs of Mass Deportation

    Matias Bidegaray is a staff writer and first-year MPP student. President-elect Donald Trump has long promised mass deportations as a part of his immigration policy. In his 2016 presidential campaign, then-candidate Trump promised to deport all 11 million undocumented immigrants residing in the United States. Now, as president-elect, he has pledged to undertake “the largest domestic…

  • Pillaging Public Health: The Reforms Standing Between Patients And Medicare

    Pillaging Public Health: The Reforms Standing Between Patients And Medicare

    Patrick Carr is a former staff writer and alumnus of the Trachtenberg School. Last summer, The Lever interviewed Jenn Coffey, a former EMT and free-market Republican state legislator who found her Medicare Advantage (MA) plan all-too willing to “deny stuff you need.” Constant coverage denials and consequential emergency room visits left her on the verge of…

  • The Education Balancing Act: AI Progression, Fairness and Biases

    The Education Balancing Act: AI Progression, Fairness and Biases

    Sophia Alejandro is a staff writer and a first-year MPA student. As the education landscape changes, so do the means with which we teach students. From textbooks to iPads and ever-evolving technology. Now, students and teachers are facing these innovations through one glaring new facet: Artificial Intelligence (AI).  In the few years AI tools have been…

  • Following the Link: The Importance of Cross-Species Abuse Reporting

    Following the Link: The Importance of Cross-Species Abuse Reporting

    Caroline Wendzel is a staff writer and a first-year MPP student. For decades, researchers have documented a strong connection between interpersonal violence and animal abuse. This connection, commonly referred to as “the Link” in research literature, functions as a perverse positive feedback loop of destruction and cruelty. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, between one-in-four…