The US is facing its worst health crisis in more than 100 years. The COVID-19 pandemic has inflicted unprecedented economic and social disruption this year, with no end in sight. Eight million Americans have fallen ill with the virus, and 220,000 of them did not make it. This means the US has the highest numbers of any nation. And yet cases are still soaring; in fact, they are on track to hit a third peak. Scientists are warning that this peak may be the largest of them all, especially as winter weather will force huge swaths of the country indoors and several holidays loom.

Through a rigorous primary season, a contentious general election season, a host of controversies, and a literal pandemic, one thought has lingered in the minds of those who have closely followed the presidential election no matter which candidate you support.

There are many economic benefits of cannabis legalization outside the justice system as well. The drug is easily taxable, allowing greater funding for public services. A report from 2019 estimates that if the federal prohibition on weed was lifted that year, the US would earn more than $100 billion in extra tax revenue by 2025.

The coronavirus pandemic has interrupted normal life for many months. The upcoming holidays will need to be adapted to meet our new normal. With Halloween approaching, many families are faced with a hard decision: Do they let their kids participate in traditional Halloween activities such as trick-or-treating? How can parents keep their children safe from the virus during this holiday?

Compared to the hysterics that we witnessed at the first presidential debate, the vice-presidential debate was much more professional, filled with passive-aggressive statements and non-answered questions. Senator Harris only had one option for behavior that would not sink the Biden campaign’s current poll numbers, and it is solely based on her sex. 

I'd encourage anyone who feels disheartened with the political process to look farther down the ballot. Find out who your local candidates are, and find out what they stand for. Understand what issues are affecting the people in your community, and understand what steps candidates are taking to fix them. While change happens at every level, local change is what you're most likely to feel the effects of. 

Of all the ways the confirmation process of Amy Coney Barrett would be potentially stalled in the Senate, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell likely wasn’t expecting a physical incapacitation on the part of his fellow lawmakers. In the span of a few days, three Republican senators, including North Carolina’s Thom Tillis (NC), Ron Johnson (WI), and Mike Lee (UT) all tested positive for COVID-19 and have subsequently stepped away for the time being.

“I think that the administrators put in thought for some online courses but not for others. I personally feel like they could have handled things much better by making a decision earlier on whether they were going all online or not,” says Madeline Miller, a UNCW sophomore. “If they made the decision earlier it could have given the teachers and students more time to prep for going online, which could have helped us have a more successful school year.”

The United States has endured a lot this year. Americans have witnessed natural disasters, police brutality, school shootings, and an ever-increasing partisan divide. While all of these events existed prior to 2020, this year we faced an additional challenge: a global pandemic. With more than 200,000 deaths in the United States alone, COVID-19 has made a permanent mark. The coronavirus pandemic has caused a rise in social unrest and economic disruption, leading to an even more tense nation.

All of these issues share a commonality: powerful governments are involved. They either directly cause problems or refuse to address them appropriately. This trend is especially pronounced whenever an unchecked government, especially an authoritarian one, abuses its power and violates the rights of its civilians to push its personal agendas.

So the question worth asking is, how do we enact change and strike a balance between saving lives and protecting Second Amendment rights?

Barrett is undoubtedly the epitome of everything Ginsburg fought against, despite conservatives enthusiastically cheering her on. She is highly educated and well-spoken, yet glides through the doors of law that Ginsburg busted down for her, failing to protect the freedoms of other women.

There are questions regarding how this will affect the 2020 presidential race, as this is said to be an advantage to those on the right. Trump’s top pick, Amy Coney Barrett, was formally nominated in the White House Rose Garden on Saturday, just one day after Ginsburg was lying in state at the U.S. Capitol. The formal Senate confirmation hearings are to take place beginning on October 12, as there seems to be a mad dash by the GOP to place her on the high court as soon as possible.

This transition is intended to give students some extra space but it has also caused some uneasiness throughout the on-campus community. Below are arguments in favor and against UNCW’s decision from The Seahawk’s contributing writers, Hannah McDonnell and Hannah Horowitz. 

To tackle this serious challenge, they will need to base decisions not just on science, but also the economy. Former Democratic candidate and democratic socialist Bernie Sanders, for instance, managed to win the support of millions of young Americans by proposing a “Green New Deal”. It aims to ban all fossil fuels and radically reshape society in just 10 years. But such a policy would be too expensive to work and have massive implications, Fox News warned in February 2019.