Here’s a selection of articles the Federal Relations team is enjoying this week.
Just Like a High School Cafeteria, But Not – As the United Nations addresses climate change, talks on how to address climate change are happening in micro groups, cliques basically. While the UN hopes to forge a new global agreement that will affect everything from energy production to agriculture to transportation, these groups, 14 in all, are how the negotiations are getting done. Read more at NPR.
Best of a Bad Situation – Higher education accreditation and accrediting agencies are under intense scrutiny in recent years, but while everyone agrees that the system is far from perfect, no one knows how to fix it. Read more at Inside Higher Ed.
Email Gate – Hillary Clinton’s emails while Secretary of State continue to be under scrutiny and continue to make headlines. Congress is expected to hold a hearing on the private server in September. Further, during that hearing, the individual who set up the private server is expected to assert their fifth amendment right. Read more at the Washington Post.
Trump Talking – Trump’s candidacy is giving the GOP heartburn on multiple levels. Trump’s straight talk is running right into the carefully crafted GOP message to woo middle class voters, and Trump’s isolationist statements are running contrary to the free-market approach that is the capstone of the GOP economy. Read more at the Washington Post. And all of his tough talk is making very hard to be latino and conservative these days or a Republican presidential candidate that appeals to latino voters. Read more at NPR.
Redistricting – As House Democrats remain deeply in the minority and have no optimism to change that outcome, House Democratic leadership is choosing to focus on a different strategy: redistricting. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has sponsored a piece of legislation that looks to reform how states do their political gerrymandering and replace the partisan carving up of congressional districts with independent redistricting commissions. Read more at The Hill.
Meh – The Pentagon is trying to woo Silicon Valley to help with the national defense in its next generation warfare and innovations. Thus far, the Valley has been agnostic about engaging but Defense Secretary Ash Carter isn’t giving up and is doing another push to engage Apple, Google and more on a host of initiatives. Read more at Breaking Defense.
NLRB – The National Labor Relation’s Board (NLRB) has been a lightening rod while making controversial decisions under the Obama Administration. With new standards and interpretations, including new union election rules and minimum wage overtime rules, the NLRB has made waves. Here’s a look at the five biggest fights and controversies thus far. Read more at The Hill.
Test Free – Many colleges are no longer requiring SAT or ACT scores to apply and enter university. Why are schools disregarding the test? Is it truly to get a broader student body and include more traditionally underrepresented groups? Or is it to be more exclusive? NPR goes deeper. Meanwhile, SAT scores are the lowest in a decade and certainly since the SAT test was redesigned. The average score was 1490 with 1550 being recognized as the score for college preparedness. Serious concerns are being raised about the elementary scores in reading in math are not translating to high school preparedness. Read more at the Washington Post.
What would happen to Asia’s coastline if the ice caps melted courtesy of IFL Science.
CNN has footage of Obama getting spawned on by a salmon, which can happen if you hold salmon in Alaska in the summer.