Andrea Patino -- Politics Daily

Published: 07/14/10

Colombian Higher Education Reform: Increasing Access, Eyeing U.S. Solutions

If you live in Bogot�, there are street entertainers everywhere. At traffic lights, you may find a monocyclist juggling knives. Storytellers keep people occupied on buses. Hundreds of young people in Colombia are in the streets entertaining for a couple of coins. Karen, a third year psychology student at the Javeriana University in Bogota, was recently selling homemade chocolate lollipops for one thousand Colombian pesos, or fifty cents, in order to help pay her $6,000 annual tuition and the expenses of her family. The prices of higher education in Colombia prevent many young people from ...

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Published: 06/28/10

Look Away, U.S. World Cup Fans: 25 Photos of Excitement in Ghana

In the Ghanaian capital of Accra, not far from where I have been studying abroad this semester, locals and obrunis ("foreigners" in Twi, one of the local languages) alike gathered in a popular neighborhood called Osu to watch Saturday's World Cup match between the United States and Ghana. The excitement (dancing, singing, rejoicing) before kickoff made it seem like the national team had already achieved victory. The spirited atmosphere during play made the match difficult to follow. In a taxi I took the day before the game, the driver told me, "Tomorrow Americans deserve at least one goal, ...

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Published: 04/21/10

DREAM Act and Farmwork at Center of Student Labor Week of Action

Last Monday at Duke University, Rod Palmquist drew an intricate diagram on a white board showing "students" on one side and "workers" on the other. "Students and workers are at both ends of the labor process. Take for instance the sport garments that are sold at universities. Though it is the administrators who sign contracts with the big companies it is ultimately the students who have the power to ask their administrators what they want," said Palmquist, national coordinator of United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS). "It is fundamental that students and employees maintain communication ...

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Published: 03/27/10

The Startup Visa Act and Entrepreneur-Focused American Immigration

In the midst of the economic recession, a group of entrepreneurs has proposed ideas to help new American businesses create jobs, maintain technological advantages and promote expansion of the economy. The Startup Visa Act initiative will largely eliminate the tedious barriers that immigrant entrepreneurs face when trying to obtain a visa to stay in the United States -- a process that until now has prevented many from establishing businesses in the country. The act's objective is essentially to modify an existing visa type, the EB-5, to allow new entrepreneurs to get visas much faster. The new ...

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