Stories by Alina Garcia

New Jersey residents won’t be passing each other the blunt this October as lawmakers fail yet again to meet a recreational marijuana legalization deadline. Disagreements over tax rates on pot seem to be the hold up. Sources told Politico that NJ Governor Phil Murphy has proposed a 25 percent rate, more than double what Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, has in mind. “Twelve percent is as high as I’ll go,” he said to NJ Advance Media on October 9th. After failing to meet his campaign promise within his first 100 days as governor, it is still hazy 10 months into his term when, and if, legalization of recreational marijuana will occur prior to the end of the year. The state Legislature was expected to vote on October 29th, however, Democratic Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin said on October 23rd that he doesn’t expect that to occur. His prediction came true, as the date came and went with no progression towards legalization. Senator Ron Rice, D-Essex, has voiced his opposition...

Debates about the internet are often polarized between optimism and pessimism, however, skepticism is a useful approach often thrown to the wayside. It is possible to have optimistic expectations for a device as revolutionary as the internet, yet question its effectiveness, study its consequences, and document its shortcomings. The only road map by which we can judge whether or not we will retain the ability to individually represent ourselves and continue our traditional journalistic methods in the age of the world wide web, argues Naughton in Chapter 1 of From Gutenberg to Zuckerberg, is history and our imperfect analysis of it. In the meantime, our only viable option is to study this new form of communication and how we are influenced by it. Coming to a conclusion on whether or not the pros of it outweigh the cons depends on what we aim to get out of using it, and that objective is yet to be defined.  Before we can answer the question of whether or not we will be able to domi...