On March 21, 2012, off-duty Chicago police officer Dante Servin fired five shots (from an unregistered gun) into a crowd at Douglas Park.  One of those shots fatally hit 22-year-old Rekia Boyd in the head.  Servin claimed he saw a man in the crowd pull a gun, but no weapon was ever recovered.  Boyd died the [...]

The Atlantic this morning discussed the rise of suburban poverty.   The suburbs have offered more affordable housing options for low-income populations in recent years– largely due to higher income citizens moving back into rehabilitated downtowns and driving up housing prices.   The concentration of poverty in suburban areas brings a host of unique problems. [...]

By now, I’m sure you’ve seen videos of the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge all over your Facebook and Twitter feeds.  Thousands have participated and celebrities like Taylor Swift, David Beckham, Bill Gates, and Justin Bieber have all jumped on the frigid bandwagon.   At first, I was skeptical of the trend.  Let me get this straight, all [...]

This is worth the read overall (re: relationships between mothers and daughters), but an interesting nugget I pulled out was:   A distinctive characteristic of the millennial generation is that we’re closer with our parents. Last year the president of MTV announced the network is overhauling its content because young people today are “not rebelling against their [...]

House Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) penned an op-ed to the Houston Chronicle Feb. 12 decrying the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) new regulations on power plants, claiming the mandate for carbon capture technology will lead to job loss, decreased revenue, and economic fire and brimstone for Texans.  The letter comes on the heels of a contentious committee hearing on federal [...]

Hey all,   I know it’s been awhile since I’ve been regularly blogging, but wanted to let you know I’m still alive and kicking and blogging.   So what’s new with me?   I graduated from Medill in December.   Working in the communications department of a pretty dope nonprofit.   Enjoying a healthy and [...]

Most women have witnessed the day-to-night atmospheric change when a man enters a room previously occupied by only women. This man could have 3-foot long nose hair, a lisp and a pear-sized bald spot, but no matter. Suddenly, every head is turned, every back straightened, every smile widened to coat-hanger proportions. Conversation turns to that [...]

New blog post today for the Northwestern Global Health Portal. Check it out!

Hey all,   It’s Megan here. As some you know, I started graduate school in January, which steeply cut into my blogging time (although exponentially increased my overall writing amount). I’ve been building this new fancy-pants website to get back into the blogging game and highlight my work elsewhere.   The tone and length of [...]