Summer 2022 saw another new app come onto the mainstream social media scene: BeReal. Over this summer, the download count on the app store for BeReal jumped from 7.67 million in April of this year to over 53 million by the beginning of October. People were eager to share their exciting, depressing, and mundane summer moments in real-time, and this app offered just the method to do so.Continue Reading

Despite the political backlash and uncertainty for the macroeconomy brought upon by their plan, the Biden Administration remains steadfast in its argument that it is a vital step for Americans in the ultimate goal of solving the student debt crisis. Moreover, they believe it to be an efficient and sustainable solution — they maintain that because of the high default rates for student loans, the actual cost of the debt forgiveness plan will be lower than the theoretical expectation; however, the specifics of that value have proven to be difficult to calculate. Continue Reading

The cost of education has increased by over 100% in the last 20 years—a much higher rate compared to most other industries. This increase in the cost of education is paralleled by the increasingly widespread mentality that you need a college education in order to earn a good living. While this may generally be true across many industries, a college education does not reap the same value for every individual.Continue Reading

Despite the sheer stress and anxiety that the college application process induces, society has embraced it as the norm. This does not benefit anyone–or does it? Hundreds of corporations and other organizations have learned to capitalize on this stressful process, making millions of dollars in profit and transforming college applications into a booming industry.Continue Reading

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in many changes in the daily lives of people from all around the world. Video streaming on social media platforms has shown people rushing into grocery stores and stocking up on canned food and toilet paper. Colleges have abruptly transferred to online education via Zoom and other video conferencing tools. About 16 million Americans have lost their jobs since the start of lockdowns across the country. Small businesses and local stores still struggle to keep their businesses afloat.Continue Reading

As Berkeley students, we’ve had our fair share of instructors. There are those that assign easy write-ups, or notoriously hard papers. Some remember the thought-provoking discussions or the fascinating science demonstrations they saw in class. But a large proportion of these instructors are lecturers, not professors. Every year, they struggle with low pay, a demanding workload and the possibility of not getting a job the following semester.Continue Reading