Biden Announces Student Debt Relief Plan
Student loan debt is at an all-time high. Right now, the average public university student must borrow $32,880 to pay for a bachelor’s degree. As of 2022, student loan debt in the United States totals $1.748 trillion. Forty-three million Americans have student loan debt, with an average debt load of $37,667. Last week, the Biden […]
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Honoring Bessie Coleman In June 1921, Bessie Coleman became the first African American woman to earn an international pilot’s license. Bessie Coleman learned to fly in France, because no flying schools in the United States would admit an African American woman. In honor of the anniversary of Coleman’s achievement, American Airlines operated a flight with […]
NASA to Send First Native American Woman to Space
On September 29, 2022, NASA will send astronaut Nicole Aunapu Mann to the International Space Station (ISS). This marks the first time that a Native American woman will travel to space. Here, btw takes a closer look at who Mann is and what her mission will be like, as well as other possible “firsts” in […]
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Afghanistan Faces Humanitarian Crisis In September 2021, President Joe Biden withdrew all American troops from Afghanistan. American soldiers had been stationed there for twenty years since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The United States goals during this time were to remove the Taliban from power and encourage the formation of a stable democracy […]
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Colombia’s New President Gustavo Petro was sworn in as Colombia’s new president on August 7, 2022. This inauguration was historic because Petro is Colombia’s first leftist president and he was a former member of M-19, an urban guerilla group which fought against the nation’s past authoritarian government. For more than fifty years, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of […]
Remembering a Troubled Past
In 1880, an argument started between several customers in a saloon in Denver, Colorado. It eventually led to an anti-Chinese riot that destroyed businesses in the city’s Chinatown neighborhood and killed one person. In 2022, the City of Denver officially apologized to the city’s Asian American community for its role in the riot. The city also […]
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Welcome Back to School! For many students, August means going back to school. Here are some tips for starting the new school year off right, before you ever even set foot in the classroom! Communicate with your teachers. Don’t be afraid to reach out in advance to introduce yourself. Getting to know your teacher and […]
Happy Birthday, Title IX!
Do you play a sport at school? If so, you are probably impacted by Title IX: groundbreaking legislation that passed fifty years ago this summer. This week, btw examines this important legislation, why it matters, and how it has affected generations of young athletes. What Is Title IX? Title IX was part of a bill […]
COVID Vaccine Approved for Children Under Five
There are approximately nineteen million children under five years old living in the United States. Until recently these children were not eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine. On June 9, 2022, the White House announced a plan to encourage vaccination for children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years old. Here, btw takes a […]
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Sojourner Truth’s Legal Petition In 1828, Isabella Van Wagenen walked into a courthouse in Kingston, New York, to petition a white man to release her nine-year-old son, Peter, from illegal enslavement in Alabama. Peter was released from enslavement on March 15, 1828. It is believed that this case was the first time that an African […]