The Red Folder

Archived from April 29, 2024.

Key stories for the week, brought to you by Lindsey Zhao & the Red Folder team.

Reading for the sake of reading sucks. Telling yourself to read to win a round is nice but ineffective. This condensed news brief helps you understand current domestic and international issues, analyze the news, and gives you opportunities to read more.

Domestic Stories

3 key domestic stories for the week:

1) Columbia Protests, Angry Requests Lindsey Zhao

Exactly fifty-six years ago, the campus of Columbia University was overtaken by protestors. Objecting to Columbia’s investment in the Vietnam War, and its association with weapons research, nearly one thousand activists took over five separate buildings, held the dean of Columbia hostage, and shut down classes for a straight week. It culminated in one of the largest mass arrests in New York City history, and it turned into a defining moment in Columbia’s campus culture.

History is repeating itself.

Over the past two weeks, student protests for Gaza have begun erupting across some of the country’s most prestigious universities, including Columbia, Harvard, Yale, Brown, MIT, Princeton, UC Berkeley, University of Michigan, Emory, Emerson, Tufts, UNC, NYU, USC (also over the college’s cancellation of their pro-Palestianian valedictorian’s graduation speech), UT Austin, and so many more.

Last week, after student protests calling for Columbia to divest from Israel, and to stop investing in corporations that profit from the war in Gaza, nearly 100 activists (most of them students) were arrested for trespassing by New York Police. Nearly 50 more protestors were arrested at Yale just a few days later.

That prompted instant, massive, outrage. Universities across the country saw protests spring up in place. Even more tents were pitched the next day in solidarity in Columbia. The NYPD booking station, according to a NYT journalist’s testimony, has been seeing regular demonstrations as activists call for the NYPD to release their friends.

In response, Harvard has closed their campus to the public to prevent demonstrations, Columbia canceled classes the Monday after mass arrests, police have assembled in force at campuses across the US, and colleges are attempting to negotiate an end to the disruptions.

Columbia’s President Nemat Shafik has led the charge for the crackdown on student protestors on her campus. In a four hour congressional hearing last week over allegations that she had failed to protect students and staff from rising anti-semitism, she distanced herself from her former fellow leaders, former Harvard president Claudine Gay and former UPenn president Liz McGill.

She told representatives that multiple students had been arrested, placed on probation/suspension, or had their housing rights revoked on campus as a result of their involvement in demonstrations. She stated, unlike the two former presidents, that calls for genocide against Jewish students would violate school policy.

Unfortunately, those statements haven’t been enough to protect her from Republicans, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, who have been calling for her to resign over her failure to handle protests. Prominent Columbia alumni have also withdrawn their support (and money) from the university.

Ironically, pro-Palestinian advocates are also calling for her to resign- for cracking down violently on peaceful expressions of free speech. So far, while she might face censure from Columbia’s senate, they have rebuffed efforts to force her to leave.

Columbia has continued to extend negotiation deadlines with protestors after both sides refused to give ground.

But, as peaceful protests continue across America, professors have begun to take sides as well. Over 1,400 academics and professors from around the world have signed a letter committing to an academic boycott of events “held at or officially sponsored by Columbia University and Barnard College” in solidarity with pro-Palestinian supporters.

Other professors are taking Israel’s side. Take Professor Shai Davidai, a Jewish Israeli-American and Columbia Business School assistant professor, who’s emerged as one of the most controversial figures in the opposition to protestors. As a “proud Zionist” and a member of the IDF, the Israeli military, he’s allegedly sent threats to several pro-Palestinian students via social media, according to the Columbia Daily Spectator, their student newspaper. Around the same time, citing safety concerns, campus admin deactivated his staff ID, preventing him from entering some parts of campus.

Threats are not unique to one side. Multiple Jewish students have reported instances of verbal harassment by some encampments on campus, including a sign that read “Al-Qasam’s Next Targets” held by a pro-Palestinian supporter next to a group of Jewish counter-protestors. [Al-Qasam is Hamas’ armed faction.]

Amid an unprecedented onslaught on higher education, these new protests will rock an already shaky foundation. It is crucial that students are able to peacefully express their opinions against the rising trend of both antisemitism and Islamophobia. It is crucial to allow them to protest for what they think is right. And as protestors present at the Columbia 1968 takeover of their school might say, it is crucial to understand that human rights are for all.

Read more here:

2) Breaking News: Natural Disasters are Real Rohan Dash

Just weeks ago, Taiwan faced an unprecedented 7.4 magnitude earthquake that caused severe damage to the country, resulting in the deaths of over a dozen citizens, and over a thousand injuries, not to mention economic losses amounting to nearly 100 million USD. However, this incident is not foreign in any way, as the US deals with its own natural disasters.

New York is not typically home to earthquakes, but regardless, throughout the month of April, residents have been experiencing consistent earthquakes similar to those on the west coast. On April 5th, individuals in New Jersey and New York experienced a 4.8 magnitude earthquake, felt across the entire northeast. Just weeks later, another earthquake of magnitude 2.9 occurred, with upwards of 100 aftershocks reported to authorities. To say the least, many were shocked and confused as to why the northeast was facing earthquakes rapidly in the span of just a few weeks, especially given a singular earthquake is not common.

It turns out that it is a result of tectonic plate shifting that is only expected to continue. Scientific American believes that for the next century, major locations in the northeast including Washington DC, New York City, and Boston could expect damaging earthquakes.

In addition to that, there are other areas throughout the continental states experiencing their own troubles. In the midwest, Iowa and Kansas faced devastating tornadoes just weeks back. Specifically in Iowa, on April 16th, over a dozen tornadoes made impact with the ground, inflicting damage with some being large-sized. Nebraska has been facing tornadoes for several days now, destroying houses and businesses alike. Across Nebraska and states like Oklahoma, a state of emergency has been declared in several counties, and funds are being mobilized to support those impacted heavily.

In terms of the strength of these tornadoes, some were large to the point they could not fit in a camera frame - being an entire mile wide. Tornadoes are measured in a scale known as the Enhanced Fujita Scale (EF Scale), depending on the speed of gusts. Luckily, no tornadoes were large to the extent of being EF-4 or EF-5, but multiple were EF-1, 2 or even 3.

Speaking of scales though, although it is not currently hurricane season for the southeast, the hurricane scale is undergoing a modification. Currently, the scale is based on categories 1-5, depending on wind speed, but in February, researchers were suggesting expanding to category 6.

At the moment, we’re observing damage across the east and middle of the country, but the worst is yet to come with wildfire season in the west, most notoriously California. As the season begins in late April and extends throughout the summer, the west will have its own battles to deal with. Overall, there is a notable change in our country’s weather, and it’s only going to get worse here on out.

Read more here:

3) Musk Called, SCOTUS Denied Sasha Morel

The U.S. Supreme Court declined Elon Musk's plea to annul a portion of a securities fraud settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which imposed constraints on the Tesla CEO's public statements regarding his electric car company, Tesla (TSLA.O).

Musk's appeal centered on a lower court's affirmation of the 2018 settlement, reached subsequent to Musk's social media proclamation that he had "funding secured" to privatize Tesla—a statement the SEC alleged was false and deceptive, leading to a legal action for defrauding investors.

In settling the SEC lawsuit, Musk and Tesla each paid $20 million in fines, and Musk relinquished his position as the company's chairman. Additionally, Musk agreed to have a Tesla attorney pre-approve certain posts on the social media platform, then known as Twitter, before Musk acquired the company and rebranded it as X.

Subsequently, Musk endeavored to terminate the pre-approval requirement, labeling it a "government-imposed muzzle" and arguing it constituted an unlawful prior restraint on his speech. However, U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman in Manhattan in 2022 dismissed Musk's request, a decision upheld by a three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit of Appeals in 2023.

The 2nd Circuit contended that Musk willingly consented to the screening of his Twitter posts and, having changed his stance, had no grounds to revisit the issue. Despite Musk's plea for rehearing being denied by the 2nd Circuit, he appealed to the Supreme Court, contending that the SEC overstepped its bounds by imposing what his legal team termed a "gag rule," asserting it violated the First Amendment's restrictions on government interference with free speech.

The Supreme Court's decision to decline Musk's appeal solidifies the parameters of the SEC's enforcement actions, affirming its authority to enforce settlement terms, including restrictions on public statements by corporate executives. This may set a precedent for similar cases involving high-profile individuals and corporations, clarifying the boundaries of regulatory oversight in matters of securities fraud.

Furthermore, the outcome underscores the significance of transparency and accountability in corporate governance, highlighting the repercussions faced by executives who make misleading statements impacting investors and markets. This may encourage greater vigilance and adherence to regulatory guidelines among corporate leaders, fostering a culture of responsibility and integrity in financial disclosures.

Moreover, the case raises broader questions about the intersection of free speech rights and regulatory enforcement, sparking discussions about the balance between individual liberties and the public interest in maintaining fair and orderly financial markets. It invites scrutiny of the extent to which regulatory agencies can impose restrictions on speech in pursuit of investor protection and market stability, prompting reflections on the evolving dynamics of governance in an increasingly digital and interconnected world.