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UMass Shamherst

UMass Shamherst

Matthew Goldberg

I am deeply disappointed by an event which recently transpired at my beloved alma mater, UMass-Amherst. The UMass-Amherst Graduate Employee Organization, a union representing graduate students working on campus, voted overwhelmingly (95 percent) to stand with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement. However, it should be noted, that the vote had a turnout of less than 10 percent.

The BDS movement seeks to resolve the Israel-Palestine conflict by caricaturing Israel as an oppressive, apartheid state and advocating for cutting economic ties with them. First, a caveat: I am in favor of a two-state solution and view BDS as a bluntly anti-Israel movement whose tactics and rhetoric only fuel an already volatile conflict. However, this blog is not about why I believe BDS is wrong, it is about why I believe the Graduate Student Union is wrong to formally adopt a stance on any political debate.

Tax proposals from 2016 candidates offer stark contrasts
Donald Trump

Tax proposals from 2016 candidates offer stark contrasts

Evan Lips

Here's what we know: Roughly 60 percent of taxes paid in the U.S. go to the federal government, with about 27 percent flowing to states and the rest to municipalities, according to the Tax Policy Center in Washington.

What we don't know is how that federal 60 percent figure, expected to amount to almost $3.64 trillion in the next fiscal year, will be affected once the next president takes office in January. Of the five remaining major-party contenders, four (Republicans Ted Cruz and Donald Trump and Democrats Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders), have outlined their federal tax proposals.

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