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The American Civil Liberties Union today announced the winners of its 2009 Youth Activist Scholarship contest. Sixteen high school seniors from across the country will each receive a $12,500 college scholarship in recognition of their outstanding work to protect civil liberties, especially for young people.
Since 2000, the ACLU has awarded scholarships annually to honor the efforts of graduating seniors who have demonstrated a strong commitment to civil liberties and civil rights through student activism. Last year, the ACLU greatly increased the scholarship amount and expanded the program to include a youth activist institute, bringing the winners together to further their civil liberties work.
"These students stepped up to defend their rights as students and as Americans during a time when civil liberties were under constant attack," said ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero. "We know they will remain vigilant even as America begins to repair the damage that has been done. We are so pleased to be able to offer this scholarship to America's next generation of civil liberties leaders."
Below are highlights of the accomplishments of this year's winners and quotes from their personal essays. Full profiles and photos are available by clicking on the winners' names.
Elizabeth Asefa
Cambridge, MA
As a high school junior, Elizabeth created and taught a class to seventh grade boys and girls at her former middle school aimed at lowering the risk that they would enter into the "school-to-prison" pipeline. She has also played a leadership role in youth summits, the Minority Student Achievement Network, the Cambridge Peace and Justice Corps, Students Teaching and Advocating Respect and other activities designed to address injustice, racism, violence, the school to prison pipeline and other issues facing youth in her community.
"I couldn't pretend that my age could be a real deterrent from making a dent in the pipeline that was shamelessly transporting my peers from school to prison. I knew I had to start in my time, for my generation."
Anne Bartholomew
Juneau, AK
As the lead defense attorney for the Juneau Youth Court, Anne is dedicated to helping young people between the ages of 12 and 17 facing legal trouble gain a second chance. In this position she discovered certain trends of biased sentencing for Alaska Native youth, whose voices often go unheard in the community, and worked for the next three years to reduce that inequality. Anne also acts as a resource to the community for issues concerning youth, including serving on a panel at a town hall meeting about underage drinking, on the Truancy and Dropout Coalition and on the Alaska State Activities Association Board of Directors.
"Through service to juvenile offenders, I became a civil liberties activist seeking equal justice for Alaska Native students. I realized that there was an unintended bias in our sentencing, and that action needed to be taken to restore equality within the Juneau Youth Court."
Sangeeta Bhola
Oceanside, NY
Sangeeta Bhola has grown into a leader of human rights advocacy at her school as an active member and leader in her school's Gay-Straight Alliance. She has overcome fears of ridicule from her peers in order to speak out about equality for LGBT students. Sangeeta is now the president of the GSA and has successfully lobbied her school to adopt the Safe Schools Initiative and begun work on a plan to curb hate speech.
"Our country has based itself on diversity and individuality, but many individuals are not allowed to express who they truly are. I would like to hope that our government realizes that by not protecting the LGBT community, they are greatly harming students as well as adults."
Constance Castillo
San Francisco, CA
Constance Castillo became an active member of her local ACLU Youth Activist Committee as a high school freshman. Over the last four years, she has visited state prisons, written op-eds, facilitated workshops on gender in the media and police brutality, and helped organize a social justice youth conference attended by youth from all over northern California. During that time, Constance has also created spoken word performances, film and art installations to speak to the issues that are important to her, and co-founded a club, S.P.E.A.K., where students address issues such as media influence and equity in education.
"Through spoken word poetry, I was able to share with urgency the many injustices I cared about with a large audience of youth that cared about what I had to say."
Alex Freid
Lee, NH
As a sophomore, Alex Fried was surprised to find recruiters from the National Guard setting up obstacle courses in his high school gym. After doing some research, Alex concluded that the military sometimes uses misleading information and false promises to recruit young people, so he decided to launch a campaign to make sure students have access to the information they need to make informed decisions about what to do after graduation. What began as a one-person effort to educate students on their right to "opt out" of sharing their personal information with recruiters and to offer information on alternative programs turned into the launch of a local chapter of Students for a Democratic Society. Now boasting over 80 members from local high schools and the University of New Hampshire, the group works to counter excessive military recruitment in the schools and to protect student rights.
"I believe that a civil liberties activist must not only make their own voice heard, but must organize others as well. I saw the need for an organization that cared about students' rights as much as I did, and for a sustainable group that could continue after I graduate."
Heather Gillman
Ponce de Leon, FL
When school officials at her school banned all rainbow-themed clothing and began punishing students for writing "gay pride" on their arms and notebooks, Heather Gilman filed a lawsuit to protect students' First Amendment rights. The lawsuit was an act of extreme bravery, since Heather faced intimidation and ridicule from her principal and others. Heather eventually won her case, reaffirming the right of students to express their support for their gay and lesbian peers.
A video about Heather's case is available online at: www.aclu.org/lgbt/youth/38778res20090224.html
"I did not fully realize how much this meant to me and others until Judge Smoak made his decision. I looked around the courtroom and saw tears in the eyes of most of the people there. I had seen it as just doing what was right."
Dora James
Hartford, KY
After enduring personal ridicule and learning of acts of violence against her fellow students, Dora James helped to start a Gay-Straight Alliance in her rural Kentucky community. Facing threats and protests, Dora met with the superintendent and local ministers to ensure that the GSA could continue to operate so that other students could feel safe at school.
"I felt something had to happen, and that it was up to me to make it happen. I could make a difference. I felt that students who didn't get support at home should be able to feel safe at school."
Rachel Kaplan
Fairbanks, AK
After reading about an ACLU client who was prevented from boarding a flight until he agreed to cover up his shirt that read "We Will Not Be Silent" in English and Arabic, Rachel Kaplan decided to take action. She started by distributing shirts with the same message to a large group of students at her school, which drew attention to the issue and got the whole school talking. After that, Rachel became the student advisor to the ACLU of Alaska's Board of Directors, helping to plan a student leadership conference and travelling to the nationwide ACLU membership conference where she lobbied Alaska's lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Rachel continues to use the skills she learned working with the ACLU to be a leader in the grassroots civil liberties movement in her school, community and state.
"Civil liberties activists have a constructive purpose driving their actions. They are a type of artist, carefully selecting their form of protest to convey their message and convince their audience of its importance."
Hannah Kapp-Klote
Lawrence, KS
As the president of her school's Gay-Straight Alliance and a board member of the district Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, Hannah Kapp-Klote has long been devoted to promoting the rights of LGBTQ youth. As a high school junior, she discovered a new medium for her activism when she became a co-producer and host of the Tenth Voice, youth radio program focusing on LGBTQ issues. Hannah went to work expanding the content and reach of the show, which has become crucial to promoting the civil liberties of LGBTQ youth in her community. Hannah is also dedicated to promoting religious freedom, and founded a group devoted to combating discrimination against atheists and agnostics though community service and activism.
"If our nation is to protect individual freedoms, we need discussion everywhere, from the floor of Congress to the smallest classroom."
Miles Lifson
Rockville, MD
Miles Lifson's has been an activist since, as a seventh grader, he started an organization dedicated to protecting student rights. Later, as president of the ACLU club which he helped start at his high school, Miles has worked with the principal to reform the school's policy on student privacy and searches and helped create a booklet and Web site detailing students' rights. On his own, Miles embarked on a summer of activism training by volunteering at the ACLU membership conference and attending trainings in grassroots organizing and non-violent action. Miles is now training younger students to continue the work of the ACLU club after he graduates.
"Being a civil liberties activist doesn't just mean standing up for rights, but constantly affirming their value. The most fundamental rights have no meaning if they are not exercised."
Ashley Moffat
Bellevue, NE
Ashley Moffat organized a Gay-Straight Alliance at her high school in Nebraska. Despite the success and obvious need for the group from the very first crowded meeting, school officials refused to recognize the GSA as a legitimate student group - denying it the benefits other clubs receive, like a mention in the yearbook and coverage in the school newspaper. With the help of the ACLU, Ashley has fought to ensure that the group gets the recognition and protection it deserves.
"No matter what I have to do, who I have to fight, or how long it takes me to fight it, I know I will not stop fighting until I, my friends, my family have all the same rights as everyone else."
Daniel Mootz
Carlisle, PA
Whether it's organizing a demonstration to promote reproductive freedom, writing a letter to the editor in favor of a local anti-discrimination ordinance, or fighting to get a political candidate he didn't support on his school's mock election ballot, Daniel Mootz has always fought for civil liberties. Daniel has also received a national writing award for a piece arguing against the honoring of only certain religions with school-recognized holidays, and was a finalist in The Nation's student writing contest for a piece on military recruitment in the schools.
"Civil liberties know no party lines, follow no party dogma. Civil liberties are rooted in the belief of doing what is right to protect freedom, not to promote a political cause."
Colin Moyer
University Place, WA
Colin Moyer became concerned for his First Amendment rights when his tenth grade biology teacher began teaching the theory of intelligent design during a unit on evolution. After doing some research, Colin learned of the Kitzmiller case in Dover, Pennsylvania, where the teaching of intelligent design in science class was deemed unconstitutional. Colin contacted the ACLU and the National Center for Science Education, and together they came up with a plan to work with the school administration to stop the teacher from teaching intelligent design. It worked - the issue was quickly resolved and the material is no longer being taught at Colin's school. Colin has also done considerable work to promote free speech by starting an underground newspaper and educating student journalists on their rights regarding censorship.
"For me, being an activist means standing up for people's rights and exposing abuses of power. It is not about a personal agenda or making a scene; it is about defending civil liberties and getting the job done."
Steven Ross
Zionsville, IN
Steven Ross's interest in activism was sparked when he worked with the ACLU of Indiana to successfully challenge his town's unconstitutional curfew ordinance. Recognizing the many threats to the civil liberties of young people, Steven went on to found the Zionsville Students' Rights Union in order to protect students' rights and protect youth rights outside of school. Under his leadership, the group has grown to more than 450 members, become affiliated with the National Youth Rights Administration (NYRA), and worked to reform various school policies. Colin is also supervising the establishment of more NYRA chapters throughout Indiana. The groups is currently working to promote the rights of LGBT students and to protect religious freedom in the schools.
"The greatest problem, I believe, was that students felt they had no voice to challenge the issues that unduly threatened their civil liberties. I suggested to my fellow students that we form an independent student group to become that voice."
Grace Sun
Houston, TX
Despite attempts by school officials to stop her, Grace Sun fought to form the Bellaire Young Democrats club. And to ensure that all students at her school had a platform to express themselves, she also helped a group of friends form the Bellaire Young Republican club. From there, she launched the "Under 21 Campaign," an effort to increase political involvement among young citizens in her county, and organized registration drives and "get out the vote" efforts among young voters. Grace's belief in the importance of giving youth a voice in their community doesn't stop there - she has also served on the Houston Mayor's Youth Council and stands up for First Amendment rights as the a student journalist.
"Through my experiences, I've learned that we have to be willing to stand up and fight for what we believe in. Perhaps equally important, I've learned that nothing happens unless we make it happen."
Natalia Thompson
Madison, WI
Natalia Thompson is dedicated to helping young women take action on the issues that matter to them most. At 15, she founded Speak Out, Sister!, a city-wide organization to get teen girls involved in the decisions that effect them, like policies on sexual harassment and access to comprehensive reproductive healthcare. To help them take a stand, Natalia organized a forum for high school girls to develop the skills they need to get involved, and the forum evolved into a series of workshops emphasizing local social justice issues, women's history and grassroots organizing. Natalia has also been hard at work organizing a girl-written Platform for Action on civil liberties issues affecting young women in her community, which will provide comprehensive recommendations on six main issues to policymakers.
"I realized most local initiatives and policies were developed by adults - with little input from the young women directly impacted by their decisions."
A full list of the winners is available online at: www.aclu.org/students/38938res20090305.html
The American Civil Liberties Union was founded in 1920 and is our nation's guardian of liberty. The ACLU works in the courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to all people in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States.
(212) 549-2666"It's time for our universities to become real climate leaders," said one organizer, "and cut ties with the fossil fuel industry once and for all."
Students at universities and colleges across the U.S. have long demanded that their schools cut ties with the fossil fuel industry as planetary heating has increasingly been linked to extreme weather and pollution-causing emissions have continued.
New findings released by student researchers with the Campus Climate Network on Wednesday, said the organization, "add more detail and evidence to what these students have already been campaigning for—fossil fuel funding has no place in universities' climate research."
The students spoke at a virtual press conference titled "Big Oil's Stain on Our Universities," presenting research compiled in six reports regarding fossil fuel industry ties at Columbia University, Princeton University, Cornell University, American University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and University of California San Diego.
The six institutions have collectively received more than $108 million in direct funding to the fossil fuel industry, published more than 1,500 academic articles and papers funded by oil giants, and count 10 people affiliated with the industry among the members of their university governance boards, according to the research—which follows the first-ever literature review of investigations into Big Oil's links to higher education, published in the peer-reviewed journal WIREs Climate Change earlier this month.
Columbia and Princeton were by far the biggest recipients of fossil fuel money, accepting more than $43 million each from companies and their foundations.
Sunrise Columbia, the Sunrise Movement's chapter at the university, published a report presented at Wednesday's press conference, detailing how Hess Corporation—an oil and gas company acquired by Chevron—was the largest fossil fuel donor to the prestigious university. The company contributed more than $15 million to Columbia from 2005-24.
Koch Family Foundations, "which have spent hundreds of millions to finance groups promoting climate denial," and liquefied natural gas (LNG) firm Cheniere Energy were also major contributors.
Fossil fuel money at Columbia has gone toward funding the Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP), the School of International and Public Affairs, and the university's Climate School—which "powers innovative research in the science, consequences, and human dimensions of climate change."
"CGEP, the Climate School, and Columbia repeatedly claim to produce unbiased, reputable research to advance climate solutions. Many of our findings directly contradict these missions."
The Climate School has received $741,967 from fossil fuel giants since it was established in 2020.
"CGEP, the Climate School, and Columbia repeatedly claim to produce unbiased, reputable research to advance climate solutions," reads the report. "Many of our findings directly contradict these missions—from Columbia being named explicitly by a BP [vice president] as essential for their outreach and influence to being specifically mentioned as a producer of biased research, Columbia has fallen short," said Sunrise Columbia.
At Princeton, student researchers wrote that the university "legitimizes and financially supports the fossil fuel industry," continuing to invest "approximately $700 million in privately held fossil fuel companies without justification," even after divesting its endowment of fossil fuel holdings worth $1 billion.
The report notes that the school's New Jersey campus "has not been spared" from extreme weather that's growing more frequent as the planet gets hotter and scientists warn that limiting planetary heating to 1.5°C is getting less likely.
"Last summer, our campus was shrouded by smoke from incinerated Quebecois pine trees, smoke that turned the sky a burning orange. Outdoor workers on and off campus were hit hardest," wrote the students. "Floods nearby destroyed transport infrastructure and made it harder for our community members to come to campus to work or to learn. Scorching temperatures at the start of each fall semester make it difficult to think."
But while students, faculty, and staff have suffered the effects of fossil fuel extraction, major fossil fuel companies including BP, Exxon, Shell, and TotalEnergies have spent more than $43 million on research at Princeton, funding papers containing "explicit applications for continued or expanded fossil fuel use."
At the virtual press conference on Wednesday, Campus Climate Network research manager Maddie Young said the articles detailed in the six reports focus primarily on methods for fossil fuel extraction, methods and "benefits" of "false solutions" like carbon capture, and extending and upholding "the social license of the fossil fuel industry to operate."
"So these might be articles that are connected to healthcare or health research and promote the image of corporate social responsibility connected to the fossil fuel industry," said Young, "and allow them to continue to leverage these relationships to universities and to greenwash their own image and present themselves as socially responsible."
The student researchers recommended that Princeton prohibit all research funding from the industry and complete divestment from all oil, gas, and coal companies, as well as cut ties with Petrotiger, a fossil fuel company that Princeton "appears to own," having earned nearly $140 million in the last 10 years in investment income and direct contributions.
"These recommendations are all within Princeton's power to achieve," said the student researchers. "The university must act upon these items with the urgency the climate crisis demands."
Young, who is also a student organizer at American University, said the student-authored reports are "only the beginning—we have a strong, national student movement that will continue to expose and cut the ties with Big Oil."
“It's time for our universities to become real climate leaders," said Young, "and cut ties with the fossil fuel industry once and for all."
The Hezbollah leader stressed that "the only way" to peace "is by stopping the aggression in Gaza and the West Bank" and "not escalation" or "all-out war."
Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah on Thursday accused Israel of having "violated all red lines" by killing at least 37 people and injuring thousands more in surprise bombings of pagers, walkie-talkies, and other devices across Lebanon, calling the audacious attack "an act of war" that will not go unpunished.
In a televised speech during which Israeli warplanes flew over the Lebanese capital of Beirut, Nasrallah condemned the attack as "a major terrorist operation, an act of genocide, and a massacre," adding that it "amounts to a declaration of war."
"The enemy used a civilian method used by a large segment of society and did so again on Wednesday by blowing up wireless devices without caring who was carrying them," the chief of the Iran-backed political and paramilitary group said.
Numerous figures including United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres decried the weaponization of civilian objects.
"There is no doubt that we have been exposed to a major security and humanitarian blow, unprecedented in the history of the resistance in Lebanon," Nasrallah conceded.
⚡️⭕️[ENGLISH] Hezbollah secretary general Sayed Hassan Nasrallah speech commenting on Israel's Cyber Terror Operation live stream https://t.co/011jOGgYpp
— Middle East Observer (@ME_Observer_) September 19, 2024
Lebanon's Ministry of Health said that in addition to killing at least 37 people—including two children, ages 9 and 11—the bombings, which occurred in two waves on Tuesday and Wednesday, wounded around 3,500 others, 287 of them critically.
While Israel has not claimed responsibility for the attacks, media reports cited Israeli and U.S. officials who attributed the bombings to Israeli military and intelligence operatives.
Nasrallah said that Hezbollah has received "messages through official and unofficial channels saying that the aim of the strike was to stop supporting Gaza."
"Our answer is, in the name of the martyrs and the wounded, that the Lebanon front will not stop until the aggression against Gaza stops, regardless of the sacrifices," he added.
Hezbollah—whose arsenal and military capabilities dwarf those of the Lebanese armed forces or Hamas—launched limited but destructive attacks on northern Israel the day after the October 7 assault on Israel led by its Palestinian ally Hamas. Since then, Hezbollah and Israel have traded cross-border fire that has killed dozens of people and displaced tens of thousands more.
On Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Israel's war—which has killed or wounded more than 146,000 Palestinians in the besieged enclave and is the subject of an International Court of Justice genocide case—has entered a "new phase" focused on Lebanon.
"The center of gravity is shifting to the north through the diversion of forces and resources," said Gallant, who along with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and multiple Hamas leaders faces the prospect of a possible International Criminal Court arrest warrant.
The Israeli remote attack has fueled fears of a wider war and prompted warnings against further escalation.
On Wednesday, Jordan's Foreign Ministry accused Israel of bringing the region to the "brink of war," which would likely involve Iran, whose leaders have yet to publicly retaliate for the July assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. Israel also assassinated Hamas deputy political chief Saleh Arouri in a drone strike in Beirut earlier this year.
Some critics contended that Israel is seeking a wider war. Ronen Bergman, an Israeli expert on targeted assassinations, told Britain's Channel 4 News Wednesday that if his country is behind the Lebanon operation, it is "trying to signal to Hezbollah" that it "is ready for escalation."
Addressing the prospect of a regional war, Nasrallah said during his speech that "the only way" to peace "is by stopping the aggression in Gaza and the West Bank."
"Not escalation," he added. "Not all-out war."
"Exorbitant CEO pay has contributed to rising inequality in recent decades—concentrating earnings at the top and leaving fewer gains for ordinary workers," said one expert at the Economic Policy Institute.
Chief executive officers at the largest companies in the United States saw their compensation surge by 1,085% from 1978 to 2023, compared with only a 24% increase for typical worker pay, according to an annual report published Thursday.
The Economic Policy Insitute (EPI) analysis focuses on the 350 largest publicly owned U.S. firms by revenue.
"Since CEO pay is mostly stock-based—and the value of stocks changes frequently—calculating it is not entirely straightforward," the report explains, so EPI uses "a backward-looking measure—realized compensation—and a forward-looking measure—granted compensation."
CEOs' annual realized compensation in 1978 was $1,874,000 in 1978, but rose to $22,207,000 last year—the 1,085% increase. Meanwhile, private-sector workers were making $57,000 a year nearly half a century ago, and have only seen that rise to $71,000.
"The realized CEO-to-worker compensation ratio was 290-to-1 in 2023, in stark contrast to the 21-to-1 ratio in 1965," the report says. "Over the last two decades, the ratio has been far higher than at any point from the 1960s to the early 1990s."
The report notes some limited progress. Last year's analysis—released amid the United Auto Workers strike at the "Big Three"—found that CEOs made 344 times as much as typical workers. There was a 19% decrease in CEOs' realized compensation from 2022 to 2023. The report also points out positive trends regarding how they are compensated.
"The composition of CEO compensation is shifting away from the use of stock options and toward stock awards—a promising move to align CEO pay to longer-term incentives," the report details. "In 2006, stock options accounted for just over 70% of stock-related pay in realized CEO compensation. But in 2023, stock options made up only 22%, with vested stock awards accounting for the rest. Stock-related pay (exercised stock options and vested stock awards) averaged $16.7 million in 2023 and accounted for 77.6% of average realized CEO compensation."
However, economic justice advocates argue that far more must be done to improve U.S. worker pay and job conditions.
The report highlights "how distorted CEO pay is, even compared with the most privileged workers in the U.S. economy."
EPI researchers found that "CEOs made over 9 times as much in salary as even the most privileged 0.1% of workers in the economy. This 9.4 ratio in 2022 was 6.8 points higher than the historical average of 2.6 over the 1965–1978 period."
"This is a large change, meaning that the relative pay of CEOs increased by an amount equal to the total annual wages of nearly seven of these very high-wage earners," the report states.
As EPI chief economist and report co-author Josh Bivens emphasized, "CEOs are paid so much more because of their extraordinary leverage over corporate boards, not because of an extraordinary skill or contribution they make to their firms."
"Exorbitant CEO pay has contributed to rising inequality in recent decades—concentrating earnings at the top and leaving fewer gains for ordinary workers," he said. "The silver lining in this otherwise unfortunate trend is that CEO pay can be curtailed without damaging economywide growth."
EPI's policy recommendations include implementing higher marginal income tax rates at the very top and hiking corporate tax rates for firms that have higher ratios of CEO-to-worker compensation.
Americans for Tax Fairness and the Institute for Policy Studies earlier this year identified 35 major U.S. corporations—including Ford, Netflix, and Tesla—that paid their top executives more than they paid in federal taxes between 2018 and 2022.
The new EPI report stresses that "ideally, tax reforms would be paired with changes in corporate governance."
EPI senior economist and report co-author Elise Gould said that "policies that limit CEOs' ability to collude with corporate boards to extract excessive compensation are needed to prevent the U.S. from becoming a winner-take-all society."