Every week, North Star will take some time out of our schedules to bring you our favorite reads from the past week.

Jeff Van Wychen

Fair Campaign Funding

The editors of America Magazine bemoan the unrestricted political spending that has flooded into political campaigns and argue that the U.S. constitution should be amended to overturn the 2010 Citizens United ruling. Until that happens, they propose on number of steps that can be undertaken by federal, state, and local governments. The editorial goes on to describe an innovative approach known as Crowdpac, which is “an independent, nonpartisan political fundraising website.”

Stephanie Fenner

Climate Model Predicts West Antarctic Ice Sheet Could Melt Rapidly

 The New York Times writes that new research on the West Antarctic ice sheet – thought to be vulnerable to disintegration due to global warming – could happen more recently than previously thought. While researchers assumed the worst effects could take hundreds or thousands of years to occur, continued high emissions of heat-trapping gases could launch ice sheet disintegration within decades. This serves as another reminder of the negative consequences of doing nothing to mitigate climate change.