On today’s episode of The Confluence:
Ahead of the midterms, Pennsylvania state court rules ‘ballot curing’ is legal
(0:00 - 5:03)
A Pennsylvania state court has ruled that some Pennsylvania voters will be allowed to fix small issues with their ballots, a process known as ballot curing, before they are counted this November. However, this opportunity is only open to voters in certain counties that offer this service.
Commonwealth Court Judge Ellen Ceisler’s ruling comes after the Republican National Committee and other GOP groups sued the Pennsylvania Department of State and county election boards. The groups argued that ballot curing should be struck down as illegal because not all voters get access to it.
“Now, legal experts I've talked to have said that's less of a legal argument and more of a fact of how state election law is run in the Commonwealth,” says Sam Dunklau, WESA’s capital bureau chief.
The decision may find its way to the state Supreme Court. For now, if voters have made a mistake on their ballot, they can call their county election office to learn if corrections are allowed.
An investigation into sexual assault on college campuses in Pittsburgh reveals more can be done
(5:07 - 14:50)
President Joe Biden has said he wants to expand Title IX protections, and improve how sexual assault cases are reported and addressed. Proposals from his administration look to make those improvements, and expand protections to LGBTQ students.
The months from August to November are whenmore than half of sexual assaults among college students take place. “The Red Zone” is a PublicSource investigation into sexual assaults on Pittsburgh college campuses, and how higher education institutions are addressing them.
“One thing that could help address some of the gaps that we are seeing is providing more culturally responsive education to meet the different needs that students are coming to campus with,” says Emma Folts, a higher education reporter for PublicSource. "Some students come to campus having never learned about sex ed in high school. Others are international students and come from different backgrounds where there are certain taboos around sex.”
Independent journalist Mila Saninais collaborating on the series, and says they will publish more stories about survivors of sexual assault and the pursuit of justice.
The Community College of Allegheny County is participating in a national space program
(14:55 - 22:30)
The Community College of Allegheny County has been selected to participate in the national Student Spaceflight Experiments Program. Teams of students from CCAC will design microgravity, or zero gravity, experiments and one will be chosen to launch into the International Space Station.
While some students come from STEM departments, the competition is open to participants of all academic backgrounds.
“Our thesis of participating in this program was that students who weren't in STEM programs would have concrete ideas for experiments that would be highly relevant and engaging,” says Justin Starr, professor of Advanced Technologies and coordinator of CCAC’s participation in the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program. “If you look at culinary students, for example, thinking about how oil and salad dressing adhere to lettuce in microgravity, that's not exactly the kind of funding that we see go on in research at MIT.”
The first round of this competition will be held in November at the Moonshot Museum on the North Side.
The Confluence, where the news comes together, is 90.5 WESA’s daily news program. Tune in Monday to Thursday at 9 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. to hear newsmakers and innovators take an in-depth look at stories important to the Pittsburgh region. Find more episodes of The Confluence here or wherever you get your podcasts.
