Besides teaching and conducting academic research as the main thrust of my professional life, I’ve also spent considerable time and energy addressing local community, state, national, and global problems. Among the issues I have focused on are homelessness, pay day lending, child hunger, addiction, low-income housing, life after prison, climate change and clean air, intergenerational poverty, and educational funding. Voting for local political candidates, engaging in community organizing, and mobilizing the masses to march are among the different methodologies I’ve practiced over many years. At the state level, many of these issues are similar for Utahns, although I’ve worked on broader questions of Native American rights and wilderness preservation. At the level of the United States as a whole, I have been involved with the US Congress and the White House in pushing agendas that emphasize human rights, the concerns of minorities such as racism and sexism, labor management cooperation, immigration policy, political ethics, and a free press. At a macro scale of international politics, a big part of my focus has been on combating poverty and human suffering, food security, poor peoples’ health, and rural schools. This section will include papers and commentary in this range of political issues.
“Ending Utah Homelessness: Time’s Up,” The Salt Lake Tribune, Op. Ed., September 16, 2021.
“Utah Needs Coronavirus Leadership,” Daily Herald, Opinion Commentary, April 8, 2020.
“Utah Senator Orrin Hatch’s Passing: Long Live Orrin Hatch!,” LA Progressive. May 1, 2022.
” ‘Tricky Dick’ Cheney at BYU Commencement,” Latter-Day Saints Messenger and Advocate, April 26, 2007.
“A Utah Republican’s White House Letter for Trump to Face Reality,” LA Progressive. December 30, 2020.
“Gov. Herbert Should not be Taking Coronavirus Cues from Trump.” Opinion in The Salt Lake Tribune, April 7, 2020.
