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Political Review

Ella Paligo

Staff Writer
Political Science

Minors in Legal Studies, Business, Civic Engagement, and Global Women’s Studies.

Most likely drinking Diet Coke & listening to Kendrick Lamar.

More from this author
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December 2025

Utah Values Demand We Stand Up to Big Tobacco

By Ella Paligo
December 02, 2025 04:27 PM
Growing up in a rural community, I’ve seen firsthand how the tobacco industry deliberately targets youth and young people. Bright packaging, candy flavors and flashy social media ads make e-cigarettes seem not only harmless but fun. But underneath the hype lies a dangerous addiction waiting to take hold — a trap I’ve watched far too many of my peers fall into.
3 Min Read
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November 2025

Love: It’s Not Just Moral — It’s Constitutional

By Ella Paligo
October 27, 2025 09:33 AM
Do you remember where you were and what you were doing on June 26, 2015? No? Neither do I [1]. But I do vividly remember a specific Sunday in June of that same year. My sisters and I got home from church with my mom while my dad went to deposit the tithing money. We slipped easily into our usual Sunday routine: talking about what we’d learned in our classes, changing out of our church clothes, and making lunch together.
5 Min Read
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October 2025

Why Gen Z Gives Me Hope

By Ella Paligo
September 29, 2025 10:52 AM
For the past twenty-one years of my life, I believed there was a line I was never meant to cross. In elementary school, it was a line that separated the girls who played on the swingset and the boys who wrestled on the soccer field. The line in junior high divided social classes and their respective tables in the ecosystem of the school cafeteria. High school had lines at every turn, dividing those in relationships from those left single, and the kids who went out on the weekends from the ones who studied. As liberating as crossing to the other side seemed, there were norms to be followed. I followed those traditions until a visit to our nation’s capital changed everything.
3 Min Read
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April 2025

Faith, Family, Firearms

By Ella Paligo
April 17, 2025 08:34 AM
390,000. The number of students in the U.S. who have been affected by gun violence at school since 1999. [1] 516. The number injured or killed in the U.S. due to school shooting occurrences between 2018 and 2024. [2] 20 to 25 times — that's how much more frequently the U.S. experiences school gun violence compared to other developed countries. [3]
5 Min Read
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March 2025

Swimming the Red Sea: A Democrat’s Adventure at the GOP Convention

By Ella Paligo
March 31, 2025 11:29 AM
A Democrat walks into the Utah GOP State Convention. She is surrounded by “Make America Great Again” hats and countless variations of elephant cartoons. What does she do? She grabs a red shirt and changes in the bathroom, gearing up for a full day of campaigning. This Democrat ends up spending 16 hours at the State Convention, learning new lessons and confronting her own preconceived notions about those who vote differently from her. This Democrat is me, and I certainly had the adventure of a lifetime.
4 Min Read
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February 2025

Cops + Collaboration = Real Justice Reform

By Ella Paligo
February 25, 2025 01:59 PM
The year was 2020, and like many 15-year-olds, I was convinced that I had the answers to the nation’s most pressing concerns. With three months off from school due to Covid-19, I had ample time to think and research, no longer constrained by algebra homework and piano lessons. My world was rapidly changing. The news exposed police brutality, racial inequality, pandemic protocols, and the urgency of the looming presidential election.
4 Min Read
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