Alumni Researchers - ProCon.org

ProCon.org Alumni

We want to showcase and give credit to all those people who helped grow ProCon.org. If any of our alumni are reading this page, please call or email and let us know what you've been up to and thanks again for all your wonderful contributions over the years. Please note that this list does not include all of our alumni as some may have requested anonymity or been left off for other reasons.

Athan Aronis
Brandon Cipes
Christine Hickerson

Justin LaMort
Marco Larsen
Verica Mitchem
Julia Romano

Ariella Rosenberg
Aaron Slosberg
Seth Strongin
Jeff Yablan

Athan Aronis - Researcher

July 1, 2003 – Jan. 25, 2006
No biography available. Athan worked primarily on the Israeli-Palestinian and US-Iraq projects.

Brandon Cipes - Researcher/IT Manager/CIO

July 18, 2005 – Aug. 17, 2007
Brandon graduated from UC Berkeley with degrees in Philosophy and Religion in 2004. During school he also interned for Stratfor, a private intelligence analysis company, where he was published for his article "Turkey: Islamist Party’s Stance May Not Satisfy Military."” He has worked abroad in England as well as traveled through China and Japan.
Brandon has a strong computer background and maintained many of ProCon.org’s technical requirements in addition to his research work on the Born Gay ProCon.org site.

Christine Hickerson - Researcher

Sep. 12, 2005 – Nov. 18, 2005
No biography available. Christine was primarily responsible for research on Born Gay ProCon.org.

Justin LaMort - Researcher

June 19, 2006 - July 9, 2007
Justin joined ProCon.org in June, 2006. He graduated with distinction and honors from the University of Kansas in 2006 with Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Political Science with Global Awareness Certification. He was inducted as a member of Mt. Oread Scholars, National Society of Collegiate Scholars, Golden Key International Honor Society and Phi Beta Kappa.
He was a featured columnist for the University Daily Kansan, co-host of "Talking Points" on 90.7 KJHK, and designed the City of Lawrence's public access channel. He has been published in Comma, Splice and The Missouri Law Review.
Justin was in charge of research for the Under God, ACLU, and Prostitution websites at ProCon.org.

Marco Larsen - Researcher

Mar. 15, 2003 - May 23, 2005
No biography available. Marco was primarily responsible for research on US-Iraq ProCon.org.

Verica Mitchem - Researcher

April 12, 2004 - Oct. 4, 2006
Verica was born in former Yugoslavia and grew up in France. She graduated from the Pantheon-Sorbonne University in Paris, with a B.A. in Arts and Communication.
She moved to New York in 1993 and worked at the United Nations from 1993 to 1996, first as an administrative assistant in the Department of Public Information, then as production assistant at the UN radio broadcasting department.
From 1994 to 1996 she worked in the Executive Office of the Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, as an assistant to the Secretary General’s French speech-writer. In that function, she researched material for and participated in the drafting of speeches for the Secretary General to be delivered to heads of states and at international conferences on global issues such as the AIDS pandemic and other UN related matters.
1999, Verica obtained her J.D. from Franklin Pierce Law Center, and passed the California bar in 2000, at her first attempt. She practiced intellectual property law for two years in Beverly Hills, where she was in charge of the enforcement of a major studio’s copyrights and trademark rights on the Internet.
Verica is also a mediator certified by the Los Angeles County Bar Association. She is a member in good standing of the California State Bar and a member of the Southern California Mediation Association.
She joined ProCon.org in April 2004 and was in charge of research for the ACLU ProCon.org site.

Julia Romano - Researcher

Feb. 26, 2007 – June 8, 2007
Julia graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles in Fall 2004, earning a B.A. in History with summa cum laude honors. Her studies focused on the Middle East and the making of the modern nation state.
Julia spent her last year as an undergraduate working at the National Public Radio studios in Culver City, California where she first interned for Day to Day then worked as an Editorial Assistant for National Geographic’s Radio Expeditions. In the winter of 2005, Julia moved to Rome, Italy, where she utilized her Italian language fluency to cover the historical death of Pope John Paul II for NPR’s All Things Considered.
Upon her return to the United States, Julia found work with Yahoo Media Group’s (YMG) Santa Monica offices where she worked as Researcher, Logistics Coordinator, Audio Editor, and general content producer of the popular travel website Richard Bangs Adventures.
Julia joined ProCon.org in February, 2007 and was primarily responsible for research on Under God ProCon.org.

Ariella Rosenberg - Researcher

Oct. 24, 2005 – Feb. 26, 2007
Ariella studied Political Science at Columbia University in New York, where she was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa and graduated Magna Cum Laude in May, 2005.
At Columbia, her coursework included a wide variety of subjects, from Human Rights with prominent academic Andrew Nathan, the co-editor of The Tiananmen Papers, to Freedom of Speech and Press with Lee Bollinger, president of Columbia University and famed First Amendment scholar.
While a student, Ariella interned for the Council on Foreign Relations in the fall of 2004 and at Foreign Affairs magazine in the spring of 2005. She also served as a Senior Editor of the Columbia Journal of Politics and Society from 2003-2005. In the spring of 2004, she studied abroad at the Institut d’études politiques de Paris, the premier French school of political science. That summer she attended a month-long symposium on international conflict resolution in The Hague, visiting such institutions as the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the International Court of Justice.
Ariella has written academic papers on diverse matters, including the extraordinary rendition of United States terrorist suspects, truth commissions in Latin America, and the compliance of Chinese labor law with international human rights norms. In the fall of 2004, distraught over the United Nations inaction on the ongoing genocide in Darfur, Ariella published an opinion piece in the Columbia Spectator , entitled "It’s Time for the World to Face the Facts."
Ariella was in charge of research for Under God ProCon.org and Euthanasia ProCon.org.

Aaron Slosberg - Researcher

Jan. 16, 2006 – Mar. 24, 2006
No biography available. Aaron was primarily responsible for research on Israeli-Palestinian ProCon.org.

Seth Strongin - Researcher/Senior Researcher

Dec. 20, 2005 – Aug. 17, 2007
Seth joined ProCon.org in December, 2005. He is a 2001 graduate of American University with a B.A. in Environmental Science, concentrating in Biology.
Prior to joining ProCon.org, he worked as a biodefense and biotechnology researcher for the Board on Life Sciences of the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, DC from 2002-2005. In the fall of 1999, Seth worked for the Contact Trust as a monitor of the parliament of South Africa on environmental legislation.
Seth has contributed to several scientific reports including Animal Biotechnology: Science-Based Concerns (2002), Countering Agricultural Bioterrorism (2003), Seeking Security: Pathogens, Open Access, and Genome Databases (2004), Indicators for Waterborne Pathogens (2004), Biological Confinement of Genetically Engineered Organisms (2004), Bridges to Independence: Fostering the Independence of New Investigators in Biomedical Research (2005), and Reopening Public Facilities after a Biological Attack (2005).
Seth was in charge of research for Voting Machines ProCon.org, Born Gay ProCon.org, and Milk ProCon.org.

Jeff Yablan, Senior Researcher

Feb. 24, 2002 – Feb. 1, 2008
Jeff obtained his BA in journalism from California State University, Northridge, and his Masters in marriage, family, and child counseling from California Family Study Center in 1992.
His research article, "The Effects of Psychotherapy on Adult Males Who Were Sexually Molested as Children: A Qualitative Study" was published in the peer-reviewed journal PROGRESS: Family Systems Research and Therapy (Vol. 2, Summer 1993, pp. 13-23).
He served from 1996 to 2002 as the Program Director and CFO of the Los Angeles Cannabis Resource Center, a nonprofit medical marijuana cooperative. His short documentary "Final Days," a view of the last days of a medical cannabis center in Los Angeles, has appeared online and at several independent film festivals.
Jeff worked primarily on research for Medical Marijuana ProCon.org, Felon Voting ProCon.org, Under God ProCon.org, and Born Gay ProCon.org.

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We want to showcase and give credit to all those people who helped grow ProCon.org. If any of our alumni are reading this page, please call or email and let us know what you've been up to and thanks again for all your wonderful contributions over the years. Please note that this list does not include all of our alumni as some may have requested anonymity or been left off for other reasons.
Athan Aronis Brandon Cipes Christine Hickerson	Justin LaMort Marco Larsen Verica Mitchem Julia Romano	Ariella Rosenberg Aaron Slosberg Seth Strongin Jeff Yablan

Athan Aronis - Researcher
	July 1, 2003 – Jan. 25, 2006 No biography available. Athan worked primarily on the Israeli-Palestinian and US-Iraq projects.

Brandon Cipes - Researcher/IT Manager/CIO
	July 18, 2005 – Aug. 17, 2007 Brandon graduated from UC Berkeley with degrees in Philosophy and Religion in 2004. During school he also interned for Stratfor, a private intelligence analysis company, where he was published for his article "Turkey: Islamist Party’s Stance May Not Satisfy Military."” He has worked abroad in England as well as traveled through China and Japan. Brandon has a strong computer background and maintained many of ProCon.org’s technical requirements in addition to his research work on the Born Gay ProCon.org site.

Christine Hickerson - Researcher
	Sep. 12, 2005 – Nov. 18, 2005 No biography available. Christine was primarily responsible for research on Born Gay ProCon.org.

Justin LaMort - Researcher
	June 19, 2006 - July 9, 2007 Justin joined ProCon.org in June, 2006. He graduated with distinction and honors from the University of Kansas in 2006 with Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Political Science with Global Awareness Certification. He was inducted as a member of Mt. Oread Scholars, National Society of Collegiate Scholars, Golden Key International Honor Society and Phi Beta Kappa. He was a featured columnist for the University Daily Kansan, co-host of "Talking Points" on 90.7 KJHK, and designed the City of Lawrence's public access channel. He has been published in Comma, Splice and The Missouri Law Review. Justin was in charge of research for the Under God, ACLU, and Prostitution websites at ProCon.org.

Marco Larsen - Researcher
	Mar. 15, 2003 - May 23, 2005 No biography available. Marco was primarily responsible for research on US-Iraq ProCon.org.

Verica Mitchem - Researcher
	April 12, 2004 - Oct. 4, 2006 Verica was born in former Yugoslavia and grew up in France. She graduated from the Pantheon-Sorbonne University in Paris, with a B.A. in Arts and Communication. She moved to New York in 1993 and worked at the United Nations from 1993 to 1996, first as an administrative assistant in the Department of Public Information, then as production assistant at the UN radio broadcasting department. From 1994 to 1996 she worked in the Executive Office of the Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, as an assistant to the Secretary General’s French speech-writer. In that function, she researched material for and participated in the drafting of speeches for the Secretary General to be delivered to heads of states and at international conferences on global issues such as the AIDS pandemic and other UN related matters. 1999, Verica obtained her J.D. from Franklin Pierce Law Center, and passed the California bar in 2000, at her first attempt. She practiced intellectual property law for two years in Beverly Hills, where she was in charge of the enforcement of a major studio’s copyrights and trademark rights on the Internet. Verica is also a mediator certified by the Los Angeles County Bar Association. She is a member in good standing of the California State Bar and a member of the Southern California Mediation Association. She joined ProCon.org in April 2004 and was in charge of research for the ACLU ProCon.org site.

Julia Romano - Researcher
	Feb. 26, 2007 – June 8, 2007 Julia graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles in Fall 2004, earning a B.A. in History with summa cum laude honors. Her studies focused on the Middle East and the making of the modern nation state. Julia spent her last year as an undergraduate working at the National Public Radio studios in Culver City, California where she first interned for Day to Day then worked as an Editorial Assistant for National Geographic’s Radio Expeditions. In the winter of 2005, Julia moved to Rome, Italy, where she utilized her Italian language fluency to cover the historical death of Pope John Paul II for NPR’s All Things Considered. Upon her return to the United States, Julia found work with Yahoo Media Group’s (YMG) Santa Monica offices where she worked as Researcher, Logistics Coordinator, Audio Editor, and general content producer of the popular travel website Richard Bangs Adventures. Julia joined ProCon.org in February, 2007 and was primarily responsible for research on Under God ProCon.org.

Ariella Rosenberg - Researcher
	Oct. 24, 2005 – Feb. 26, 2007 Ariella studied Political Science at Columbia University in New York, where she was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa and graduated Magna Cum Laude in May, 2005. At Columbia, her coursework included a wide variety of subjects, from Human Rights with prominent academic Andrew Nathan, the co-editor of The Tiananmen Papers, to Freedom of Speech and Press with Lee Bollinger, president of Columbia University and famed First Amendment scholar. While a student, Ariella interned for the Council on Foreign Relations in the fall of 2004 and at Foreign Affairs magazine in the spring of 2005. She also served as a Senior Editor of the Columbia Journal of Politics and Society from 2003-2005. In the spring of 2004, she studied abroad at the Institut d’études politiques de Paris, the premier French school of political science. That summer she attended a month-long symposium on international conflict resolution in The Hague, visiting such institutions as the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the International Court of Justice. Ariella has written academic papers on diverse matters, including the extraordinary rendition of United States terrorist suspects, truth commissions in Latin America, and the compliance of Chinese labor law with international human rights norms. In the fall of 2004, distraught over the United Nations inaction on the ongoing genocide in Darfur, Ariella published an opinion piece in the Columbia Spectator , entitled "It’s Time for the World to Face the Facts." Ariella was in charge of research for Under God ProCon.org and Euthanasia ProCon.org.

Aaron Slosberg - Researcher
	Jan. 16, 2006 – Mar. 24, 2006 No biography available. Aaron was primarily responsible for research on Israeli-Palestinian ProCon.org.

Seth Strongin - Researcher/Senior Researcher
	Dec. 20, 2005 – Aug. 17, 2007 Seth joined ProCon.org in December, 2005. He is a 2001 graduate of American University with a B.A. in Environmental Science, concentrating in Biology. Prior to joining ProCon.org, he worked as a biodefense and biotechnology researcher for the Board on Life Sciences of the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, DC from 2002-2005. In the fall of 1999, Seth worked for the Contact Trust as a monitor of the parliament of South Africa on environmental legislation. Seth has contributed to several scientific reports including Animal Biotechnology: Science-Based Concerns (2002), Countering Agricultural Bioterrorism (2003), Seeking Security: Pathogens, Open Access, and Genome Databases (2004), Indicators for Waterborne Pathogens (2004), Biological Confinement of Genetically Engineered Organisms (2004), Bridges to Independence: Fostering the Independence of New Investigators in Biomedical Research (2005), and Reopening Public Facilities after a Biological Attack (2005). Seth was in charge of research for Voting Machines ProCon.org, Born Gay ProCon.org, and Milk ProCon.org.

Jeff Yablan, Senior Researcher
	Feb. 24, 2002 – Feb. 1, 2008 Jeff obtained his BA in journalism from California State University, Northridge, and his Masters in marriage, family, and child counseling from California Family Study Center in 1992. His research article, "The Effects of Psychotherapy on Adult Males Who Were Sexually Molested as Children: A Qualitative Study" was published in the peer-reviewed journal PROGRESS: Family Systems Research and Therapy (Vol. 2, Summer 1993, pp. 13-23). He served from 1996 to 2002 as the Program Director and CFO of the Los Angeles Cannabis Resource Center, a nonprofit medical marijuana cooperative. His short documentary "Final Days," a view of the last days of a medical cannabis center in Los Angeles, has appeared online and at several independent film festivals. Jeff worked primarily on research for Medical Marijuana ProCon.org, Felon Voting ProCon.org, Under God ProCon.org, and Born Gay ProCon.org.