Marian Wang was a reporter for ProPublica, covering education and college debt. She joined ProPublica in 2010, first blogging about a variety of accountability issues. Her later stories focused on how rising college costs and the complexity of the student loan system affect students and their families. Prior to coming to ProPublica, she worked at Mother Jones magazine in San Francisco and freelanced for a number of Chicago-based publications, including The Chicago Reporter, an investigative magazine focused on issues of race and poverty.
Marian Wang
Reporter
A Crib Sheet on Wall Street's Self-Dealing Money Machine
Here's a primer on our story on how banks ginned up the CDO business, taking riskier assets and, to hide how risky they were, putting them into new, riskier assets, and then buying those themselves.
Take It With a Grain of (Sea) Salt: Gulf Microbe Study Was Funded by BP
Scientists at Berkeley this week announced that microbes had eaten oil so quickly the Gulf's oil plumes are now undetectable. They disclosed that BP funded their research. The media didn't.
SEC's New Ruling Cheers Investors, Irks Business Groups
Despite not making it into the financial reform bill, a contentious rule giving shareholders more clout over company leadership has been approved by regulators. It makes it easier for large shareholders to nominate board members.
Faced With Backlog, Feds Dismiss Deportation Cases Against Non-Criminal Immigrants
Homeland Security is reviewing and moving to dismiss deportation cases against suspected illegal immigrants without serious criminal records. While deportations overall are much higher under Obama, so are backlogs of immigration cases.
California City's Officials Earned Thousands for One-Minute Meetings (or None at All)
The Los Angeles suburb of Bell has been roiled by the disclosure of extravagant pay for some of its top officials. Members of the city council have agreed to a 90 percent pay cut, and prosecutors are investigating.
Congress Slow to Act on Food Safety, Despite Outbreaks and Frequent Warnings
Calls to overhaul a broken food safety system haven't yet resulted in broad reform. Will half a billion recalled eggs do the trick?
Local Officials: Lack of Oxygen Likely Killing Thousands of Fish in the Gulf
A fish kill at the mouth of the Mississippi River raises questions about whether oil played a role. Areas of depleted oxygen occur in the Gulf of Mexico annually, but some scientists have predicted a bigger "dead zone" this year.
Company Owned By Cancer Research Donor Lobbied Against Designation of Formaldehyde as Carcinogen
A New Yorker profile of David Koch, a promiment donor to cancer research, raises questions about conflicts between his business and philanthropic interests.
For Mosques, 'Anywhere But There' Echoes Far Beyond Ground Zero
Opponents of the Islamic center planned near ground zero argue that it would be appropriate elsewhere. But proposed mosques have run into stiff opposition across the country, not just Lower Manhattan.
Federal Agency, Under Questioning, Clarifies Its Rosy Gulf Report
Just how much of the oil spilled in the Gulf is still there? Depends on what the meaning of "is" is. NOAA is hedging some of its estimates, and not in a good way.
Alleging Securities Fraud, SEC Orders New Jersey to Cease and Desist
The SEC and New Jersey have settled charges that the state didn't properly disclose its financial health when it sold $26 billion in municipal bonds. New Jersey was the first state to be so charged, but it probably won't be the last.
Paths to Final Fix for BP Well Are Still Under Debate
As part of the permanent Deepwater Horizon fix, a new blowout preventer will be swapped out for the failed blowout preventer. But even the new equipment has had problems in the past.
Courts Fault Feds, SEC for Going Easy on Banks
Federal judges are balking at what they consider lenient penalties for big banks accused of wrongdoing. Two deals this week, with Barclays and Citigroup, are the latest to come under scrutiny.
Scientists Dispute Government Stance on the Lingering Effects of Gulf Oil
The government says Gulf seafood is safe and most of the spilled oil is gone, but a triple-whammy of reports raises doubts. Significant risks remain, researchers say.
Experts: Argue All You Want, Mosque Project on Firm Legal Ground
Land-use laws protect the plan for an Islamic center near ground zero, legal experts say.
Obama Admin: No More Regulatory Shortcuts for Deepwater Drilling Projects
The Interior Department says deepwater drilling won’t get rubber-stamped anymore, ending a policy that allowed many projects in the Gulf of Mexico to skip detailed environmental reviews
BP Says It Will Spend $52 Million for Mental Health Care in the Gulf Region
Acknowledging "stress and anxiety" among Gulf Coast residents, BP agrees to help fund mental health services there. The decision comes after a recent study describing physical and mental health problems following the oil spill.
After Michigan Spill, Familiar Concerns Are Raised About Pipeline Regulators
The federal agency overseeing oil and gas pipelines follows industry-written standards, and relies on a small number of inspectors. The agency, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, is led by a former industry executive.
U.S. Bore AIG Bailout Risk, but Foreign Banks Reaped the Rewards, Says Watchdog
A report by a government watchdog says that when the U.S. Treasury bailed out AIG, it may have propped up foreign banks as well, indirectly reaping more than $14 billion.
BP Agrees to Pay $50 Million for Earlier Texas City Problems
BP reaches an agreement to pay part of an OSHA fine for safety problems at its Texas City refinery. Still to be resolved: $30 million in outstanding penalties, plus lawsuits related to a more recent incident.
