Column

Liberals are right about many things, but the way they communicate isn’t one of them Liberals are frequently accused of being smug — often deservingly. But in the same way that too many liberals label all Trump supporters as irrational racist bigots, all liberals are often grouped together as self-righteous elites incapable of changing their […]

Music needs to showcase the effects of climate change on minority communities In the United States, music is everything. Nothing speaks more strongly to the psyche of young Americans time and time again than the melodies, lyrics and beats of sonic revolutions brought by each new generation. Our grandparents had their Elvis; our parents their […]

By placing Russia on a scary list, the U.S. government ignores reality In January, the State Department revamped its system of travel advisories, making it easier for American citizens to know what dangers await abroad. The updated model uses a tiered ranking system to designate the safest and most dangerous countries in the world for […]

Diplomacy in the digital age Donald Trump is undoubtedly the first President of the United States to use Twitter as a form of diplomacy. That is, if you can call it that. For the past two years, Trump has made headlines with his bullying tactics on social media, featuring absurd nicknames, uninformed rants and accusations […]

How the Trump Era evolved out of the OJ Simpson saga If the OJ Simpson ordeal had not occurred and was instead a work of fiction produced decades from now, people might say something like, “You know, I think this might actually be a rough allegory for the Trump Era.” Of course, this wouldn’t be […]

Agriculture is the real culprit in California’s water worries After I graduated from high school, my family and I spent a month in a cabin on the west shore of Lake Tahoe, California. It was the August of 2014, one of the driest months for the state, so for the Sierras to be dusty at […]

By playing on our fears, the media has inflated the threat of Islamist terrorism From 1995 to 2014, 3,264 people died in the U.S. from acts of terrorism. From 1999 to 2015, 533,879 people died in the U.S. from gun violence. More Americans have been killed by guns since 1968 than in all U.S. wars […]

The recent inundation of fake news in emphasizes the need to be distrustful of targeted ads and certain news sources 2018 has been one of the most pivotal years for the American electorate due to revelations over issues including voter privacy, targeting by advertisements and social media safety. As Facebook has acknowledged its role in […]

Why tuning out and avoiding the stress of following the news is one of the most lazy, offensive and irresponsible things one can do It’s a privilege to live in a country with a free press. Unfortunately, many people take this for granted and instead award themselves the unearned privilege of tuning out. There’s a […]

The vegan lifestyle is both inaccessible and not as green as you’re led to believe In the wake of increased public awareness about the consequences of climate change, spring — rather than winter — appears to be the first casualty. Here we reside, in the middle of May in Davis, California, with temperatures swinging erratically […]

The removal of “climate change” from the EPA website mirrors the struggle between Google and Bing Americans love withholding information in lieu of explicit opposition to a problem. Take the Civil War as an example: Some in the South refer to the Civil War as the “War of Northern Aggression” — lending fault to the […]

How Russia’s northern capital tops the bucket list If you’ve ever read Fyodor Dostoevsky’s “Crime and Punishment,” you’ll be familiar with its rather famous opening line, which goes something like this: “On an exceptionally hot evening early in July a young man came out of the garret in which he lodged in S. Place and […]