Column

Jai Bornstein’s suicide reminds us that trans youth still face severe prejudice in red regions of the nation This past December, 19-year-old transgender woman and activist Jai Bornstein took her own life. Bornstein, who was from the conservative town of Bakersfield, dedicated her time in both her hometown and British Columbia, where she attended school, […]

The worrying implications of escapism at our fingers As late as the 1960s, taglines like “More Doctors Smoke Camels than any other Cigarette!” and “20,679 Physicians say ‘Luckies are Less Irritating!” blared from brightly hued tobacco advertisements. These slogans distracted Americans from long-standing folk wisdom and developing medical knowledge of smoking’s harm. It horrifies us […]

An uptick in right-wing movements bodes ill across the globe The rise and fall of nations is inevitable — it’s a cycle that has gone on for centuries. The Middle East was the center of scientific discovery and other literary pursuits, but now its very name is considered synonymous with chaos and terrorism. Greece, one […]

Stupidity and nature intersect marvelously in the High Desert of California Few things complement each other with such ease as the National Park System and the Darwin Awards do. Nature has always brought out the worst in man, but it was only since the mid-1980’s that an organization — The Darwin Awards — started formally […]

People assume that I’m a whole spread of ethnicities. This is my story. It’s not that I really like hummus simply because I was raised eating it. I really like hummus because in a way, I am hummus. A Levantine dish, cherished for centuries by every country in the Middle East, each putting their own […]

State imposes unnecessary regulations on Uber’s autonomous vehicle experiment Most Californians know the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) as a bureaucratic dungeon. The DMV has an enormously negative connotation, evoking memories of the hours drivers are forced to waste in its stuffy, beige, odorous offices. It seems the apparatchiks that head this regulatory hydra have […]

Partisan politics threaten the integrity, values of our country more now than ever Here we are: the year that Donald J. Trump officially becomes President of the United States. It’s no surprise that Trump’s inauguration next week has sent ripples of horror throughout the country. Trump reimagines, warps or simply disregards the truth — about […]

New writers will work to reflect the great diversity of ideas at UC Davis Welcome back to school, Aggies. It’s a new year and the challenges facing this country are profound. You may have asked yourself: what can I do to make a difference? The opinion desk will be working as hard as ever to […]

Understanding what free speech entails is essential to a democratic society The self-described “supervillain of the Internet,” Milo Yiannopoulos, is slated to speak today at UC Davis as part of his ongoing “Dangerous Faggot Tour,” which has taken him to college campuses across the country. He will be joined by pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli, who […]

To the UC Davis community, On behalf of The California Aggie, I want to personally thank you all for your continued readership and engagement this quarter. A newspaper is nothing without its readers and its community, and we appreciate you taking the time to grab a copy of The Aggie on your way to class […]

Ten weeks abroad showed me I’m not ready to graduate Well. Ten weeks have passed since I arrived in Australia. And I’ve got to admit: this program has been one of the most interesting experiences I have had in college. But I have come to a realization after everything that has happened here: I am […]

Acceptance of identities and opposing views is increasingly necessary Tolerance and acceptance are two separate ideals that we, as a society, have come to see as synonymous. It’s a wrongheaded view that has resulted in tolerance becoming a standard of acceptance during conflict. But tolerance is a sham. Tolerance isn’t a holy grail, high-achieving standard […]