Opinion

Sequestration, enacted by the Budget Control Act of 2011, went into effect on March 1. As part of the deal reached in 2011 regarding the debt ceiling, $85.4 billion in cuts will be enacted, slashing budgets for federal agencies across the board. This is bad news for the United States, for California, for UC Davis […]

There’s a book whose name I will not mention, as I’ve seen it so often that I’m tired of reading it. All I’ll say is that it’s title involves the words “50” and “Grey,” and that it involves graphic depictions of BDSM sex. Once it came out, there was a surge of interest in BDSM. […]

In a recent NPR piece, UC Davis “Director of Energy Sustainability,” Amy Jaffe, was quoted saying, “Once we reduce our [oil] consumption, we can have the luxury of rejecting Canada’s oil.” As a UC Davis alumnus, I am appalled that this message, apparently supporting the ultra-dirty Keystone XL pipeline, came from my campus. Yes, it’s […]

Having followed the Christopher Dorner manhunt with the sort of scrupulous and morbid curiosity that today’s sensationalist mass media seems to arouse at every possible opportunity, I began to notice remarkable parallels with an incident not too dissimilar that took place across the pond back in 2010. I refer to the case of Raoul Moat […]

I’ve spent a lot of time over the past few weeks talking about money: spending it, saving it, bathing in it, etc. I have no say in whether money will bring about happiness or anything deep and cosmic like that, but it’s something that the majority of the population is in constant need of. Money […]

In this column I want to set aside the usual polemics to focus on some examples of heroic figures who provided us with enormous values in their pursuit of profit. If possible, I recommend listening to your preferred epic movie soundtrack while reading this, to enhance the experience (my choice would be Hans Zimmer – […]

Hello UC Davis Students, faculty, staff and community partners, As the proud representative of California’s third congressional district, which includes UC Davis, I need to alert you to events in Washington that directly impact our campus. Mandatory across-the-board cuts known as “sequestration” came into effect on Friday. We can still avoid the worst damage, but […]

The director of Fight Club, David Fincher, teamed up with the actor Kevin Spacey to bring you Netflix’s first original series, “House of Cards.” The upper echelons of America’s federal government serve as a playground where Spacey’s character, Frank Underwood, casually maneuvers his way to undisputed power. The first two episodes which set the tone […]

Earlier in the quarter, I wrote a column calling for the decommodification of education. I bemoaned the lecture format and compared our University to a bank in an attempt to make heard my discontent with the system. I received several responses from alumni and students that empathized with my position. As a follow-up, I would […]

A part of me might tell you that I once dated someone who felt differently than I did about the physical aspect of our relationship. Yet another part of me might tell you that I was raped. What does the term rape actually mean? That’s what I’m trying to figure out. What happened to me […]

There will be no issue of The California Aggie outside your lecture the first day of spring quarter. Or the next day. Or the next day. Don’t freak out. The first issue of a new California Aggie will be waiting for you that Thursday. We can’t promise four Sudoku puzzles, but we can promise an […]

Pizza Guy knocks. The door swings open to reveal a half-naked woman with neck-down alopecia and two balloons attached to her ribcage. “I hear somebody ordered a large sausage pizza?” We all know where it goes from there. Pornography is as old as civilization itself — even prehistoric rock art depicted erotic images. Pornographic films, […]