Opinion

I recently took a trip to Bruges, Belgium — a slightly unconventional stop for the American abroad. It’s a name that usually precedes reaching for a map. If the goal of a vacation is to become lost, I succeeded on accident. It turns out this was necessary to find out not just where, but also […]

The other night this pretty girl threw up on my lap after her first hit off a brand-new Hello Kitty pipe. She had taken a really long inhale, and the flame was burning the bowl the entire time, so it must’ve been unbearably hot. At first I was surprised; not a lot of people can […]

At last, the $1 million pepper spray settlement was finalized last week. The lawsuit argues that the University used force that violated constitutional protections, including First Amendment rights, on Nov. 18 of last year. Much has already been said about the incident and the settlement. We don’t wish to sound repetitive, but it is always […]

Financially fit Most guys grew up with poignant, pleasant memories of fishing trips on placid lakes or hunting expeditions in the bucolic countryside with ol’ Pop. During such trips, they would nurture and build the innate skills that all men require: bloodlust, chest hair growing, bravado and sportsmanship. But best of all, they would create […]

It’s that time of year again. Desperate upperclassmen are filling their schedules with leftover general education requirements that teach them skills long ago developed in the natural process of taking classes that directly pertain to their interests. If you are one of those students, you have just sat through a week of Comparative Literature 001 […]

The Tree of Liberty What is anarchism? Anarchism is the view that “… holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, or harmful, or, alternatively, as opposing authority or hierarchical organization in the conduct of human relations.” (Wikipedia) There are many variants of anarchism. Sometimes, anarchism is packaged with capitalism as a view known as anarcho-capitalism. […]

Sex Ed I don’t know about you, but I love to spend my evenings reading my old sex advice columns. While doing so, I had one of those moments where my brain goes, “bad sex columnist, no biscuit!” You see, I realized that in the past I never devoted more than a few sentences to […]

If Bilbo Baggins attended UC Davis, he’d no doubt live at Baggins End, also known as The Domes. Bilbo could have been my neighbor, too, because Baggins End is where I call home. Baggins End? What the hell is that? Oh! Are those the freaky white igloos between the Activities and Recreation Center (ARC) and […]

So there has been no point in all of the time I’ve spent working on my film studies major that I have not seriously grappled with the question of whether or not Joss Whedon’s sci-fi TV show, “Firefly,” is the greatest thing to have ever occurred in front of a camera. The very first tattoo […]

A single term can be used in so many incompatible ways. This leads to the problem of words and meanings becoming detached. Talk becomes a way of confusing and clouding rather than informing and illuminating. Speech loses its grip on meaning. Words and ideas become malleable. This may seem to be a mere academic problem, […]

As we near the one-month anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, it seems to be an appropriate time to reflect on the national dialogue surrounding gun control and the prevention of mass shootings. In a country as large and diverse as the United States, it is no wonder there is not a consensus […]

Sandbox Politico My name is Justin Goss. Former ASUCD Senator and recovering ASUCD addict. Think of this column as my coping mechanism to help with the separation anxiety. The revolving door of ASUCD spins once again and six new senators are swept onto the table by the electoral gale force. As the dust settles I […]