Opinion

Last week, I wrote a column on education. The intent? Create dialogue via this medium on an issue about which I feel strongly. I don’t have the answers, and will not pretend such. However, the provocation of debate was willful and I managed to extract a commentary on my commentary from one of the saner, more knowledgeable Davisites. This guy cared enough to make his views known on national issues. Bingo! That is the plan. I have a fervent belief that your ignorance starts right where your knowledge ends. Let the feedback keep coming in, please!

With the price of higher education at an all-time high, CalPIRG and the UC Davis Bookstore have worked together to introduce two alternative methods to purchasing textbooks: a rental program and online open source texts.

Oct. 7 was a national day of action to defend public education, resulting in rallies, marches and sit-ins across the country. Organizers in Davis used the day to educate fellow students about recent decisions made by the administration.

It seems this discussion of the vandalism of the mural “The Unfinished Dream” (wrongly labeled the Third World Mural by many) has dominated our campus, and many conversations have taken place in different communities about the meaning behind the vandalism.

The bike thieves in Davis are making more money than the alumni. Why are there not more resources in place to put a dent in their success rate? Look at the University of Pacific program to deter bike thefts. If the parents were asked for donations for this cause, I’ll bet the college would receive enough money to fund the program. Let’s catch these low-lifes who are making a real good living stealing our bikes!

In a Science and Society class I took entitled “Terrorism and War,” we learned about the common characteristics of bogus arguments as put forth by Carl Sagan in his book A Demon Haunted World.

I’m an Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug Student Assistant in the Health Education and Promotion department of the Student Health and Wellness Center, and I wanted to address some misconceptions in the column “Freshman Green,” which promoted the idea that freshman should try marijuana.

There’s a new spirit of unity in the air, wafting through our hallowed halls, making its way out to the quad where discontented students mingle, meandering among us and through us, winding itself around the patterns of our thoughts as we collaborate to create new patterns and new causes.

Once upon a time, I met a girl named Mary Jane. She was fun, smelled nice and had a certain addictive quality about her. At first, I’d see her on the occasional weekend, but this soon turned into every weekend, and then some weeknights, and then every night, and now she even visits me on some fine mornings.

I’d like to begin this week by apologizing to my politically polarized friends and family who’ve tuned in today because this column’s title suggests I might be talking politics. American politics may be the only institution on earth whose methods have completely transformed with the advent of social media and other recent technological innovations without actually changing what it offers you. It’s still the same old pig, but someone handed it a technologically advanced shade of whorish red lipstick.

Among the oversights and disappointments of last week’s bill signing extravaganza is a glimmer of hope for higher education in California.

Upon reading the article in the Aggie about the act of vandalism, I was greatly saddened to hear that people responded so negatively. In my opinion, this was not a message of hate, but a message of peace: The peaceful coexistence between Jews and Muslims, Israelis and Arabs, which people often forget should be the endpoint of the Middle East conflict.