Opinion

Andrew Hufferd was a friend of mine I’ve known since our high school days, so sitting down with the returning GI for an interview was difficult. I’d always called him ‘AJ.‘ While I drafted interview questions, I found myself stricken with what I reflect on now as one of the greatest quandaries of modern warfare. What do you ask a soldier anymore?

KEVIN BURK can be reached at xavierholt@gmail.com

Kirk Kasuya can be reached at tkasuya@ucdavis.edu

Apparently, being an intelligent species in a vast empty universe just doesn’t make people feel special anymore. On the other hand, nipple piercings and Bob Marley posters seem to do the trick. Marketers have been exploiting our desire to be “individuals” for decades. For all I know, the individualist movement, like Valentine’s Day, has been a marketing scheme for all these years. There is, however, a very good reason why everyone strives to be an individual, but many don’t realize the struggle requires more than a credit card.

Let’s be theoretical and say,theoretically(insert annoying air quotes),that you sit down for some precious Facebook time despite having a midterm in half an hour in a class whose name you can hardly even remember.Oh well,that’s what curves are for,right? You have a friend request.Warm,fuzzy feelings arise because you feel loved.

ASUCD President IvanCarrillorecentlyraised the topic that UC Davis and U.S.Bank are in negotiations for a branch on campus.This U.S.Bank would be located in the East Conference Roomon the first floorof the Memorial Union.U.S.Bank would enter in to a10-year lease,paying$140,000per year and a$3,000signing bonus according toCarrillo’sinformation.

Several Yolo County politicians are promoting the idea of making the county a testing ground for voting entirely by mail.The idea would save the county time and money as well as increase voter turnout.

So,I‘ve avoided the whole Palestine-Israel thing for a while now.The entireMiddle East thing seems a mess.He said,she said,America took this,England gave away that.With all the biased media its hard for some uninformed people to figure out how everything got to this point,and more importantly,why theUnited States and so much of the world is essentially ignoring the deaths of over1,000people inGaza.

There comes a time in most conversations that I have when a certain topic arises.It could come about because of a slip of the tongue (usually a “that’s not diverse“) or due to an unusual story (“This one time I was talking to the police attwo in the morning… “),but at some point I have to explain myself.

Private Joseph Dwyer entered Iraq in2003as part of the American spear heading for the heart of Baghdad.He became an instant celebrity when a photographer captured him carrying a helpless child to safety during a battle near the Euphrates.The photo was widely circulated,as it represented the ideal of the heroic American soldier risking life and limbto save innocents.

Is it just me or are a lot of people breaking up everywhere? And I mean everywhere:Onthe bus,in front of Olson,even over the phone on the sidewalk at two in the morning.A couple once broke up right in front of my apartment.My roommate and I crouched down,popped some popcorn and put our ears against the door as the girl from apartment124took two hours to break up with Joe-shmoe because she caught him cheating.Oh man,it was so golden,I peed in my pants a little.

When those around you begintocling to a rotten lie,reeking of desperation,ignorance,and often times paranoia,the best course of action for a reasonable person to take is a step back and posing the question of, “Why?”