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Davis

Davis, California

Friday, April 19, 2024

Opinion

Hail to the Chief

    Hello and welcome to Monday! Hoping to prolong the warm, fuzzy feeling from your holiday weekend, I’ve put off my “what aspiring journalists should be good at” column for a week.
    Instead, let’s take a closer look at Easter’s second-most loved (hard to compete with Jesus in a popularity contest) representative, the Easter Bunny.

Time for a Newspeak checkup!

The deep interplay between language and power blurs the distinction between the two. To control how something is spoken about is to control how something is perceived.

As with any source of power, such as money, drugs and the capacity to really fuck you up, language has been heavily politicized.

Wistful drinking

 

Super Senior,

 

What are the important dates coming up in spring quarter?

 

Workin For The Weekend

 

Ah yes, spring quarter. When the nights are short and the skirts are shorter. Generally speaking, the next two to three months will be the most rockintwo to the three months of the year. Almost every weekend has something going on that's either fun to watch, fun to do or fun hear other people tell you about how much fun you seemed to have watching or doing. Here are the obvious standouts in very particular, some might even say chronological, order:

 

Change you can be fooled by

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has been a busy man. Besides the ill-conceived PPIP and TARP-forever resolution authority he laid out a few weeks back, he also proposed some legislation purporting to strengthen financial regulation. And, per the usual, I don't think it'll workhis focus on "systemic risk" is troubling, because it ignores the central problem.

PhiLOLsophy

The education system has failed to teach students what the truth means and why it matters. As an analogy for this failure, imagine a student entering college, Sarah, who has previously been under the watchful eyes of her over-protective parents.

The Defining Moments

The recent World Chess Championship loss of American Grandmaster Gata Kamsky to the current world number one Veselin Topalov was, in many ways, a setback to the forward development of American chess and, in particular, a disappointment to Kamsky's fans.

Pants Optional

At some point in our lives we've all heard that line that adults (the real ones, with jobs and houses and stuff) use to describe a student: "He's smart, he just doesn't apply himself." This brings to mind that stoner kid who owned the SATs because stoners are either really smart or really dumb. Or maybe those words describe you, because it's the perfect excuse for your GPA and no one ever wants to admit that they're stupid.

Editorial: UC admissions

The University of California Board of Regents was recently criticized for its new admissions plan passed in February, which interest groups claim unfairly affects Asian & Pacific Islander applicants.

The plan, which eliminates the SAT II as a requirement to be considered, is intended to decrease the number of applications denied consideration for reasons that could be due to poor advising.

That’s what she said

Right now there is a proposed law in Afghan parliament that states, according to Shia law, that women would not be allowed to refuse sex with their husbands. God damn it. It's one step forward, two steps back.

Afghanistan has been through a diverse and tumultuous history. However, it was not always so conservative. I refuse to allow Afghanistan to succumb to the propaganda claiming it is a backward nation without some clarifications.

And then I found 5 dollars

I was watching old episodes of "The Office" the other day because that's what I do when I have tons of work and no motivation to do it. For those of you who aren't familiar with this particular show, you're missing out. To give you a short summary, this mockumentary follows a group of people and their mundane lives working in a paper supply office. Think "Seinfeld" in an office, but funny.

The Sterling Compass

Last month the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant to arrest Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Although during his presidency at least 300,000 people have died in the Darfur region in western Sudan, the ICC claimed there was "insufficient evidence" to prosecute him for genocide.

Otherwise they’ll kill you

In high school, my friends and I had this saying - there are only three types of guys: the taken ones, the ones with the problems and the gay ones. All of which, of course, are unavailable to us gals.

Steal this Column

All right folks, Holy Week is upon us, and I think it's about time we paid the topic of religion another quick visit.

Over the coming days, Christians from across the globe will be engaged in a weeklong process of prayer, fasting and countless hours of self-reflection during what is considered to be the most important week of the liturgical year.

Editorial: ‘Fake news’ viewership

A recent survey by Rasmussen Reports, a public opinion polling company, found that 30 percent of American young adults aged 18 to 29 believe satirical news programs such as "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" are taking the place of traditional news outlets.

Although it is unlikely that such programs alone will run mainstream media outlets out of business, their popularity is worth considering.

The Cap and Gown List

I have never been the physically adventurous type; I don't ski, skateboard, skydive or whitewater raft. I did play youth soccer, though I tended to be the player furthest from the ball at all times. I was late learning to ride a bike, and although I did have some success on my high school tennis team, tennis isn't exactly a contact sport. As a result, I had very few childhood trips to the emergency room, but I also have few athletically-oriented memories.