Opinion

To celebrate this recent July 4 weekend, I'm dedicating this column to random thoughts, which I suppose means I'm giving a nod to Rob Olson and consequently Thomas Sowell for the inspiration.

The UC Davis Health System will take an important step Tuesday, when smoking will finally be banned on the entire UCDHS campus.

It is refreshing that a leader in local medical practices is making such a strong statement about smoking - finally.

Civil rights groups have requested that the California courts block an initiative which would renew the state's ban on gay marriage from appearing on the November ballot.

Maybe I'm alone in this, but the idea that so many people are willing to devote so much of their own time and money to fund an initiative that would take rights away from their neighbors is incomprehensible to me. Don't they have better things to do?

The number of herons and egrets populating the arboretum in recent years has become unmanageable; between 2005 and 2007, the number of egrets in the arboretum has increased more than fivefold.

After 24 years of dedicated service to UC Davis, Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef announced Monday he will be stepping down at the end of next year.

I've written a lot of columns this year - 27, actually, including this one - and I'm proud of every damn one of 'em. Very proud. I'm proud of them because, let's be honest, they were pretty damn good.

UC Davis and the UC system, like San Francisco and dozens of other communities across California, including L.A., Fresno, Oakland, Santa Cruz, Berkeley, Palo Alto and Marin County have adopted the goal of Zero Waste.

There is something profoundly human about a dramatic sporting loss, particularly when it befalls a team on the brink of victory that you wholeheartedly support.

Election coverage

When I finally abandoned my dream of becoming a history professor a year-and-a-half ago, I decided my last column would be a proud declaration of my immediate intention to join the Army.

Life, Liberty and Love.

You've heard many of the sayings conceptually tying the Ls together. "Give me liberty or give me death," "A life without love is no life at all," etc. I believe it is rightfully so. Each one has a distinct identifiable characteristic, yet to separate one from the others makes the remaining empty.

It's been a fun year being a columnist, all. I've enjoyed pounding out these columns of mine every Monday night, mere hours before I had to go in and edit. I kind of like having a byline and getting my picture in the paper.

Students often neglect to realize how much of an impact the Davis City Council has on their everyday lives. Every week, the council makes decisions that affect how difficult it is to find affordable and quality housing in Davis, how boring or exciting the downtown is, how much we must pay for our utility bills and how far we have to drive to purchase a pair of socks.

In an effort to mitigate California's looming $15 billion deficit, state lawmakers have been forced to look in unconventional places for money. State Representative Charles Calderon (D-Montebello) has proposed Assembly Bill 2914, which would place a 25 percent tax on the gross revenues of the adult entertainment industry.

Well the end of the year has finally approached and I have to bid farewell. I must say it's been quite a ride for my column. This year was my first time I split a column into two parts (big deal, I know), my first real hate mail and my first (and failed) attempt at meeting readers.