Public higher education in California has been pushed into a precarious predicament over the past few years due to a slew of state-sponsored budget cuts and university fee hikes. Are our policy makers truly “tightening the belt” and “cutting out the fat” or are they grafting from our education to save a little face? It is difficult to tell if the rise in the cost of education for Californians is a terrible failure by the state and the CSU Board… Read more

After the death of Osama Bin Laden, America celebrated in euphoric victory. President Obama’s approval ratings went up and the Navy, not usually in the headlines, got some good public relations points for killing “Public Enemy No.1.” Americans took the news as an opportunity to party. In Washington D.C. college students gathered in front of the White House holding up American flags, cheering “U.S.A! U.S.A!” with some guys in their underwear and other girls in outfits fit to be worn… Read more

Last month, the California State Assembly re-introduced two bills representing the California Dream Act. Assembly Bill 130, which allows qualified non-resident students access to university-sponsored scholarships was passed in April. This week, the house will again debate AB 131, which would allow qualified non-resident students the opportunity to compete for state grants. Voting the California Dream Act into law is necessary for maintaining educational fairness and will ultimately benefit our economy. Under current law, non-resident students—which includes undocumented students as… Read more

Hollywood still demands blonde bombshells above anyone else, so start heading back to the internment camps, you Asian American actors. Hollywood’s days of using offensive and racist buffoonery such as “yellow face” (i.e. Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Charlie Chan) are over, but the phenomena of casting white actors for roles originally meant for Asian Americans characters has trended profusely in the 21st century. Warner Bros. has invested in three different projects based on Japanese stories— Akira, Death Note, and All You… Read more

Our country has deep divides in opinion about sexual orientation and same-sex relationships. Are gays born that way, and if so, is being gay a counter-evolutionary mutation? Is it a lifestyle choice to have same-sex relationships and are those relationships legitimate enough for marriage? Can one’s attraction to the same sex be changed or eliminated? This national squabble over the legitimacy of a preference for same-sex relationships is reflected in our government’s hesitance and often fierce resistance toward changing public… Read more

The city has resolved to not continue pursuing criminal charges against five students arrested during March 4 demonstrations against budget cuts, due to new findings in the discovery process. Under a legal agreement called “informal diversion,” CSUN students Jose Gomez, 22, Justin Marks, 22, Jonnae Thompson, 23, and Anthony Garcia, 30, and Los Angeles Valley College student Angel Guzman walked out of court Wednesday, free of further prosecution. The five are exempt from trial and will not face penalty, with… Read more

Senate Democrats re-introduced a bill last month that would give power to the president to declare a “cyber emergency” and shut down vital parts of the Internet. The bill does not allow for any judicial review of any such emergency measures. If we allow our executive branch to be free from judicial oversight, our government will not be very different from the oppressive regime of President Hosni Mubarak that the Egyptian people just fought so hard and sacrificed so many… Read more