Did you know that we are having elections for our student government? Probably not considering that in the past few years turnout has been around 5 percent. For the 2012 election, there was a 7 percent turnout. Needless to say, Associated Student’s election procedures need to be reformed before it calls itself democratic. One big reform that is needed is increasing the time to register as a candidate. This year registration for candidates opened on March 1 and closed on… Read more

It is time that the San Fernando Valley secedes from the city of Los Angeles. This isn’t about making a statement against the Obama administration. This is about improving the San Fernando Valley. By decreasing the size of our city government to cover only the San Fernando Valley, we will be investing in the benefits of having a more efficient government. Good government is an economic public good. Everyone benefits from government institutions that encourage trade and discourage violence even… Read more

It is time we abolish Associated Students, our student government. Every semester we pay $84 dollars into its coffers, but it’s unclear if we receive anything of benefit from it. Ideally A.S. is meant to represent students when dealing with professors, faculty, administrators, and the public at large. However this is an impossible task when you consider that the student population is not politically homogenous. The existence of the Green, Democrat, Conservative and Libertarian clubs should be evidence that we… Read more

                                            Earlier this year, Libertarian party presidential candidate and former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson filed suit against the Commission on Presidential Debates for excluding him and other third-party candidates from the debates. Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate, was arrested outside of one of the debates after attempting to enter the debate hall. Needless to say, members of… Read more

Libertarianism advocates respecting the liberty of people to pursue their own happiness to the extent that they do not infringe on the liberty of others. In the case of children, libertarians advocate strongly in returning to parents the freedom in choosing how to raise their children. Most moderate libertarians are willing to accept state funding of schools, but do not believe that the state should run schools. Instead they propose alternatives, such as charter schools and a voucher system. Charter… Read more

                                                With the economy undergoing the worst downturn since the Great Depression, there are those who question whether to fully recognize same-sex marriage is a serious matter or a wedge issue among voters. The debate is not simply an issue of semantics. To be certain, the economic factors are important, and the issue of marriage is hardly… Read more

There are many good reasons why one should vote for Ron Paul. He’s a Christian that believes that marriage is between a man and a woman, but, unlike Rick Santorum, he doesn’t believe that the government should have any say in marriage or other social issues. He was one of Ronald Reagan’s early supporters for the presidency, but has no qualms pointing out that the Reagan administration continued the trend of growing the federal government. He might be serving as… Read more

Michelangelo Landgrave Contributor With Cesar Chavez’s birthday fast approaching, you are sure to read more about how great he was. One can admire his nonviolent approach to pressing for his cause, and he can be considered great in this sense. Whether the ideas he promoted were great, however, is another matter. Chavez sought to unionize farm workers throughout the United States. Unions are attempts to create a monopoly over labor in order to raise wages and other benefits. Monopolies are… Read more