A freshman’s guide to 2009 USC storylines


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Let’s cut to the chase, freshmen. You’re here, and you’re excited for football season. You’re especially eager to cheer for the No. 4-ranked college football team in the nation, after you just spent four years’ worth of Friday nights supporting what was probably a mediocre high school team. If you’re reading this, I’ll assume you’re […]

Strangers bond over childhood nostalgia


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Just last night, I was sitting in a cafe when — briefly, so quietly — I instinctively leaned forward in my seat to catch the faint melody of: Now this is a story all about how / My life got flipped, turned upside down / And I’d like to take a minute, just sit right […]

Kenyan census is not a cure-all


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The term “ethnic violence” is used so often in relation to African tribal disputes that it is easy to forget to ask exactly what that term means. For Rwandans, it meant that relations between the Hutu and Tutsi tribes became so bad that genocide followed. The same can be said today for tribes in the […]

Cankles: the biggest threat since swine flu


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There were a lot of things to worry about this summer, for the anxiety-prone. A recessed economy, a miserable job market, the persistent recurrence of swine flu cases and the death of our nation’s most beloved crazy person made lounging on the global warming-heated beach almost stressful. As though worrying about whether the cabana boy […]