Student vote can affect community


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America calls itself the inventor of modern democracy, yet with a mere 62 percent voter turnout for the last presidential election, voter participation in the United States is one of the lowest for any democratic country in the world. Nearly 40 percent of Americans forfeited their right — and civic duty — to vote in […]

Income equality has risen for women


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A study released this year by the Department of Labor Time Use found that full-time men work more than five percent longer per week than their female counterparts. The same study explains that women are 34 percent less likely than men to be self-employed and own only 28.7 percent of American businesses. Yet, many Americans continue […]

Prisoners’ rights must be protected


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Last week marked the one-year anniversary of the end of a Northern California prison’s hunger strikes and a consequent deal struck between prisoners and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. At Pelican Bay State Prison in Crescent City, Calif., prisoners observed the anniversary by writing an open letter to Gov. Jerry Brown expressing their […]

What are the biggest misconceptions about the candidates?


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During Tuesday’s presidential debate, audience member Barry Green raised a unique question: As we approach the election, what are the biggest misconceptions associated with each candidate? Neither candidate broke any new ground — they used Green’s question as an opportunity to reiterate some of their central campaign points — but the question remains relevant, particularly […]

Students deserve more attention


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“Mr. President, Governor Romney, as a 20-year-old college student, all I hear from professors, neighbors and others is that when I graduate, I will have little chance to get employment. Can — what can you say to reassure me, but more importantly my parents, that I will be able to sufficiently support myself after I […]

University plan neglects local businesses


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The Village at USC project might have cleared its final major hurdle last Wednesday when it was officially approved by a Los Angeles City Council committee. The University Village redevelopment project, however, still represents the bare minimum effort put forward by the university to accommodate community interests. At a public hearing last August, the City […]

Manufacturing decline has benefits


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President Barack Obama’s performance in his first debate against Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney was far from spirited, making the passion Obama expressed for American manufacturing stand out. In his proposed revamp of America’s corporate tax rate to improve the economy, Obama promised a big tax cut for American manufacturers, “taking it down to 25 […]

Race-based admissions must end


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The future of race-based college admissions once again lies in the hands of U.S. Supreme Court justices, who are currently considering a case challenging the University of Texas at Austin for its inclusion of race as a factor in the admissions process.

Should the presidential candidates focus on military policy?


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Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney gave a foreign policy speech Monday at the Virginia Military Institute — an appropriate setting for a speech focused on war. Romney touched on many foreign policy issues, including the Syrian conflict, Iran’s potential acquisition of nuclear weapons, relations with Israel and the United States’ overall role in the Middle […]

Local newspapers should go hyperlocal


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The field of journalism is changing rapidly, with social media and the Internet revolutionizing the very nature of the industry. Amid these changes, local and regional newspapers have had to significantly restructure their models to succeed in an increasingly digital world — whether that means going online completely, covering more cities than they’re capable of […]