Police unions should use money for conduct reforms


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On March 6, Los Angeles government officials and the LAPD union reached an agreement on salary raises. According to the Los Angeles Times, “the agreement would grant raises in the last three years of a four-year contract,” and starting in July 2016, “officers would see a 4 [percent] pay increase followed by 2 [percent] increases […]

Sugar consumption should be moderated


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Sugar might not be so sweet after all. Though the conventional wisdom of “calories in vs. calories out” has long dictated nutritional recommendations for a healthy weight and lifestyle, mounting evidence indicates that this idea could be a drastic oversimplification of the way the foods we eat impact our health. As it turns out, not […]

To resolve apathy, focus on results


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It is exceedingly difficult to get most people in my generation, the millennials, to care about politics. What isn’t difficult is getting us to care about results. Bridging the gap between the process of politics, which doesn’t interest us, and the outcome, which does, holds the key to voter apathy, particularly among the young folks […]

Nemtsov’s death diminishes hope


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Last week, Boris Nemtsov, former deputy prime minister and leading critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was assassinated blocks away from the Moscow Kremlin. With such a high-profile murder occurring right under the nose of the Kremlin, Putin is sending a clear and incontrovertible message: Dissent has no home in Russia. Nemtsov was a leading […]

Documentary shows media’s responsibility


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Fifty Shades of Grey aside, the biggest gender-related film in the news this week was The Hunting Ground, the 2014 Sundance documentary that hit theaters in Los Angeles and New York City this past Friday. The Hunting Ground, which provides firsthand accounts of campus sexual assaults and their mishandlings at universities across the nation, has […]

U.S. relations with Cuba depend on terror list removal


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Fifty-five years ago, Fidel Castro made a deal with the Soviet Union and publicly denounced “Yankee imperialism.” For President Dwight Eisenhower, that was enough to justify cutting off all trade with Cuba, and later all diplomatic relations, in the name of ending communism. Following the embargo, the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban missile […]

Cuban negotiations should not compromise security


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Since the surprise announcement of reconciliation between Cuba and the United States, Presidents Barack Obama and Raúl Castro have had two meetings to work on negotiations. The historic first meeting took place in Havana, and last week, American and Cuban officials congregated again to work out diplomacy. Amid the peace talks, however, Cuba still remains […]

State drought is still top climate issue


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The donning of umbrellas this weekend might seem incongruous with reports that California is in a crippling and historic drought. But make no mistake, despite recent rainfall, the state is enduring dangerously dry conditions that some geologists believe have not been reached in almost 500 years. As the mega-drought persists through its fourth year, the […]

College Republicans’ reaction hypocritical


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Hypocrisy knows no bounds for some members of the College Republicans at the University of Southern California. I say this in response to their remarks about Angela Davis, a civil rights activist and communist who spoke on campus Monday. The day of Davis’ speech, the College Republicans published statements on their official Facebook page. The […]

Ukraine conflict poses long-term political risks


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It has been one year since the conflict in Ukraine began and little progress has been made in the Eastern European country. Peace negotiations between the leaders of Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine left all parties involved with a bitter taste in their mouths, as they agreed to a 15- to 45-mile buffer zone but […]