A gay old time at movement’s expense


With speeches here and interviews there, let’s face it: All that ever sticks with us are sound bites — short, 10-second remarks that get straight to the point. In politics, there are obviously quite a few notable ones: President Barack Obama’s “We are the change we’ve been waiting for;” Richard Nixon’s “I’m not a crook;” […]

Death of Shia leader leaves party in limbo


Thousands of mourners lined the streets Saturday morning to pay their respects to Shia leader Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, who died last week from lung cancer. Although he never chose to take an active political role within the central government, his role as leader of the major Shia group the United Iraqi Alliance, his influence and […]

Swine flu less dangerous than shoddy coverage


Back when I was 10 years old, I took a nasty spill on my bike and felt a searing pain in my arm. Now I’m not a doctor, but I correctly diagnosed myself with a broken bone; I was right back then, so I figure I’m on about the level of a licensed physician by […]

Letter to the Editor


Misinformation As a former undergraduate tour guide and current graduate tour guide, I found Lucy Mueller’s opinion piece, “A Step Forward for Tours,” from Aug. 25 to be over simplified and, in some cases, presumptuous to a point that demonstrates a lack of understanding for the job. Mueller stated that other campuses, such as Hendrix […]

LAPD plays unfair in game of tag


One time in the fourth grade, a couple of my friends decided it would be funny to pour water all over a bus seat before the return leg of a three-hour class field trip. If everything went according to plan, an unsuspecting victim would sit down in said seat and react to the unfortunate discovery […]

After three years, space politicization continues


Rare is a thing so unknowable as to provide infinite wonder. In a simpler age, the night sky might have been such a thing. It sure isn’t now. Last Monday marked the three-year anniversary of one of the saddest days in recent memory: Pluto’s demotion to dwarf-planet status. Years of watching Ms. Frizzle and her […]

Kenyan census is not a cure-all


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 […]