Opinion

Every May, the Muslim Student Union, along with a coalition of various student groups, puts on a series of events about the Palestinian-Israeli issue in which the goal is to promote a better understanding of the conflict and to foster critical thinking and debate. Through dynamic talks and interactive installations, we hope to pave a path to engage the student body and faculty in exploring the potential for change. By empowering students with more knowledge, independent of western media bias and bigoted perceptions, we hope to encourage active involvement in promoting a just solution in the region. This week, we will show the tragedy in the loss of humanity when rhetoric and politics take precedence over coexistence and compassion.

Last week, the Obama administration hosted Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari in Foggy Bottom, a neighborhood in Washington, D.C., for talks and friendship-building fun-tivities. Usually, the mutual failure to deal with the Taliban and its associates is a source of tension between the two countries. But on this trip, Pakistan could not deny that it was the primary architect of its latest problems. Luckily, the solution lies within as well.

As we speak, hundreds of families across the United States are being forced apart.

It’s more bad news for University of California students, as UC officials have agreed to a 9.3 percent hike in student fees for the 2009-10 academic year. According to The Los Angeles Times, this would amount to a $662 increase per student and will bring the average basic cost for an undergraduate UC education to $8,720 a year for California residents, not including room, board and books. This increase has been enacted in order to help cope with the $450 million UC budget shortfall that is projected for the next two years.

It’s no secret that our current economic downturn has created worry among students at UC Irvine and other campuses across the nation who are seeking to enter the job market with limited opportunities. But just when you thought that having to compete with other college students was hard enough, there is another caveat that will make your job hunt a tad more difficult and strenuous: older and overqualified laid-off workers.

It’s that time of the presidency again; it’s Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS)-picking time. After Associate Justice David Souter decided that his stay on the Supreme Court would end in June, President Barack Obama is now left with the honorable task of picking a new justice to anger right-wing Kool-Aid drinkers.

On April 20, the New University published an editorial entitled, "Paying to Play: Buying the ASUCI Presidency," in which the Editorial Board argued for spending caps in ASUCI elections. We stand behind that editorial. Without spending caps, election campaigns have become caught in an arms race, with each candidate forced to spend ridiculous amounts of money in order to remain competitive. This leaves students who don't have large amounts of funding behind. ASUCI campaigns should be fueled by thoughtful proposals and ideas, not by money.

In a recent press release, United Airlines claimed to have receive over 700 complaints last year from passengers who had uncomfortable flights solely because they were seated next to an obese person. In response, the airline carrier adopted a policy regarding the problem. Under the policy, if a passenger is deemed too fat to fit into his or her seat comfortably – the criteria for this is if the passenger is unable to put down the arm rest or buckle the seatbelt with an extender – then that passenger will be charged for an additional seat on the flight for the inconvenience. This development is the latest in a series of attempts to discriminate against obese people, which is arguably the only socially acceptable form of discrimination focused on an entire group of people.

Savana Redding's life as a 13-year-old was significantly more complicated than most. When I was 13, my primary concern was what girls thought of me and how soon I could get contact lenses. Others worried about their grades or soccer teams. Unlike us, Redding was stripped searched by school officials based on the uncorroborated tip of a fellow student.

This past Monday, I opened up my copy of the New University and was unpleasantly surprised by the article, "Catch 22: Regulating Climate Change During a Recession." The article seemed like a standard opinion, yet its assumptions concerning the future of energy reform in the United States were insidious in their capability to convince the average reader of their merit, and thereby encourage complacency.

When Barack Obama first began his quest for the Democratic Party's nomination three years ago, the Dow Jones industrial average was around 14,000 and the world and national economies were in the midst of a boom. By 2008, America's financial industry was in shambles, credit markets were frozen, housing values were decreasing and the economy was in the worst shape since the Great Depression. Add Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and North Korea to the mix, and you have got yourself an astounding set of international and national challenges.

ASUCI President Responds to Criticism of Elections Code