Opinion

President Barack Obama made his first foreign trip to Canada on Feb. 12. Although the trip wasn't far and may not seem important to the American people, it was well overdue because it is vital for the new administration to pay attention to Canada. America must not only maintain strong foreign relations with our northern neighbor but also work to improve them. The reasons for this are unfortunately often overlooked.

Anteaters for Israel (AFI) invited Khaled Abu Toameh to speak about the Israel-Palestinian conflict at UC Irvine last Wednesday. Toameh is an internationally renowned Muslim Arab-Israeli journalist acclaimed for his moderate stance and his intimate experience with the conflict. He spent seven years writing for a Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) newspaper and now works for the Jerusalem Post.

Since I arrived in Brazil to study abroad, locals have asked me about the education system in the United States and specifically the UC system. As an education reform activist and a tuition abolitionist, talking about this subject is easy. However, it has not been easy to explain the concept of student debt and the reasons our public university system is not truly public.

With every type of business feeling the pains of our struggling economy, the news industry in particular has faced difficulties making ends meet. While print media is already battling the specter of a slow death, it is the smaller, more local newspapers that are having the hardest time staying alive. Just last week, it was reported that San Francisco might lose its primary local newspaper, the San Francisco Chronicle, if its parent company fails to find a buyer, and Denver's Rocky Mountain News published its last issue on Feb. 27.

Exit stage right, enter stage left. Maybe, just maybe, President Barack Obama reads the New University or at the very least my articles. Just as I was about to write another disappointing review of Obama's hesitance to act boldly, he turns progressive on me.

Ever since he took office, President Barack Obama has been understandably preoccupied with attempting to mitigate the economic recession. With respect to foreign policy, Obama's overused mantra of "Change" actually seemed to mean something concrete; he talked about ending torture, rebuilding America's soft power and speaking to countries with whom America has no diplomatic relations. In examining Obama's foreign policy thus far, especially in the Middle East, it is important to consider whether or not his decisions have meaningfully changed America's course.

A college in rural Missouri is attempting to remove all books from its school. In an effort to cut costs, Northwest Missouri State is providing students with laptops filled with downloadable versions of required textbooks. Refered to as e-books, they contain all the same information as normal books. Some even have interactive features. I greeted this news with a sigh of relief and a scream of joy. As the world moves to a more digital age, I am typically reluctant to investigate new gizmos and widgets. But this time was an exception. An all-digital book system would be superior to a paper one. Despite the difficulty of the change, the new system is more convenient, more eco-friendly and cheaper.

This February, UC Irvine lost an esteemed professor. After his passing, Dr. Richard Kroll was lauded by colleagues and students alike for not only his excellence as an educator but also for his dedication to the written word. Professor Kroll's influential reputation also stems from one of the hallmarks of his teaching: tough-love grading that awarded student work with realistic grades, often to the dismay of surprised students.

It includes a $12.5 billion increase in taxes, a $14.8 billion cut to education, public transportation, health care and the judiciary system and $5.4 billion in new borrowing. It offers less child credit and higher tuition to the tune of 9 percent. The 2009-10 California state budget has something for everyone, though not in a way that most Californians, Republican or Democrat, will like.

California is in shambles. I am currently looking for paid work in the Sacramento area and wherever I apply, the advice is the same: stay away from the government. The situation is so bad that people are taking unpaid, forced vacations to keep their jobs. With the world economy the way it is, relief is almost entirely out of the question. Still, some people want to come to our aid.

Student Center Shows Its True Colors – Red, White and Blue; Stop the Attacks on the Military and Conservatives

From the mountains of Afghanistan and the deserts of Iraq, fallen soldiers are quietly and discretely flown home. Together, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have claimed the lives of some 4,825 American soldiers since the initial invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. As casualties continue to rise on both civilian and coalition fronts, the media continues to debate policy issues in theoretical terms while following a Bush administration policy that bars photographers from taking images of the coffins of fallen soldiers. While there are many perspectives to consider over this issue, ultimately the Defense Department and the new administration should decide that the public should be exposed to images of fallen soldiers so that the visual reality of war is apparent for all to see.