Opinion

The debate on abortion can never yield a winner. Giving people the right to have an abortion never feels like a victory since it allows for the snuffing out of potential lives. Taking away the right to abortion is even less appealing because we attack rights pertaining to reproduction, a gift bestowed by evolution. Taking away the right to abortion also forces children into already overcrowded families and into the arms of parents who may do considerably more harm than good. Our new president is taking the best possible steps in terms of both his policies and the manner in which he is treating the issue.

Broke bankers; "refugee run" at Davos; black the new black, survey says; Blagojevich grasps at straws.

Illinois impeaches Blago; Neo-Nazis clean up highway in Kansas; Navy trains Flipper to hunt scuba-diving terrorists; all House Republicans vote against stimulus package (which passes anyways).

Almuni Warns that UC Board of Regents Proposal Harms Us All; Green That's Too Extreme: Failing to Understand Your Audience; Relationship Educator Finds Divorce Article Touching

President Barack Obama gave his first interview since he's taken office to Al-Arabiya, a Saudi news network on Jan. 26. There is no doubt that the move was both impressive and constructive. The old face of imperialism, which characterized the Bush administration, has left some hope for change in our relations with the Arab world. President Obama has kept some notable promises since he has taken oath, namely closing down the infamous Guantanamo Bay and meeting with the war cabinet to discuss the withdrawal of troops in Iraq by May 2010. He has made it clear that he'll hold the age-old mantra of "Peace in the Middle East" to his name.

A day in Israel starts just like any day in America: The sun rises, you eat breakfast, say "good morning" to your family and sit down at the table. However, the only real difference is the occasional missile that might strike your house, or your neighbor's house, at any given minute. But here, trivial things like rocket launchings do not affect us. CNN does not cover it; media reports include the new president's first dance and a man talking to a squirrel, but not the constant rocket attacks barraging Israel.

The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences recently released a sobering new study that found climate change and human damage to the global environment to be essentially irreversible.

Last week President Barack Obama directed regulators to move forward on approving applications made by California and 13 other states to set strict auto emission and fuel standards.

Since when have we become a country that condones the endangerment and maltreatment of our nation's future? We must protect those who are unable to protect themselves, even if that means challenging and relinquishing some of our very own unalienable rights. The freedom of religious belief, guaranteed by our Constitution, cannot justify behavior that endangers an innocent child's life; yet, far too many cases in recent years have resulted in the unnecessary loss of life because parents have refrained from seeking medical treatment for their children due to religious beliefs that posit prayer is the only suitable method of care.

Oh, it has been an interesting seven years at the top, hasn't it? However, seven years is not a direct reference to the Bush administration's two terms in power, but to Fox News' reign as the number one cable news channel — a title that has absolutely everything to do with the outgoing president and the coverage he received by the so-called "fair and balanced" network. It seems as if Sept. 11 was the push that Fox News needed to get its slimy head completely out of the womb and into the ass of Bush Jr. Ever since, the two entities have enjoyed an effortless, co-dependent and totally platonic romance that went something like this...

The world witnessed twin milestones last year. Barack Obama was elected the first African-American president in the history of the United States and, for the first time, over one-half of the world's population lived in the city.

If all goes according to plan, Elizabeth Watkins will graduate at the end of spring quarter with a degree in studio art. It will have been her fourth year as a transfer student at UC Irvine and her seventh as an undergraduate. Along with her degree, Watkins will also walk off stage with a $6,000 student loan. In many ways, at first glance, she is lucky...