Opinion

When you restrict access to contraceptives, you affect the foundation of strong families. According to a recent National Public Radio report, nearly 750,000 teenagers will become pregnant this year and three out of every 10 American girls will get pregnant at least once before they hit their 20th birthday. That's a lot of teen pregnancies.

Proposition 11, if passed, will transfer redistricting powers from California's legislature, a body of mostly incumbent politicians, to an unelected, independent 14-member commission. The commission would establish districts for the Board of Equalization, state senate and state assembly. However, the state legislature will still retain the power to draw congressional districts.

Amidst the financial crisis, an imminent election and a dozen important state propositions, a proposition decriminalizing (but not legalizing) prostitution in the city of San Francisco is a rather small and contained issue.

Any activity can be an art, as long as it inspires. Lecturing is no different. Throughout one's experience as an undergrad at UC Irvine, one has the luxury of constantly being inspired by a lecture. Some lectures inspire learning and others a siesta. While inspiring mouthfuls of dripping drool can have its glory, the real heroes to any student are those professors who can make an abominable subject digestible.

Although much can be said about the problems in America's health care system, perhaps even more can be said about a huge road block in health care effectiveness the world over: pharmaceutical companies. Through a variety of minute techniques that the average person may not even think about, pharmaceutical companies are able to pluck the pockets of both the American poor and wealthy alike. Moreover, due to the citizens of some impoverished nations having no finances to sweep up, some pharmaceutical companies simply refuse to make their products available in some countries.

Proposition 2 is a veiled attack on corporations and the farming business. Ostensibly to protect "animal rights," the proposition's central "reform" is an increase in the size of animal pens by 2015. The reality is that such a requirement is too costly and defeats the causes it purports to defend.

Proposition 3, the Children's Hospital Bond Act, is one of those important initiatives. Children's hospitals treat the most serious and deadly diseases and conditions, including cancer, heart defects, diabetes, sickle cell anemia and cystic fibrosis. The number of children who need care in California is growing, but the space and equipment to treat them are not.

Imagine this: You have just been arrested for drug possession by a police officer. You are surprised, scared out of your mind, afraid of receiving a long sentence and are running out of options. Proposition 5 wants to give you two solutions: rehab in exchange for prison or a shortened sentence based on a new set of criteria for punishment. Sounds nice, right? Wrong. In accordance with Proposition 36, Proposition 5 will continue to allocate spending on rehab programs for convicted drug users. According to a UCLA study done on Proposition 36, many of the drug users on parole either have never showed up for treatment or failed to finish their programs. Almost $460 million a year would be set aside for these already faulty programs with Proposition 5, and with California's increasing deficit and the nation's unstable economic standing, this is not the best investment.

One of the most important propositions on the ballot this year is Proposition 4. If passed, it would require parental notification and a waiting period when a minor wishes to get an abortion. The law would also have exceptions that allow another adult relative to be notified in lieu of a parent when there may be abuse in the home. Under the current law, a girl of any age can get an abortion without parental notification or consent.

In the real world, parental notification laws do not work because they cannot solve family problems or build better communication within families. If Proposition 4 passes, instead of communicating with their families, many pregnant, scared teenage girls will seek unsafe, illegal abortions or do something even more drastic.

Drug use has always been a controversial issue in California. Over the years, questions have been raised about legalizing marijuana and what kinds of treatment or punishment the state should offer to certain types of drug offenses. Proposition 5 is an initiative that should seem familiar to us. In the 2000 election, Proposition 36 was passed, which sought to institute a drug diversion program that rehabilitated people convicted of non-violent drug possession crimes. According to a study by the UCLA Integrated Substance Abuse Program, taxpayers received $2.50 for every dollar they invested in running the programs set forth by Proposition 36, proving its effectiveness. Thus, it saved the state money that would have been spent on incarcerating non-violent inmates.

Proposition 6, also known as the Safe Neighborhoods Act, will combat the rising crime rate and fix the flaws in California's prison and law enforcement systems.