The Orthodox Christian Church is predenominational; it’s approximately 2,000 years old. It contains both Eastern and Oriental Orthodoxy, whose members are referred to as “Orthodox Christians.” Within these two groups are churches that are all part of the Orthodox family, just separated on the basis of geographic region. I am part of the Coptic Orthodox Church, which originates in Egypt.

The theology that is foundational to the Church remains steadfast and constant as it was passed down from the apostles — the disciples of Christ — and continues into modern day. Although the doctrine is, without argument, the principal component of the Church, there is a cultural presence that must be considered. Unless one is part of the growing American Orthodox Church, one is bound to be confronted with cultural norms that prove to be perplexing.

Despite the fact that I’m Egyptian, being born and raised in the United States has lent itself to some difficulties. Growing up in a church that had an apparent Middle Eastern influence, it took conscious effort to distinguish culture from beliefs. Over time, I came to terms with the fact that every culture has its faults distinct from its faith. Fortunately, I also came to perceive the beauty that culture added to the Church.

For a person unfamiliar with Orthodoxy, it may seem strange at first. The unfamiliar languages and traditional form of worship coupled with a large number of people with the same ethnic background and uncertainty about how to behave is normal and expected. The primary culture differs between various Orthodox Churches, but the belief systems remain the same. It just takes some time to realize that the peculiar is not very peculiar after all.

Whether it is the Coptic, Greek, Russian or any of the other Orthodox Churches, icons depicting Jesus Christ, the saints and other holy imagery line the walls, reminding the congregation of the saints’ continual presence in the church. Also, hymns are sung in English as well as in the traditional language connecting the modern-day church in America to the geographic region where it originated.

In a liturgical service, where the Eucharist is administered, members gather together in participation of the sacramental life in one accord with the early church started by the apostles. This is the pride of the Orthodox Church. It is able to unite with the past, for it remains grounded and consistent in dogma, withstanding the pressures of time and culture, allowing for a coherent remembrance of the past.

Although cultural values and social norms are unnecessary to practice the true faith, this history is what makes the church a living remembrance to the past, which adds to its richness. Even though the incense has lost its poignancy and church attendance may have become plain routine, the profoundness of the Orthodox faith continues to be realized on a daily basis.

The Berkeley community takes pride in being a collective group of individuals that is always seeking and learning. Most students are willing to listen to differing beliefs from their own, whether they be religious or not, but when it comes to certain topics, you may feel like you know enough about a topic to form an educated opinion. Whether or not you are informed enough, this is the time to explore and not hold back. It could be scrutinizing doubts you’ve had about your stance on certain social issues, taking a class in a field of study that has been intriguing you lately, even though it has nothing to do with your major and will not satisfy any requirements, or inquiring about Orthodox believers because of ongoing persecution in countries like Egypt and Syria; the time is now. Be proactive.

Monica Mikhail contemplates the truth of the matter in her Thursday blog. Contact Monica Mikhail at mmikhail@dailycal.org.

The post A glimpse into modern-day Orthodox Christianity appeared first on The Daily Californian.

Creative Commons/Courtesy

While in high school and even more so during my first year of college, the “What are you planning on majoring in?” question always made me worry unnecessarily about the inevitable decision I’ll have to make — a decision that I was able to make with ease after I had the time to think about it. Now, it’s the “What are your plans after graduation?” question that has me stressed out.

Like many students, I have no concrete plan. Sure, there are certain occupations I’m interested in, but I have yet to decide which one I would like to pursue, so my post-graduation plans are currently nonexistent.

Taking into consideration that, as college students, even our lunch plans for the day are vague, it is beyond my understanding why some people are unable to understand why a student wouldn’t have any future plans in mind. It doesn’t make sense to me why there lies this expectation that students must, from the beginning, have a goal beyond their college years to strive toward because there really isn’t a point to studying “aimlessly.”

This is not to say that those who ask this stress-inducing question expect a detailed plan — if anything, it’s a nice follow-up question to “What is your major?” However, because this inquiry brings on anxiety for many students, there must be social pressures that invoke it, such as the pressure to be successful at a young age and the need to gain a sense of security.

For some of us, it seems like time is running out — that the ticking on the analog clock will eventually stop. Except, surprise, time actually won’t be running out. We live life as if we’re on a time limit: The quicker you reach your goal, the more impressive. This is confirmed when people praise those who accomplish what others have accomplished at a younger age — which, although impressive, should not diminish the achievements of other students no matter the magnitude or the age that success came by. It is important to be a hard worker and to be productive — but not at the expense of rushing through life.

Then there are those who figure that once they’ve accomplished what they set to accomplish, then they will stop stressing. If  a student stresses majorly through his or her college years about college and about the future, chances are that even after gaining the level of security desired, he or she will still be worried and want more.

The truth of the matter is that stressing won’t make you successful; it’ll just make you miserable. The time for adult decisions will come. Decisions will eventually be made. In the meantime, it doesn’t hurt to enjoy these four years instead of speeding through them or having them clouded with apprehension for the future. Plan for your post-grad life, but enjoy the present. The undergraduate years only happen once.

Image Source: marsmet481 via Creative Commons 

Monica Mikhail contemplates the truth of the matter in her Thursday blog. Contact Monica Mikhail at mmikhail@dailycal.org.

The post Impracticality of stressing over post-grad life appeared first on The Daily Californian.

In return, I gave her this face.

Here’s the deal: I wasn’t offended because I didn’t own a mirror; I was offended because BRF is actually becoming a “thing.” As soon as the fake public safety announcement video went viral, hungry journalists wasted no time. Articles like this, this and this immediately identified celebrities that suffer from BRF. Anna Paquin even confessed to Jimmy Kimmel that she suffers from “a severe case of BRF.” She added, “It makes you look really angry all the time, like you want to kill people or like you’re a giant bitch.” Personally, the BRF trend amazes me, considering how the term originated from a YouTube skit. Everybody knows this, yet we still treat it like an actual phenomenon — or worse, a disorder.

Yep, you read that right. BRF is now officially a biological disorder that can be cured using corrective plastic surgeries. Plastic surgeon Anthony Youn told The Today Show, “Basically, many of us have features that we inherit and/or develop with age that can make us look unpleasant, grumpy or, even, yes — bitchy.” He recommended procedures like “grin lift” and Botox injection to turn that frown upside down.

It looks like our generation has found the new “cellulite” myth! (In case you didn’t know, “cellulite” was coined to lure women into condemning skin dimpling, which is otherwise a perfectly natural condition, like aging. In return, the cosmetics industry and plastic surgeons profited hugely once “cellulite” became a thing that must be corrected.)

Another thing that pisses me off is the reeking smell of sexism in BRF. Even though the original video was mostly geared toward women, it also mentioned the male version of BRF — Resting Asshole Face, or RAF. Yet, as expected, it is not RAF that gains traction in media. (I don’t see any actor publicly apologizing for his unfriendly facial expression.)

Why?

Because we have this double standard that makes a man look dangerously sexy when he scowls and a woman unattractively fierce. This is why RAF is not a disorder. Rather, it’s seen as a feature that augments a man’s sex appeal. Meanwhile, women are either bugged by busybodies on the streets — “Smile, honey!” — or tagged as a cold person.

Ann-Marie Stillion, a communication strategist and artist from Seattle, describes what she has to do to “fix” her BRF: “I smile a lot now, not because I’m so happy but because I know it makes people more comfortable.”

This kind of attitude made me push Robin Thicke aside to write about BRF instead. I mean, unless you’re a walking billboard for Crest 3D Whitestrips, I don’t see why anybody has to walk around with a fake smile on his or her face to appease other people. So, can’t we just please get through a week without feeling like the media is a sexist on Viagra?!

The post Is BRF the next cellulite? appeared first on The Daily Californian.

Creative Commons/Courtesy

It starts off innocently enough. My friends and I will tease one another until one friend starts laughing hysterically, like a psycho, which we jokingly call her. Little do we know that one of her family members is dealing with mental health issues. A more common scene is when a friend randomly (as it always seems to be unsubstantiated) announces that she feels fat; we then try to convince her otherwise. She doesn’t recognize that she is the thinnest one among her friends and that there may be someone in the room who’s been struggling with weight issues.

But these occurrences are innocent enough. People typically don’t call their friends psychos to make jabs at them or call themselves fat with the intention of having their friends evaluate their own current weight.

It’s left up to the recipient, then. That person decides whether to react and risk accusation of being too sensitive, because how would anyone know about any sentiments toward a specific word if he or she neglected to share their personal experience with anyone? No harm is done if the person chooses not to react, but if he or she disapproves and decides not to say anything, there is a risk of feeling bitterness toward the friend.

Although a call to change is likely to be started by an individual who has a personal attachment to a specific word, they are not the only ones responsible for raising awareness. There must be a reaction to words that are used inappropriately because, even if it doesn’t affect you personally, it can cause unnecessary grief to another person.

While I wish people were more aware of the power that words have, I realize that we cannot completely eradicate all words that can potentially offend someone. It just isn’t practical — or logical — for that matter. Words are created with an intended meaning, and over time, negative connotations have been tacked on to them. Now is the time to correct words that have gone wrong.

There are many movements that pledge to end the usage of certain words. One of the more popular campaigns is Spread the Word to End the Word, which calls for the end of the word “retard.” Initially, this term only had a medical connotation, but over time, it has been more commonly used as a slur — like many other words and phrases, such as “lame” and “dumb.” Another familiar campaign is ThinkB4YouSpeak, which asks for people to pledge not to use homophobic words and phrases.

Thankfully, because of these movements, words and phrases like the “R” word and homophobic slurs are becoming less popular, and chances are, if someone does happen to use any one of these slurs, a well-meaning friend will speak up. Unfortunately, though, there are words that have the same negative effect, but their potential for harm goes unrecognized.

For example, calling someone “emo,” “crazy,” or “psycho” or jokingly accusing that person of having a psychological disorder such as obsessive-compulsive disorder seems more funny than serious; however, in our jesting, we forget that mental health concerns are a reality for many people.

It is worth the effort to be cognizant of the effect of words on others. For those who are offended by the use of certain words, it is their responsibility to raise awareness and speak out when other people use such words. And, although difficult, we all must be more understanding. People will joke around and use words whose harm is unknown — because, unfortunately, there are many issues that still remain under the radar.

Monica Mikhail contemplates the truth of the matter in her Thursday blog. Contact Monica Mikhail at mmikhail@dailycal.org.

The post Words gone wrong appeared first on The Daily Californian.

I saw a meme on Facebook the other day that says, “I am not Trayvon Martin.” It was posted by a “middle-aged, middle class, overweight white guy” who did not personally identify with Trayvon but still understood why the verdict was wrong. It has since gone viral.

The message resonated with me because I am not Trayvon Martin. Although I have the typical phenotypes of a Southeast Asian woman, I grew up without experiencing any direct racism. In contrast, I often experience kindness from strangers. I would walk home late at night (sometimes in a black hoodie, with my hands in my pockets), and people would stop to ask me if I’m lost or in need of assistance.

Why?

Because at 5-foot-1 and 100 pounds, I look like a 12-year-old on most days. In other words, I look nonthreatening — a lost child that needs to be protected, not attacked.

But what about Trayvon Martin?

On February 26, 2012, Martin, a tall and lean 17-year-old, was walking back to his girlfriend’s house — located in a gated community of Sanford, Fla. — after a quick run to 7-Eleven for some Skittles and Arizona juice. He was 70 yards from her back porch when George Zimmerman, a self-appointed neighborhood watch, shot him in the chest. Some can say that Trayvon was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. But I disagree. He was walking in a gated community at 7 p.m.! Which part of that sounds like the wrong place and time to you? Nothing, right? The situation would have been radically different if it weren’t for the color of his skin — a fact that did not escape Zimmerman.

Here’s my initial reaction: Why was Zimmerman even patrolling at 7 p.m.? The sun went down in Florida at 6:23 p.m.  on that night. Obviously, Zimmerman either had too much free time on his hands — apparently his “goal” to become a judge doesn’t entail devoting any time to studying laws — or he was out targeting people who looked like Martin. The latter theory is backed by a racial slur that Zimmerman dropped during his 911 call to the police: “These assholes always get away.” Now, if that doesn’t imply intentional prejudice, then I don’t know what will. From what I see, Zimmerman went after a teenager with a bag of Skittles in his hands, because the notions of black males in hoodies and malicious thugs were interchangeable in his mind.

Unfortunately, the female jurors in Florida could not reach the same logical conclusion. They ruled that Zimmerman was not guilty because he acted in self-defense. Perhaps they were too busy scrutinizing what Martin was wearing that night (because a black hoodie automatically screams suspicious behavior) to notice Zimmerman’s criminal record, which includes charges for assaulting an officer and resisting arrest and a restraining order from his ex-fiancee alleging domestic violence. Clearly not the best person you’d want on your neighborhood watch team.

To those who support the verdict, here’s my two cents: At the end of the day, an unarmed minor was killed, and the killer got away scot-free.

And that is precisely why I, along with other dissenters of the verdict, can’t help but think that this tragedy was caused by the insidious seed of racism in our minds. What if Zimmerman had seen someone like me that night? I have no doubts he would’ve offered to drive me home, even though I’m three years older than Martin and can often be seen armed with pepper spray.

I am not Trayvon Martin. But I don’t have to be Trayvon Martin to understand that racial profiling was a major factor in Zimmerman’s actions, that racism perpetuates and divides our country, that judging people by their skin pigmentation is inexcusably and intolerably wrong. And until enough people who are not Trayvon Martin realize these fundamentals, nothing will change.

Anh Thai ponders about insidious world problems in her Tuesday blog. Contact Anh Thai at athai@dailycal.org.

The post I am not Trayvon Martin appeared first on The Daily Californian.

lochnessjess via flickr/File

It is one of the first things that makes students uncomfortable when moving to Berkeley — the widespread poverty. Encountering this social welfare problem tends to be strange because for the majority of students, this level of poverty is only seen on occasion and probably not seen in our hometowns. Yet this feeling of uneasiness doesn’t last long.

At times, I’m conflicted as to how to respond when someone asks me for money. Should I give them money? If I decide to, should I pull out my wallet or put change in my pockets ahead of time for easy access? If I decide not to, how do I say no? In my personal experience, these encounters are typically guilt-inducing as well, because while I have access to a variety of food options with a swipe of my Cal 1 Card at Crossroads, people asking for money along Telegraph Avenue and other Berkeley streets may be hungry or lacking a place to sleep at night. As I became acquainted with Berkeley, I was informed about details concerning the issue of poverty in this city and cameto realize that it was more complicated than I had made it out to be. In turn, I justified my growing passiveness toward the homeless until I became comfortable with it.

I figured that there were organizations in Berkeley aiding the cause, providing places where those in need could receive shelter and food. I convinced myself that other people have made this issue their focus — that I didn’t need to worry myself about it. I even told myself that some of the homeless chose this life for themselves. I just walk past them quickly and go about my day, because even if I responded to every request for money when asked, my dollar wouldn’t make a difference, I told myself.

As the months passed, I simply became comfortable with the fact that homeless people are part of Berkeley’s community. And, as I became more comfortable with it, I cared less and less.

Recently, I have realized that getting too comfortable is dangerous.

Once we grow comfortable and settle with the state of our community, it will be difficult to recognize the existing need when we have been living around it for so long. As a community, we become numb to problems because they have been normalized. This results in a lack of concern, slowing down advancements toward change. It is difficult to make progress toward serving and minimizing the homeless community, dealing with the crime rate, addressing the faults existing in primary and secondary education system in Berkeley or even mentioning the uncleanliness of city streets when we have grown used to all these issues.

It is my hope that I’m never too comfortable and that I realize that although I don’t necessarily have to advocate for every cause, there is always something little that I can do. When faced with huge social issues, Berkeley has been known throughout history to stand up, have a voice and act. However, it is in how we address the “little” problems that will confirm our strength as acommunity for our greater community.

Monica Mikhail contemplates the truth of the matter in her Thursday blog. Contact Monica Mikhail at mmikhail@dailycal.org.

The post The danger in being too comfortable appeared first on The Daily Californian.

Creative Commons/Courtesy

If your man’s condom fails in Texas, you’ll only have 20 weeks to decide whether to keep your unwanted pregnancy and only six clinics to help you.

Texas House Bill 2, which prohibits women from seeking abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, was passed last Friday by a vote of 19 to 11. It also requires abortions to take place in fully equipped surgical centers. Since only six of the state’s 42 clinics actually meet this requirement, many clinics will have to close down once the bill goes into effect on Aug. 1.

Although this is one of the strictest anti-abortion measures in the country, it did not come as a surprise victory.Texas already passed a law in 2011 that enforces a mandatory sonogram 24 hours before an abortion. Consequently, women seeking abortions must make at least two trips to the clinic. This law, along with HB 2, impedes the abortion process by increasing traveling expenses. USA Today predicts that for women in rural areas, the closest clinic could be as far as 350 miles away. Although the cost of an additional day or two might not seem like much, this kind of time and money are not something low-income women or teenage girls can afford.

 Just because the resources aren’t there doesn’t mean the needs have diminished. On average, the 42 clinics in Texas perform about 72,500 abortions per year. Once the new law is enforced, the six remaining clinics would undoubtedly have an astronomical backlog of appointments, creating a lag time that might cause many to miss the 20-week deadline.

 Needless to say, these kinds of restrictions will make many women desperate for an alternative solution. After the 24-hour waiting period was installed, reports showed that low-income women would cross the border between Mexico and the United States to buy misoprostol, a U.S. prescription drug that is officially used to treat gastric ulcers. However, because abortion is illegal outside of Mexico City, the medicine does not come with any instructions about the correct dosage and is often sold by untrained sales representatives. As such, many women are still pregnant after taking misoprostol. Some even suffer from heavy bleeding as a result of incorrect dosages.

 Pro-life supporters have  also overlooked the fact that these supposedly inadequate clinics are also the ones providing women with breast cancer screenings, pap smears, STD tests and contraceptives. These resources are already sparse due to cuts made in 2011 to Planned Parenthood, which forced more than 60 nonabortion clinics to close in Texas. Thus, it is no surprise that some have dubbed this anti-abortion trend a “war against women.”

Yet, Texan Republicans are recalcitrant.

“I will fight and I will fight and I will fight to protect my baby,” said Rep. Jason Villalba, R-Texas, a proponent of the bill, while dramatically waving a sonogram of his child at 13 weeks.

This begs the question: Why must he take away other women’s rights to protect his own child? If Villalba wants to save his baby, then he needs to talk to his wife. Unless he’s the father of the child, Villalba — and proponents of HB 2 alike — has no right to dictate what a woman should or shouldn’t do with her pregnancy. As its state slogan says, Texas might be “like a whole other country,” but it should at least give choice a chance!

Image Source: annharkness via Creative Commons 

Anh Thai ponders about insidious world problems in her Tuesday blog. Contact Anh Thai at athai@dailycal.org.

The post If your man’s condom fails in Texas appeared first on The Daily Californian.

Creative Commons/Courtesy

Yesterday on Facebook, a friend shared a link to an article titled “The Rape of Men,” which I then passed on to a couple of my housemates. After reading the article and discussing it, we were undeniably sad for the rest of the night.

Although each year has its low points, this past year seems to have been filled with many tragic news stories. From the consecutive shootings all over the nation to the Boston Marathon bombing and, most recently, the revolutions going on in Egypt and Turkey, I’ve come to realize that I have consumed more news this year than ever before.

Sure, there have been a few positive effects of reading the news more, but I’m often plagued with the negative effects. For example, after the Boston bombing, Saudi Arabian Abdulrahman Ali Alharbi and a Moroccan student were wrongly accused by the media, evidenced by the New York Post’s front page the Thursday following the bombing. Not only did the media’s role drastically affect the lives of these two young men, but the media fed the nation’s people a terrible lie by reporting too quickly making themselves unreliable in the most serious of times.

CNN has also caused distress the past couple of weeks. Their representation of the June 30 Egyptian revolution as a “military coup” has put them under severe criticism by Egyptians. It is not the fear that the United States will stop aid to Egypt that causes anger toward this national occurrence being dubbed a “military coup” — it’s the fact that this title refuses to acknowledge the power of the people who have risen up against their government in unity and reclaimed their land. The military was a liaison between the people and the government, working only to satisfy the desire of the people. Egyptians have outwardly condemned CNN by creating a Facebook group called “CNN Supports Terrorism” and have caused #CNN_STOP_Lying_About_Egypt to trend.

When reading a news article, there is an expectation that the article will stay focused on the core of the story. That news stations will spend their time covering the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing instead of wasting time backtracking as they cover themselves for misinforming readers. That one of the world’s largest news organizations with a leading international news channel would make the effort to report correctly on a major international story without being swayed to report differently.

All the time I’ve spent arguing over whether or not the Egyptian revolution was a indeed a military coup even though that isn’t even the point of the revolution has made me think about the ramifications of news stories. Regarding the article concerning the rape of men in Uganda, I wonder what the point is in getting worked up over it if there is nothing I can do to influence the situation anyway.

Is it worth it getting angry over CNN? Is there any value in reading about world atrocities when they seem so other-worldly?

When news is quality investigative journalism, it has the ability to work with the people instead of being an opposing force. It has the power to ignite a spark in an individual, causing that person to pursue a cause that he or she never would have before. It has the potential to grant freedom to people, as Lara Stemple was able to do for men in Uganda through her University of California’s Health and Human Rights Law Project. It has the audacity to call out illegal actions and save lives, just as Stephanie Sinclair was able to do for many child brides when she investigated and raised awareness of child marriages, which are outlawed in many countries and forbidden by international agreements.

There is a point to reading the news. It just needs to be done with caution. It has to be done with the awareness of the fact that not everything is reported with accuracy, that we are not all personally responsible in aiding every cause and that it’s all right to take a break and not read every once in a while — because it can become burdensome.

News sometimes misleads, and it is often overwhelming, considering it informs us about occurrences that we often have no control over. Despite the negative, I believe it’s worth it.

Image source: dcmetroblogger via Creative Commons

Monica Mikhail contemplates the truth of the matter in her weekly blog. Contact Monica Mikhail at mmikhail@dailycal.org.

The post What’s the point in reading the news anyways? appeared first on The Daily Californian.

Creative Commons/Courtesy

For Berkeley students and Bay Area residents in general, the BART strike was a major inconvenience. Most of us don’t drive, and even those who do prefer to use public transportation over long distances. As such, it’s not uncommon to think that the unions have the upper hand in this negotiation.

Yet nothing has been resolved since unionized BART employees went on strike last Monday. This is due to the fact that the unions have overestimated their leverage. A strike needs at least one of the following two factors in order to be impactful: inelastic demand for the suspended service or overwhelming public support.

On the surface, it would seem that the first factor is a given. However, Bay Area workers are speedy adapters. Most have chosen to use alternatives like carpooling, ferry, AC Transit bus and even Google bus to get into the city and back. Some have also opted to telecommute from home to avoid road congestion.

Perhaps the reason the public has adapted so quickly is that most of us are unsympathetic to the unionized workers’ cause. And it’s hardly surprising once we’ve looked at the numbers. BART workers are among the highest paid in transportation services. On average, BART operators of automated trains earn $30.22 per hour. Their work week only requires 37.5 hours, so a 40-hour schedule already has 2.5 hours of overtime built in. They only pay $92 a month toward their medical insurance plans, regardless of family size. They contribute nothing to their pension plan. Finally, there’s no limit to how much vacation time they can accrue (two years after she was forced to resign, former general manager Dorothy Dugger was still the top earner on BART’s payroll because she was cashing out 3,100 hours of unused time off). It’s no wonder that some Berkeley students have volunteered to fill in the vacancies — even a Cal degree will not usually earn you $30.22 per hour at the entry level!

Despite unfavorable support, the unions still refuse to budge unless BART agrees to give its workers a 4.5 percent raise per year for the next three years in addition to better healthcare and pension plans.

Meanwhile, BART’s management has agreed to double the original proposal to an 8 percent raise — 5 percent would be unconditional and 3 percent conditional on whether workers agree to pay more for their healthcare and pension.

With top state officials stepping in as mediators, BART employees have resumed work on Friday. However, another strike is inevitable if an agreement cannot be reached by Aug. 4.

Until then, here is some advice for both parties. First, the board of directors needs to seriously apply stricter scrutiny on employee benefits — we didn’t vote for these board members only to have them squander our tax money! Second, the unions need to wake up and take a look at the real world. Sure, the economy has recovered, but it’s far from being stable. Many people in the private sector have not received a raise in five years (cost-of-living adjustment excluded), so public servants should not be the first to complain. After all, the ones who are most affected by this strike are the low- and middle-income classes, who rely mainly on public transportation. In other words, the unions are hurting those they claim to help! It would be helpful if they can remember what former president Franklin D. Roosevelt said when he forbade public employees to join unions: “The employer is the whole people.”

Image source: acidhelm via Creative Commons

Anh Thai ponders about insidious world problems in her Tuesday blog. Contact Anh Thai at athai@dailycal.org.

The post Why BART workers should stop complaining appeared first on The Daily Californian.

Creative Commons/Courtesy

Barbecues, fairs, picnics, fireworks — this is how many people choose to celebrate the Fourth of July. Hopefully on this day, political differences are set aside as we gather together to take pride in being American.

While some will celebrate the traditional way and have a cookout, others will express their happiness in a nontraditional sense that is more comfortable, such as indulging in Russian cuisine or going to an Asian-American festival, because being American is more than just being American. It is a day when some reflect on the fact that they wouldn’t be American if they first were not African, Asian, European, etc.

On that note, today I am proud to be an Egyptian, too.

June 30 marked the first day of the second revolution in which Egyptians, despite differing religious beliefs, gathered together all over Egypt in unity to protest their now former president, Mohamed Morsi, and the Muslim Brotherhood. Although he is Egypt’s first president who was elected democratically, Morsi became an illegitimate democratic president due to a decree made in November 2012 that protected his decisions from judicial review. He later annulled the decree in December, but his continued illegitimate actions as president and his inability to tend to the ongoing economic crisis led to national outcry. On July 3, Morsi was ousted, and Egyptians reclaimed Egypt as their own. Although the number of protesters is yet to be confirmed, most news outlets agree that this protest is the largest gathering for a political cause in modern day.

For Coptic Christians in Egypt and abroad, this is a monumental event. In Egypt especially, Coptic Christians have experienced an uprising in persecution these past few years.

“We’ve had problems with gas, diesel, electricity and water shortages,” said Coptic Christian Ikram Nosshi.  “What has happened over the past year has been diabolical.”

But Egyptians remain hopeful that they are on the road to recovery toward a better Egypt. For those abroad, we remain hopeful that Egypt will once again become safe to visit in the near future. We remain optimistic.

“The people of Egypt have made mistakes since the revolution,” said Egyptian citizen Reem Shalan. “We won’t repeat them. This time we have an actual plan, and I am optimistic, not scared, for the future.”

This Fourth of July was special because as I take pride in being American, I remember that I am also Egyptian. As many of us celebrate, Egypt will definitely be on the forefront of our minds. Happy Fourth of July, America, and Third of July, Egypt!

Image source: farkous via Creative Commons

Monica Mikhail contemplates the truth of the matter in her Thursday blog. Contact Monica Mikhail at mmikhail@dailycal.org.

The post Proud to be an Egyptian appeared first on The Daily Californian.