What drives us to stay up at unreasonable hours at night, drinking our nth cup of coffee? Grades and social expectations all can be answers for occasional sleep deprivation. But what keeps people moving in that trajectory, to be unyielding at their momentum and not doubt themselves when times get Read More…
As Students For Justice in Palestine activists and a Berkeley attorney working with the SJP and Cal alumni, we feel compelled to respond to the chancellor’s criticism of the recent ASUC vote to divest from companies that profit from Israel’s human rights violations in Palestine. The chancellor’s concern about the Read More…
On Sunday, April 7, 2013, The Daily Californian ran a story with the headline “Campus announces plans to construct new aquatics center.” It’s unclear from the story just when this announcement might be said to have taken place, since a public hearing on the proposal was held in Berkeley on Read More…
Wouldn’t it be great if you could go to the beach in the winter? What if it meant you could never eat almonds again? Or potatoes? Or cherries? Sure, it’s nice that it’s sunny and warm in the winter now, but global climate change is negatively affecting agriculture around the Read More…
Last week, the ASUC Senate voted 11-9 to divest funds from companies committing human rights violations in the Palestinian territories. It was a historic moment for the ASUC and added to the legacy of the institution taking a stand for human rights, just as it had done with South African Read More…
Let’s get this straight: Wednesday’s ASUC Senate meeting was not just about supporting human rights through targeted divestment. No one will refute the challenge faced by Palestinians living in Gaza and the West Bank, but there is another narrative that was conspicuously absent in the language of SB 160, “A Read More…
At the end of last year, the UC Office of the President came under fire for an effort to put a new face on the historic logo of the University of California. It did not succeed. Now, the Cal Athletic Department has introduced a coherent and new face for the Read More…
The Supreme Court recently heard oral argument in Shelby v. Holder regarding the constitutionality of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The VRA is a historic piece of legislation designed to enforce the 15th Amendment. Among its provisions, it outlaws the use of any “voting qualification or Read More…
Last Monday, after much dialogue and debate, the Organization of African Students unanimously decided to support the ASUC bill that calls for divestment from companies profiting from, or investing in, the occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. The decision to support divestment is a result Read More…
On Wednesday, the ASUC Senate will likely consider either to divest from companies that do business with Israel or to instead invest peacemaking initiatives that bring Israelis and Palestinians together. As a freshman, I experienced the divestment effort of spring 2010. From dusk to dawn on three Wednesday nights through Read More…
