Category Archives: Opinion

Editorials

Brown is wrong on research

UNIVERSITY ISSUES: Recent comments from the governor demonstrate that he fails to fully grasp the importance of the UC as a research institution.

Apparently, Gov. Jerry Brown doesn’t understand the critical role of research at the University of California. In an article published last week in The Washington Post, Brown said professors should spend more time in the classroom and less time doing research, claiming that “the faculty’s primary role is teaching.” He Read More…

Columns

sarah.web

Generation pessimism

Critical Musings

A few months before its print edition ceased to be, Newsweek joined ranks with every other major national news magazine in existence and published a long story on the state of 20-somethings. The July story is headlined with a question: “Are Millennials the Screwed Generation?” Except it isn’t really a question Read More…

Op-Eds

commuter.lu_han

Understanding the commuters

Students who live far from campus regularly face significant obstacles

At long last, I have come to my fourth year at UC Berkeley, and I can proudly say that I have been commuting to school since the very beginning. As a molecular and cell biology major, I have endured the rigor of all my MCB coursework (including the harrowing challenges Read More…

Editorials

An unacceptable reality

CITY AFFAIRS: Newly released statistics showing the amount of reported rapes in Berkeley doubled from 2011 to 2012 are deeply troubling.

The number of reported rapes in Berkeley is the highest it has been in more than a decade. This revelation, demonstrated in statistics recently presented to Berkeley City Council, should be a wake-up call for the local community. In 2012, almost 40 instances of rape or attempted rape were reported Read More…

Editorial Cartoons

College lovin’

mauraedcartoon
Maura Chen/Staff

Contact the opinion desk at [email protected]

Columns

Lynn_online

Meet the nine

Council Watch

I’m back, folks. Some of you may remember me as a wide-eyed, grub-consuming freshman columnist from two and a half years ago. If you don’t remember me, don’t worry about it. Since my freshman year, I have put on the obligatory few pounds, stopped riding a Razor scooter to class Read More…

Columns

mugshot.CONNOR

Don’t mess with California

The Critic Who Counts

Texas Gov. Rick Perry is at it again. And this time he didn’t forget his lines. “Building a business is tough, but I hear building a business in California is next to impossible,” was Perry’s opening salvo in a radio ad that recently premiered on airwaves across the state. Perry Read More…

Columns

Elisabeth-Bahadori_online

The heteronormative bias

Sex on Tuesday

In the fall semester of my freshman year, one of my friends had to fill out a form to get out of his housing contract in the residence halls. This form said something akin to the following: Choose your gender. Below that were not two but three boxes. “Male,” “female” Read More…

Editorials

Algebra’s invaluable function

STATE AFFAIRS: Ending a state requirement that students take algebra in eighth grade is a move in the wrong direction for California education.

Due to a recent state policy change, eighth-graders in California are no longer expected to take Algebra 1 — a move that could easily prove to be a setback for many students, especially those who go on to pursue degrees in higher education. For years, learning algebra prior to entering Read More…

Op-Eds

Rape culture is here

Objectification of women is embedded in our society

On Aug. 11, 2012, a 16-year-old girl was kidnapped by a couple of male classmates on the football team at her school. Too drunk to resist, she was physically dragged to various parties and sexually assaulted by a multitude of peers, who simultaneously filmed her rape, joked about it and Read More…