Since I arrived in Brazil to study abroad, locals have asked me about the education system in the United States and specifically the UC system. As an education reform activist and a tuition abolitionist, talking about this subject is easy. However, it has not been easy to explain the concept of student debt and the reasons our public university system is not truly public.
In "Natural Theology," Reverend William Paley put forth the most appealing and untrue argument for creationism: All living things, Paley said, are too intricately designed to have come about by blind chance.
Remember the Iraq War? Remember the latest body count of innocent civilians? No? That's okay because "Dancing with the Stars" was on TV and that is more important.
In a move that shocked millions of California students, the UC Board of Regents voted to raise tuition 19 percent and threatened to increase tuition and fees, or what Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi called "student taxes," by 30 percent next summer if there are cuts to the education budget because of the war.
On May 19, a campus assault alert was issued because someone was sexually battered on the UC Irvine campus. I started thinking about the "Take Back the Night" rally held a while ago to raise consciousness about sexual assault and rape, both of which are an epidemic in American society. I wondered if the event helped to raise consciousness about violence based upon the construction of gender. What does it mean to attend a rally to stop rape and violence while simultaneously 28,000 children, teens and adults view pornography based on scenarios involving rape?
As Watson Bridge descends into University Park, the sign comes into view. It is large, visible and clearly for students. The sign shows a select group of young, multicultural recruits staring solemnly into the distance, and the caption says, "There's strong. And then there's Army strong." As I pass by the sign, I think, "There's maimed, and then there's Army maimed."
From social science classes to supermarket magazines, "gender" serves as the foundation for countless forms of analysis. Yet this proscription has not gone uncontested.
If 'Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week' were really about rallying student support for human rights, why was it not put on by human rights organizations? Why...
