Opinion

If employment is supposed to be free of all discrimination (against race, color, gender and so on), then how is it fair that people can be fired from their jobs just because they are pregnant? If a woman is in the final months of her pregnancy, she can be fired or forced to go on leave solely because of the fact that, in a matter of weeks, she will be giving birth.

Our world today seems like a never-ending assault on the senses, perpetrated by multi-million dollar advertising firms and marketing companies intent, at best, on “educating” you about their product in the name of “brand awareness,” and at worst, beating you into sensory submission until you succumb and purchase their product. One would hope that the one safe haven from this relentless multi-media onslaught would be here on campus; you know, the place you and/or your parents are paying tens of thousands of dollars to attend in pursuit of higher education? Unfortunately, one would be wrong.

UC Irvine is a pretty good school, right? Hell, scratch that. We’re great. We’ve got high-ranking programs all around, from biology to engineering to social science, but our greatest strengths lie within our humanities departments. In fact, our graduate program for literary criticism is number 1! All over the board, when it comes to theories on gender studies, literary theory, minority issues, we can generally be said to kick some serious ass.

George Bush hates black people, Congress hates vegetables (but loves pizza!), and Mitt Romney hates poor people. True story. After his recent Florida primary victory over his opponent, Newt “The Angry Pillsbury Doughboy” Gingrich, Romney made a true-to-heart Republican comment, “I’m not concerned about the very poor …” When asked to clarify, he went on to say, “They have a safety net for them.” Brilliant, Romney. Just brilliant. My favorite part is when he says that, in our country, the very poor are doing just as well as the very rich. You know, since the poor have government safety nets, and the rich have … swimming pools filled with gold bullion. I think it’s fair to say that those two groups are evenly matched.

In most articles, I try to write with a certain audience in mind. That being said, I usually carefully craft what I say, as to elicit the best response. In the case of this article though, I’m not going to sugar coat things. I’m just going to be brutally honest. I really don’t feel bad for ex-convicts who can’t find jobs.

In the wake of Steve Jobs’ passing, Apple’s venture into new technological territory was inevitable. This exploration of new frontiers comes in the form of the iBooks Author, a new (and free) app designed to aid the populace in creating and self-publishing their own material via Apple eBooks. This new app comes with the multi-faceted capability of editing various aspects of the design and overall appearance of a soon-to-be-published work including the ability to display and rotate 3-D diagrams, for example. The two foremost areas iBooks Author could arguably impact in the foreseeable future are in education and in the community of budding authors.

By Jamie Rogers and Tets Namba Hello again, Vice Chancellor Parham,   We hope you remember us; we are some of the students who set up...

If you have something to say about bonfires on Corona Del Mar beach, it’s best if you say it now because soon, people might not have a single idea about what you’re talking about. The Newport Beach Parks, Beaches and Recreation Committee will be discussing possible options for the future of the fire rings that we all know and emote about this Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the council chambers.

Starbucks announced recently that they will be begin selling beer and wine in select stores in Southern California by the end of this year. Is this a little surprising? Yes. A little strange? Not really. But this move does have a lot of people turning their heads.

There is nothing more visually striking and expressionistic than art in its many forms, including performance art, which was sprawled before the eyes of UC Irvine students and staff last Wednesday afternoon when a group of students put on a performance on Ring Road in protest against what is being seen as a crime against the public education system in the state of California. On Ring Road, just outside Langson Library, a throng of spectators gazed in amusement and curiosity at a lone student lying facedown on the path who was clad ominously in all black and donning a UCI sweatshirt.

As with any large group of people, the students and faculty of UC Irvine have a wide range of interests, with some people paying great attention to issues that are of little importance to others. One common interest across campus, however, is the increasing budget cuts and subsequent reduction in class size and quality of education.

When I saw the trailer for Liam Neeson’s latest film, “The Grey,” I was immediately enraged by what I saw. Wolves in the wild, tearing people limb from limb in the snow? Are you kidding me? Do filmmakers not have an ounce of compassion in their bodies these days?