Opinion

I purposely neglected to write this column because I honestly hate goodbyes. I’m not going to lie: I was really awkward during my freshman year and didn’t really enjoy dorm life or the food at Pippin that caused indigestion (I’d often see flies in my soup and birds eating someone’s scrambled eggs — no joke).

Coming to UC Irvine, I thought I knew exactly what I did and did not want. I wanted to be at UCLA. I didn’t want to be in Irvine. I wanted to have fun and party and, maybe on occasion, study. I wanted to be a fiction writer, not a journalist.

My time at UC Irvine began almost two years ago when I arrived as a slightly disinterested transfer student, and the plan at that point was pretty straightfo rward. I envisioned myself commuting to school every day, heading to class with maybe a quick stop for coffee beforehand, then driving back home to chill out with my cats, just like I did at community college. I had already been informed that everyone at UCI was “anti-social” anyway, so I figured it would be easy enough.

Congratulations, incoming Anteaters, and welcome to UC Irvine! As you can probably anticipate, the best way to begin your love affair with UCI is at SPOP, the “mandatory” Student/Parent Orientation Program. But we hope that you’ll realize that it’s okay to not like SPOP; in fact, it’s okay to hate it because, when you really think about it, SPOP has very little to do with what UCI is about.

In 1962, master planner and architect William Pereira drew up several proposals for Aldrich Park that included lakes and a bell tower. The tower, named “centrum,” was supposed to be located at the center of campus, in the middle of the park, where carillons would ring every hour in the spirit of centuries-old tradition.

As another school year comes to an end, another cohort of students must take stock of their relationship to “the real world.” This is experienced differently for different groups, of course.

Are you tired of hearing about the state of the economy? Well, too bad. It stinks out there and in just two weeks, a few thousand of us are going to don low-quality polyester gowns and walk with pomp only to be thrown out into the world once and for all to experience it for ourselves.

Can we afford to keep Pakistan as an ally? Can we afford to lose them? In the wake of Osama bin Laden’s death, questions upon heaping questions have been aimed at the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

God does not want Mike Huckabee to run for President. Last Saturday night, the former Arkansas governor and 2008 GOP presidential candidate announced on his Fox News program that he would not be entering the 2012 race.

Various media critics saw hopeful 2012 presidential candidate Newt Gingrich’s May 11 Twitter announcement and pounced on him for trying to appear “cool.”

Leave Me Alone Part Deux – College hasn’t taught me much, but a few years of walking down Ring Road has definitely taught me how to ignore people.

Picture this: you’re flipping through the pages of the local paper and you see an ad for a concert of your favorite band. They’re performing at the Hollywood Bowl in a few weeks and you have to go. You go to Ticketmaster to get tickets. First, you search for tickets for you and a friend; lucky you, you found two great seats! The tickets were advertised at $30, and you’re excited to have found such a sweet deal.