Opinion

Since taking the helm of the UC Irvine School of Law, Erwin Chemerinsky, the school's founding dean, has worked to provide full three-year scholarships for the school's 2009 inaugural class. While this goal may appear idealistic on the surface, by looking underneath this exterior, one can see that Chemerinsky has successfully made this feat both understandable and practical.

Claiborne Pell, the former senator who helped create government loans for students to go to college, died on Thursday at age 90. His vision of affordable education for all, however, didn't last quite as long. Private loans with hidden fees, little disclosure of total cost and packages designed to look just like government-subsidized direct loans have turned education loans from a social good into a banking bonanza and our educational institutions into profit centers for predatory lenders.

Since when did innocent civilians, fuel storages, mosques, police and universities become military targets? And how do incessant attacks make any room for compromise and negotiations? The numbers continue to rise as 507 people have been killed and 2,400 injured since the Israeli bombardment over the tiny 360 square-kilometers of the Gaza strip that started on Dec. 27 in Palestine. In the same period of time, Palestinian rockets killed four Israelis.

I was first consciously aware of our newfound dependence on computers in middle school, when a teacher of mine yammered, "What's wrong with you kids? Does no one teach you how to spell anymore? Why can't you spell?" I retorted with, "Spell check."

While the poor state of our current economy is obvious, the extent to which it has further exacerbated California's budget crisis is becoming all the more apparent. Last month, the California Pooled Money Investment Board, a committee that manages state spending, voted to stop spending on the construction of public works. This will delay projects authorized by voters and supported by Gov. Schwarzenegger in 2006.

Alberto Gonzales; Christmas miracle for gay rights; how much alcohol is too much?

The Year in Review: Kaba Modern; financial collapse; Erwin Chemerinsky; Heath Ledger; UCI Men's Soccer; Blago, Spitzer, Edwards, Stevens and Company

Like the eye of some monstrous storm, the Thanksgiving season has come, promising some kind of respite from the terrible news in the financial sector, the worse news of the opaque nature of the bailout and the fact that it's boom-time for the repo business. We can take a break, watch football, stuff our faces and forget about the world for a second.

When most people think of pirates, they probably think of recent movies or of a bygone era when wooden ships using sails were attacked by people looking for precious cargo like gold. However, piracy is running strong in the Gulf of Aden – the body of water between Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula and Somalia east of Africa – one of the world's most important waterways. Around 11 percent of the world's shipped petroleum goes through it.

Glenn Beck; Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso on old people; astronauts drink recycled piss; Dr. Pepper internets-site admins caught with...

Peter the Anteater; Joe and Chris Miller; Wal-Mart; Fertility Cryobank.

As California cuts college admissions and introduces the prospect of tuition hikes to help rescue the state from its self-inflicted billion-dollar financial mess, higher education gets pushed even further out of reach. It's a cold dose of reality for an 18-year-old just getting started.