Opinion

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?

Maybe this is overly optimistic, but in the midst of a war, an economic recession and the dollar's declining value, America still seems vital and the future auspicious. Despite price increases in everything from tuition to gas, Americans were once able to hold their heads high in at least one category, but not anymore. It was news from Australia that shattered the country's confidence...

I hope oil hits $400 per barrel. I say that without a drop of sarcasm. The only thing that can burrow through the myriad of government-erected barriers to high supply and low prices is the market.

I spent 14 years of my life in a neckerchief and short-shorts. Yes, approximately once a week, beginning at the age of four, I put on a Cub Scout uniform and went to meetings.

Liberalism and conservatism are two terms that are often heard during political discourse. However, while presidential candidates talk about all kinds of policy initiatives and philosophical viewpoints, it is rare to hear them refer to themselves, their proposals or their ideas as conservative or liberal.

Last month, Viacom amended a lawsuit that it filed against Google-owned YouTube one year ago, citing the Web site's "inability to keep copyrighted material off its site."

"What happened, Mom? What is this?"

Thanks...

I've been working at the New University since my freshman year—a writer my first year, associate editor my second, copy editor my third and managing editor my fourth. Four years of reading, writing and editing. Three years with one less day in the week for myself—my Sunday instead dedicated to the production of the New U newspaper. Exhausting? Definitely.

Older students have always told me that your college years are the best years of your life—so live it up! Looking back, I can say one thing: So far, so good.

"This is Preservation Month. I appreciate preservation. It's what you do when you run for president. You gotta preserve," said President George W. Bush. (Sadly, the Strategerer-in-Chief was speaking at a celebration of Perseverance Month.) And this is Opinion, so I gotta opine.

Sergeant Matthis Chiroux, a 24-year-old army veteran who has served in Afghanistan, Japan, Germany and the Philippines, recently refused to be deployed to Iraq, citing his belief that the conflict is an "illegal war."