Recently, the Washington Board of Education released a report that showed that students in the Tacoma school system are facing what Deputy Superintendent Carla Santorno calls an “achievement gap.” Paul Schrag, a reporter for the Weekly Volcano, acts on behalf of the students, calling for student involvement in the decisions made in the school system. Well, duh! Honestly, if the students are not interested by the material, why would they bother to be engaged? Some people say that school does not need to be something students enjoy; it just has...

If you have spent hours watching a late night “Law and Order: SVU” marathon recently, you have undoubtedly encountered commercials extolling the values of online college. But even in a culture dominated by electronics, an online degree cannot provide the same amount of value that a degree issued by a traditional college. Online classes often only require a credit card number, while brick-and-mortar colleges require an extensive application process in which the applicant proves that they have an impressive background in scholastic and extracurricular activities. Online colleges create a bubble...

If you are a young person with a shred of hope that our generation is politically powerful, this November’s election is crucial to achieving the change that Americans were promised with Obama’s election. Two years ago, the United States saw one of the strongest unifications among the 18- to 24-year old age group (the age group also referred to as “Millennials”), when 68 percent of propelled Obama into office. Recently, however, our age group has been less enthusiastic about defining themselves along the party lines that were crucial to a...