Opinions

Earlier this week I read an article on USA Today about Ann Romney and Michelle Obama. A mere two weeks from the election, the article did not focus on their charity work, their undying support of the husbands, or their personal victories as women prominent in today’s political limelight. Instead, the article addressed the outfits they wore to the final presidential debate. I found this … irritating. Once I moved past the initial shock of seeing the headline “Ann Romney wears de la Renta for debate” emblazoned on USA Today’s...

On October 22, Governor Mitt Romney and President Obama had their final debate, which took place at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida. The debate focused on foreign policy and was moderated by CBS News anchor Bob Schieffer. Thirty minutes into the debate President Obama stated that Romney has “proposed wrong and reckless polices,” citing his praise of George Bush “as a good economic steward and Dick Cheney as somebody who shows great wisdom and judgment.” Although Romney found the statement rather humorous, it really isn’t that far from the...

In a matter of a few weeks, we’ll have a new president or a president entering his second term. I’ll be the first to admit that my knowledge of the Mormon religion is limited, but I’ll also be the first to admit that my religious tolerance is high. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have anything against people of the Mormon religion. But as a woman, I do worry that having a Mormon in office will affect my rights and change my life for the worse. Women in Mormonism are...

It seems I cannot go a week without hearing one person or another argue against investment in NASA and space exploration as a whole. Whether they are waxing eloquent over the need to fix problems on Earth before looking out to the starts or complaining about a massive waste of resources, they are unified in opposition to a driving force for scientific innovation. This is not to say there are no problems that need accounting on Earth, no economies to fix or conflicts to be resolved.  There are so many...

On October 5 a Latino Education Policy Forum was held to discuss the possibility of making Washington state funds for higher education available to undocumented high school graduates. The forum was held by the Latino/a Educational Achievement Program (LEAP), an organization that seeks the betterment of academic achievement among Hispanic students in the state of Washington. So far, LEAP has had one major policy approved by the state legislature – House Bill 1079, which passed in 2003 and is explained by their website as allowing “undocumented students to pay in-state...

­­­­­­­This week I’m bringing my opinion a little closer to home – well, to our home away from home. At UPS, for those of us who live on campus, aches, pains and sniffles mean a trip to CHWS. I’ll start this on a positive note. There are plenty of absolutely wonderful things about CHWS – proximity to campus housing, an excellent counseling program, and who could forget the ever-appreciated free condoms? Yet I find myself incredibly disappointed at something I’ve heard. A close friend of mine, who has asked to...

So what are you doing during class? Surfing Facebook or listening to the professor and engaging in the class? Chances are that if you are using a laptop during class, you are probably surfing the Internet instead of being engaged in the class. Some professors allow laptops in class, some ban them. There are many reasons to ban laptops in classrooms. Laptops detract from the learning experience. A study by the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts showed that students who used laptops during class remembered less lecture content than those...

On Monday, Oct. 8, Socialist Alternative—a global political movement affiliated with the Committee for a Worker’s International, as well as with the socialist political parties of 41 countries—held a talk entitled “Capitalism in Crisis and the Socialist Alternative” in Wyatt 109. The talk hosted speakers from Austria and numerous Occupy movements, many of them from right here in Tacoma. It focused on the failings of global capitalism and argued that the current economic crisis is not something specific to any shortcomings of capitaism, but rather was a structural crisis endemic...

Given the ubiquitousness and centrality of the Internet in American culture, it seems prudent to learn why, between 2000 and 2006, the U.S. dropped from fifth to 22nd in network speed, affordability and availability, when younger countries have universal coverage and speeds many times our own. Although appearances would suggest this country’s broadband exists in an unchanging state, it results from decades of policies and regulations that have led to the modern high-priced oligopoly unrecognizable by the intended market. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) began crafting a regulatory structure in...

New York Times columnist David Brooks has recently branded Mitt Romney as the “least popular candidate in history.” Recent musings that Romney has no chance of winning a ‘popularity contest’ against Barack Obama have called into question some of Romney’s more questionable acts. As voting day draws nearer, I, as a first-time voter in the U.S., am left pondering what value Romney does have in the race.  I have yet to find any. Standing out in my brain, in the laundry list of public faux pas Romney has committed wholeheartedly,...