The Only Option That Makes Sense

Recently, both the House of Representatives and the Senate released details of their health care reform plans, and thankfully they have included, among other things, a government-run health care option. And you know what that means: It’s time for some Republican fearmongering!

It’s socialized medicine! A bureaucrat will be in charge of your healthcare! Higher taxes! Lions! Tigers! Bears! House Minority Leader and spray tan enthusiast John Boehner even went so far as to claim that the new plan will ruin the best health care in the world. Really? The best health care in the world? On what grounds could the opponents of health care base this claim?

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Oh, Mama! I’m going to Ghana!

So, why did you decide to go to Ghana?

Nearly every single time I have told someone I’m going to West Africa for a semester, I get this question. Sometimes it sparks from genuine wonder and occasionally, from the more adventurous, jealousy. More often that not, it has tinge of bewilderment and even dismay.

I suppose it’s hard for people to understand why I want to go to a place where UNICEF estimated in 2007 that 260,000 people live with AIDS, a place where sexism and gender inequality is a way of life, a place where running water is inconsistent, a place where I will spend the first two weeks trying to adjust to the blistering heat and humidity, and a place where malaria is prevalent.

Many of my friends are traveling to Europe with EAP and I think that they will also embark on fantastic, life-changing journeys of their own. However, I’m looking for a different experience. (more…)

Sotomayor Fails on Merit

During the confirmation hearings for judge Sonia Sotomayor, Senator Schumer gave a lovely speech about how America is a land where anyone can rise from poverty to the highest levels of success regardless of race, color, sex, or creed. His words were quite touching for me, as they very much echoed my own sentiments, and touched upon one of the reasons that I personally so love this great land. In this nation, neither one’s caste, one’s race, one’s class, nor one’s gender are certain determinants of their success, and—in theory, at least—all are given an equal chance to realize their potential. Not all succeed, but then again, not all people have the same levels of skill and intelligence necessary to become the CEO of a Fortune 500 corporation, or become supreme court justice. What matters is not the equality of results, which would be impossible unless every individual was exactly the same and raised in the exact same circumstances, but that each individual is the master of their own destiny, and, if they choose to do so, can realize the full extent of their potential.

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Gauchos Add the Swoosh

Starting this fall, Gaucho athletes will be decked out in full Nike regalia.

According to a UCSB Athletics press release, all 20 of our intercollegiate teams will be sporting the swoosh thanks to a new partnership with Nike. Standards have been set for the designs across the board, and Director of Athletics Mark Massari noted that the Gaucho mascot will feature prominently. (more…)

Regents Wrap Up

Check out our online exclusive for full coverage of the recent UC Regents meeting.

What’s in store for the UC thanks to the $813 million budget gap?

• 11-26 furlough days for employees and faculty
• $300 million in cuts spread across the 10 campuses
• Deferring 50 percent of planned faculty hires
• Debt refinancing
• Previously approved student fee increase

Chancellor Henry T. Yang told the Nexus that “with the magnitude and suddenness of this painful cut, our ability to fulfill our mission in teaching, research and public service, and to contribute as an innovator and economic engine for California, will no longer be the same as before.”

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