A few points of contention regarding the May 1st editorial:  So, what this article is glossing over is the fact that since Obama took office, funding for education has decreased. There are no sharp barbs for the president and democrats who allowed this to happen while they held power with two out of three government branches for two years (2008-10). What was mentioned is that Republicans have a majority in the house of reps, which would lead me to believe that the GOP was complicit in the education cuts and that they forced Obama’s hand in making them. There is [read more...]

City College students have seen fees almost double in the last two years while financial aid has become increasingly more difficult to obtain, forcing many more students to turn to student loans to struggle even more to pay their way through college.

According to Robert Applebaum, founder of ForgiveStudentLoanDebt.com, student loan debt has fi nally exceeded $1 trillion, while the cost of higher education has grown more than 800 percent since 1980 and continues to do so. This is why Applebaum is advocating for the government to pass legislation—HR 4170: Student Loan Forgiveness Act of 2012—to forgive student loan debt [read more...]

Every year the NCAA hosts March Madness, when the best college basketball teams from each division one conference battle it out for champion status.

This is the time of year basketball lovers stay glued to television screens watching the tournament games for hours and choose who they think will win the NCAA championship.

The NCAA tournament was created in 1939 by the National Association of Basketball Coaches.

The tournament is a single elimination tournament that consists of 68 teams divided into four regions.

Thirty-one teams that won their conferences are automatically placed in the tournament. The tournament champion is usually [read more...]

On Feb. 10, President Obama announced a new U.S. Department of Health and Human Services policy that would require religious affiliated institutions to cover all birth control contraceptives for their employees. This policy created a public battle about how far government involvement should go and the role that religious freedom should play in health care.

After an outcry from the Catholic Church saying that this new mandate was a violation of religious freedom, Obama offered a compromise on Feb. 11, which would require insurers to provide contraception to female employees instead of their religious employers. While keeping religious liberty is [read more...]

On Feb. 27, 2012, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Proposition 8, a constitutional amendment eliminating same-sex marriage, was unconstitutional, which could, supporters hope, open the door for same-sex couples to once again marry in California.

There are always two sides to every argument, but in the case of Proposition 8, one of those sides was decidedly wrong.

The overturning of Proposition 8 isn’t just a win for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, but a win for all Americans who believe in the fundamental idea that all people are created equal.

“The more recognition the [read more...]

One of the most difficult monetary challenges that college students face each semester is having to buy expensive required textbooks—an average of $1,137 during 2010-2011, according to the College Board. Recent estimations by the Government Accountability Office reported that textbooks cost a quarter of the average tuition for state universities and three-fourths the average tuition at community colleges.

Paying more than $100 for each textbook is a tall order, especially if professors require two or more books for a class. Last year, according to The Huffington Post, seven out of 10 undergraduates at 13 college campuses did not purchase textbooks [read more...]

History textbooks have long been respected as closest to the truth and based on fact. Scholars and historians spend much time and effort in the research and fact checking of these publications. Yet approximately every two years history books get rewritten or updated.

“Battles over what to put in science and history books have taken place for years in the 20 states where state boards must adopt textbooks, most notably in California and Texas. But rarely in recent history has a group of conservative board members left such a mark on a social studies curriculum,” wrote James C. McKinley in [read more...]

The recent crackdown on medicinal marijuana has rattled many cages, but it doesn’t mean the end of the industry. An estimated $14 billion a year industry, according to CNNmoney.com, is sure to tempt greed and catch the attention of the money-hungry. The California government should be taking steps to prevent corruption instead of giving the impression that the marijuana industry has free reign in California.

Four U.S attorneys are currently prosecuting marijuana dispensaries accused of abusing the system by pocketing cash and drug trafficking. The feds say California is the country’s largest supplier of marijuana, according to npr.org, using state [read more...]

Labeling a friendly pitbull a killer can be just as senseless as feeling protected by the registries system from sex offenders, because statistically speaking the real threat lies closer to home. These registries also include a myriad of ‘criminals’ whose offenses include streaking and sexting.They should be labeled differently and included in a different registry.

“The creation of a pariah class of unemployable, uprooted criminal outcasts has drawn attention from human rights activists; even The Economist has decried our sex offender laws as harsh and ineffective,” wrote New York Times reporter Roger N. Lancaster in an Aug. 2011 article, “Sex [read more...]

Whether we want it to or not, the infamous Internet has become vital to the world for most of us. Shopping, social networking, blogging, accessing medical records, and making all sorts of personal transactions are just a few conveniences available online to everyone with Internet access.

People are understandably concerned about their online vulnerabilities over the Internet, and skepticism over government involvement has always been a leading cause. Despite the countless strategies created in an attempt to increase online protection and services, Americans should be skeptical.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has stated, “Identity theft has emerged as a dominant [read more...]