As spring showers pass and heat waves of summer approach, gas prices begin to soar.

It’s hard to understand why gas prices are always rising, but there is a plethora of angry excuses and shots of blame: Earth’s oil supply depleting, crooked corporations and we seem to be common reasons for climbing gas prices.

It doesn’t take an esteemed economist to point out—or a flaming radical hippy liberal to admit—that the current race for the GOP presidential nomination is utter chaos.

Nonetheless, the only issue all the Republican candidates seem to agree about is gas prices. They’re Obama’s fault. Oh, [read more...]

Growing up in a large family, I’ve experienced the ups and downs that come with having multiple siblings. As expected between any siblings, there’s definitely bound to be chaos.

Whether it is over something as petty as chores or someone borrowing an article of clothing without permission, fights and arguments are sure to ensue.

From pushing and shoving to hitting each other upside the head with anything we could get our hands on, I find it literally impossible to count the number of times my sisters and I have argued and fought over petty issues. I would say that it [read more...]

My earliest coffee memory is 14 or 15 years old. Just before my bedtime, Grandma would pour a hot mug of the good stuff, take out another mug and continue to pour it back and forth between the two cups until it became a frothy delight. Then I would drink it—foam first, of course—and head to sleep, blissfully unaware of caffeine’s intended use.

Since those youthfully wild-spirited days, I have become an occasional coffee drinker. News snippets detailing recent studies every now and then have kept my Starbucks visits to a minimum with their cautionary tales of unregulated caffeine intake. [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...]

Popping bottles, fist pumping and “smooshing”—another great year for mediocrity and ignorance thanks to the ever-depreciating value of talent and information through the media.

Through the outlets of tabloids, Internet and reality television, viewers are constantly feeding into a barrage of useless and dramatized information.

Celebrities are no longer valued for talent; their personal lives have become the news, overshadowing whatever obscure reason why they are considered “famous” in the first place. This mixture of lackluster talent mixed with media exposure creates what I feel is a catastrophic event in society, “Reality Media.”

Stardom isn’t what it used to be. [read more...]

In a nationwide survey posted by the National Campaign, roughly 66 percent of the 415 people interviewed, mostly between the ages of 20 and 26, admitted to have partaken in the act of “sexting,” the act of sending sexually explicit photographs and text messages primarily via mobile phones.

Sexting is an issue that will not go away despite its consequences; there is no easy solution, but like most sexual activities, it is something that requires education. There is no way to stop people from sexting, but there are ways to prevent or reduce the chances for humiliating consequences.

According to [read more...]

It’s your second semester at City College, and you are up against a Spanish class that you withdrew from twice already. Education is on third base, waiting for a base hit for the go-ahead score for victory. One more swing against Spanish is all you’re allotted. And now it’s crunch time.

Starting this summer, a new policy goes into effect in the Los Rios district: Any student who receives a D, F or NP (no pass) or has withdrawn from a course three times will not be able to take the class again.

For example, if a City College student [read more...]

Journalists working in countries with free presses generally adhere to a strict code of ethics. Democracy depends on the media, the so-called Fourth Estate, to keep citizens properly informed with fair reporting of the country’s current events.

In a time when people love to fantasize that media are controlled by some higher political and greedy power and a time when readers are flooded with information via the web, it is critical that reputable media outlets protect their integrity by strictly following a code of ethics that every professional journalist has committed to memory.

The Sacramento Bee recently fired a longtime [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...]