Anyone who has ever read my column knows that I am no fan of the mainstream media. The most powerful groups in the country have the ability to shape the way that our institutions operate. Naturally this includes institutions that spread information. So, we get a media shaped by elite interests. Of course, no one is telling journalists what to write. Simply, people more sympathetic to elite ideologies are able to succeed in media more often, creating a self-perpetuating drive toward pro-power ideology in the population. The level of complexity required to force journalists to all knowingly collaborate on a single false narrative is extremely high. If we were to suppose such a complicated theory to be right, we would need massive, compelling evidence. To put it briefly, we do not have anything close. Alex Jones’ Infowars has, as of right now, 2 million subscribers. Infowars is an internet broadcast that spins everything that ever happens into a massive conspiracy. As a foundational presupposition of every one of Jones’ explanations,... ...

Are you looking for honesty in your friends? Do you value integrity? Do you enjoy eating spaghetti? If you answered “yes” to any of the previous questions and are currently single or looking for a new friend, I believe I can set you up with the perfect man. His name is Richard B. Cheney, and he was the 42nd vice president of these United States. Several weeks ago during finals, I watched R.J. Cutler’s documentary The World According to Dick Cheney, because studying for final exams is overrated. In my defense, I was still productive: I watched it while ironing, or as Cheney calls it, “hot water-boarding.” The film illustrates the life and times of our favorite Dick, a public figure who inspires love and hate. And these are the only two emotions people feel, as my extensive and extensively illegal wiretapping–for–research showed. Cheney grew up in Casper, Wyo., and starred on his high school football team. After dropping out of college, he spiraled downward, often consuming large quantities of... ...

By 2020, UC Davis will have 5,000 more students, if everything goes according to plan. The 2020 Initiative, introduced by Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi, also includes the addition of 300 faculty, along with housing facilities and buildings to accommodate the increased population. We have many concerns about the 2020 Initiative. With the addition of 5,000 students, the impact will not go unnoticed. How will this change the quality of our education? How will the campus handle an extra 5,300 people? And most importantly, where will everyone park their bikes? The Initiative is a way for the university to gain revenue and decrease reliance on the state for funding, while supporting the growth of UC Davis. While we understand that continuing cuts of funding from the state has left the UC system high and dry, we also don’t believe that the only solution should be found in the wallets of students. Adding more students could lead to a decreased level of education. Though the student to faculty ratio will stay the... ...

Dear Madame: I have no doubt your publication will be shortly inundated with commentary on the upcoming divestment resolution, as such proposals have histories of rending UC campuses in twain (see Berkeley, San Diego, Santa Barbara). It should say something that news has reached me of the advent from my quarter abroad in London. A number of questions could be brought against the ASUCD Senate’s consideration of a divestment resolution. What does a student government have to do with the conflict? Could they be better focusing their efforts elsewhere? Is this debate (or shouting match as it’s likely to become) of any true educational value? However, I will refrain from launching those inquiries. Instead I want to focus on the arrogance of a group of students, that they find themselves qualified and informed enough to submit a formal opinion on a conflict which has spanned decades (using the narrow view) and centuries (using the longer one). The historical length and complexity of this conflict is what troubles me. Some of... ...

Sometimes when I feel like getting a little wild on weekends, I buckle myself into my minivan and drive my crazy self right on over to Target. I love walking through the Dollar Days section while being tempted by a million little trinkets that I don’t really need. But come on, those bird-shaped chip clips were a pretty awesome find. It seems that whenever I venture into Target, I can’t help but instigate quite awkward situations. A few of my favorites are recounted here. The best one I can think of is the great fart putty incident of ’13. I had perused the Dollar Days aisle and found some “noise putty.” I thought this would be a helpful stress management tool. I could play with putty while working on papers to calm down. I purchased it, justifying the expense by saying it was just $1. The next day, as I was playing with it, I realized why it was called “noise putty.” No sooner had I put my hand in... ...

“I volunteer! I volunteer as tribute!” As I watched this Hunger Games scene on Netflix last weekend, tears streamed down my cheeks as my drama queen of a brain mourned Katniss’ plight. But when I saw it in theaters a few months ago, I didn’t get emotional once. The only difference? Birth control. I’ve been experimenting with different forms of hormonal contraceptives lately, trying to find the magic method that doesn’t come with 12-day periods, excessive bloating or the tendency to choke up every time Sarah McLachlan decides to sing over an animal adoption PSA. Despite my frustration, I suppose I should be thankful for hormonal birth control. It means I don’t need to drink the froth from a camel’s mouth like the women in ancient Africa, or wear weasel testicles around my thigh like the ladies of medieval Europe. I shouldn’t take the availability of birth control in the U.S. for granted, either — the Comstock Act, a federal ban on contraceptives, was not lifted until 1938, and the... ...

April was “Get Yourself Tested Month” so I decided to go to the Student Health Center. I asked the front desk receptionist and was politely directed to the second floor clinic. After standing there for over a minute in silence, the receptionist finally acknowledged me by bluntly saying, “Do you have a question?” She seemed surprised and caught off guard by my apparent interruption. I asked if I could make an appointment to be tested. She asked, quite audibly, “Tested for what?” Once I explained to her that I would like to get an STI screening, she continued to work on her computer, printed something out, stapled it, and typed some more, all without saying one word to me. I felt like I was being judged and more importantly, shamed and dismissed. We eventually made my appointment for the next day. The doctor asked just a few questions about my previous sex life and any concerns I may have had. He then ordered a urine test for an STI screening.... ...

Two bombs brought the Boston Marathon to a tragic conclusion on April 15. One day later a Reddit user created the subreddit, or forum, called “r/findbostonbombers” in an effort to crowdsource the investigation and identify those responsible for the attack. The subreddit was created to sort through the images from the attack and pass relevant information to the FBI. This did not happen. What happened was a witch hunt. Reddit, Twitter and other social media platforms incorrectly identified suspects, singled them out and released their personal information in the course of their amateur investigation. The media, new and old, posted this speculation, hoaxes, rumors and misinformation as fact. As both news writers and consumers we are appalled. The Boston Bombing unleashed a raging scene of chaos that was only stoked by unceasing speculation by social media platforms and the traditional media. We saw the abandonment of journalistic ideals as new outlets fought to be the first to break the news. According to the Washington Post, the FBI released photographs of... ...

On Friday, April 19, the Boy Scouts of America proposed to lift the organization-wide ban on children who identify as gay while keeping the ban on gay adults as scoutmasters and other leaders. With growing pressure from outraged activist groups and increasingly negative attention from the media, some would consider the century-old organization’s proposal to be a compromise between traditional values and progressive inclusivity. Gay children are taught the importance of proper knot-tying without the Boy Scout’s conservative blessing when the time comes for them to actually tie the knot later in life. Everybody wins, right? The editorial board thinks otherwise. If passed, this decision would be one small step for LGBT equality and one giant leap backward for the mental well-being of queer children within the organization. In addition to making children who identify as gay feel inadequate, scouts will now have the luxury of being indoctrinated to believe that homosexuality is merely a childish phase one must inevitably grow out of. The organization is suggesting that like magic... ...

Haven’t we all pined over a sexy TA? The way they push their glasses up the bridge of their nose and come in front of the class, all charismatic and just irresistibly adorable? If your heart is totally fluttering now, then you’re probably envisioning your respective TA hottie. But is that allowed? Can our somewhat X-rated fantasies become reality? And what’s the deal with the forbidden fruit complex regarding student/teacher relations? What are the rules and limitations in these sexualized “power positions”? Dating an authority figure — someone who has the ability to hire you, fire you, flunk you or pass you — we find this attractive. How can we not? As human beings we are inherently attracted to power. But under UC Davis rule, more specifically the Graduate Student Employment Handbook for Teaching Assistants and Associates, you can’t bite into that forbidden fruit and they can’t bite into yours. This power that gets us all hot and bothered is described as heightening the “vulnerability of the student and the... ...

It might surprise you to know that marijuana is somewhat legal here in California. With a doctor’s recommendation, you can legally buy weed at shops known as collectives or dispensaries, and you can even grow a good number of plants in your home. Controversially enough, it is not at all difficult to get your weed card, so long as you’re willing to be open and honest. Physicians can recommend marijuana for any serious condition which they believe might be alleviated by getting high. This initially meant that patients of cancer, AIDS and other chronic illnesses could use marijuana medicinally. However, more and more doctors now agree that there are a number of patients with other conditions who might also benefit from smoking weed. Patients who suffer from arthritis, migraines, insomnia, glaucoma, nausea and mood disorders also have the option of treating themselves, not with pills or pharmaceuticals, but with all natural, delicious marijuana. The “ease” of getting a recommendation has understandably caused some concern among people who believe it might... ...

Recently several senators, including prominent Republican Senator Marco Rubio, have been working to devise legislation concerning immigration. Included in their most recent plan is a $2,000 fine illegal immigrants must pay before they can even begin the arduous process of applying for citizenship, as well as greater “security” along the borders to restrict human movement. I’m not really interested in the various reasons that these senators are giving for punishing innocent and often hard-working members of our society — although I think part of it is a vague concern that “people are paying illegal aliens less than American workers” (which, if true, is an expression of the freedom of employers). Instead I want to raise questions about what the recent debates about immigration legislation imply. This shouldn’t be about whether we are granting “amnesty” to those who have broken the law; it should be about whether those laws are justified in the first place. Immigration really just means the movement of people to a country for the purpose of residence... ...

If you have internet, a photo of your genitals and a little bravery, you can be like some of the other UC Davis students who have found connections online. The Davis “Down To Fuck” Facebook page (Davis DTF) receives approximately one risque post a day, including details about the student poster, a description of their perfect potential mate and their contact information. For example, anonymous Italian DTF poster No. 1 loves to eat both pasta and pussy and is looking for a “little slap and tickle between classes,” while anonymous Latina DTF poster No. 2 is fun loving, but can kick ass when necessary. She wants a lover who can “take all [her] crazy” and still appreciate her. If students aren’t DTF, but rather DTR (down to relationship), they might find it helpful to scan recent Davis Craigslist postings. UC Davis students Juliet, a 21-year-old communication major, and Romeo, a 23-year-old computer science major, are a couple who regularly use Craigslist’s online classifieds to search for partners who enjoy threesomes.... ...

Have you ever wondered how much you pay for tuition in comparison to your friends each quarter? Certainly, California residents pay way less than nonresidents. Yet, local students moan about the tuition hike and how much it hurts Californian families. How about nonresidential students? Simply, if you are not a California resident, you get charged with a higher price for the same education. Although California residents pay taxes to fund California universities while nonresidents and international students do not have to, the tuition for non-residents and international students is still unfairly high. Perhaps, American students still get financial aid support. International students especially suffer the most of all. If you took a basic microeconomics class, the case of imposing two different tuition prices is the perfect illustration to explain the abstract concept of price discrimination. From the start, UC Davis tuition discriminates into two sub-categories: California residents and nonresidents. The nonresident and international student’s tuition includes the amount that California residents pay, plus the “Nonresident Supplemental Tuition,” costing $22,878 yearly.... ...

In Tristan de Liege’s April 11 Op-ed, “Capitalism and the poor,” an attempt is made to justify laissez-faire capitalism. The justification rests on two faulty premises: that capitalism is justified by the alleged benefits it brings, and that in a capitalist society wealth is distributed on the basis of voluntary choice. Firstly, economic and political systems cannot be justified solely on the basis of the benefits they bring. Even if we were to accept, as de Liege asserts, that capitalism will improve the standard of living for the majority of individuals, this is no justification. Slavery certainly “improved” the standard of living for slaves and their masters. It is common knowledge that immediately after slavery was abolished in the South, many former slaves found themselves worse off than they did when they were still slaves. Does this justify slavery? Certainly not. Secondly, wealth has historically not been distributed on the basis of voluntary choice in capitalist systems for multiple reasons. First, capitalist systems ignore past involuntary wealth transfers. Even Robert... ...