Opinion

Republican Primaries Kick Off In Iowa and New Hampshire

In
By Eli Davey

Two weeks ago, the Republican primaries kicked off with the Iowa Caucus. After devoting seemingly endless hours to analyzing the Caucuses, we suffered the extremely anticlimactic let–down of a near tie between Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum, the first of whom fell short of the former Pennsylvania Senator by 34 votes in Iowa, according to an updated count. The initial count reported that Romney had won by eight votes.

Occupy Congress Protest Demands Reform

In
By Megan Hearst

As the Occupy Wall Street zeitgeist slowly dwindles, the question on the minds of protesters and civilians alike is: “What’s next?” Occupy Congress, the brain child of the Occupy Wall Street movement, heralds itself as “Occupy 2.0,” and in many ways can be seen as the sophisticated, compacted Occupy Wall Street. Those who have coordinated this new protest, which took place on January 17, declared in the Occupy Congress mission statement that they want to end corporate personhood, reform campaign financing, and place limits on tenure terms and salary for members of Congress.

Win's World: 1/20/12

In
By Winston Wight

Each time I read about the Republican Party debates, I hang my head. Between the scandals, inaccurate assertions, and onslaught of tasteless campaign ads, it appears the Mayans may have been right about 2012.

Kim Jong-Il’s Death Poses Questions for Future

In
By Emma Koger

Over winter break, the world received some shocking news: Kim Jong-Il, North Korea’s “Dear Leader” since 1994, passed away. On Saturday, December 17, 2011, Kim Jong-Il died from what was believed to be a heart attack. North Korean officials stated that the cause of his death was “physical and mental over–work.” Kim Jong-Un, Kim Jong-Il’s son, will be taking over the communist reign of North Korea.

BPD Justified in Evacuating Occupy Berkeley

In
By Flynn Buxton-Walsh

On December 22, over one hundred protesters at Occupy Berkeley in Civic Center Park, across the street from Berkeley High School, were handed eviction notices and ordered to leave the area by 10pm. This was in accordance with a Berkeley municipal code that limits park hours from 6 AM to 10 PM; this curfew had previously been overlooked by the Berkeley Police Department (BPD). Tents and protests, however, are still allowed during the park’s hours.
Was the BPD right to clear out these protestors? Yes, they were.

Editorial: 1/20/12

In
By Shannon Miller

Earlier this week, the Washington Post published an editorial by law professor and legal scholar Jonathan Turley, entitled “10 Reasons the US is No Longer the Land of the Free.” The article addressed the curtailment of civil liberties by the United States government during the decade that has passed since the attacks of September 11, and pinpointed ten authorities acquired by our government since then that characterize our great nation as one far less free and far more authoritarian than we may be ready or willing to realize.

Doomsday Prediction Fallacies

In
By Emma Dudley

Now that it’s 2012, everyone is starting to hear more and more about the Mayan doomsday prediction. Nobody seems to agree on exactly what will happen. Mass storms, getting sucked into a black hole, magnetic pole reversal, earthquakes, super volcanoes, and/or collision with the planet “Nibiru” have all been proposed. However, one point of agreement is that December 21 is supposedly the day it will all go down. How much stock should one put in this particular end–of–the–world forecast? Not much, as far as history is concerned. Apocalyptic predictions are nothing new.

Talking Points: 1/20/12

In
By Madeleine Roberts

As part of the Berkeley School Board’s policy review to improve attendance at Berkeley High School, a proposal made in October by Karen Hemphill to rescind the automatic grade reduction for students with five or more unexcused absences was discussed at each of the last two Board meetings. A final vote was held this past Wednesday, January 11. The vote was unanimous, and the policy change passed.

Social Networking Sites Distract Students

In
By Sera Busse

Over the past few years, social networking has become increasingly prominent in the lives of Berkeley High School students. Relationships and conversations are no longer made organically in person, or even over the phone; instead, members of society now communicate through the simple action of logging onto their many online accounts or simply picking up a cell phone to send a text message. Popularity is measured by how many followers one has on Twitter, the amount of people subscribing to a blog, or however many Facebook friends someone has managed to accumulate.

Win's World: 12/16/11

In
By Winston Wight

Remember that oil spill that happened in the Gulf of Mexico not so long ago? The one where we got angry and the government hoped we’d eventually forget? Apparently, it’s been long enough. On Wednesday, the Department of the Interior (DOI) went ahead with its plan to auction off leases to 20.6 million “acres” of the Gulf of Mexico to drilling companies.

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