Really, Mr. Cain? Anti-American? I beg to differ.

Herman Cain was born December 13, 1945. This means that he would have been roughly in his late teens/early twenties during the 1960s.

For those of you unaware of American history, the 60s were a time of counterculture revolution among the young people in America. Fighting for social equality, many young people took to the streets in protest. The protests of this time secured certain rights for minorities and helped bring our young men back from Vietnam.

The 60s were a period marked and defined by social movements, often in the form of protests. The protests in the 60s allowed for an African-American to be president today. Protests about social equality shaped the America we fight for today.

Herman Cain, who could become the president, apparently does not seem to remember the 60s, or if he does, he fails to see the parallels to the protests of today.

The people in Occupy Wall St. and Occupy Oakland may not have a completely clear view of what they want, but they have made certain things clear: they are fed up with the disparity of wealth in America and are going to protest it until things start to change.

Just like the people in the 60s, these people see social injustice and can no longer turn a blind eye to it. These protesters are valiantly facing the cold and bitter wind in order to show who they consider blind rich people just how upset they are. They face police brutality, illness, and terrible conditions. These people are willing to get arrested for what they believe.

That’s anti-American to you, Herman Cain? Would you call Dr. Martin Luther King anti-American?

Social inequality is social inequality, whether it is minorities protesting oppression by whites or the poor being oppressed by the rich.

Protests are part of American history. We wouldn’t be the country we are today without protests and movements like the 60s civil rights movement and the Woman’s Suffrage movement in the early 20^th century. Even the anti-Temperance movement demonstrated the power of protest. What makes those protests American and these one here today not?

It’s unacceptable for someone who could lead this country to say that the Occupy movement is anti-American. Perhaps Mr. Cain should read up on his history before he goes around calling protests and social movements anti-American.

It is estimated that the wedding cost $10 million, while the Kardashians’ ended up making $18 million from various media partnerships.

Here is what her marriage could have paid for:

• about 79 students’ college tuition for all four years at a UC campus

• 200 household incomes for average Americans.

• 426 brand-new 2011 Toyota Priuses

• 7.75 million songs on iTunes

• 25,000 16GB iPod touches

• 2.5 million gallons of gasoline

• 1.86 million double-double burgers at In-N-Out

• 167,000 Bay Bridge weekday tolls

After the news broke about the Kardashian split, a new trend emerged on twitter: #ThingsLongerThanKimsMarriage. Some popular tweets regarding things longer than the Kardashian nuptials:

• The pause after Dora the Explorer asks a question

• Justin Bieber’s chest hair

• Taylor Swift’s VMA acceptance speech before Kanye interrupted her

• However long it took to find Nemo

• My iPhone battery

Some other tweets that pertain to Albany students:

• Mr. James’ lectures on the Soviet Union

• The cafeteria line during break

• The wait for college acceptance/rejection letters

• The number of questions on the SAT

• The wait at the DMV

• The time it takes for an average teenage girl to get ready in the morning

• Our block periods

• The length of the school’s wifi password

• The Occupy protests

• The amount of time it took to write this article

All jokes aside, Kim Kardashian put so much time, money and media into her wedding only to give up on her marriage after 72 days. It leaves the question of who is truly ruining the sanctity of marriage in our society?

In agreement, an appeals court in Alabama declared Obama Care unconstitutional, and the law is now on its way to the Supreme Court. All this hype about the healthcare bill has left many of us wondering: what exactly is Obama Care?

Obama Care refers to the healthcare reform law that was passed in September 2010. It is meant to provide coverage for the 30 million uninsured Americans who are not already covered by Medicare (for people age 65 and older) or Medicaid (for people who have limited income and also meet certain eligibility requirements). The 2,000-page bill holds a great deal of long-winded, confusing solutions to America’s healthcare problem (and goodness knows there’s a problem).

This reform aims to decrease the large, uninsured population in America and the rising premiums (the cost of an insurance policy) that insurance agencies are charging.

Reports have shown that even during the recession, private insurance agencies are earning record profits.

Considering these reports, it’s rather obvious that there is an unfairness about the system, but it may not be clear why having a large uninsured population is a burden on society.

For instance, take Phil. Phil is 22; he is a recent college graduate who moved back to Albany to live with his parents while he searches for a job. His parents’ insurance plan no longer covers him, but Phil doesn’t see a reason for paying a monthly bill to the insurance company while he is healthy and injury-free.

This way of life is fine and dandy as long as he remains healthy. But when Phil gets hit by a car, he is sent to the emergency room, treated, and finally sent home with a tremendous bill that he likely will never be rid of.

In a situation like this, it may seem that it just sucks to be Phil.

Oh, contraire; in reality, it also sucks to be the insured citizen that is paying for the healthcare that the hospital provides.

Hospitals charge insurance companies more because they assume that the indebted, uninsured person will never fully pay for the cost of his or her emergency care (those people usually don’t, which is why they remain forever in debt).

So, Phil’s unpaid debt gets added on to the premiums that the insurance agencies charge their customers to cover the cost of Phil’s “free” treatment. Absurdly, the responsible are being punished under the current system.

Obama’s healthcare reform offers a few unconventional solutions. First, it allows people under 26 to remain covered by their parent’s insurance plans, thus reducing the burden on the young, job-seeking population and increasing the amount of insured Americans. (Keep that in mind, future adults!)

In addition, the new healthcare system actually creates a “marketplace” where small businesses and uninsured American citizens can shop for health insurance at competitive prices.

Furthermore, those who still can’t afford health care within the Obama’s insurance exchange will receive tax credits based on need.

This whole marketplace idea may come as a surprise, for the rhetoric surrounding the law focuses mostly on one thing: the law’s mandate that everyone must have health insurance (many members of the Republican Party argue that this order is unconstitutional).

The exchange is indeed logical; how could the government make such a mandate without providing a means with which to buy reasonable, affordable healthcare? Because the state is now involved in providing healthcare through insurance agencies, it has imposed new guidelines that apply to its clients.

Defending the law’s constitutionality, President Obama insists that the law does not affect anyone who is already insured.

But the law does enforce a great deal of new rules for insurance agencies to follow regarding clients that are receiving government coverage. Insurance agencies:

1) may not deny coverage for people with preexisting conditions

2) may not drop a person’s coverage when they become sick

3) may not put a cap on yearly or lifetime coverage

4) will be limited on how much a client can be charged for out of pocket fees

5) must cover check-ups, mammograms, colonoscopies and other forms of preventive care.

One can understand why the insurance agencies are so opposed to the state healthcare system – a cheaper and more trustworthy insurance plan will serve as worthy competition, something all Americans should surely welcome.

Jess, Nick (Jake Johnson), Schmidt (Max Greenfield), and Coach (Daman Wayans Jr., replaced by Lamorne Morris’ Winston after the pilot episode) all cram into one loft apartment, making up the weird dysfunctional family that makes this show so entertaining.

Why You Should Be Watching If You Aren’t Already:

1. You can watch this show over and over again. The jokes don’t fade and the performances are still funny as ever.
2. Deschanel’s Jess is comedy gold. From her dancing to her attempts to pick guys to her obsessive Dirty Dancing watching, you can’t help but love Jess.
3. The romantic storyline isn’t the focus. Unlike so many other generic sitcoms, a romantic storyline between Jess and Nick doesn’t feel so forced. The romantic chemistry is there, but there’s no eager rush to push these two characters together.
4. Jess’s Lord of the Rings references in the pilot. Enough said.
5. Greenfield’s Schmidt also deserves an honorable mention. Self-obsessed Schmidt packs on the laughs in every episode with his dialogue and plotlines, adding immensely to the show’s entertainment value.

Overall, New Girl is well worth its hype and the ratings it boasts. You can catch New Girl on FOX Tuesdays at 9:00pm.

On the love advice page, there was a “helpful tip” at the bottom suggesting, “When a cute guy you don’t know posts on your friend’s FB page, use it as an excuse to cold message him.” Higher up on the same page were four stories written by guys who had been scared away from girls who acted overly hopeful and obsessed. Talk about mixed messages.

In the health section, the before and after pictures of two girls are featured to promote Seventeen’s fitness suggestions. However, their before pictures aren’t that far off from their after pictures. Both girls looked healthy, and not anywhere near overweight. I didn’t understand what they needed to change in the first place.

Celebrities litter the pages of Seventeen, surrounded by ads for clothing that looks almost exactly like theirs, but at the same time not as fashionable. I’d probably feel like a celebrity too if I bought a $50 cardigan and a $98 dress, but how can most 17-year-old girls afford that with infrequent $8 an hour babysitting gigs?

Similarly, would most 17-year-old girls be able to spend $160 on various hair products for just one week’s worth of hairstyles? If we were all America’s perfect little consumers, yes. However, I spend less than that a year on the essentials: hair ties, bobby pins, shampoo, and conditioner. What else is really so necessary?

The only thing I found most entertaining to read in Seventeen magazine was “Traumarama.” Girls send in stories of their most embarrassing moments: laughing hard enough to pee their pants at a party, calling a boyfriend by an ex’s name, and so forth. While laughing at the expense of others is always good fun, in the long run, what is that teaching us in regards to treating our peers?

As many students learn as freshmen in IHS class, teenagers now are bombarded with more media than they can process nearly every minute of every day. Young girls have so much pressure on them to be 6’2” and a size zero, and to look like the models and celebrities that litter the pages of magazines like Seventeen. This doesn’t give young girls a realistic view of the world. Magazines like Seventeen are only beneficial to society for satirical purposes.

I used to have no problem with the state sentencing people to death, as I believed that if criminals had a serious fear of committing a crime, they wouldn’t do it. I was thinking specifically about what I’d read in The Prince by Machiavelli: to keep the population under your rule, a few individuals must be made an example of in order to stop others from doing the same thing.

But recently, I’ve had a change of heart and taken some time to rethink the question.

As a Buddhist, I’ve been taught that life is the most valuable possession any person keeps. This is the reason that struggling families are willing to go into debt to fight illness and why when on one’s deathbed, worldly possessions have no meaning.

Capital punishment does nothing but rob life from a person and cause pain and suffering to their family and friends. “Doing justice” for the family of a murder victim is nothing more than state-sanctioned revenge, inherently violent and evil. Execution is never justified; it is just another murder.

Is it not enough to say that capital punishment is illegal and take no further action? If we declare execution a violation of human rights and then sentence every murderer and rapist to life in prison, we create an unsustainable situation where society’s problems are locked into a place where we can’t see them, while the societal issues that breed the criminals we lock away persist and grow.

To take a case in point, here in California we have the nation’s second highest prison budget but we still have the nation’s highest rate of repeat offence. The prison population in California is around 143,000, nearly 30,000 more than the population of Berkeley.

The fact that we have to keep a group of people the size of a large city away from the rest of society represents the real problem with our justice system.

To seek real justice for all people without violence is the goal that we must now face as a society. To do this we must attack the causes of violence at the root, stopping criminals before they ever have a chance to hurt anyone.

Emphasis must be put on investing in bringing impoverished communities up to a standard of living on par with the rest of the nation so no one feels that they must turn to crime to make money.

Education is also of critical importance;  for it teaches skills that the youth need to get high paying jobs. More importantly, it gives hope to those who might not find it anywhere else.

Once all members of a community learn that being a member of society is more secure and rewarding than a life of crime, they will, as humans usually do, take the path that benefits them the most.

In the case of prisoners returning to their communities, according to a study by the National Institute of Corrections, treatment and rehabilitation for reintegration into normal life as opposed to incarceration leads to fewer repeat offenders.

As we challenge the issue of justice as a society, we need to change our mindset from “Who is a danger to society?” to: “How do we make sure all members of society are happy?”

If we work toward this end, the issues of capital punishment, prison overcrowding and failing school systems will all be challenged at the same time. We need unity toward a single end, and working toward the happiness of every person must be the united mind of our nation.

I’m sorry, but math and science are already hard enough as it is; they don’t need to be any damn harder. I’m overworked as it is, I don’t want to work any more. If China wants to work its students to the point that they deprive themselves of all the joy in this world to be number one, let them take the top spot. I don’t care. What’s so great about being number one anyway?

Do I really have to deprive myself of even more sleep and cram myself with more homework so some bullheaded, nationalistic jackass can drunkenly shout out that America is number one? Hell no! Bottom line is I’m overworked as it is, and don’t want to work any harder. Forget being number one, I just want to enjoy my life.
The first candidate that comes out and says this has my respect and future vote.

Washington D.C. is becoming a great proponent in change. The Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Equality Amendment Act of 2009 has been introduced in Washington D.C. Which would allow same-sex couples to be legally married in D.C. when currently D.C. only recognizes same-sex marriages from other states. This amendment provides hope for gay marriage in both D.C. and potentially on a national level.

Washington D.C. is not a state; it is a district of Congress which means that all city laws must be approved by Congress in order of them to take effect. If Congress approves same-sex marriage in D.C., Congress will implicitly show its support for same-sex marriage. Government officials and policymaker will be forced to clearly express an opinion either for or against same-sex marriage in a vote. In the past, the topic of same-sex marriage has been a touchy and taboo subject and therefore little consensus has been reached on the issue. The vote of the Washington City Council Ordinance will force Congress to reach a definitive consensus.

By no means does this mean that same-sex marriage will be legal nationwide, but steps are being taken in the right direction. On November 3, Maine voted 53-47 to repeal gay marriage, a similar result to what occurred in California with Proposition 8.

In his campaign, Barack Obama promised to get rid of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”, yet it is still in place. Obama has been busy pushing his health care agenda, however, the rights of LGBT citizens have been put on the back burner throughout history. Now it is time for action to be taken and for LGBT citizens to have the right to marry. Currently Belgium, Canada, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Norway, and the Netherlands have legalized same-sex marriage and recognize the union. In the United States, only Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire (which will be effective in January 2010), Washington D.C. and New York recognize the union but do not perform marriages between same-sex couples. Many other countries recognize civil unions and registered partnerships including Iceland, New Zealand, Finland, France, Germany, Switzerland, Greenland, Andorra, Colombia, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Hungary, Luxembourg, New Caledonia, Slovenia, United Kingdom, and Uruguay.

California is not on this list, due to the passing of Proposition 8. On a whole, California is a liberal state and yet same-sex marriage is not legal here. This illustrates the divide among residents of California. Here, in the Bay Area, Proposition 8 or similar legislation would pass by a landslide. However, there are pockets of California that are not as liberal as Albany and the rest of the Bay Area. I ask, “What is up with the rest of California?” How is it that Iowa and other more “conservative” states are passing same-sex marriage laws? Proposition 8 should not have passed overwhelmingly; but, due to the exclusion of minorities in advertisements and other factors, same-sex marriage was repealed.

With Washington D.C’s movement to legalize same-sex there is a vast opportunity for change in current legislation. Hopefully it will spur the legalization of same-sex marriage nationwide. With Congress’s approval there is much hope for same-sex marriage to be legalized nationwide.

After Leadership issued another dance survey in November 2009, student responses largely reflected opposition to dance rules and resentment towards the administration for having removed many students from the Homecoming dance.

“We spent a lot of time going over these rules last year via the PTSA, the freak dancing task force committee – and we came up with very specific regulations,” Principal Ted Barone said on October 30, during a meeting with Leadership.

“Inappropriate dancing isn’t just breaking a school rule; it’s breaking a collaborative agreement, something that parents and students all worked to put together. I want to enforce the agreements that we made collaboratively,” Barone said.

According to Assistant Principal Tami Benau, students who broke rules were not misinformed and were being willingly defiant: “Every student dancing inappropriately straightened up as soon as I approached them. The students dancing upright and appropriately didn’t stop when I walked closer because they knew that what they were doing was okay. Every student I’ve talked to [besides some freshmen] knew perfectly well what they were doing.”

The appropriate dance survey results supported Ms. Benau’s conclusion, with only 14% of surveyed students reporting that they were unclear on what the rules were.

Regardless of however they interpret the legitimacy of the current dance rules, students are expected to follow the dance agreement form that they sign prior to purchasing a dance ticket. Even though many students do feel perfectly comfortable with dancing in an explicit manner, it does not entitle them to be able to do so at a public event.

Administrators at Albany High understand that we are teenagers, and they do not in any way try to advocate against consensual teenage sexual activity with their point of view in the appropriate dance debate. But there are limitations by law to the level of sexual activity that students are permitted at a school event. To host a dance on school grounds with no regulations and no chaperones would spell out a major disaster for safety.

While the student opinion is indispensible, it is crucial that we do not forget the other side of the story – as told by our administrators. When the opinions of our peers appear to be on one extreme of the concern, it is too easy for us to misidentify and denounce any contrasting perspective as false.

The Administration may be preventing students from enjoying themselves to their full extent at dances, but their good intentions are justified. The current gale of anti-administration propaganda needs to be put to an end.

I went to LoveFest because of all the hype I’d been hearing. I felt like I should check it out. I wanted to base my opinions on what I saw and experienced first hand. I’d heard both sides; the side that absolutely loved it last year, and thought it was the best day of their lives, and then the side that found it trashy, crowded, and disgusting. I was neutral as I walked through the gates of the festival, but did not take long before I had joined a side.

Founding board member of LoveFest, Joshua Smith stated, “In a time of recession and war, we are taking over the streets and city hall to express and share the values of culture, peace, love, unity, and respect—when we need it the most.” And while this is principle is great, as I too support sharing the values of culture, peace, unity, respect, and love; LoveFest, to me, did not symbolize any of these ideals.

For starters, let me just say, in a time of recession and war, taking over the streets, littering everywhere, peeing off the sidewalk, throwing up between bushes, all carefree and wild, is not solving anything. In a time of recession, we should be conscious of our spending, rather than going to American Apparel to blow our money on minimalist skimpy $30 gold lamé bikini tops and see-through mesh “low slung panties”… I guess that’s where you could say, props to all the nudists out there for saving some bucks on clothes.

The values Smith mentions were not values that I noticed as I pushed my way through the hordes of people. Careful not to trip over the masses passed out on the ground, I noticed friends slung over friends, puking, kissing, sleeping. I was bombarded by creepy men who squeezed my sides as they slurred some distasteful remarks. One elderly man even told me, “I’m here to check out all the hot girls.” Great, thanks. Talk about a lack of respect.

There are about twenty-five floats set up on the outskirts of Civic Center after the parade down Market Street takes place. All the action goes on in the middle of all the surrounding floats. Each float plays techno music, the bass up so high that your body vibrates to the beat. Primarily women dance atop the floats, some naked, others wearing nipple petals and thongs. Others wore tiny tutus and bandeau tops. Some pole-danced, others danced in cages. Some floats wreaked of S&M. The objectification of women at LoveFest was outrageous. As I was dancing, men around me were ranking the women on the floats, “Dude that one is hella nasty.” The women were considered items to these men; sex symbols.

The pornification of LoveFest was obscene. Some women have this idea that their only value is their sexuality, and that they must use this as their tool to impress men, as toys to these men. Seeing tens of thousands parading around LoveFest, locking tongues, groping, caressing, and dancing provocatively fuels this idea that women are and should become objects, sexy and desired. I’m not so sure that can be considered love, Mr. Smith.

As for “taking over the streets and city hall”, I find it all quite ironic. The idea that in front of San Francisco’s city hall, people are thizzing on ecstasy and LSD, smoking marijuana, and drinking from bottles and flasks, not to mention, walking around naked, is insane to me. The epitome of illegal, all going on in front of the city’s legal headquarters…

Walking back to BART, I took a last glance back at LoveFest and saw the clouds of smoke puffing up from the Center. The catcalling continued the duration of the walk to the station, and scattered groups stood huddled together, too “on” to have a care in the world. A care in the world… forget unity and peace and love. This whole thing was just an excuse for perverts to get some ass, girls to feel wanted, and drugs to be done, all out in the open.

Feel free to offer opposing viewpoints by submitting short blurbs to info@albanyhighcougar.com