It seems UCLA has followed Amazon’s trigger-happy, money draining scheme: With a simple mouse click or two, students can incur hundreds in fines. UCLA charges students a multitude of fees for things ranging from health care to dropping classes. Students can pay the majority of these fees online using BruinBill. If they fail to do […]
Category Archives: Opinion Columns
Convoluted club applications inhibit ability of students to join organizations
When incoming freshmen arrive at UCLA for Bruin Day, they are immediately told there are more than 1,000 clubs they can join. What they aren’t told is they probably won’t get into most of them. Joining many of the most popular and desirable clubs on campus involves filling out an extensive application. And every club […]
Arbitrary definitions and quotas are barring businesses that would boom in Westwood
Westwood’s casual drinkers can rest easy: Their new choices for a relaxed, inviting destination are a rowdy tavern and a bar that blasts music from the early 2000s. Sepi’s, a casual pub and sub shop in Westwood, closed its doors Tuesday. To say there was an uproar would be an understatement. Sepi’s has been a […]
Updating traditional Western canon could support a more holistic view of humanities
“Stand on the shoulders of giants,” they say. If only those shoulders weren’t always attached to dead white men. The Western canon – which is the basis for a range of humanities courses – refers to a collection of vital works throughout history. It includes landmark pieces by people like Jean-Jacques Rousseau, William Shakespeare, Thomas […]
Poor correlation between course load and unit count causes confusion among students
UCLA is a place where numbers don’t work outside of a math class. It’s a place where four equals seven and five equals three. When it comes to course units, that is. The number of units for each class is determined by its attendance, classwork and additional weekly assignments outside of class. This number is […]
USAC should advertise itself and engage students to break out of low-turnout cycle
The student body pays more than $8 million in fees to put on programs that represent their needs. This year, though, students are realizing that might be too high a price. The 2019 Undergraduate Students Association Council elections have a historically low candidate turnout. Twenty-one candidates ran in 2017, and 39 did in 2018. This […]
Mind Your Business: UCLA hotels detract funding from more pressing issues, compromise local business
UCLA is an institution with many moving parts. Something that goes under the radar, though: its side business ventures that don’t directly relate to its educational mission. In this series, staff columnist Mariah Furtek looks at how the blue-and-gold laden university’s often questionable cash grabs affect the campus and local community. The nation’s top public […]