Thursday is the 39th annual Great American Smokeout, when tobacco users nationally are encouraged to quit. It is also very close to the first anniversary of the University of California’s full implementation of its tobacco-free policy. UCLA was the first University of California campus to fully adopt a policy that creates a smoke- and tobacco-free […]
Category Archives: Opinion
Julia McCarthy: USAC president’s resignation part of bigger problem
Last week, UCLA’s Undergraduate Students Association Council President Devin Murphy resigned. Much of the discussion surrounding his resignation has been centered on Tuesday’s divestment resolution calling for the University of California to divest from American companies that some say contribute to human rights violations in the West Bank and Gaza. Students have been wondering if […]
Aram Ghoogasian: USAC must vote ‘yes’ on divestment, consider consequences of inaction
Hundreds of students stood in two rows to voice their opinions on divestment until close to dawn at a student government meeting last February. Now our student government is gearing up for round two. This time the meeting will probably be over before the sun rises Wednesday morning, but tensions will still run high. At […]
Editorial: USAC should postpone divestment vote until seat is filled
In the wake of the resignation of Undergraduate Students Association Council President Devin Murphy, the council has an obligation to postpone its vote on an upcoming controversial divestment resolution. Murphy’s resignation left a vacuum of power on the council, pulling former Internal Vice President Avinoam Baral out of his voting seat and leaving a gaping […]
Submission: New divestment resolution does not warrant USAC vote
Divestment, a branch of the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, takes the spotlight once again as we begin a new year at UCLA. Last year, the issue was voted down, but it still left our campus polarized. After the student government meeting on divestment, students felt uncomfortable voicing their opinions on the complex issue […]
Submission: USAC needs to make right choice by voting to divest
Dear Undergraduate Students Association Council, By now, you have had a chance to engage with Palestinian students and Students for Justice in Palestine members through individual meetings, teach-ins, Palestine Awareness Week activities and Monday’s divestment town hall meeting, which was attended by about 100 students. You have learned about the ways in which the University […]
Kunal Patel: California needs to address gap in education opportunity
When I was a first-year, I covered the Occupy protests that shut down Wilshire Boulevard. One of the prevailing themes of those protests was the disparity in the opportunities accessible to different socio-economic classes. I’m reminded of the heated rhetoric of the Occupy protests by information that’s been compiled by the nonpartisan organization Children Now, […]