Opinion Editor

April 11, 2012

Don’t Base Your Desires on the Gender Binary: Go For What Gets You Off

By Opinion Editor

Nation. People. Literate UCSB students. I come before you today to offer a study that will revolutionize science. Its elegance, infallibility, and pure genius will force the Nobel committee to establish an entirely new f...

February 22, 2012

The Six Degrees of Isla Vista: You Wish It Were Only A Theory

By Opinion Editor

Have you ever been sitting around, shootin’ the shit with your friends, when all of a sudden you stop and realize you’ve all essentially hooked up with one another? All right, before you judge me, think about it. But...

January 26, 2012

Yes, UCSB, Your Government Is Listening To You

By Opinion Editor

Most college students are pretty unhappy with Congress right about now and rightfully so. With huge cuts to education and high unemployment especially among recent college graduates, the Republican majority in Congress i...

January 9, 2012

The Reality of Mental Illness: University Edition

By Opinion Editor, Leslie Purdie

I’m diagnosed with a variety of psychiatric conditions: bipolar I disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, ADHD and a learning disability called dyscalculia. As a teenager I battled anorexia nervosa. I’ve been hospita...

January 8, 2012

Closure of Coal Oil Point Reserve Trails Unimaginative, Unfair

By Opinion Editor, Michael Freeston

I’ve got bad news for those of you who like to jog or hike around the Coal Oil Point Reserve. You will discover that while you were all away for Christmas break, the university has blocked off, and is in the process of...

January 8, 2012

How I Know Who You’ll Vote for in 2012

By Opinion Editor, Riley Schenck

Welcome back Gauchoans, and Happy New Year! 2012 is destined to be a doozy. Not only will it be the final year of our lives, but in November we will decide who the final president of the United States will be, to brave...

November 15, 2011

Road (Construction A)head

By Opinion Editor, Elizabeth Brooks

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November 10, 2011

Save Yourself Grief: Know the Difference Between Habitable and Not

By Opinion Editor

Just when you thought the creepy crawlies from Halloween were long gone, you’ve noticed that a whole new family of bugs and rodents has arrived. It seems like your rental is falling apart, practically resembling a haun...

November 9, 2011

Even Expert Scoundrals Must Strategize to Maximize Booty

By Opinion Editor, Elizabeth Brooks

Sometimes getting laid isn’t the problem; the problem is answering the booty call. No, I’m not talking about the girls who fight with themselves about their morals at 2:30 in the morning: “I’m not just a piece of...

November 7, 2011

U.S. Repeal of UNESCO Funding Misses Big Picture

By Opinion Editor, Riley Schenck

Last week, Palestine officially joined UNESCO, the UN’s educational, scientific and cultural organization, as its newest member. The vote approving Palestine’s membership was overwhelming; 107 member nations voted fo...

November 7, 2011

‘No Unwanted Mail’ List Holds Potential to Eliminate Nuisance Mail

By Opinion Editor, Bryan Rosen

I am inundated with unwanted mail, including local publications. For example, The Montecito Messenger began sending me its newspaper, which I never requested. Not wanting to receive it at my home, I called its offices a...

November 4, 2011

Fulbright Scholar Recounts U.S. Experiences

By Opinion Editor

Upon coming to the United States on a Fulbright Teaching scholarship, I became familiar with the lively American spirit and culture. During my time as a teaching associate at the University of California, Santa Barbara, ...

November 3, 2011

The Atheist in Love: Chapter Three

By Opinion Editor, Connor Oakes, Brian Gallagher

This week’s question: How would you handle raising children with a religious spouse? I have often contemplated my future life as a father. To have a son would be both awesome and fucking terrifying (a daughter, for me,...

November 3, 2011

Caffeine: How To Kick the Habit, Or at Least Abuse Correctly

By Opinion Editor

Maybe you’re intimately familiar with the groggy feeling of “waking up” in the morning, slowly and begrudgingly biking over to Cajé and mumbling something the cashier assumes means “large coffee.” Or maybe you...

November 3, 2011

BYOB: A Simple Solution to Our Plastic Bag Problem

By Opinion Editor, JillAgonias

Bring your own … bag? Santa Barbara has the potential to be the next county to ban single-use plastic bags to protect our oceans and to significantly reduce our plastic consumption. Approximately 12 billion single-use ...

October 31, 2011

The Outcome of Libya: Just One Less Dictator

By Opinion Editor, Jeffrey Robin

When word came in that Muammar Gaddafi had been summarily executed by a shot to the head at point blank range, I imagine that President Obama must have been rather pleased with himself. After all, how could he not be? Th...