Riley Schenck

May 21, 2012

Why Religion May Be a Matter of Ideology, Not Theology

By Riley Schenck

Oftentimes you hear people lament religion and how it is the cause of so much conflict and violence throughout the world. “If only religion were to disappear,” they say, “then we would all live in peace.” As a se...

May 14, 2012

Obama’s Gay Marriage Endorsement Raises Eyebrows and Campaign Funds

By Riley Schenck

Last week, Barack Obama came out and publicly endorsed gay marriage, a move that many saw as a huge political gamble. Many on the left have worried that the announcement will help fire up socially conservative voters who...

May 7, 2012

UCSB Palestinian Awareness Week: Event Confronts Ongoing Conflict, Heightens Tensions But Fails to Shed Light on New Solutions

By Riley Schenck

The Palestinian-Israeli conflict is arguably the most contentious in the world. On Thursday, the Arbor was converted into an ideological battleground between the two sides. A large wooden gate, bearing the slogan “Pale...

April 30, 2012

Really Want to Stick it to the Man? Go Forth and Be Fruitful: Politically Strategic Baby-Makin’

By Riley Schenck

Turns out, if you are a liberal, having a baby is one of the best ways you can fight for your cause. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, conservatives have 41 percent more offspring than liberals. While liberals ar...

April 23, 2012

Conservatives Are From Mars, Liberals Are From Venus

By Riley Schenck

Earlier this month, science and politics journalist Chris Mooney came out with a new book entitled The Republican Brain, The Science of Why They Deny Science—and Reality, a book that is much more insightful and objecti...

April 9, 2012

“If You Can’t Bribe a Politician, You Can Now Just Buy One”

By Riley Schenck

Money is flooding into political elections at an unprecedented rate, giving an enormous amount of influence to wealthy interests in our country. For decades special interest groups have spent millions trying to influence...

April 1, 2012

How the Party of “No” Managed to Oppose Its Own Idea

By Riley Schenck

Last week, the Supreme Court heard three days of oral arguments on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare, with conservatives giddy and itching to see the president’s single most im...

February 27, 2012

Twilight Series Proves Vampires Are Effective Propaganda Ambassadors

By Riley Schenck

The other day, I came home from an intramural soccer game and two of my roomies were watching “Twilight: Breaking Dawn.” I had never read any of the books nor seen any of the movies, but I knew that my sister and cou...

February 13, 2012

What’s on your mind? The Power of Social Media in a Dynamic Age

By Riley Schenck

Who would have thought when we all made our first MySpace pages back in high school, complete with the ridiculous personalized backgrounds and theme songs, that we were leading a worldwide revolution? Yeah, it sounds che...

February 6, 2012

Why the iPhone Will Never Carry That ‘Made in the U.S.A.’ Stamp

By Riley Schenck

Two weeks ago, the New York Times published a report entitled “How the U.S. Lost Out on iPhone Work,” detailing how Apple went from manufacturing most of its products in the United States in 2002 to today, where virt...

January 30, 2012

Famed Fútbol Rivalry Reveals Historical Divide

By Riley Schenck

Last Wednesday, FC Barcelona eliminated Real Madrid from the Copa del Rey tournament and here at UCSB, I saw plenty of kids repping their Barça and Madrid jerseys and at least a few others streaming the game live on lib...

January 23, 2012

Newt Gingrich: He’s Only Fooling Goldilocks

By Riley Schenck

  At first they tried Papa Bear Cain’s porridge, but it was a little too strange with that weird pizza-flavored aftertaste. Then they tried Mama Bear Romney’s porridge, but it was a little too watered down and h...

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 14, 2011

(w)Ron(g) Paul’s Free Market Fairytale

By Riley Schenck

[media-credit name=”Erika Frost” align=”aligncenter” width=”250″][/media-credit]Gather round, all ye children, for I haveth a tale for thee on why Ron Paul is oh so wrong… Once upon ...

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...

October 31, 2011

Halloween Restrictions Prove Excessive

By Riley Schenck

As I watched the brigade of mounted officers parading around Isla Vista this past week in preparation of Halloween, I could only think of one thing, and it didn’t have anything to do with public safety or projection of...