Note: The views in this article are those of the author alone, and do not represent the views of any organization in any official capacity. Even to outsiders, it is hard to miss the drama surrounding the Berkeley College Republicans that has drawn national attention by inviting controversial speakers and giving rise to protests that […]
Tag: Berkeley
Antifa: A New Political Resistance?
They showed up wearing black clothes and masks, throwing fireworks and smashing glass windows. They threatened people recording them, and attacked those who stood in their way. They set fires and threw Molotov Cocktails. Later, they were described as “Ninja-like” individuals who used “paramilitary tactics”. But this wasn’t a civil war or a terror attack. […]
When the Music Turns Off, Matisyahu’s Actions Begin
UC Berkeley’s spacious areas like Memorial Glade and Lower Sproul Hall serve as a center stage for concerts with big name performers. Last April, reggae singer Matisyahu performed a free concert to a large and engaged crowd on Lower Sproul hosted by the Berkeley Hillel and UC Berkeley’s Jewish Student Union. The concert was a […]
Disinvestment, Political Motives Mar the University of California
Late last year, the UC Regents passed a budget deal which provided the system with an injection of $119.5 million in new funds, in addition to $25 million from the state in return for enrolling 10,000 new California undergraduates over the next three years, starting with 6,500 this fall. The budget deal also called […]
To Discuss or to Protest? That is the Question
Berkeley’s campus atmosphere is ripe with tension from protests. Numerous campus events have been interrupted by the likes of By Any Means Necessary (BAMN) and Black Lives Matter (BLM) activists who seek to convey their platforms through upheaval and disruption. While their message is certainly conveyed, it comes at the cost of an educational dialogue, […]
Feminism’s Glass Ceiling
Women: they’re everywhere! Mothers, actresses, professors, Presidents – you name it, and a woman will be it. This development, however, is recent. It is only in the last 100 years that society has recognized that women are also human beings, with the capacity to deserve human rights. It is for this reason that today, society […]
Internal Politics Color Gerrymandering Fight in Berkeley
After a yearlong, virulent, and expensive fight, Measure S passed in Berkeley, California–establishing a student-age supermajority city council district. Measure S was a taboo political word; it was, quite frankly, a gerrymander. It designed the City Council maps to give an electoral advantage to a specific group–students. But the story was not that simple. The […]
Popping the Berkeley Bubble
“So…why’d you pick Berkeley?” my new friend asks, looking at me over the rims of his glasses. It’s a frequently asked question during Welcome Week, the favorite of awkward strangers-turned-conversationists in the dorms. Walking down Telegraph Avenue, I think about the answer as I take in the melange of people and activities around me. There’s […]
The Empty Ballot
On House of Cards, Frank Underwood quipped, “Politicians can’t resist making promises they can’t keep.”[1] As the ASUC elections dawn upon Berkeley, our fledgling politicians await unknowing freshmen on Sproul Plaza, hoping to sell overambitious platforms and promises they won’t be able to fulfill. Those who have survived this rite of passage in previous years avoid […]
A Freshman’s Perspective on the Recent Police Brutality Protest
I grew up in Redmond, Washington, a suburb of Seattle. “Home” to me meant verdant parks. Quiet streets. Quieter nights. The calm darkness of those nights was unbroken except for the occasional passing taillight of our city cops’ fancy Dodge Chargers. When I was three or four, my parents told me what to do in […]