The Smart Ass

By grant Gillinger

“A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they shall never know” is one of my favorite Greek proverbs. In my relatively short life, I have always been fascinated by the study of history because it seeks to explain and contextualize the world around us. We examine the past actions of our fellow citizens and human beings across continents and eras, each with their own cultural cornerstones and zeitgeists which build into the next…

By Shunyata "Shuni" Lysenko

An issue of late that has interested me is party polarization's impact on national security, leading to internal gridlock and division on international issues. The power of the United States internationally and the robustness of its military and national strength — all of which impact its ability to act and react to current and future national security issues and crises — depends upon alignment, even collaboration to a degree, between the political parties…

By Ella Johnson

On December 4, 2024, 26 year old Luigi Mangione shot and killed United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson on the front steps of the New York Hilton Midtown in Manhattan. Police believe he immediately ran, took a city bus, then a subway to Pennsylvania. He was arrested five days after the shooting in an Altoona, Pennsylvania McDonald's after a customer recognized him and an employee subsequently called the police…

By Finnegan Wright

To the students of Berkeley, and of any other college, concerned by the election results from earlier this month: 

We are in for challenging times. They may last just a couple of years; they may also last much longer. We are going to see threats to our families, friends, and classmates…

By Richard M. Zeng

Recently, President-elect Trump has touted that the US should annex Canada as a means to ensure and increase national security for both countries. 

This comment has drawn widespread confusion from both our neighbors in the north as well as Americans alike, with many Canadian Politicians on both sides of the aisle showing increasing levels of concern over this president’s willingness to use the power of the U.S. to force other states into submission…

By Shunyata "Shuni" Lysenko

Wherever one grows up, the form local transportation takes shapes their life. I was raised by a single mom putting herself through university and the poor transportation system in the Bay Area meant that she either had to take extra time out of her schedule to get me to school while traveling to classes herself or send me out onto the roads built for cars to ride my bike to school and hope nothing would happen…

By Trent Lopez

With the 2024 election under wraps and President-Elect Donald J. Trump taking office once again in 2025, it is a fragile time for the economy and a political playing ground with further division between party lines. With the COVID-19 pandemic fading in the background, President Joe Biden has been tasked with promoting prosperity and providing relief to highly affected families, businesses, and institutions, especially in recession-associated issues like unemployment and gas prices…

By Neel Bajaria

Out of the 25 seats in the Hawaiian state senate, Biden managed to win all but one even though Trump won over a third of the vote. On the flip side, Trump managed to sweep all 42 seats in the West Virginia state senate despite Biden earning about 30% of the vote. Even though these lopsided results may suggest that these districts are extraordinarily gerrymandered, even with fair maps, neither Trump, nor Biden, come even close to winning the same proportion of seats as they did votes. The reason: political geography…

By Annie Koruga

On Monday October 30th at 5:36PM, UC Berkeley, via the WarnMe email system, took it upon themselves to inform the entire student community that someone had stolen two bananas, two cans of Bubbly soda, and two waters from Golden Bear Cafe, and that this occurred sometime during the preceding weekend. While absurd and perhaps hilarious, this event…