All Entries in the "Features" Category
The Perv Whisperer (abridged print edition)
Aloe Vera stood terrified outside the Detroit, Michigan courtroom at 9:30 a.m. on a spring morning in 2008, waiting to be called in as chief witness in the preliminary hearing of a man she knew was a pedophile.
The Perv Whisperer (full edition)
Aloe Vera stood terrified outside the Detroit, Michigan courtroom at 9:30 a.m. on a spring morning in 2008, waiting to be called in as chief witness in the preliminary hearing of a man she knew was a pedophile.
Being the Change You Wish to See in the World at UC Irvine
The SOCIAList: A big reason why we go to college is to get ready for the real world. There is an academic foundation and expertise built here, but there is a far more important education that happens during your time in college: the education of life. What you learn here is supposed to be applied to the world outside.
If Women Ruled the World
At some point in their lives, most women throw their hands up in frustration and exclaim, “Everything would be better if women ruled the world. There would be no war and we would all eat Ben and Jerry’s all day!”
Environmentally Friendly Bikers Have a Mountain to Climb for Trail Riding Rights
Irvine Planeteers: The environmental community is polarized on the issue of mountain biking. Many environmentalists argue that mountain bikers are destructive rule-breakers who cause erosion of soil, leading to the degradation and fragmentation of habitats. On the other hand, many mountain bikers, including the members and alumni of the UC Irvine Cycling Club, consider themselves to be environmental stewards. They follow the rules of the road, put in hours of volunteer work to maintain trails and help fellow land users in distress.
My Best Friend Died of Cancer
Daniel Joseph Riley and his maroon Volvo waited for me every morning at 6:30 a.m. Although I would always ask for five more minutes when he’d call, twenty-five minutes later we’d be on our way to Eastlake High School. He never once complained. Opening his car door, music would hit me – Elliott Smith, Damien Rice, or, if I was lucky, KC and Jojo. “Allllll myyy liiiiiiife,” Daniel would wail, “I prayed for someone liiiiike youuuuu,” his thumbs drumming on the plastic steering wheel, his brown curly hair bobbing to keep time with the music.
Adapted to Death: Book-Inspired Films Don’t Always Make the Cut
Mad, Bad, & Dangerous to Know: I was at a party in Los Angeles the other weekend and I couldn’t help but eavesdrop on the conversation that some former contestants of Project Runway were having with each other. Speaking of “Revolutionary Road” this and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” that, they predicted which movie was going to win the phallic “this little man means I’m better than you” statue and which actress was going to cry or not cry when she accepted her award.
“Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim”
David Sedaris’ “Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim” is largely a collection of short stories based on Sedaris’ real life and family. His humor is mostly self-deprecating and pokes fun at his middle class, dysfunctional family.
Clive Owen Goes ‘International’
How appropriate, in current economic conditions, that an action film is released that demonizes bankers. More specifically, the antagonist of “The International” is a bank that exists above the law – stationed in neutral borders and holding a big enough profit to bribe God – whose illegal business practices are safeguarded through the routine “accidents” that happen to anyone and everyone able to fight it.
Richard Kroll, 1953 – 2009
He saw his father murdered by the machete of a Mau Mau rebel when he was 13 and he forgave the killer. A genetic ailment lay dormant for much of his life, then sprung itself upon him, impairing his motor functions, but he kept teaching. One of the few professors brave enough to dole out a deserved D+, he was unfairly called a fascist, and he still gave students the chance to rewrite. Richard Kroll was tough and fair.
