When I came to UC Irvine in the fall of 2006, I was not expecting much school spirit for athletic programs. I was not attending a school like UCLA or USC where it is customary to paint your face and tailgate before football games.
However, I acquired a certain love for UCI athletics during my freshman year when I would walk to the men’s basketball games at the Bren Events Center from my dorm in Mesa Court. I usually attended the games just to relax and talk to some friends. Every game would go down to the final minute, so there was always a reason to stay and watch.
There are a few topics of discussion that are bound to come up time and time again during your stay at UCI, including Mesa Court versus Middle Earth, how Irvine is so ridiculously safe, how Irvine has two cops within eyesight at every intersection and, most of all, how we have a science library instead of a football team.
When I first told people that I planned on going to a Star Trek convention, I was met with a few different responses — most of which included me being called a nerd. But I’ll proudly agree. I admit that I am definitely what you would call a nerd.
The other day, I was waiting in line at Blockbuster. Everything was fine until the trailer for Crank 2 came on right above the cash register. My testosterone levels revved up while the older folks in line rolled their eyes like their pupils were hamsters caught in wheels. When Revolutionary Road came on, the ladies were near tears while I ripped out a solid yawn. But when an ad for the new Beatles Rock Band game came on, everyone was watching.
It seems that nearly every first-year student coming to campus is aware of the dreaded “Freshman 15” — the fabled 15-pound weight gain caused by a diet of Ramen Noodles and Easy Mac. Unfortunately, there is one other lesser known statistic that can have a huge impact on students’ lives: 20-25 percent of college women experience attempted or completed rape during their college career.
With two unexpected turnovers in Congress in the last two election cycles, the Republican Party has been a huge disappointment in the last couple of years. Following the 2008 Presidential Election, hundreds of articles declaring the death of the GOP have been written. After all, many Washington political analysts had already determined the Republican Party dead following its defeats in 1964, 1974 and 1992.
Although it seemed at first that President Barack Obama’s honeymoon popularity would never end, his halo has finally ceased to exist. Since March, President Obama’s approval rating has dropped to 50 percent — the largest drop of an American President in the history of polling.
Occasionally, I cheer myself up by going to the American Library Association’s Web page to remind myself that this national librarians’ organization has an “Office for Intellectual Freedom.” Along with my union and hundreds of citizen activist groups, librarians from around the country, including here at UC Irvine, organized an annual collective warning and intellectual love-in. We hope to remind everyone that the power of silly people to misunderstand and miss the point can easily be challenged by honest, free supporters of our shared basic American right to read. And to read whatever we like, thank you very much!
Despite the passage of Proposition 8 in Nov. 2008 and California’s Supreme Court ruling in favor of Proposition 8 in June, the battle for marriage in California is not over yet. Another fight over same-sex marriage is expected, and both sides are already preparing for the next round.
