Take one look at freshman Ronnie Shaeffer and the only thing sign that he plays baseball might be some form of UC Irvine baseball gear he is wearing. When he tells you he plays baseball, your first guess at his position will most certainly be pitcher. His 6-foot-2-inch, 195 pound frame suggests it.
How do you feel about the campus life at UC Irvine? If you are like most Anteaters, you will say that we need more school spirit and more major activities like big concerts, impressive speakers and fairs on Ring Mall. ASUCI heard you, we agree with you and we want to make a change. We propose the UCI Stimulus Package Referendum to make UCI, well, fun. This fee of $25 per quarter would provide additional funding to ASUCI, cultural events, club support, volunteer events, civic engagement activities, Greek life and student media. All of this money would go to student activities and services and provide a shot of adrenaline to campus life at UCI. Essentially, for the cost of dinner and a movie you can fill your social calendar with things to do.
Last year the UC Irvine community celebrated the first annual Peter's Parade—or at least attempted to. With only 15 student groups participating out of over 400 and garnering less than 100 onlookers on a campus of over 27,000, Peter's Parade was hardly a celebration of anything. So what does this tell us? UCI student life could use a hand, and as students, we must rely on ourselves rather than wait on outside aid that may never arrive.
As students, we've all had to write essays for classes that don't particularly interest us, seem irrelevant or simply don't fit into our busy schedules. But that's the life of a student; writing essays is just part of the routine. Or is it?
When the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) posted its annual report for 2008, the figures seemed promising for the county's central transportation agency. Despite sharp increases in the price of gasoline – or, perhaps, because of it – bus rider-ship reached an all-time high of nearly 69 million, a very decent figure for a county as car-obsessed as ours.
Many of us enjoyed or will enjoy our 21st birthdays by taking advantage of the lifted restrictions that come with the age. Many of us turn 21 in the center of our college years. That magic number allows us to enter the intimidating world of adulthood — the world of responsibility, accountability, unpredictability; an unpredictability of what the future entails that frightens us into a quarter-life or a sixth-life crisis. Just 19 days ago, Clayton Kershaw turned the mystical age of 21 and he had none of the aforementioned fears. He is second in the rotation for the National League West favorite Los Angeles Dodgers.
The greatest moment in sports history for me was on Oct. 2, 2004. Dodger stadium was at capacity and I sat within ear-shot of Barry Bonds down the left field line.
If there's one part of UC Irvine that makes me feel particularly spoiled, it's the Anteater Recreation Center (ARC). Not only does its recent remodel boast a brand-new weight room and equipment, but only at the ARC can you go swimming, get a massage, take a cooking class and climb a rock wall in the same afternoon. It's the nicest college athletics facility I've ever been to, and in my opinion even surpasses expensive private fitness clubs like Newport Beach's Equinox or the ritzy 24-Hour Fitness Ultra Sport.
