Having observed Senate decision-making all semester, perhaps the most frustrating thing I saw was how little the "liberal arts," or a comparable higher value, was mentioned. All decisions were made based on some specific and minute end (to be honest, though, this end was often unclear) and were rarely based on a larger purpose or mission.

The CUC Board of Overseers has spoken. Apparently, according to Brenda Barham Hill, the CEO of CUC, our college environment is a democracy. Indeed, according to her, the decisions regarding building on the BFS were done in a democratic fashion. Thus, the student activists protesting this development are acting against the spirit of give and take that is inherent in a democratic system.

Islands by nature are curious creatures, and have scared this article for as long as it has existed, all of 21 words. There is something a little off about a place entirely surrounded by water, and therefore connected to nothing. However islands have long fascinated our easily fascinated culture. I am told that the United States was once an island, and indeed, our infatuation with these tiny places has continued to burn bright with the glorification of island life. Islands are portrayed in American culture as havens from the real world, where hammocks hang from every tree, and coconuts full to the brim with alcoholic drinks and tiny straw hats fall from the trees high overhead.

Have you heard this? Just recently the Bush administration recognized the Rolling Stones’ "You Can’t Always Get What You Want" as the theme song for their brand new $1.96 trillion Federal Budget Plan. Am I the only one who finds this a sad, horrible joke? According to a leading Bush henchman, this acquisition is apparently their way of saying that "we do have a witty side here in budget land."

I am writing this week on prison rape. While many of you may snicker, please understand the gravity of this as a social concern.. Do you remember what Victor Hugo said in Les Miserables about judging a society by its prisons? Well, I hope no one is judging the U.S by this standard. Imagine weighing 120 pounds and being locked into a cell with a 230 pound repeat offender by prison guards on purpose. Imagine being told by guards to "take it like a man." You wouldn’t have to imagine if you were in a California Prison.

Many Californians visit Tijuana every day. On the toll freeway that runs along the border, it is often difficult to see a car that does not have a California license plate, partly because only Americans can afford to drive on that toll road. Yet many people go to Tijuana without ever thinking about the precarious situation that Mexicans are in. As one of the poorer of the developed countries in the world, Mexico exists side-by-side with the largest economy in the world.

Through the trade-friendly policies of the North American Free Trade Agreement, which have loosened trade restrictions considerably between the US and its neighbors to the north and south, more jobs have certainly been flowing into Mexico. The question on my mind is: who does this benefit?

In the approximately four years that I have been at Pomona College, there has been a great deal of bombast in forums such as this regarding the issue of the all-male fraternities on campus. Generally, the dialogue has been very mediocre, with the anti-frat forces offering little more than general complaints and conclusions that the issue "deserves to be discussed further." The voices of fraternalism have muttered uninspired replies about the necessity of frats for a healthy social life on campus.