Popular Speakers Not Always Most Relevant
By Peter Douglas
Staff Writer

This month Big Bridges Auditorium hosted two important speakers, Michael Moore and bell hooks. Though both drew impressive audiences, Michael Moore drew the larger of the two. ASPC sponsored his appearance, and charged students five dollars for tickets, which quickly sold out. bell hooks’s talk, sponsored by the Department of Black Studies, was a much more casual affair in which no tickets were involved. In fact the speech was scheduled for Hahn, not Big Bridges, until the Claremont University Consortium was convinced that it was a worthwhile event. Yet, though Michael Moore was much a more widely publicized and anticipated event, bell hooks gave a much better talk. As we have seen so many times before, this proves that a big name does not ensure a worthwhile speech.

Free speech Must Not Be Abused
By Alex Jakle
Staff Writer

The next time you are reading or studying for a test, ask yourself: “Why am I doing this?” You may find that you are doing your work because you like the subject material and want to learn more about it. However, you may also realize that your only compelling reason to do it is “Because I’m supposed to.” If this is the case, I can hear your rationalizations already: “I have to study to do well on this test so I can get a good grade in this class so I can major in that, and I have to major in that to go to graduate school in this so I can get a good job and buy a house and feed my cat.”

The Pomona Bubble: Not Impregnable
By Brandon Routman
Staff Writer

Recently, I went on a hunt for flip-flop sandals. I biked out of the beloved confines of the second happiest college campus in America and trudged over to Target. It was my first foray into the real world since coming to Pomona, and it proved to be enlightening. First of all, I learned that flip-flops are surprisingly rare in the town of Montclair; I went to a number of different stores there and returned to Pomona unsuccessful, wearing my battered, but reliable brown loafers of four years. Secondly, I realized something that I had subconsciously taken for granted since coming to college, but had never confirmed for myself. Yes, this is cliché to say, but we do live in a bubble. A thick bubble, in fact, one that bears little resemblance to the outside world.

Pomona Conspiracies Mostly Nonexistant
By Kyle Warneck
News Associate

Why was the Sagehen Server really shut down? Is “Trailer Clark” part of a secret plan? Why do some courses not count for PAC credit when they obviously meet a PAC? Why do some good professors leave, and why have some bad professors stayed for so long? Are these somehow related to the secret society called “The Trustees”? Who really is Cecil the Sagehen?

Say 'No' to Celebrities
By Alex Jakle
Staff Writer

I am not sure if everyone has heard by now, so I may be the bearer of sad news: Liza Minelli and her husband (you know, old what’s-his-name) are getting divorced. Apparently (I kid you not) he was tired of the physical abuse. I was so distraught after reading of this that I took four Advil to fight the ensuing headache and took a day off (Note to my professors: this is what I was referring to when I told you I was having “personal issues” and asked for those extensions). No, seriously, I did become a bit distraught, not because of my shock at Minelli’s behavior or out of sympathy for her battered husband, but out of disgust that this was considered newsworthy.