I’m used to saying ‘no’ on Library Walk. To Kripsy Kremes for Haiti, to undercover Christian pizza parties, to Spring rush (though frat boys don’t often ask in the first place), to marsupial-hatted bros peddling the worst in college journalism since 1981 and, most frequently, to an indignant troupe of twentysomethings who want to know why I — of all people! — don’t have five minutes for gay marriage.

So last week, in approaching the mobile blood bank stationed just outside the Student Health Center, I had my standard responses at the ready: “Sorry,” I might say to the flock of sorority girls boasting “Party with Pi Phi” tank tops and a hand-drawn “Donate YOUR Tiger Blood” poster, “still gay.” Or I might, in a gesture of greater friendliness, slow down to offer a polite grin. (I am, after all, still gunning for one of those tank tops.)

In any case, I was spared the decision. Behind the table were no philanthropy-loving sorority girls/Charlie Sheen interns to behold, and in place of the Tiger Blood poster was one that read, in giant black lettering: “Know Your Status — Free HIV Rapid Testing.”

There were, unsurprisingly, virtually no takers at the time that I passed by. I’m not sure whether to chalk that up to a general culture of avoidance on Library Walk or to the popular belief that HIV is only an issue in the developing world and the gay community.

Maybe I’m assuming too much, and those passing were no more cognizant of the blood bank than of student orgs hawking Jamba Juice fliers or fried rice. Maybe for some, it only takes a quarter’s practice to tune out all solicitors, no matter how colorful the banner or aggressive the plea for attention.

Still, I can’t help but think that in this case, they should take notice. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in four Americans living with HIV doesn’t know he’s infected. And at the risk of echoing one of a thousand public service announcements, it’s a helluva lot scarier to live with the virus without knowing than to be aware of it; while many infected people go years before requiring medication, early treatment is crucial in keeping healthy.

Of course, there are plenty of reasons people don’t get tested in the first place, not the least of which is the stigma of being perceived as the kind of person who requires testing. It’s a ridiculous designation, because in reality, everyone who’s ever had sex — whether in a frat-house closet with an acquaintance of 20 minutes or in blissful union with a high school sweetheart in the backseat — is exactly the kind of person who should get tested.

Plus, the rapid test offered on Library Walk last week takes the anxiety out of waiting for results: with a results in around 10 minutes (during which most test conductors offer counseling if necessary, or otherwise a brief sex ed review), the whole process lasts no longer than the rush-hour wait at Panda Express — and is, invariably, a less regrettable decision than the orange chicken. Promise.

As long as that stigma exists, though, the blood bank line won’t be able to hold a candle to Burger King’s. I get it: The fear of being spotted underneath a “Know Your Status” banner by a frat brother or a professor or — God forbid, with the kind of bad luck that’s meant only to strike on hour-long TV dramas, a love interest — is probably enough to keep anyone away.

The School of Medicine’s trying to work around that stigma.

UCSD researchers have launched the “Lead the Way” campaign — a nine-month effort targeting residents of Hillcrest and North Park. The initiative aims to offer confidential HIV testing to as many in the 92103 and 92104 zip codes as possible; starting in June, the campaign will even offer an option for door-to-door mobile testing, allowing those interested to take a 10-minute rapid test in the privacy of their own home. (In other words: No risk of a chance run-in with the babe who sits three rows ahead of you in MMW).

Until then, the Student Health Center offers confidential HIV testing for free for all covered under SHIP; for those without coverage, it’s around $10.

There’s no need to divulge why you’re there: Just walk into the nurse’s clinic and request “counseling.”

Ticketing Motivated by Racial Profiling

The LAPD has prudently altered its truancy policy, which has overwhelmingly affected students of color in the past. A full 88 percent of the 47,000 tickets issued from 2004 to 2009 were issued to Latinos or blacks — and of the 13,000 curfew tickets issued on school grounds, not one went to a white student.

Instead of ticketing those students who are late to class, officers will now ask students if they have a legitimate reason for not being in class and focus more on getting students to school on time. Furthermore, police will no longer target students once they are on school grounds — leaving it up to school authorities to take appropriate action.

Understandably, students should get to school on time, but the former method (truancy sweeps leading to expensive tickets) was based on fear of police.

African American and Latino students make up 74 percent of the population in the LAUSD, but received 85 percent of the truancy violation tickets from 2005-2009.

Of course, this new policy is not perfect — it could benefit from an additional school-based program that addresses the root causes of truancy — but that doesn’t concern the LAPD. For now, having the LAPD cut back on ticketing students for tardiness is the best possible solution.

— Saad Asad

Senior Staff Writer

Truancy Sweeps Detract from Education

While the LAPD’s scaled-back efforts certainly make for fairer policy, neither system addresses the root cause.

The original strategy wasn’t merely intended to encourage school attendance in the Los Angeles Unified School District; it was pitched as a way to keep students from committing crimes during the school day.

Supporters of the new policy introduce indicators that the crime rates increase when there are no sweeps.

Both policies do little to address the root cause of truancy. The problem runs far deeper than a few disengaged students — it’s a public education system that falls short in offering guidance to those that need it most at a young age.

Targeting truants when they’re already 16 or 17 probably does little to address those shortcomings. Mentoring programs are necessary, as students need support rather than discouragement.

Los Angeles Unified School District is currently using a three-tiered strategy to combat truancy by working at the base level . They’re working to provide a more positive climate at schools by creating alternative education programs such as the national “Big Picture Learning” approach, and launching a media campaign to encourage kids to improve their attendance and stress to the parents the destructive effects of truancy on their student’s education.

As of 2011, the LAUSD dropout rate stands at 30 percent. Clearly the best possible solution to this pressing issue is to focus on school mentorship — not LAPD arrests.

— Aleks Levin

Contributing Writer

Students Need Mentoring, Not Tickets

The LAPD is reforming its procedure of ticketing students who are en route to school.

Police will now abstain from “truancy sweeps” for the first hour of school and will begin to ask students why they are running late to class, instead of ticketing them without question.

While the now-banned policy had the right intentions — the idea was that ticketing students would scare them straight — it lost all merit in practice.

Tickets, starting at around $200 and escalating dramatically for repeat offenders, cost students steep fines. Some students reported that the ticketing process itself could even take up another estimated 45 minutes of lost class time.

As if those delays weren’t enough, the students who had to attend traffic court also missed a full day of school for the proceedings. Clearly, the ticketing process detracted from the overall intention of the program: to get kids back in school.

If safety and crime is truly the biggest issue, police should be more concerned with being a safe escort to school for students.

Jorge Villegas, assistant to the LAPD Chief, said that police are directed to take students not involved in crime to their school or to the nearest Attendance Improvement Center.

Juvenile crime most often occurs in the daylight hours, so keeping youth in school should be a top priority.

By asking students if they have legitimate excuses and only conducting curfew sweeps in high-crime areas, the LAPD is making its truancy policy both fairer and more narrowly targeted.

— Alex Pakzad

Staff Writer

[caption id="attachment_22373" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Josey Tsao/Guardian"][/caption]

Less than three months after announcing his candidacy, Donald Trump has risen to the top of the 2012 Republican primary horserace, tying with former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee for top honors, according to a recent CNN poll. Trump, who has zero political experience, appears to have followed the proven Palin method of domination: saying stupid shit to grab headlines, and instead of concrete goals for reform, his platform seems to consist of taking the oil from Libya and repeating that President Obama wasn’t born in the U.S.

That tired conspiracy theory has somehow still not been put to rest, despite conclusive evidence to the contrary from Hawaii, Obama’s birthplace. According to a February Public Policy poll, a staggering 51 percent of GOP primary voters believe the President wasn’t born in the U.S, and it seems the surest road to the GOP nomination is just to perpetuate those claims.

Even if Trump doesn’t win the nomination, he will have successfully convinced some Americans that a vote for Obama is essentially a vote for a Kenyan-born secret Muslim. (He’ll also have done something that many consider impossible: Make Newt Gingrich look sane.)

Trump’s success isn’t all due to his outrageous claims. Maybe part of the reason Trump is doing so well in the polls is because of his perceived success in business, can be seen as an asset in ensuring the economy rebounds. But while Trump has made millions he’s also filed bankruptcy through Trump Enterprises three times. Most recently, in 2009, Trump filed for Chapter 11 with $50 million in assets to his $500 million in debt.

And have I mentioned that his resort and casino business — you know, a place where visitors regularly pay to lose money — also went bankrupt? How’s that for business savvy?

Despite all of this, some are still delusional enough to believe that Trump could steer the economy in the right direction.

Just three years after Republicans stressed Obama’s lack of experience in the 2008 election, many are backing Trump, today best-known for his NBC reality TV show. This is a man with no history of political experience, save lobbying, and who last year suggested Al Gore be stripped of his Nobel Peace Prize for his work on climate change, considering that a snowstorm had recently hit New York City.

Admittedly, the only reasons Huckabee and Trump are at the top could be that they both have their own bully pulpits. Palin and Gingrich, also close in the polls, are regular commentators on Fox News. Without airing any commercial, these politicians have soared to fame.

It is uncertain whether Trump’s outlandish claims about Obama’s birth by Trump will not hold any sway in the general election. The president is a man with a silver tongue and can best the boorish Trump in any debate. Lies can generate some initial popularity, but the issues are the tried-and-true method of affecting American voters.

In deciding on my New Year’s resolution this year, I wanted to go a step further than usual.

Ads Driving in Necessary Funding

While it may not be the ideal solution to nationwide budget cuts, selling ad space on school buses is a shrewd means of helping the struggling public school systems.

According to Alpha Media, a company that manages school bus advertising, a district with a fleet of 250 buses can make nearly $1 million over the span of four years.

Sure, the ad revenue may not spare school districts from the financial strain of teacher salaries, new textbooks and updated technologies, but it is in the students’ best interest for the school to make use of every potential revenue source for the sake of maintaining the latest in classroom supplies and attracting the best teachers.

The ads can be used to offset the cost of maintaining the buses themselves. Florida’s 38th School, for instance, is using revenue from the bus advertisements to pay for fuel costs to ensure that students have a way to get to school. By eliminating these costs, schools can look to put money toward other important areas.

States like New Jersey, whose legislators approved a similar bill in January, are drafting guidelines for content and size restrictions. In accordance with federal law, advertisements for products as alcohol and tobacco, and those containing sexual content, cannot be displayed in areas where less than 70% of the audience is underage. In fact, most ads seen on school buses are purchased by banks, dentists and insurance companies — not quite the evil corporate giants that the con-campaign might have one believe to be indoctrinating innocent young minds.

— Madeline Mann

Associate Opinion Editor

Selling Out is Never Worth the Price

Utah recently joined the growing list of states — which includes Colorado, Texas, Arizona and others — that allow advertisements on school buses. Participating school districts claim fiscal hardships to force them into signing this law into effect. However, children are already bombarded with advertisements daily, and institutionalizing the practice is only bound to produce a generation of consumers even more brainwashed than the last.

The modest gains that school bus advertising will provide — $1,000 per bus per year — won’t compensate for the mixed messages schools will send by introducing advertisements to an environment meant to educate young children.

The bill’s opponents, such as organizations like Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, have rightly called into question the possibility of a slippery slope: Some schools have advertised in campus parking lots, or in the case of Florida, inside the buses themselves. These advertisements tell children to buy junk food, which only contributes to the issue of obesity in elementary schools and detract from the lessons the schools themselves try to teach.

Proponents of the law — mostly advertising agencies — state that the ads are meant to target adult drivers who might pass a school bus on their daily commute. Yet, these ads will be what students see every morning next to their school’s name, which can create the impression that their school supports the products advertised. Public schools’ current financial bind forces them to consider avenues such as selling advertisements to raise funds, but the small impact the ads will have on public school budgets won’t outweigh their adverse psychological impact on students.

— Margaret Yau

Opinion Editor

[caption id="attachment_22252" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="John Hanacek/UCSD Guardian"][/caption]

Many undergraduates will disappoint their non-UCSD friends this year, as Sun God Festival guest tickets sold out almost two weeks faster than last year.

The UCSD Box Office began selling the $50 guest tickets on April 11. While the sale was meant to go on until May 12, tickets sold out before 11 a.m. on Thursday, April 14 — an hour after the box office opened that day.

All 3,000 guest tickets were sold in just three days, and the 300 of which were reserved for UCSD alumni also sold out. Last year, the 3,500 guest tickets, which went for $41 each, sold out within two and a half weeks.

According to A.S. Concerts and Events Media Liaison Oliver Zhang, the office will provide no more guest tickets since the May 13 event is held specifically for the UCSD undergraduate students who fund the $550,000 festival through student fees.

“It’s pretty surprising to us that they sold out this quickly,” Zhang said. “We all knew that this would be popular and it would sell out faster than last year, but I think we didn’t expect it to be so quick.”

On April 11, students who waited in line — stretching up Price Center stairs, around Sun God Lounge and down to Round Table Pizza — to purchase tickets were given vouchers when the box office closed. The vouchers were redeemable on April 12 and 13. Ticket sales then resumed for non-voucher holders on April 14.

This year, 500 fewer tickets were available than last year to ensure more undergraduate students would be able to attend the festival.

“Last year, student wristbands sold out at about 2:30 p.m. on the day of the festival, so we had to turn away about 1,000 undergraduate students,” Zhang said. “That’s something that we did not want to have to do this year. So we tried bumping down the number of guest tickets that we sold. In the end this is an event for UCSD undergraduates, and we want to allow as many UCSD undergraduates to get into the festival as possible.”

ASCE is also attempting to crack down on scalpers. Last year, after guest tickets ran out on April 22, student and non-student scalpers began selling tickets online and in person. ASCE tried to track down scalpers by their PID numbers.

There are already over 20 scalpers selling tickets on Craiglist, with prices ranging from $90 to $200.

Zhang said the office has not finalized its plan yet.

Guests must exchange their tickets for wristbands on May 12 or 13 at the Sun God Festival Box Office on Marshall Field.

Guests do not need UCSD students to enter with them, but they do need valid IDs to exchange their tickets for wristbands.

President Barack Obama’s Jan. 25 State of the Union Address was banal, idealistic and unoriginal. Every year, regardless of who’s president, we are guaranteed boundless convictions of American exceptionalism and trite themes like “Innovation through Greatness,” which sound more like a middle-school writing contest.

Nor does the speech show any change in vision for Obama despite humbling midterm election results. His plan for a glorious future: government activism and austerity measures. His proposed five-year freeze of non-security discretionary spending would save $40 billion a year, but the result is laughable when this year’s deficit alone is projected at $1.5 trillion.

Medical malpractice reform and consolidating bureaucracy, too, are the budgetary equivalents of owning a Benz and buying cheap floss to get out of debt. Obama demands greater investment in high-speed rail and wireless access, then calls for meager deficit-cutting measures. Although we’re a far cry from being unable to pay back creditors, the lip service to the deficit is unsettling.

Obama is the eighth consecutive president to advocate energy independence. He’s also likely to become the eighth consecutive president to continue sucking the oily teats of Saudi Arabia. Our parents thought solar energy would be widespread by now, but it appears not even our children will taste relief from black gold. The money invested in clean energy will come from cutting subsidies to oil companies — the same ones funding clean energy research. Subsidies for oil companies (like Chevron) will now be diverted toward companies investing in renewable energy (like Chevron). Now there’s change you can believe in.

There was a silver lining to his speech: He promised to continue free trade agreements with South Korea, making Hyundais much cheaper for Americans. Onerous regulations will also be reviewed to relieve the burden for small businesses. This will be significant, considering regulations cost businesses $1.75 trillion a year.

Obama plans to make permanent the American Opportunity Tax Credit ($10,000 refundable credit for families that make less than $160,000 or single parents that make less than $80,000 paying for four years of college) and expand Pell Grants. Sure, affordable education is great, but it won’t matter much if graduates are entering an abysmal job market.

None of this is to say that the Republican responders’ speeches had any merit. Congressman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), who either had pink eye or was high, rambled on about limited government and was even more vague in his talk of reducing debt. Considering Ryan voted for the completely unfunded Medicare Part D (estimated cost: $534 billi he lacks credibility when it comes to fiscal responsibility.

The effect of spending too much is less money for investment in the future, stunting our growth across all sectors. Once the economy has recovered, the political class needs a plan for realistic cost-cutting measures that address our never-ending deficit.

“Dream it. Own it. See it.” These are the words that motivated our team during the campaign season and will continue to drive the Associated Students to new heights and continued success in this coming year.

As the AS President-elect, I am humbled and honored to serve the UCSD community in this new capacity. For this coming year, my vision is a council untainted by the division of slate politics, a council that is diverse, not divisive, and is an active and thriving council that takes ownership in our positions as student representatives. In my experience with the Associated Students, I have yet to see this potential fully realized and I truly believe that we have the opportunity to restore and renew this association with our shared vision and commitment to bettering our university.

It is time for the Associated Student Council to be reignited as a powerful voice and presence on this campus and with a strong foundation of committed leaders, I am hopeful that this vision can finally become a reality.

My immediate goals as A.S. President revolve around internal reform and ensuring we have a strong base and foundation for an effective and efficient year.

Change must come from the inside out and my plan of action includes just that.  I will be working with my executive team to develop standing committees within the Associated Students that will allow for our organization to continually build from year to year, protect institutional memory and allow for the Associated Student Council to continue to thrive and build a legacy of excellence on this campus.

Some of the committees include a Rules Committee and Visibility Committee that will work all year long to improve the most basic functions of our council. Our Rules Committee will work to ensure we are following our own rules and that our rules are updated to ensure that they work for our council and for those we serve.

The Visibility Committee will work all year long to improve our visibility and accessibility as council members through initiatives such as an “Ask AS” table on library walk, working more closely with Triton Television to produce AS video updates and council member office hours. It is my hope and vision for this council to actively engage with students on the issues that affect them directly.

It is my goal to challenge and encourage this new council to be a greater resource and increase our accessibility as student representatives. While I will be asking our council members to challenge themselves in their capacities as student leaders, I also challenge you, as the student, to actively seek the educational and leadership opportunities provided by the Associated Students to become an engaged and active community member. Working together is key here and we cannot do it alone.

The journey ahead of us will not be one without challenges. With decreasing state aid and the threat of further budget cuts, it is even more imperative that the Associated Students continue to battle these detrimental cuts to services and educational opportunities. One way we can do this is ensure that we appoint strong student representation on campus-wide committees that make these decisions and ensure that we are providing the educational resources for students to understand how such issues affect us as students. By providing these educational tools and resources, we hope to empower students to effect change as well.

This is just a glimpse of what I hope to accomplish in this next year, and I hope I have the opportunity to meet and work with as many students as possible. I thank you all again for allowing me the privilege to serve you all in this capacity and I cannot wait for the journey that awaits us. Individually we are great, but together we are unstoppable. Cheers to a great year.

“Dream it. Own it. See it.” These are the words that motivated our team during the campaign season and will continue to drive the Associated Students to new heights and continued success in this coming year.

As the AS President-elect, I am humbled and honored to serve the UCSD community in this new capacity. For this coming year, my vision is a council untainted by the division of slate politics, a council that is diverse, not divisive, and is an active and thriving council that takes ownership in our positions as student representatives. In my experience with the Associated Students, I have yet to see this potential fully realized and I truly believe that we have the opportunity to restore and renew this association with our shared vision and commitment to bettering our university.

It is time for the Associated Student Council to be reignited as a powerful voice and presence on this campus and with a strong foundation of committed leaders, I am hopeful that this vision can finally become a reality.

My immediate goals as A.S. President revolve around internal reform and ensuring we have a strong base and foundation for an effective and efficient year.

Change must come from the inside out and my plan of action includes just that.  I will be working with my executive team to develop standing committees within the Associated Students that will allow for our organization to continually build from year to year, protect institutional memory and allow for the Associated Student Council to continue to thrive and build a legacy of excellence on this campus.

Some of the committees include a Rules Committee and Visibility Committee that will work all year long to improve the most basic functions of our council. Our Rules Committee will work to ensure we are following our own rules and that our rules are updated to ensure that they work for our council and for those we serve.

The Visibility Committee will work all year long to improve our visibility and accessibility as council members through initiatives such as an “Ask AS” table on library walk, working more closely with Triton Television to produce AS video updates and council member office hours. It is my hope and vision for this council to actively engage with students on the issues that affect them directly.

It is my goal to challenge and encourage this new council to be a greater resource and increase our accessibility as student representatives. While I will be asking our council members to challenge themselves in their capacities as student leaders, I also challenge you, as the student, to actively seek the educational and leadership opportunities provided by the Associated Students to become an engaged and active community member. Working together is key here and we cannot do it alone.

The journey ahead of us will not be one without challenges. With decreasing state aid and the threat of further budget cuts, it is even more imperative that the Associated Students continue to battle these detrimental cuts to services and educational opportunities. One way we can do this is ensure that we appoint strong student representation on campus-wide committees that make these decisions and ensure that we are providing the educational resources for students to understand how such issues affect us as students. By providing these educational tools and resources, we hope to empower students to effect change as well.

This is just a glimpse of what I hope to accomplish in this next year, and I hope I have the opportunity to meet and work with as many students as possible. I thank you all again for allowing me the privilege to serve you all in this capacity and I cannot wait for the journey that awaits us. Individually we are great, but together we are unstoppable. Cheers to a great year.

Come Fall Quarter, plastic water bottles may be permanently out of stock on campus. A.S. Council President Wafa Ben Hassine is making good on an old campaign promise: this week marks the writing of a final draft of a bottled-water ban to be proposed to Housing and Dining Services.

The project is twofold: first to discourage students from purchasing the bottles while they are readily available, and then to ban them altogether. Regardless of how late in her term the proposal’s coming to administrators’ desks, it’s still a worthy cause that will hopefully influence a new generation of students to break the habit of using plastic water bottles.

Ben Hassine herself said she hopes the campaign will educate students to make long-lasting lifestyle changes. A.S. Council will hold workshop presentation and other events in collaboration with other campus sustainability groups to encourage students to support the ban. These events include February’s “Breaking the Plastic Habit” event at Porter’s Pub, which included a concert and film screening to raise awareness of water conservation and plastic waste.

A campuswide campaign consisting of facts about the waste could be a good start. The events seem promising as long as A.S. Council is able to get the word out so that attendance at such events is enough to produce tangible change. It is hard to tell just yet how the events will make an impact on the student mindset, given the general apathy present on campus. Yet enacting the ban will likely be the jolt students need to realize the enormity of their waste: According to the Earth Policy Institute, 86 percent of plastic water bottles end up as garbage.

UCSD wouldn’t be the first campus to implement a ban: Seattle University, DePauw University and Washington University in St. Louis have already barred water bottles from campus, and UC Santa Cruz has a similar measure in the works.

All of these bans started from student initiatives, as the project doesn’t require much in the way of start-up costs.

Not every campus that attempts to ban water bottles is successful. At Cornell, efforts stalled due to the university’s contract with Pepsi (the parent company of Aquafina).

For UCSD, additional costs are necessary to build more water fountains and filters — the costs of which are not finalized, and will be paid for by Housing and Dining Services after the initial proposal.

Many perceive bottled water as cleaner than tap, but private corporations are not regulated to the extent that tap water is. Bottled water undergoes extra filtering for taste, but the bad taste of tap water tastes comes from minerals, not because it is unclean — so sparing those extra couple of bucks on a bottle of Evian can’t be said to have any negative impact on anyone’s health.

The proposed ban shows that Ben Hassine’s office is making important, concrete steps toward reducing our carbon footprint. This change could even represent that rare sweeping, practical reform that most often eludes council.

Readers can contact Madeline Mann at [email protected].

As a rule, I start off most quarters optimistic. No matter what doom I’ve endured the previous 10 weeks with a deadbeat TA or scoliosis-inducing stack of books, there’s unceasing hope for that silver-screen moment during Week One when an electrifying professor (“visiting lecturer” or “cute MFA student” will do) snaps me out of my sleepwalk with a riveting lecture and reading list that claims a tasteful blend of tragicomedy, mystery and sex. (Obvious bonus points for any further exploration of those themes in office hours).

Once again, my quarterly fantasy’s proven more than a little far-fetched. Maybe I’ve gone soft in my third year, but I don’t remember ever feeling as overwhelmed or as isolated by Week Three as I do now. Entire history books have gone unread and papers unwritten — and while I do hazily remember passing seventh-grade Language Arts, I still can’t seem to master something called a grammar tree, which apparently I have to if I ever want to graduate with a B.A. in writing.

A guiltier lit major might look inward: at class time wasted sleeping, or working, or, in moments of fleeting contemplation, estimating how much time remains before he finally breaks down and cusses out the Greenpeace dude on Library Walk. (Negative 19 days and counting.)

But I don’t actually feel guilty, and I don’t think I’m the only one. The truth is, it’s a whole hell of a lot harder to motivate yourself when you have no connection to the people you’re learning from. For what won’t be the last time in my college career, each of the lecture halls and seminar rooms I have class in is stuffed to max capacity. In one, an upper-div history class with an enrollment of 200, my professor’s even set up semi-mandatory weekly sections to break up the anonymity.

For all UCSD’s talk of “excellence,” taking furious notes from the 20th row back doesn’t inspire the all-consuming love affair with coursework that so many ad campaigns and campus tours made me imagine.

To be clear, I don’t blame my professors. Most of them teach two classes or more at once, and a grammar tree, truthfully, only leaves so much room for spellbinding, urban-high-school-movie-style instruction.

Professors aren’t responsible for everybody crowding the aisles in lecture, either. UC President Mark G. Yudof is an easy target for that one, but it’s not exactly his fault: The UC system is pretty damn broke, and with a $500-million budget cut due for fall, will be significantly broker in no time (translation: 300-seat history classes).

Most student government hopefuls last week — invigorated by the prospect of serving you, the students, or maybe that ‘B’ spot upgrade — had exactly the answer for old curmudgeons like me: raising our own tuition for sports teams and a frat row. But what do I know? Maybe a toga party, for now, is the best defense against isolation we can hope for.

Dear readers,

Last week, the Guardian published its annual April Fools’ DisreGuardian issue on March 31. The issue included, amongst articles about Lady Gaga and Rebecca Black, racially charged material, including vintage ads that insensitively depicted the historical oppression of African-Americans and American Indians, as well as 20th-century misogyny.

Every effort is made to ensure that the DisreGuardian content is as distinct as possible from that of our regular issue. The Guardian strives to provide ethical, unbiased journalism and also to be sensitive to issues of diversity and student rights. We want to represent as many viewpoints as we can, and avoid alienating any communities, though that was the consequence of the offensive content in this, and prior, April Fools’ issues.

The DisreGuardian does not, and has never, represented the views of the Guardian editors, editorial board or staff. Instead, it is meant to be a satirical publication poking fun at the topics the Guardian regularly covers, as well as the staff itself.

But regardless of the issue’s intentions, we acknowledge that much of the material presented in the DisreGuardian was in extremely poor taste.

After reaching out to those who were hurt, we are reexamining our internal practices — both in editorial and advertisement content — to see how we can better serve all communities and rebuild any trust that we violated.

We apologize for the insensitive material published last week and will continue our efforts to address the judgement error that led to this problem.

We welcome any input and can be reached via email at [email protected].

Sincerely,

Guardian Staff