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2011 ACADEMICS

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Page 1: 2011 ACADEMICS
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*KEVINWILLOUGHBYIS HERE

MEGAN BEAUCHAMPJACOB PATTERSONTEOFILIO RUIZDOMINIC THOMASPROFESSOR SCOTT CHANDLERKATSUSHI ARISAKANEIL GARGADRINA KOCHARIANJUDY LI

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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

A! er spending countless hours looking at magazines and trying to pick out the ones that had clean and profesionally looking designs I settled on using GQ as the inspiration for this particular magazine. " e academics section usually always covers the same topics over and over again, so this year I decided to change things around. We added feature stories that would be of interest to read such as the libraries page and the academic cheating page. " e majority of this section consist of professor and student highlights. We selected to do ten cover stories, # ve professors and # ve students. " ree students were selected for north campus and two for south campus. Out of the # ve professors highlighted, two were from north campus and three were from south campus. I would like to thank all the professors who participated in making this section happen. " ank you for taking the time to do an extensive interview and photoshoot. As for the students, we tried to give coverage to as many di$ erent types of students and hope you enjoy reading about them as much as we enjoyed learning about them.

~Jose Fredi Hernandez

ASSISTANT EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

MARKETING & BUSINESS MANAGER

COPY EDITORSPHOTO EDITORS

LAYOUT EDITORS

MARKETING STAFF

COPY WRITERS

LAYOUT STAFF

PHOTO STAFF

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

MEDIA ADVISERMEDIA DIRECTOR

TAYLOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE

TAYLOR REPRESENTATIVE

Alan Terranova

Alexandra Green# eld

Julianne Cheng, Lauren YangTung X. Dao, Alan WongEvelyn Ho, Melissa Huang

Iris Chiu, Evan Freethy, Vincent Ho and Kirstie Je$ ries

Jaskirat Dhanoa, Elana Gurney, Michael Lee, Justin Lin, Natalie Michaud, Bhavik Patel, Amy Qiu and Jimmy Tsao

Andrew Chen, Alan Nguyen, Alexander Siu, Deanna Traubel, Jennifer Wang, Marianna Walther, Steven Liu and Ti$ any Yeh

Fritz Batiller, Karen Chu, David Hsiung, Hong Le, Terence Lee, Kathryn Lin, Jonathan Nguy, Yan Ruan, Ashwin Sundar, Kevin Tseng, Charlie Wang and Ruby Wang

Karina Covarrubias, Kathryn Heal, Joshua Won

Amy EmmertArvli Ward

Jessica Youngpeter

Corey Mundwiller

PUBLISHED BY TAYLOR PUBLISHING COMPANY1150 WEST MOCKINGBIRD LANE

DALLAS, TEXAS 75235

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Jose Fredi Hernandez

BruinLife

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180

BLAcademics

Chancellors

Academic Cheating

Young Research Library and

UCLA’s Top Libraries

Tutorials

Careers & Graduate School

Research

Study Abroad

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North Campus Division

Ethnomusicology: Kevin Willoughby

English: Megan Beauchamp

Art History: J abob Patterson

Department Chair of Spanish and Portuguese: Professor Teofilo Ruiz

Department Chair of French and Francophone Studies: Professor Dominic Thomas

North Campus Division

Department Chair of Neuroscience: Scott Chandler

Physics Professor: Katsushi Arisaka

Chemsitry Professor: Neil Garg

Microbiology, Immunology, Molecular Genetics: Adrina Kocharian

Nursing: Judy Li

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170 Cover

Photograph byDavid Hsiung

Cover Concept created by Jose Fredi Hernandez. This cover and the entire magazine is inspired by GQ magazine.

Cover model, Kevin Willoughby. Read his story on page 166.

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1Exclusive Interview with Gene Block

The 11 Chancellors that Make the School and Commit to Excellence, Collegiality, and Diversity

Gene Block tells BruinLife his life struggles, dealing with the budget cut and plans for the future.

by Jimmy Tsao

Photo by David Hsiung

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With a life story more engaging than that of anyone else, our chancellor was more than just the face of UCLA. Dr. Gene Block’s life stretched far beyond being the head of our institution. His professional accolades included holding numerous administrative positions and heading many research laboratories; his personal achievements encompassed a vast collection of vacuum-tube radios and raising two children. A family man as well as an in! uential researcher, Chancellor Block was committed to making UCLA as great as it can be.

BruinLife: Is there any one speci" c moment in your career that stands out above the rest?Chancellor Block: Probably the most exciting time was scienti" c breakthrough with a group of students in my laboratory when we " rst demonstrated that single neurons can act as biological clocks. I’d say the excitement was that I had undergraduates and graduate students involved as well as post-grads and myself. It was a great educational experience, but it also was a sense of great scienti" c accomplishment. I think it brought everything that is great about a university together: undergraduates and graduate students, along with scienti" c discovery.

BL: Is there anything in your career that has been particularly di# cult?CB: As chancellor, trying to make our universities – our student body and faculty – more diverse, trying to make certain that we best represent America. $ at’s been very hard.

BL: But doesn’t UCLA pride itself on diversity?CB: Absolutely. We’ve achieved in many areas and we have to be very proud. On the other hand, if you look at historically underrepresented groups – African-American, Latino students – we still don’t have the numbers that would be representative of California.

BL: We’ve all felt the impact that the state budget cuts have had on the UCLA community. What can students do to help?CB: As advocates, students can be very e% ective. Part of our budget comes from the state; the legislature needs to hear from students about the importance of supporting the University of California. Students can also be mindful about costs and resources; just being energy e# cient, for example, can help us keep our energy bills down.

BL: What made you decide on circadian biology?CB: A class I took at Stanford on comparative animal behavior. Part of our discussion was about biological clocks and I was fascinated because it permeates all of biology; almost all processes go through 24-hour ! uctuations.

It is a very broad " eld and impacts all organisms.

BL: What is the impact of your research on the community?CB: My hope is, for example, to allow humans to undertake safe shi& work. It’s to help elderly people who don’t sleep well sleep better. It’s trying to minimize the e% ects of phenomena such as jet lag, which isn’t a serious disease, but is still dangerous.

BL: What are some goals that you would like to accomplish by the end of your term?CB: I would like to leave the university " scally stable, with a sense of purpose as a public university and with a clear academic trajectory. We’re an extraordinarily good university; we can always be better. And we can look back at the end of my term here and see that we’ve actually even improved on our academics here which are already quite stellar.

BL: What are some of the common topics that come up during your student o# ce hours? CB: [Students] are usually telling about their experiences at UCLA. I ask them if they enjoy UCLA, what they like, if they live on campus…I try to learn more about their lives and what problems they face.

BL: Why do you think it’s important to hold these o# ce hours?CB: It keeps me better in touch with students. It’s a lottery, [and] not a perfect system, but it does connect me with them.

BL: Considering all your responsibilities, how do you " nd time for recreational activities?CB: Fortunately, I have grown children. (Laughs) Plus, my wife does many things with me. A lot of our socializing is connected with our university activities: ballgames, cultural events, lectures. $ ere are many things to do as a family, but I do think having children [in addition to this job] would be very challenging.

BL: How do you think others perceive you, and how would you like others to perceive you?CB: I hope they perceive me as a good listener. Universities are " lled with bright people and you can learn a lot by listening. We have to form opinions and make decisions as leaders, but we want to make informed decisions and there’s no better way than listening. $ at means not just listening to those within your local environment, but listening carefully to students and faculty and their concerns. I hope I’m viewed as a good listener, and I hope I am a good listener.

ACADEMICS

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With all the academic pressure, some students resorted to

academic dishonesty

ACADEMICSby Jaskirat Dhanoa

Cheating was always a hot topic of discussion in every school. Especially at UCLA, a highly competitive university, cheating was not take

n lightly. Students were taught to maintain academic honesty and, most of the time, they succeeded. However, there were instances in which they reverted to cheating because of their circumstances. Regardless of these circumstances, UCLA treated all cases of academic dishonest similarly, and such expectations were not hidden from students. Dean of Students O! ce Executive Director Deb Geller said, “Section II.B [of the Student Conduct Code] lists all of the violations, 102.01 is academic misconduct..." e procedure for responding to alleged misconduct is spelled out in section III.” Accordingly, everything from the conviction to the end result was “spelled out” for the students in the Student Conduct Code which could conveniently be found on the UCLA Dean of Students website.

Photo Illustrations by Jose Fredi Hernandez Photos by David Hsiung

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Cheating was not limited to peeking at your neighbor’s paper while taking the test. ! ere were other things also categorized into academic dishonesty: fabrication (usage of false information), plagiarism (usage of other’s ideas as if they were your own), multiple submissions (to submit something that had already been submitted by someone else), facilitating academic dishonesty (to help someone cheat), and coercion regarding grading or evaluation of coursework (to threaten or use other ways to bring unjust changes in the grade). Once a student was caught committing one of these mistakes, then followed a long process that either led to their conviction and severe punishment or just a warning. ! e punishment process began when the Dean of Students sent a letter to the student in question. Following the foreboding letter, an investigation took place regarding the nature of the violation. If there was insu" cient evidence, the case was dismissed; however, if the student was found guilty he became subject to a range of unsavory consequences.

But formal process aside, cheating had other repercussions that were found on a more personal level. For example, fourth-year biology student Alan Wu* said, “I was paranoid of getting caught. I didn’t like the feeling so I never [cheated] again. You always have the guilt and feeling like any moment the professor is going to catch you. You pay too much for tuition to put it all on the line for a few stupid points. I just study harder and hope that I’ll do okay.” ! is haunting

paranoia prevented many from cheating. Especially since committing the violation meant risking a lifetime of hard work. It meant risking one’s status as a UCLA student. However, this did not mean that no one experimented with cheating. In many instances when the laziness took over or when # nals were creeping up, many reverted to cheating to get out of sticky situations. But most people realized that these sticky situations just became stickier because cheating was never worth it. Second-year biology student Anna Freeman* said, “Cheating on an exam or even cheating on an essay is not an uncommon thing...I would like to say no, but in reality, I have cheated. I was afraid of getting caught and to be honest, it wasn’t even worth it...I had compromised my integrity. I felt very stupid for even trying to stoop to that level.” ! ese students not only feared the consequences that would haunt them if they were caught, they also feared the idea of compromising their integrity. UCLA was a prestigious university and students walked around with their head held high. ! ey had gained the right to become a Bruin. But a$ er cheating, the level of pride shrank as their conscience ate away at it. If the professor did not catch the student committing this criminal act, his conscience certainly did. Mental anguish was the strongest deterrent that prevented students from cheating. For a Bruin, integrity was everything. For a Bruin, integrity was a way of life.*Names of sources have been changed to maintain their anonymity.

With all the pressures of academic success, some students use cheating as a last resort whether it be writing notes on their arm, plagiarizing an essay, or taking a peak at a neighbor’s answers. The seriousness of the punishment for being discovered deterred most Bruins from taking the easy way out.

Now exactly what is considered academic

dishonesty?

Cheating—the failure to observe the expressed procedures of an academic exercise.

Fabrication—falsi# cation or invention of any information in an academic exercise.

Plagiarism—the presentation of another’s words or ideas as if they were one’s own.

Multiple Submissions—resubmission of a work that has already received credit with identical or similar content in another course without consent of the present instructor or submission of work with identical or similar content in concurrent courses without consent of instructors.

Facilitating Academic Dishonesty—participating in any action that compromises the integrity of the academic standards of the University; assisting another to commit an act of academic dishonesty.

De# nitions provided by UCLA Student Conduct Code

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Libra

ries

The Young Research Library opened its freshly

renovated doors to all those Bruins seeking out books for their research

projects

Phot

o Ill

ustra

tion

by T

ung

X. D

ao

by Natalie Michaud

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Despite its restoration project in 2010, one of the well-equipped libraries on campus, Charles E. Young Research Library, remained open as a valuable resource. Nestled between Northern Lights Café and Bunche Hall in the heart of North Campus, the Charles E. Young Research Library housed a large range of resource materials. !ough it primarily supported the studies of graduate students and professors in the humanities and social sciences, it was open to all students and faculty, as well as the general public throughout the year. Its location and resources made this library an ideal place for students, faculty and visitors to study or acquire new information.

Also known as YRL to students and faculty alike, the library was renamed in 1998 to honor UCLA Chancellor Charles E. Young, whose leadership and commitment to success during his 29 years as chancellor played an essential role in Bruin history. !is mark of

distinction was especially made because Young was a champion of reforming public education, and YRL was a library that contained resources for researchers who continued to push educational boundaries even further.

!e building’s original appearance also marked a signi"cant era in UCLA’s past. !e ample windows and open #oor space inside the building re#ected the mid-century modern style that the architect, A. Quincy Jones, drew on for inspiration. Mid-century modernism was one of the popular styles of architecture during the construction of the building. Yet a little-known fact was that the library was actually constructed in two parts, which was not initially apparent. !ose who frequented the Research Library were familiar with the stark white exterior and the many #oors brimming with bookshelves. For the year of 2010, the environment included spacious, light-"lled study

Bruins spent countless hours working on their research papers in Young Research Library. YRL was mostly used by UCLA graduate students and professors doing liberal arts research.

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commons with seating at tables or in upholstered chairs, a reference reading room with table seating, seating at individual carrels or tables on the upper ! oors, and a presentation room that can be booked by departments and centers for events like faculty lectures, according to Dawn Setzer, Director of UCLA Library Communications. She added, “In terms of equipment, there are universal book return drops, a self-service checkout machine, self-service photocopiers, and a machine for adding value to BruinCards.”

Additionally, the Research Library lent laptops to students, which allowed them to do a range of activities. For example, a student could type reports, connect to the wireless network on campus or access the library’s information. Students did not have to visit the library in person to acquire information from the library. “Users of UCLA Library digital resources are well served, whether they come to the Research Library, any of the other campus libraries, or use resources remotely. Users can locate the Library’s licensed electronic resources such as e-journals and online databases through the Library’s Web site; as long as they connect to the Internet via the campus network, all of the Library’s licensed e-journals, reference resources, and other electronic materials are accessible to students and faculty both on and o" campus,” said Setzer. # e abundant and diverse resources available made every visitor’s visit to YRL as smooth as possible.

However, in the same year, YRL’s classic look was in the process of getting a faceli$ . # ough the library’s renovation plan sought to update the furnishings and major public spaces, it was designed to integrate the building’s mid-century modern style as well. By doing this, the building

would be able to maintain its original look while sporting a touch of modernity. As a result of the construction, library administrators sought to keep the inconveniences that came with the construction under control by allowing the library to remain open and enabling the public and all Bruins to continue their studies. According to Setzer, every attempt was made to minimize the impact of the construction on users. No collections or services were inaccessible for prolonged periods, but visitors had to adjust to shi$ ing construction areas, causing them to change their trajectories as services relocated. Measures were taken to keep noise levels from a" ecting users, but Setzer did note the quietest places for study were on the third through % $ h ! oors. # e library administration was successful in their endeavor, which was evidenced by a constant ! ow of students throughout each quarter.

# e library remained open Sunday through Saturday and typically until 11 p.m. on the weekdays, which gave visitors plenty of time to use the library’s resources. “Library administrators decided before construction began that the library would be open its usual hours while the construction went on,” said Setzer. During those hours, students could peruse the collections and the other well-stocked shelves on every ! oor. In fact, YRL boasted a number of impressive collections, including the Department of Special Collections, the Richard C. Rudolph East Asian Library, and University Archives. # e building also housed the UCLA Library’s administrative o& ces. Lauded as the largest library on campus with approximately two million volumes shelved within it, YRL was a resource goldmine.

Bruins managed to study and check out books in Young Research Library while it was going through renovations. Every attempt was made to minimize the impact of the construction on users.

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The Music Library serves as the center for music research, study, and enjoyment at UCLA. It serves the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, UCLA, and the music community of Southern California. Special collections and archives are housed in the Performing Arts Special Collections. The Ethnomusicology Archive collects recordings and video of world music.

Located between North and South campus, Powell serves as UCLA’s main undergraduate library. Its collections support the undergraduate curriculum in the humanities, social sciences, sciences, and mathematics and also includes a graphic novel collection, new fi ction books, travel guides, and more

The Rosenfeld Library is the information partner of the UCLA Anderson School of Management. Its collections support the UCLA Anderson curriculum in areas of business and management, such as accounting, business economics, strategy and policy, fi nance, human resources, marketing, organizational behavior, and more.

It was completely renovated and substantially expanded in 1998. Beyond the handsome physical design, the library offers users an impressive, intelligently developed collection.When opened in 1949, the law library contained approximately 21,000 volumes. Today, the library collection includes over 580,000 bound volumes and the library’s print collection is complemented by a wide variety of computerized information resources. The law library services are also designed to meet the needs of the law school community and the staff has built a reputation for providing the best program of services in legal education.

Phot

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phs b

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Hsiu

ng, T

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e Lee

and

Char

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ang.

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At UCLA, students were encouraged to travel the globe. ! is year, over 2,000 students ventured to foreign countries to pursue education, making UCLA the third-ranked university in the nation for the number of students that studied abroad. All study abroad programs were coordinated by the International Education O" ce, which handles the Education Abroad Program, Travel Study and Quarter Abroad programs, and exchange programs. Ran in coordination with other UC schools, the Education Abroad Program provided students with the opportunity to spend a quarter, semester, or year studying in one of over 140 exchange programs in over 30 countries. Students could either attend classes at UC centers or enroll in local universities. Travel Study programs o# ered intensive short-term summer trips in a variety of disciplines, introducing students to places as disparate as Egypt and Switzerland. Distinguished UCLA professors led each Travel Study trip, lending their expertise to enrich the academic experience and enlighten students. All programs encouraged deep immersion in the culture and history of the chosen country, while providing excellent education and intensive research opportunities. Whether Bruins planned to explore Ecuador or roam the streets of Rome, each student embarked upon an incredible journey.

A In-Depth Look at a Student’s Experience Studying Abroad

by Elana Gurney

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Acadacem

ics

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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Jose Fredi HernandezASSISTANT EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

MARKETING & BUSINESS MANAGER COPY EDITORS

PHOTO EDITORS LAYOUT EDITORS

MARKETING STAFF

COPY WRITERS

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PHOTO STAFF

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

CONTRIBUTING COPY WRITERS

AP PHOTOGRAPHERS

MEDIA ADVISERMEDIA DIRECTOR

TAYLOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVETAYLOR REPRESENTATIVE

Alan TerranovaAlexandra Green!eldJulianne Cheng, Lauren YangTung X. Dao, Alan WongEvelyn Ho, Melissa Huang

Ameet Chahall, Iris Chiu, Evan Freethy, Vincent Ho, and Kirstie Je"ries

Jaskirat Dhanoa, Elana Gurney, Michael Lee, Justin Lin, Natalie Michaud, Bhavik Patel, Amy Qiu and Jimmy Tsao

Andrew Chen, Alan Nguyen, Alexander Siu, Deanna Traubel, Jennifer Wang, Marianna Walther, Steven Liu and Ti"any Yeh

Fritz Batiller, Karen Chu, David Hsiung, Hong Le, Terence Lee, Kathryn Lin, Jonathan Nguy, Yan Ruan, Ashwin Sundar, Kevin Tseng, Charlie Wang and Ruby Wang

Karina Covarrubias, Kathryn Heal, Joshua Won

Enrique Torreblanca

Kassy Cho, Arman Ghorbani

Scott Applewhite, Alex Brandon, Matt Dunham, Mel Evans, Frank Franklin, Gerald Herbert, Yang Hyun-suk, Hugo Infante, Michael P. King, Jin Lee, Reena Rose Sibayan, Haley Sipa and Ahn Young-joon

Amy EmmertArvli Ward

Jessica YoungpeterCorey Mundwiller

PUBLISHED BY TAYLOR PUBLISHING COMPANY1150 WEST MOCKINGBIRD LANE

DALLAS, TEXAS 75235

Page 18: 2011 ACADEMICS

The Black disaster

By Arman Ghorbani

Mission Accomplished Chile

By Kassy Cho

Architecture Controversy

By Michael Lee

NovemberElectionsCA Elections; The Houses Changes Hands; Tea Party Rallies Republicans

By Michael Lee

String of suicidesshake society

By Jaskirat Dhanoa

Divided by War

By Michael Lee

Chaos in Egypt and LIbYa

By Michael Lee

Potical Staning of a Tragedy

By Michael Lee

WisconsinStandoff

By Michael Lee

Japan in Crisis:Tsunami Hits North-East

By Michael Lee

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The Blackdisaster

!is past year, the Gulf of Mexico was devastated a"er an oil rig explosion sent millions of gallons of crude oil spilling out into the ocean. On April 20, 2010, a BP-owned o#shore drilling unit called Deepwater Horizon had a buildup of methane gas under the well, which shot up a drill column due to high pressure, igniting and exploding the unit. !e explosion killed 11 platform workers and caused the largest unintentional marine oil spill in petroleum history. !e oil continued to spill for three months, damaging surrounding beaches, estuaries and the fragile local ecosystems.

As of mid-August, around 4,700 dead animals were found, including many species of birds, endangered sea turtles, dolphins and other mammals. Many birds were discovered stuck underneath a thick layer of oil, which glazed their wings brown and rendered them $ightless. Second-year English student Meghan Maloney said, “!e state of Louisiana was making so much progress and the oil spill seemed to be a big step backwards in their recovery. I really feel for the people that lost their jobs because of the oil spill and the animals that were rid of their lives because of something humans produced.” !ough %shing grounds remained closed and tourism was greatly hurt by the spill, hotels by the gulf had an increase in

The Deepwater Horizon oil rig burning after an explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, off the southeast tip of Louisiana. The world’s thirst for crude is leading explorers into ever deeper waters and ventures fraught with environmental and political peril, heralding an end to an easier era when companies could merely drill on land and wait for the oil and for the profits to flow. From the Arctic to Cuba to the coast of Nigeria, the brave new world of oil drilling means that avoiding catastrophes like BP’s Gulf spill is likely to become increasingly difficult and require global solutions and cooperation between countries that aren’t used to working together.

Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig Ruptures and Causes the Largest Oil Spill in US History

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told CNN, “We’re sorry for the massive disruption it’s caused their lives. !ere’s no one who wants this over more than I do. I would like my life back.” Hayward’s last comment led many to question whether his priorities were centered more on correcting personal damage than the environmental destruction. !ough many people blamed BP for

the death and destruction and the U.S. government named BP responsible, not everyone felt the negativity toward the company was justi"ed. !ird-year engineering student Michael Saqr said, “It was an unfortunate disaster but in a time where oil companies are already hated by a ‘go green’ push, they now have to struggle with this negative attention. Yet, the same people who antagonize them probably "ll their car up with the gas that BP provides to gas stations.”

bookings since many people showed up to help the relief e#ort by cleaning up and providing care to the a#ected animals. As many groups organized to aide the gulf, students also joined in the e#ort. Ecology, Economy and Equity, also known as E3, gathered outside a vegan restaurant in Westwood to raise money for the National Wildlife Federation’s Gulf Oil Spill Restoration Fund. Co-chair of E3 and fourth-year communications student Natalie Gaber said, “We collected donations at a table outside the restaurant, and Native Foods also donated ten percent of its net pro"ts from the day to our fundraiser.”

BP stated on its website that it was completely committed to a fast and e$cient clean up of the gulf. However, there was controversy the day of the explosion when the rig’s manager and the driller disagreed with BP’s representative on the early removal of drilling mud from the riser. Experts said the early removal could have been a fatal step and, though it may or may not have caused the event, it made the blowout much more likely. !is lack of precaution and interest in saving money and time caused uproar among many environmental groups and UCLA students alike. When asked to give a reply to local residents, BP CEO Tony Hayward

!e economic and environmental damage caused by the man-made disaster a#ected more than just the gulf communities. However, some students believed its impact was not directly felt in their situations. Fourth-year economics student Steven Wong said, “!ere wasn’t really a noteworthy change in gas prices. !e spill was detrimental but didn’t do much noticeable damage to us.” !ough the massive amounts of oil laid ruin to many ecosystems, it was not as signi"cant on a grand scale of the amount of oil BP has access to. !e spill "nancially harmed the company more because of the money and resources allocated to clean up its mess than the cost of the oil it lost. Sadly, the quantity of oil was crippling for the fragile marine environment, which was thrown out of balance and greatly harmed. Both the environment and BP were a#ected by the spill, but with the help of many the impact of the disaster was eventually lessened.

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An Architecture Controversy

TEXT PHOTO1 9 4 Michael Lee Jin Lee & Frank Franklin, AP Images

Proposed Muslim Center Causes Heated Debate Across the Nation

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On Sept. 11, 2001, 19 hijackers took control of four commercial airliners originally bound for San Francisco and Los Angeles. One of these planes crashed into the World Trade Center’s North Tower in Manhattan at 8:26 a.m., followed by another plane, which crashed into the South Tower at 9:03 a.m. Within an hour, two other planes crashed, one into the Pentagon at 9:37 a.m. and another into a !eld in Shanksville, Pennsylvania at 10:03 a.m. In total, 2,977 people were killed, including the hijackers, all of whom were Muslim.

Eight years later, a new controversy had the attention of the country. It revolved around Park51, a Muslim community center more popularly known by its controversial title: the Ground Zero Mosque (and herea"er referred to as such). Located roughly two blocks from the site where the World Trade Center once stood, the 13-story structure was originally proposed by Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf to promote cultural reconciliation and religious tolerance. However, the controversy surrounding the mosque spiraled out of control, eliciting a rash of anti-Islamic sentiment across the country.

Since Aug. 4, 2010, when New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission rejected the last standing challenge to the mosque’s construction, protestors and counter-protestors lined the streets adjacent to the proposed construction site. #e situation was only exacerbated by the participation of high-pro!le politicians and commentators, such as, most notably, President Barack Obama. In remarks made by Obama at the I"ar Dinner, he said, “Muslims have the same right to practice their religion as anyone else in this country. And that includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on

private property in Lower Manhattan, in accordance with local laws and ordinances.”

Republicans and opponents of the mosque were quick to pounce on Obama’s statements. “#e fact that someone has the right to do something doesn’t necessarily make it the right thing to do,” House Minority Leader John Boehner said in a written statement, “#at is the essence of tolerance, peace and understanding. #is is not an issue of law, whether religious freedom or local zoning. #is is a basic

issue of respect of a tragic moment in our history.” Even members of the President’s own party were quick to distance themselves from this controversial issue. “#e First Amendment protects freedom of religion,” reads a written statement from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, “Senator Reid respects that but thinks that the mosque should be built someplace

else.” #e President was eventually forced to backpedal from his original comments.

Although it is acknowledged by both sides that the promoters of the mosque had the legal right to build it, the idea did not gained traction amongst Americans. According to a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll released on Aug. 11, 2010, 68% of Americans were opposed to the construction of the mosque. It was clear the issue did not seem to revolve around the legality of the mosque itself, but the prudence of it. Many believe that Park51 was grossly insensitive, an edi!ce that insults the memories of those who died in the attacks. “Nazis don’t have the right to put up a sign next to the Holocaust Museum in Washington. We would never accept the Japanese putting up a site next to Pearl Harbor,” former House Speaker Newt

continued… An ariel view of building rooftops of the purposed mosque near ground zero on Friday, Sept. 10, 2010 in New York.

Supporters and media gather at a rally in support of the intended site of an Islamic center and mosque near the World Trade Center.

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Gingrich said during an appearance on Fox and Friends. Others went as far as to call Park51 the “victory mosque,” invoking fears of Islamization and branding the image of the United States’ enemies gloating over the site of a national tragedy deep in the mainstream’s consciousness.

Nevertheless, a signi!cant portion of the country disagreed. Many of them believed that the opponents of the mosque’s claims were unfounded, and that they were simply blaming Islam for the Sept. 11 attacks out of ignorance. “"ere is anti-Islamic sentiment out there; there are people out there who oppose the mosque because they know nothing about Islam; they don’t understand Islam,” Muslim Student Association President Nader Nasr said. Nasr pointed out that there were already two mosques in the area, !rmly established even before the Sept. 11 attacks, and that the Park51 was a good opportunity for people to learn more about moderate Islam, as opposed to the violent, radical Islam that drove the terrorists. “Personally, I do think that the ‘mosque’ should be built. Right now, in America, there have been a lot of

misunderstandings about Islam. "ere is a movement out to get Islam. "ey are out to debunk and discredit Islam. "ey quote the Quran totally out of context and say ‘Look, this is what they teach.’ But there are also Muslims who died at the World Trade Center. People need to understand that Muslims were also victims of the September 11th attacks and that these attacks are contrary to Islam,” he said.

Indeed, there had been a groundswell of public demonstration against Islam. Amongst others, a Quran burning occurred in East Lansing, Michigan and another was planned, but never carried out, in Gainsville, Florida; in addition, “Everybody Draw Mohammed Day” garnered roughly a hundred thousands supporters on Facebook. Nasr commented on these events, “I believe that what these people are doing is protected by freedom of speech, and that those who organize these events are fully aware of the rami!cations. But there is a !ne line between free speech and disrespect. "e Prophet Muhammad and the Quran, both are very dear to us, so this is complete disrespect for our beliefs.”

…continued

Plans to build an Islamic center near ground zero, the sight of 9/11 terrorist attack on the United States, have sparked anger and islamophobic reactions amongst some Americans. On the ninth anniversary of 9/11, approximately 3000 demonstrators protested while a few blocks away about the same number of people demonstrated for religious tolerance.

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1 9 7

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After Two Months, Trapped Miners’ Rescue Results in Global Joy

Mission Accomplished Chile

Hugo Infante, AP Images1 9 8 Kassy Cho

On Aug. 5, 2010, a part of the San José copper-gold mine near Copiapó, Chile collapsed, leaving 33 men trapped 2,300 feet underground. !is incident became known as the 2010 Copiapó mining accident. !e miners survived for a record of 69 days underground. !e cave-in was the result of a rock fall, which created a dust cloud that blinded and trapped the miners underground.

!e miners initially tried to escape through the ventilation sha" system, but the ladders were missing. Rescuers tried to bypass the rockfall through alternative passages but found they were either blocked or threatened ongoing rock movement. Rescuers used percussion drills to make eight exploratory boreholes about 5.9 inches wide in order to #nd the miners. !is proved to be di$cult due to out-of-date maps and the boreholes dri"ing o% target as a result of hard rock and the deep drilling depth. On Aug. 22, the eighth borehole broke through close to the emergency shelter room where the miners took refuge. !e miners had heard the drills and prepared notes to attach to the tip of the drill with insulation tape when it poked through. When the drill was retracted, the public was shocked to #nd that the miners had survived, as they had been underground for 17 days. At 3:17 pm on the same day, President Piñera of Chile held up a note that said, “Estamos bien en el refugio los 33 (We are alright in the shelter, the 33 [of us])” to the delight of the public. “I was really excited and happy when I found out they were alive,” said third-year anthropology student Lorean Valdivia, who was born and raised in Chile.

Video cameras were subsequently sent down which later allowed for video chats. !e miners lived in a survival shelter of 540 square feet with a 1.2-mile gallery. !ey used backhoes to dig for underground water and rationed the two do three day supply food over a period of two weeks, causing them to lose an average of 18 pounds each. For source of light, the miners used truck batteries to power their hard hat lamps. !e miners maintained positive and light attitudes and even made a 40-minute video with a camera sent down through long capsules called palomoas. “I think it’s a horrible situation to be in. I felt really sorry for them but it gave me some inspiration to see that they were

Miner Jose Ojeda, left, is helped to exit a capsule during his rescue from the collapsed San Jose gold and copper mine where he had been trapped with 32 other miners for over two months near Copiapo, Chile.

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coping well in their situation,” said fourth-year electrical engineering student Arthur Chen. First-year English student Amy McElroy felt the same: “I think this accident was extremely tragic. I couldn’t even begin to imagine being trapped anywhere for that long, and I couldn’t begin to imagine having someone I love trapped there so long, just being full of constant worry.” Along with a video camera, the rescue team sent down high-energy glucose gels, rehydration tablets, medicine and oxygen.

!e miners were rescued through Operación San Lorenzo, an international e"ort, on Oct. 12. !e miners were li#ed out of the mine through a pod, which was 21 inches wide with retractable wheels. Each rescue took around an hour. President Piñera was present during the e"ort. “It was really nerve-racking for me because Chileans feel a strong sense of community. I had trouble concentrating in class. I wanted to stay up at night and watch the rescue,” Valdivia said.

A#er all the miners had been extracted, rescuers in the mine chamber raised a banner reading “Misión cumplida Chile (Mission Accomplished Chile)”. A#er the accident, President Piñera dismissed the top o$cials of Chile’s mining regulatory agency. 18 mines were shut down and another 300 may be ordered to close. As a result of the incident, a lawsuit

has been %lled against the mining company. !e miners have received o"ers to appear on many TV shows, and rose to celebrity status. “Chileans call it the ‘Miners’ Reality Show’ because Chileans are sarcastic and it called for so much attention,” said Valdivia, “but I wish the media would leave them alone a little bit.” Chen agreed, “I think the media went crazy a#er the rescue. I remember reading about how one of the miners made it onto Letterman and how the President of Chile presented a gi# rock from the mine to the Queen of England.”

According to !e Guardian, the rescue, however, had resulted in “a &ash of global joy.” Valdivia felt comfort in knowing there was so much support for the tragedy. “Lots of people asked me about it, knowing I was Chilean. I’m glad I was able to associate with it and that everyone in the world was following this issue,” she said, “this accident shows what people can do when they work together e$ciently and unite to %nd the best idea. I think everyone can learn from this.” McElroy, too, felt she learned from this incident: “It gives me hope to know that these people were strong enough to keep level heads and remain civil. I learned that people can accomplish great things when they remain calm. I think that it is a testament to human strength and fortitude, which gives me more hope in humanity.”

1 9 9PHOTO Hugo Infante, AP Images

Miner Mario Sepulveda celebrates after being rescued from the collapsed San Jose gold and copper mine. The crowd waited in anticipation as each miner was rescued.

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California Proposition 19

!e move to legalize and tax the recreational use of

marijuana was initially received with much enthusiasm.

However, its chances of passing went up in smoke as the

initial election numbers came in: at the end of the night,

Proposition 19 was defeated by a 12-point margin. Proponents blame Proposition 19’s failure

on the lukewarm turnout of the youth vote, amongst whom it

was most popular.

California Proposition 20 & 27 Propositions 20 and 27 both

related to the issue of redistrict-ing. !e former would have established a committee that

would redraw district lines free of gerrymandering whereas

the latter argued against such a committee and sought to repeal the legislation that authorized

it, Proposition 11 (2008). Voter backlash seemed to be the

theme of this year’s midterm elections, as Proposition 20 was

passed in a landslide and 27 totally defeated.

California Proposition 23

Proposition 23 was the most expensive and hotly contested

measure on the ballot this year. If passed, the proposi-

tion would suspend Assembly Bill 32, also known as the

Global Warming Act of 2006. Most controversy revolved

around the primary sponsors of the bill, Texas-based oil re"ners Valero and Tesoro. Californian voters defeated the measure by a 23-point

margin.

California Proposition 25

Proposition 25 was intended to solve the budget impasse by changing the procedural

rules of the state legislature to allow the budget to be passed

by a simply majority rather than a 2/3s supermajority. Despite fears that it would

squelch minority opposition and prevent political

discourse and compromise, it was passed by a 9-point

margin.

California Proposition 26

Proposition 26 would make it so that any fee, levy, or charge would require the

same supermajority vote as a tax initiative. Although it was argued that this proposition

would hamper the ability of the state government to generate the revenues necessary to balance the

budget, it was passed by a 5-point margin.

Terence Lee2 0 0 Michael Lee

Gubernatorial candidate, Jerry Brown speaks at the University of California, Los Angeles during a political rally during the 2010 Novemember elections. Brown was joined by both former president Bill Clinton and Gavin Newsom in promoting the Democratic platform.

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November Elections

!is year’s gubernatorial contest was between Democratic candidate Jerry Brown and Republican candidate Meg Whitman. Although Democrats have traditionally outnumbered Republicans in registration, higher turnout amongst conservative voters, as well as the voter disapproval with President Barack Obama and the Democratic Party, made for a close race.

Brown, who was the Governor of California from 1975 to 1983, possessed a wealth of political experience, though much of it marked by failure. He ran for the US Senate in 1982 and 1992, as well as President in 1976, 1980 and 1992, but none of his attempts to achieve national o"ce succeeded. He was elected Mayor of Oakland in 1999 and served in this capacity until 2007. During his tenure as the Mayor of Oakland, he was credited for launching a series of redevelopment

projects that succeeded in stopping the #ight of residents from the city. However, despite enacting many initiatives to crack down on crime, he was criticized for being unable to resolve Oakland’s lingering problems with gang violence. In contrast, Whitman boasted strong business credentials, mostly notably her tenure at eBay, during which she built the small company up to a multi-billion dollar online auction and retail enterprise. She also worked as a brand manager for Procter and Gamble, the Vice President of Strategic Planning for !e Walt Disney Company and the General Manager of the Playskool Division at Hasbro, where she oversaw the marketing of the popular Mr. Potato Head and imported the UK children’s show Teletubbies.

!roughout the campaign, Whitman’s personal warchest allowed her to greatly outspend Brown. She waged a non-stop air

war against Brown, bombarding radio and television stations with advertisements, many of them negative. Many remarked that Whitman’s strategy was ine$ective, polarizing Californian voters without convincing them of her e$ectiveness. “!e campaign that [Whitman] executed was pedestrian at best, saturating the airwaves with advertising that never really said anything or convinced voters that Whitman could make their lives better. Even the negative ads on Brown were lackluster, even though his long political history was a potential gold mine” said San Jose Mercury columnist Dan Walters. In the end, however, it was apparent that money could not buy everything. Brown triumphed over Whitman, winning the election 53.55 to 41.31 percent.

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Republicans pick up 64 seats and gain control of the House of Representatives

Voters, fueled by discontent with President Barack Obama as unemployment continued to persist at agonizing levels despite a massive stimulus package, took the opportunity to enact a nationwide referendum on his performance. By the end of the night, the Republican Party swept control of the House, demolished the Democratic supermajority in the Senate, and stole the governorship of eleven states previously occupied by Democrats.

Partisanship de!ned this year’s midterm elections, as well as American politics for the past decade. Between 2002 and 2004, the Republicans had control of both the House and the Senate. But in 2006, a"er four years of unpopular policies and in the midst of the low point of the controversial Iraq War, voters sent

then-President George Bush a message by delivering Congress over to the Democratic Party. #is hold was further solidi!ed in 2008 with a supermajority in the Senate, as Democrats rode the tide of e$ervescent optimism generated by then-Senator Obama. But just two years later, this enthusiasm had all but evaporated, as a deep recession and stagnant recovery have taken their toll on public sentiment.

In the House, Republicans managed to pick up 64 seats, earning them the majority and removing Speaker Nancy Pelosi from her seat, replacing her with Representative John Boehner. In the fallout, the moderate Blue Dog Coalition of the Democratic Party, whose membership was halved by the election, sought to purge Pelosi from party leadership. Opponents to

Pelosi’s continued leadership attribute the Democratic Party’s rout to her personal unpopularity and polarizing politics, which le" Democrats vulnerable in more conservative districts. “Republicans kept trying to tie everyone to [Pelosi], and that makes it very di%cult to go into these moderate districts and recruit candidates,” said Representative Heath Shuler in a comment made to Bloomberg.

Pelosi disagreed and announced her intention to seek out another term as House Democratic Leader. “Well, let me say this...the reason the election results are what they are is because we have nine-and-half percent unemployment in our country. We didn’t lose the election because of me,” said Pelosi in a National Public Radio interview. “#e reason [the

House ChangesHands

With the Republicans managing to pick up 64 seats, Nancy Pelosi was removed from her seat by Representative John Boehner. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

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Republicans] had to try to take me down is because I’ve been e!ective in "ghting the special interests in Washington, D.C. I’m also the most signi"cant attractor of support for the Democrats. So I’m not looking back on this. [My supporters] asked me to run. I’m running.” Although she managed to "ght o! her challengers and retain her position as the leader of the House Democrats, 19 of her colleagues voted against her. #is episode was a huge setback for Pelosi, who was widely considered to be one of the most powerful members of the Democratic Party.

In the Senate, Republicans managed to seize only six seats, four shy of a majority. A notable casualty was Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold, a veteran progressive legislator, who was defeated by Republican candidate Ron Johnson. In Nevada, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid managed to survive a challenge from Tea Party-backed Republican candidate Sharon Angle in a close contest, a thought that was unimaginable weeks before the election, when Angle trailed Reid by double digits. Also worthy of note was the bitter contest in Alaska that pitted two Republicans against one another. Senator Lisa Murkowski, upon being defeated in the Republican primary by candidate Joe Miller, was not dissuaded from running for o$ce and proceeded to wage a write-in campaign against Miller. She ultimately prevailed, defeating Miller by a margin of 10,000 votes.

No exposition of the 2010 midterm elections would be complete without mention of the Tea Party. #is grassroots movement, which sprouted from an on-air rant by CNBC’s Rick Santelli, was a source of energy for the Republican Party throughout the year, fanning the %ames of voter discontent with anti-tax and anti-spending rhetoric. #e ultimate result was a rightward shi& amongst the attitudes of independent voters, as well as an increase in voter turnout, which favored Republican candidates. Although the Tea Party was instrumental in securing the House for the Republicans in moderate districts, it was also the source of setbacks in the Senate. “We were looking at eight to nine seats in the Senate. We’re now looking at seven to eight. #is is not a race we’re going to be able to win.” said Former Bush Senior Adviser Karl Rove during an appearance on Hannity, concerning Christine O’Donnell’s upset victory over Mike Castle in the Delaware Republican primary. Tea Party-backed candidates surprised the country in this manner by defeating their more viable establishment counterparts, costing the Republicans their opportunity to completely control Congress. 2 0 3

Tea Party Rallies Republicans

House Republican leader John Boehner of Ohio celebrates the GOP’s victory that changes the balance of power in Congress and elevated him to speaker of the House. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

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2 0 4

John Otto, 17, of Haddonfi eld, N.J., listens to a question about his suffering through bullying at Haddonfi eld Memorial High School, as he stands at a podium with his mother Kim Otto Monday Nov. 15, 2010, in Trenton , N.J., as they join a group of people holding signs while standing outside the New Jersey Statehouse as lawmakers hold hearings inside into a bill that would toughen New Jersey’s anti-bullying laws.

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String of suicides shake society

15-year-old Billy Lucas of Indiana, 13-year-old Seth Walsh of California, 15-year-old Justin Aaberg of Minnesota and 19-year-old Raymond Chase of Rhode Island all hung themselves in response to the overbearing bullying they experienced relentlessly ever since they publicized their sexual orientation. College student Tyler Clementi experienced a modern form of harassment—cyberbulling. While engaging in a sexual encounter with a member of the same gender in his dorm, his roommate secretly taped the private acts. Clementi’s roommate streamed the video on the internet, pushing Clementi to suicide. A! er the incident Clementi, 18-years-old at the time, leapt from a bridge in New Jersey. Another 13-year-old, Asher Brown of Texas, shot himself the same morning he came out to his stepfather. All these youths informed authorities of the abuse they encountered from their peers, but a! er receiving no help they resorted to suicide.

Receiving national attention, the string of suicides brought forth the issue regarding tolerance of sexual orientation in time when sexual equality played a signi" cant role in civil rights. # e issue not only limited itself to sexual equality, but also expanded into issues of bullying and harassment. Across the UCLA campus, a school with a signi" cant homosexual minority, students discussed the series of suicides and social implications of bullying and sexual orientation. When students were asked to comment regarding this issue, " rst-year biology student Brian Hanson said, “Bullying is an issue and has been for a long time, society needs to address this issue. But I think that people connecting bullying and harassment to gay suicides alone is a little too much, [because] bullying victimizes other people as well, people who aren’t gay. So I think in these cases, these people who committed suicides had low self esteem issues.” # is idea of self-esteem was certainly on minds of many students who

had heard about these suicides, for example another " rst-year economics student Taylor Bazley said, “# ere are many people who are bullied, many people who are gay, but they don’t commit suicides, they withstand all the harassment.” As a result, the gay suicides did not only raise the issue of harassment based on sexual orientation, but bullying in general.

# ese six young men, who were described as good students by their families and friends, lived in fear of their peers and judgments of society, until they " nally could not take anymore. As Hanson put it, “Society handed them the gun, but didn’t pull the trigger.” Autumn Barnes, a physiological science student said, “I believe society is at blame, if they had respected their sexual orientation and reprimanded the bullies, they could have avoided these suicides.” Accordingly, a lot of the blame regarding these suicides can be put upon society and its nature of in-acceptance of people with di$ erences.

Lucas, Walsh, Aaberg, Chase, Clementi and Brown committed suicides as an answer to bullying based on their sexual orientation. While some practiced acceptance of all di$ erent sexual orientations, some still shared an attitude of intolerance, causing them to participate in acts of bullying and harassment such as those seen in the aforementioned cases. As a result, some might have called these deaths just an issue of low self-esteem, but overall this issue exposed the controversies surrounding how society handles bullying and sexual orientation. # ese kids didn’t commit suicide just because they were harassed once or twice. For them, harassment due to sexuality was a part of their everyday life.

Amidst the myriad of crises in 2010, another controversial issue surfaced. # is matter brought national attention and a sense of alarm to the events that had taken place: gay suicides. # roughout September and October " ve homosexual teens committed suicide due to the harassment and bullying they were subjected to at schools. # e suicides took place in a span of about three weeks across the nation from Minnesota to Indiana to California.

2 0 5Reena Rose Sibayan, AP Images

People participate in a candlelight vigil for Rutgers University freshman Tyler Clementi at Brower Commons on the Rutgers campus in New Brunswick, N.J. Clementi jumped to his death off a bridge a day after two classmates surreptitiously recorded him having sex with a man in his dorm room and broadcast it over the Internet.

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TEXT PHOTO2 0 6 Jimmy Tsao Yang Hyun-suk, Yonhap, AP Images

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On the a!ernoon of Nov. 23, 2010, residents of Yeonpyeong Island raced for shelter as the screech of artillery shells pierced the tranquil silence of the peaceful region.

Following tensions regarding a recent South Korean military drill, North Korea "red at the small, civilian island near the border. #e attack, which lasted about one hour, le! four people dead, 19 injured, and a wake of devastation. “I thought I would die,” islander Lee Chun-ok told #e Associated Press, “I was really, really terri"ed.” #e communist country had commenced the act of aggression in response to a series of South Korean military drills a mere hours beforehand.

#e attack became a classic case of déjà vu. North and South Korea have remained, technically, in a state of war: the Korean War (1950-1953) ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty. Over the past half-century, numerous skirmishes had broken out in the peninsula and the demilitarized zone (DMZ), the most recent of which was an alleged North attack that sank the South warship Cheonan. #e unprovoked assault, which the North adamantly denies responsibility for, took the lives of 46 sailors. Since the battles ended over "ve decades ago, North Korea had shown a history of violence towards its neighbor with numerous attacks and threats of aggression. As a matter of fact, the Korean Herald claimed that North Korea violated the terms of the armistice a total of 221 times since 1953.

#e implications of North Korean aggression were further accentuated by the con$ict over the communist nation’s developing nuclear weapons program. Ever since Pyongyang declared its possession of weapons of mass destruction, the United Nations has sought to limit – or eliminate – the country’s nuclear program. Negotiations appeared to make progress in 2007, when North Korea agreed to disengage its nuclear program in exchange for aid and commercial trade. A few months later, the International Atomic Emergency Agency (IAEA) con"rmed the deactivation of the Yongbyon Nuclear Scienti"c Research Center, the country’s main reactor. However, the relief was only temporary, as tensions resurfaced soon a!er. During further talks in 2008, North Korea refused to accept the United States’ negotiation terms, eventually barring the IAEA from further inspections of Yongbyon. And then, in April 2009, Pyongyang announced that all of the country’s nuclear facilities had been reactivated.

Tensions over the nuclear program had remained high ever since. Soon a!er recommencing its nuclear program, North Korea announced that it had performed a successful nuclear test.

The Deepwater Horizon oil rig burning after an explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, off the southeast tip of Louisiana. The world’s thirst for crude is leading explorers into ever deeper waters and ventures fraught with environmental and political peril, heralding an end to an easier era when companies could merely drill on land and wait for the oil and for the profits to flow. From the Arctic to Cuba to the coast of Nigeria, the brave new world of oil drilling means that avoiding catastrophes like BP’s Gulf spill is likely to become increasingly difficult and require global solutions and cooperation between countries that aren’t used to working together.

Dividedby war

continued… South Korean Army soldiers patrol near the seaside cease-fire line in Dangjin, south of Seoul, South Korea. South Korea vowed to “punish the enemy” as hundreds of troops, fighter jets, tanks and attack helicopters prepared massive new drills near the heavily armed border a month after a deadly North Korean artillery attack.

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A South Korean activist burns a North Korean flag and pictures of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and his youngest son Kim Jong Un during a rally denouncing North Korea’s Nov. 23 bombardment on Yeonpyeong Island last year at the Imjingak Pavilion in Paju, near the border village of Panmunjom, South Korea, Sunday, Jan. 2, 2011.

2 0 8 TEXT PHOTOJimmy Tsao Ahn Young-joon, AP Images

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Simultaneously, adjacent countries—China, Russia, and Japan—all reported seismic activity with a magnitude of approximately 5.3. Later in the same day, the country conducted short-ranged missile tests, which o!cials believe were an e"ort to ward away potential U.S. and Japanese surveillance planes. #e missile tests lasted roughly one week. #en, over a year later, North Korea announced the completion of a uranium enrichment facility (uranium is the radioactive element generally used for nuclear power), prompting the South to request additional U.S. military presence. Ultimately, Pyongyang claimed that it was the joint e"orts of the U.S. and South Korean militaries that provoked the attack on Yeonpyeong Island.

While the North claims certain reasons for its aggression, the United Nation and the rest of the world remained skeptical. Second-year mathematics and applied science student Wise Tsui said, “North Korea is like a little kid. #ey are trying to get [their only ally] China’s attention and help. #e only things they have are missiles.” Many experts suggested that it was, as a matter of fact, a declaration of power towards its own internal government. Having been ruled by the same man for the past 16 years, North Korean leadership was unstable, at best. Kim Jong-il, the de facto leader of the nation, allegedly su"ered a stroke in summer 2008. #e reports were met with skepticism and confusion by the rest of the world, as some believed that Kim had already passed away. #ough rumors of his death ultimately proved to be false, many illnesses and diseases were further attributed to him over the next two years. Nevertheless, Kim was reelected as chairman of the Democratic People’s Republic of

Korea in 2009. He has since appeared to appoint his youngest son, Kim Jong Un, as heir, though it is uncertain whether the nation would approve of the choice. Outside sources believe that, by attacking South Korea during such a pivotal time in Pyongyang, the North was attempting to rea!rm their stance: that they would not succumb to the threats of western powers.

As the two nations move forth towards uncertain futures, Yeonpyeong Island remained a shell of its former self. #e majority of the islanders had been evacuated to the mainland in the wake of the attacks. Deadly $res devoured roughly three quarters of the island’s vegetation. Infrastructure, from houses to warehouses to public buildings, had been razed to the ground. And four people–two civilians and two soldiers –were dead.

Such is the consequences of the Korean War. Not the Korean War of 1950 to 1953, but the Korean War of 1950 to 2011. Locked in a state of uneasy “truce” for the past six decades, the two countries continued to $ght to maintain a foothold in the 80,000 square miles of land they share. #ird-year biochemistry student Steven Pham said, “It’s hard to say [what will happen]. We’re living in hard times right now. It only takes one man to create an obstacle, and it takes 6 billion to ignore it. I hope that the reason will come, and others won’t just fall into madness.” Indeed, all it took was one corrupt regime, which escalated into a global crisis. #e situation in the Korean peninsula is dire, to say the least, and one is le% to wonder what is in store for the future of such a proud civilization.

2 0 9

…continued

A South Korean activist burns a North Korean flag and pictures of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il and his youngest son Kim Jong Un during a rally denouncing North Korea’s Nov. 23 bombardment on Yeonpyeong Island last year at the Imjingak Pavilion in Paju.

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