March 2010

March 2010 Volume 6 • Issue 6

3 Google vs. China 4 Chinese Development20 International Affairs

21 Senioritis22 Gunn Engineering23 The Lightning Thief

Google Buzz

Chari tDelivering Gunn’s Culture and Politics

T H E

SHOULD MARIJUANA be legalized?

Photo: Priya Ghose

OBAMA’S FIRST YEARPlans and ActionA Momentous StartA Year WastedObama a Socialist?

12

6

SPECIAL

DOUBLE ISSUE

2 March 2010

The Chariot

Obama on ObesityMichelle Obama showed up at the annual winter meeting

of the National Governor’s Association on Saturday 20th and reminded them to help her fight against childhood obesity. Her “Let’s Move” plan includes four aspects: teaching parents how to help their kids eat healthily, bringing healthier food to public schools, helping children get regular physical activity, and ensuring that kids have healthy options in all neighbor-hoods. Mrs. Obama also stated “Our kids didn’t do this to themselves,” which is debatable. No matter how many figures of authority extol the virtues of ex-ercising, it’s the childrens’ hab-its that affect their obesity. This wasn’t the government’s fault, but they may be able to help fix it. – Corey Breier

Toyota RecallOver the past four months, Toyota has recalled approxi-

mately 8.5 million vehicles worldwide because of unreliable accelerator pedals and braking systems. The president of Toyota, Akio Toyoda, has apologized multiple times for the accidents and deaths caused by the faulty cars.

According to him, Toyota’s swift expansion and increase in sales prompted less stringent quality control. This relaxed approach to safety resulted in numerous deaths and accidents that could have been prevented by safety checks and testing. Had Toyota not become focused on selling more and more vehicles in a short period of time, this would not have hap-

pened. Now Toyota’s reputation is damaged, perhaps irreparably, for the foreseeable future, all because of greed.

Companies must realize that profits, while important, are easy to make in comparison to establish-ing a good reputation. A company cannot expect to make any significant profit, if any at all, if its reputation is tainted by fatal product failures. Toyota’s misfortunes are a perfect ex-ample of the negative results of an overly materialistic focus. In this capitalistic society, Toyota’s troubles should serve as a wake-up call to entrepreneurs, major corporations and con-sumers alike. An avid pursuit of wealth might bring short-term gain, but can be detrimental to one’s overall survival. If money is one’s main focus, individuals and corporations alike should re-evaluate their priorities and consider how their ac-tions impact the fiscal years ahead rather than just the next quarter. –Sarah Zubair

Homegrown TerrorismThe man who crashed his plane into the IRS building on

February 18th was not what he proclaimed himself to be; a hero trying to raise awareness about the evil of the IRS and capitalism. Unfortunately, he was just another distributed in-dividual trying to find something to blame for his problems. And most unfortunately, his belief led to his death. Simply put, he needed help and didn’t get it. – Aaron Guggenheim

The World in a Blurb

The damage to the Austen, Texas IRS building

www.gunnchariot.com

3Volume 6 • Issue 6

Scott WeyGraphics/Layout

Most oF us think of Google as a kindly Internet figure, gently

guiding our search results in the right di-rection. Little do we know that under the facade of harmlessness that Google likes to put up, it is a hardcore technology com-pany that aggressively protects its assets.

Simply put, Google is badass. How else could you describe a company that coun-terhacked the Chinese government?

Last December, it became apparent to Google’s engineers that the Chinese gov-ernment had been breaking into Gmail accounts. Other lesser companies would have let the proper authorities take care of the issue, but apparently Google doesn’t take flak from anyone. The company be-gan the process of counterhacking.

Their specialists tracked the attack to a server in Taiwan. There, they discovered damning evidence that allowed them to conclude that the Chinese government had orchestrated the attack. Information on the server also indicated that at least 33 other companies had been compromised, including companies such as Adobe and Northrop Grumman.

It’s a rather disturbing thought that these other companies failed to detect the intrusion, to say the least.

Long story short, Google caught China red handed.

Google has since submitted the neces-sary data to the US government and are working side by side with the appropriate government agencies. But apparently it wasn’t enough for Google to hack them back.

No, Google was royally pissed off. On January 12th Google announced, via its blog, that it was unwilling to continue censoring results on its Chinese website

(google.cn). If they have to, Google will pull out of China entirely.

China’s response was to try and brush it off, while pretty much denying their part in the hacking, pretty much just doing the equivalent of mumbling about it a lot and hoping everyone forgets, a tactic that nev-er works.

We have to remember that this is a clash of polar opposites: Google, enabling and promoting freedom of information with its search engine, and China, a government so fearful of free thought that they make every attempt to censor the internet.

From a more personal point of view, the entire situation is ridiculous. The in-formation that the Chinese government accessed wasn’t even worth the risks. One would think that they’d use the opportu-nity to check up on the personal data of high ranking US officials, but no. Instead they obtained information about human rights activists.

What is China so afraid of? A few pro-testers with picket signs? Good job, China, you got some personal emails from tree hugging, freedom loving human rights ac-tivists.

At what expense? Oh nothing much, just souring relations with the largest search provider on the planet. Not only did they manage to anger Google, but they angered the United States government as

well. Fantastic. The hackers who partici-pated in masterminding this disaster must be patting themselves on the back and en-thusiastically fistbumping. Job well done. Bravo.

China, a few tips for your next attack on one of the internet’s industry leaders (they’re really just general suggestions):1. Don’t go through Taiwan, a country with zero motivation for launching attacks of any kind.2. Don’t waste your time on human rights activists. What can they do against your endless waves of censorship and propa-ganda? Very little (in my opinion).3. Don’t try to beat one of the most in-ternet savvy companies at hacking. It will only end badly for you.4. (Almost) everyone likes Google, includ-ing your citizens. Don’t malign yourself with (almost) everyone.5. Just own up to it next time. Bad stuff will happen whether you confess or not. If you admit to it, at least you’ll have street cred with other countries.

A quote from the Google blog pretty much sums it up:

“These attacks and the surveillance they have uncovered—combined with the at-tempts over the past year to further limit free speech on the web—have led us to conclude that we should review the feasi-bility of our business operations in China. We have decided we are no longer will-ing to continue censoring our results on Google.cn, and so over the next few weeks we will be discussing with the Chinese government the basis on which we could operate an unfiltered search engine within the law, if at all. We recognize that this may well mean having to shut down Google.cn, and potentially our offices in China.”

In so many (excessively tame) words, Google has told China that it doesn’t take crap from anyone. Badass.

GOOGLE VS. CHINA

Honoring the death of Google China

The Chariot

4 March 2010

Human rights violations in China

disgracefulLinda Wang

Contributing Writer

Human rights violations continue to be rampant in the People’s Re-

public of China (PRC) despite worldwide scrutiny. The infamous 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre, in which thousands of pro-democracy protesters were jailed and killed, left a dark stain on the Chinese gov-ernment’s record.

The PRC is now quick to show the in-ternal reforms they have made, but how much more freedom do the Chinese people truly have? Do they enjoy freedom of speech, press, and religion?

The PRC’s 1982 constitu-tion guarantees Chinese citi-zens the rights to freedom of speech and press, but they are largely void except in name. In 2008, 50 people were imprisoned for posting their views online, some just for accessing forbidden web-sites.

The PRC is restrictive to the extreme; Reporters Without Borders ranks the Chinese press situation as the least free in the world. All speech must adhere to the “four basic principles,” the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), socialism, dicta-torship of the proletariat, and Marxism-Leninism Mao Zedong Thought.

There also exists a subversion of state power clause that gives authorities virtually boundless power to persecute anyone criti-

cal of the government. Decisions to per-secute are often arbitrary and made during secret trials.

In 1994, the State Security Law was revised to outlaw the publication and dis-semination of any writing which “endan-gered state security.” It also criminalized contact with foreign organizations that were deemed hostile.

Conveniently, the government has free rein to decide who is “hostile” or not. In-deed, in 1994, the Beijing Intermediate Court sentenced three political dissenters to 20 years in prison, for “leading counter-revolutionary organizations,” shocking the international community. It was the harsh-est sentence delivered in recent years for such behavior.

Until the 1980s, all media was state-run. Now, what independent media does exist must do so under CCP monitoring, legal restrictions, and coercion. Agencies like the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television (SARFT) and Gen-eral Administration of Press and Publica-tion (GAPP) severely regulate the cover-age of topics as Tibet or the legitimacy

of the CCP. It is common policy to offer financial incentives to journalists willing to self-censor. The CCP Propaganda Depart-ment has often regulated news articles to be “80% positive, 20% negative.”

The PRC’s right to “freedom of reli-gion” differs vastly from our own notions. There are four established religions under government control—Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and Taoism—and any religion outside of these cannot be practiced pub-licly. Religious doctrines have been report-edly altered by the government to promote the CCP, especially those of the Church. The religious practice of Chinese Catho-lics loyal to the Vatican is illegal. Instead, they are required to accept the “official Catholic” bishop of the PRC, who was ap-pointed not by the Pope but by the govern-

ment. The larger Church has since branded the Chinese Church a schismatic group.

The government then proceeded to declare in Sep-tember 2007 that “no living Buddha” could be reincar-nated without “government approval,” in order to limit the Dalai Lama’s influence. The Dalai Lama announced in 1995 that the reincarna-tion of the Panchen Lama had been found in a young boy. The boy then disap-peared and has never been seen, assumed to be under house arrest by the PRC. Policies have been institut-

ed in Tibet that make a shambles of the Chinese “constitution”; the PRC has put quotas on the number of monks permit-ted, restricted religious study until after the age of 18, and forced the Tibetans to de-nounce the Dalai Lama as their leader.

TWO VIEWPOINTS OF

Protests in San Francisco

5

www.gunnchariot.com

Volume 6 • Issue 6

A Step In the Right Direction

Hina SakazakiContributing Writer

China is no longer a backward country in red headed by Mao

Zedong. It is a world power, with some of the most advanced technologies in the world, the largest population and the largest economy. Not only have its living standards have improved significantly, but the reputation of China as a whole has im-proved over the past 20 years.

Yet, the New China faces distrust and disapproval from the world. Its treatment of minorities, the environment and overall pushiness has attracted unfortunate con-demnation.

Nevertheless, China has made progress and has the potential to improve (and even take over) the world.

During the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Chi-na revealed its advancements, tremendous technology and people to the whole world. The exceptional opening ceremony and construction of its impressive Olympic stadium is remembered as a fusion of new technology and authentic Chinese culture.

There were problems, of course. The international community frowned upon China’s human rights violations; support of oppressive regimes, including Zimba-bwe, Myanmar, Sudan and North Korea; air pollution; and its restriction of media access.

But these problems did not impede China’s success with the Summer Olym-pics. The Summer Olympics introduced China as a new world power and symbol-ized China’s growing acceptance in the world, just as the Tokyo Olympics of 1964 did for Japan.

The Chinese media is also becoming increasingly com-mercialized with more competi-tion and content. The government’s censorship is becoming less stringent. Chi-na’s film industry has grown from cheap and censored to multinational and rich, setting up China to compete with Western films. Additionally, many of the products used here in the United States are manu-factured in China.

Politically, China has been attempting to increase its influence on other nations. China’s interest in Africa has taken a new spin. In addition to financial and military assistance, China has been developing its new technologies there. One noteworthy project was by the Huawei Technology and ZTE Corp. They pledged $10 billion to advance African nations, including An-gola, Ghana and Nigeria. China’s influence over struggling nations is promising in the global community improves the Chinese reputation.

Some speculate that China will become the world’s next superpower after the U.S. By lending massive amounts of money to

the U.S., it has the most

economic influ-ence over the U.S.

More people are learning to speak Mandarin. In 1991, there were only 2,000 Mandarin-learners taking the Chinese Pro-ficiency Test, while in 2005, 17,660 non-native speakers took the test.

Historically, it seems that every large nation is at first looked down upon as it enters the global stage. The U.S. was not viewed as a serious power in its beginnings. These countries go through many prob-lems including unhappy people, unstable economy, harsh treatment of minorities and pollution.

China is no different, and so far, its pol-icies are reasonable and realistic. It takes time and experience to be a stable, inter-nationally recognized nation with no con-flicts. China is still a teenager on the global scale, but it is a very promising teenager and heading towards the right direction.

CHINESE DEVELOPMENT

The Chariot

6 March 2010

MARIJUANA: THE FACTS Scott Wey

Graphics/Layout

California Law • Possession of one ounce or less is a misdemeanor and is punishable by a maximum $100 fine• Legal to possess and cultivate only for medical use

Federal Law• Schedule I drug• “No accepted medical value in treatment”• Illegal to sell, cultivate, and possess

Normal : Lethal dosage

Heroin 1 : 5

Marijuana 1 : 20,000+

Alcohol 1 : 10

Robert ChenCo-Editor-in-Chief

Aspirin 1 : 20

7

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200,000

300,000

400,000

500,000

600,000

700,000

800,000

900,000

1989 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007

Damages short-term memory

Stimulates appetite

Combats nausea and vomiting

Smoke damages lungs

Relaxes musclesMarijuanaNo recorded

overdose deaths

Heart rate increase by 20-50 beats/min

Number of arrestsinvolving marijuana

872,721

Tobacco 400,000 / year

Alcohol 75,000 / year

The Chariot

8 March 2010

USAGEwhere?

who?

SUBSTATEUSAGE

Percent Reporting Past Month Use:

<4.75%

4.76%-5.50%

5.51%-6.00%

6.01%-7.50%

>7.51%

Brittany ChengGraphics/Layout

39.8% of US population has tried marijuana at least once

AGEVARIATIONPercent Reporting Past Month Use

TRENDSBYYEARPercent Reporting Past Month Use

29%

DECLINE in use by National

Workforce 2000-2007

STATS&TRENDS

9

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{decriminalization: Penalty for possession for

individual use is low. Cultivation and distribution

are illegal.

legalization:Legal to possess, sell,

and cultivate.

MARIJUANA: By the numbers percentage that have smoked marijuana

by GRADE 9 6.25% (2/32 respondents)

10 17.1% (6/35 respondents)

11 14.9% (7/47 respondents)

12 28.6% (15/56 respondents)

by GENDER M 20.7% (19/92 respondents)

F 11.5% (9/78 respondents)

170 students were

SURVEYEDon the following:

Is marijuana worse than alcohol? YES 46.5% (79 students) NO 53.5% (91 students)

Is marijuana worse than tobacco? YES 40% (68 students) NO 60% (102 students)

Would you support decriminalization of marijuana?

YES 64.1% (109 students) NO 35.9% (61 students)

Would you support legalization of marijuana?

YES 52.4% (89 students) NO 47.6% (81 students)

If legalized, would you try marijuana?

YES 10% (17 students) NO 72.9% (124 students) ALREADY HAVE 17.1% (29 students)

17% of the students surveyed have smoked marijuana.

84% have not.

Celine NguyenGraphics/Layout

The Chariot

10 March 2010

The Problem of Prohibition

Max LipscombContributing Writer

Policymakers in Sacramento and Washington have recently been

assailed by calls for “recreational drugs for all” from groups such as NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) and LEAP (Law En-forcement Against Prohibition).

These senators and representatives are not helped by the massive tide of public opinion shifting to the side of legalization. During the run-up to President Obama’s inauguration, his website posted a briefing book in which people could submit their own ideas for consideration by the new president. The most popular item for the president’s consideration was by far the le-galization of marijuana.

The reasoning behind such a stunning shift is surprisingly enough not because the majority of Americans are drug ad-dicts, but because they are susceptible to logic. The mountains of evidence pointing towards the benefits of repealing prohibi-tion have reduced most counterarguments to tiresome rhetoric regarding emotions and principles.

In December 2001, as President Bush signed the Drug-Free Communities Act Reauthorization Bill, he said “If you quit drugs, you join the fight against terror in America.” Repeated research has shown the vast majority of users are non-violent, and that more people are put in jail for possession than actual drug-related crimes.

Furthermore, legalization would have

vast economic, political and safety rami-fications. It would reduce the operating capacity of drug cartels in Mexico and Co-lombia by rendering their method of busi-ness obsolete. Moreover, the elimination of the black market would allow govern-ment regulation and pharmaceutical test-ing to ensure safer drugs with lower death rates.

The legalization of drugs would prove especially effective in a state like Califor-nia, which has seen a sharp increase in pos-session-related crimes over the past decade (so much so that job applications in Cali-fornia exclude marijuana-related crimes from other felony charges). It would free up room in our prison system by drop-ping the sentences of convicted drug pos-sessors and dealers while setting up safer methods of distribution and sale.

It has been estimated that the United States Federal Government would save an annual $7.7 billion dollars on enforcement

if it repealed drug prohibition. It should also be pointed out that all of these new sales of drugs will be taxable, and would provide the government with another $6.2 billion dollars in tax revenue annually if government leaders were willing to sacri-fice a bit of their morality for the sake of their pocketbooks.

However, I would call into question even the morality of drug prohibition, be-cause while restricting freedoms, prohibi-tion also redirects money away from legal and necessary spending areas.

For example, when California lawmak-ers were passing budget cuts last summer, UC systems and schools took some of the hardest hits. In my opinion, there is no moral or logical excuse for forcing spend-ing cuts upon the most motivated and promising citizens in a state, while avoid-ing repealing a law as illogical and counter-productive as drug prohibition.

SHOULD MARIJUANA

Decriminalization, Not Legalization

Andre GarrettContributing Writer

The nation’s current drug policy would best be termed a colossal

failure. A War on Drugs that has spanned three decades has little by way of results: use has not declined significantly and de-spite the effort to prevent the trafficking of drugs into the United States, the influx persists.

Considering the spending that goes into the Drug War, such ineffective results would be reason enough to discontinue the current policy. But there is ample evi-dence to suggest that it is not only inef-fective but even counterproductive. The preponderance of drug-related crime in Mexico is one such indicator.

An analogous period in history is the prohibition of alcohol in the early 20th century. A direct result of Prohibition was an increase in crime, including organized

crime, related to the black market in alco-hol.

The economic causes of these unin-tended consequences are simple: when the government prohibits the legal sale of something that people want, the demand for that product does not go away. Un-scrupulous individuals rush in to fill the void, and a black market is created. The fact that the product is illegal makes it more difficult to provide, which increases the price and makes the business more lu-crative for anybody willing to flaunt the law.

This becomes especially problematic with an addictive substance- the drug car-tels in Mexico are now shockingly power-ful, on par with the Mexican government itself.

A further issue created by the prohi-bition of drugs in America involves the prison system. The criminal prosecution of Americans for possession or petty sale of these drugs has led to the highest in-carceration rate in the industrialized world. This is another added expenditure upon that used to fund the war on drugs, for a

large investment that has seen no results. But just as bad is the punishment

brought down upon those who were im-prisoned for these crimes. The primary function of the justice system is to punish actions by individuals that infringe upon the rights of others: succinctly, their right to life, liberty, and property.

The current laws inflict harm upon people who need aid and deter those who would look to the legal system for help.

Portugal provides an example of a new policy that would ameliorate many of these problems; in 2001 it decriminalized drug possession and usage, making it an administrative affair. Possession and usage remain technically illegal, but many who would otherwise go to jail are instead of-fered treatment and therapy.

A common concern of supporters of prohibition is that the loosening of anti-drug laws would lead to a spike in abuse. However, in Portugal, drug use did not in-crease overall. Use among teens actually dropped, and twice as many people are now seeking treatment. Additionally, her-oin-related deaths have dropped by more than half.

Decriminalization of possession and usage would be a strong improvement over the status quo, but I would recom-mend prudence at that point.

Following through to total legalization may not be the best path to take initially- legalization (or rather re-legalization) is essentially unprecedented in the industrial-ized world, so legalization has no example to set alongside Portugal for decriminaliza-tion.

The uncertainty of the effect of such a radical shift in policy, along with the possi-ble consequences of a perceived endorse-ment of the activity by the American gov-ernment, should lead us to eschew such a course, at least at this point in time.

11

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BE LEGALIZED?

A - Decriminalized posession B - Legal medical marijuanaC - Both

The Chariot

12 March 2009 13Volume 6 • Issue 6

www.gunnchariot.com

OBAMA: THE FIRST YEAR

CARGIANTS / FUELEFFICIENCYSTANDARDS / FRAUDLAWS / CREDITCARDS / SONIASOTOMAYOR / TROOPWITHDRAWAL /

GUANTANAMOBAY / MEXICOCITYPOLICY / CHILDREN’SHEALTHINSURANCE / STIMULUSBILL / MORETROOPS / STEMCELLS /

EDUCATIONPROGRAM / CLUNKERCASH / NOBELPRIZE / HEALTHCARE / TERRORISTATTEMPT / HAITIAID / WHAT’SNEXT?

JAN 21, 2009

Obama calls a 120 day halt of legal pro-ceedings for the closure of the facility within a year (a goal that wasn’t met), re-quires that the Army field manual to be used as the guide for terrorism interrogations and creates a task force to review detention poli-cies as well as all individual cases.

JAN 23, 2009

Obama revokes the Mexico City Pol-icy, a policy that required nongovernmen-tal organizations (NGOs) that receive gov-ernment funding to refrain from providing abortion services in other countries.

FEB 4, 2009

Obama signs Children’s Health Insurance Program Reautho-rization Act, extending the pro-gram that generally covers families with children that low incomes but too high for Medicare; the Act ex-panded the program to cover an additional 4 million children and pregnant women.

Ben BendorSenior Editor

Brittany ChengGraphics/Layout

FEB 17, 2009

Obama signs $787 billion Stimulus Bill, composed of tax cuts, expansion of unemployment benefits, and domestic spending in educa-tion, health care, and infra-structure.

FEB 17, 2009

Obama approves sending 17,000 additional troops to Afghanistan.

MAR 9, 2009Obama issues an executive order eliminating limits on embryonic stem cell research.

MAR 30, 2009

Obama gives GM and Chrysler 60 days and one month respectively to make drastic changes or face bankruptcy.

MAY 17, 2009

Obama announces fed-eral standard for fuel efficiency and limits on emissions from cars and trucks. The goal is a car and truck fleet 40% cleaner and more efficient by 2016.

MAY 20, 2009

Obama signs Fraud En-forcement and Recovery Act. It enhances enforcement of fraud laws, including mort-gage lending businesses; in-creases funding to Department of Justice and other agencies to detect and prosecute fraud.

MAY 22, 2009

Credit Card Accountabil-ity Responsibility and Disclosure Act signed into law; sets some limits to credit card companies’ ability to charge costumer. Passed by overwhelming margin in Sen-ate (90-5), much closer vote in House.

MAY 26, 2009

Sonia Sotomayor is confirmed to the Supreme Court by the Senate on August 6th in a 68-31 vote, and is sworn in Au-gust 8th.

JUNE 27, 2009

The withdrawal of American troops from Iraqi cities begins. The Obama administration is targeting September 2010 as the end of US-led combat operations, and all troops out of Iraq by the end of 2011.

JULY 24, 2009

Obama announces Race to the Top, a 2-phase, $4.35 billion Department of Education program that offers financial rewards to the states that come up with the reforms for K-12 education that score the most points based on a set of established target goals.

AUG 24, 2009

Cash for Clunkers, a $3 billion program to provide incentives for drivers to trade in cars for newer, more fuel-efficient ones ends after one month.

OCT 9, 2009

Obama surprisingly wins the Nobel Peace Prize; a large majority of Ameri-cans polled do not believe Obama deserves to win; many see the award as a criticism of Bush’s policies.

NOV 7, 2009

Affordable Health Care for America Act passes in the House 220-215. A differ-ent version passes in the Sen-ate 60-39 on December 24th. Both bills extend number in-sured, and provide subsidies for low income individuals and families.

JAN 14, 2010

Obama commits $100 million to Haiti, and calls in USAID and the mili-tary to assist in the rescue and recovery process.

DEC 25, 2009

Nigerian citizen Umar Farouk Ab-dulmutallab attempts to blow up Northwest Airlines Flight 253 us-ing plastic explosives in his underwear.

The Chariot

14 March 2010

PROMISES....Kept Broken

Increase the capital gains and dividends taxes for the rich

For individuals making over $200,000/year and couples who make more than $250,000, he plans to raise capital gains and dividends taxes to 20% from their current level of 15%

Work with international allies on space station

Obama budget would extend life of International Space Station

Establish a credit card bill of rights

• Ban unilateral changes• Apply interest rate increases only to future debt• Prohibit interest on fees • Prohibit universal defaults (rate raise because the consumer was late paying a different creditor)• Require prompt and fair crediting of cardholder payments.

Allow five days of public comment before signing bills

Support human mission to moon by 2020Obama budget abandons moon goal

End income tax for seniors making less than $50,000

Double funding for afterschool programs

Expand loan programs for small businesses

No permanent bases in Iraq

15

www.gunnchariot.com


“whatSTUDENTS

are

SAYING

He’s done what he can given the circumstances. He’s made a couple mistakes but he is human after all.

Alex Johann (12)

No one’s perfect.Rory Runser (11)

He accomplished something, but he was expected to accomplish

a lot more.Mallika Potter (10)

He’s made a lot of great changes since Bush. The world has seen this

and that’s why he won the Nobel Peace Prize.Anonymous

He didn’t back up his promises.Kevin Zook (9)

Obama was in office for a whole year already? Time goes by fast when you’re not doing anything.

Gayan Seneviratna (11)

He’s starting to do what he said before he was president, but he’s

being inefficient and it’s not happening yet.

Brian Chang (10)

He didn’t do anything notable.Josh Temes (9)

He tried to deliver what he prom-ised, but it’s difficult with Congress

and public opinion against him.Connie Hsueh (11)

He has helped jump-start the economy.

Yasmin Aghajan (11)

What students think about Obama’s performance

Has he done a good job?Has he improved the economy?

Has he improved cooperation?Would you consider voting for him in 2012?

Has he improved national security?

About

2/3of the students sur-veyed think Obama

did well and are willing to vote for him in

2012.

158people voted:

93 65 male female.

A higher percentage of people in higher grade levels thought Obama has did well:

about

69%seniors think Obama

did well...but only

48%of the freshman did.

Celine NguyenGraphics/Layout

Obama: Plans and Action

Tara GolshanContributing Writer

President barack obama ran on the slogan of “change that we can be-

lieve in.” Now, a year has gone by and many in the country question whether 2009 was a productive year. President Obama came into office with a full plate. In the midst of two wars overseas, the gloomy prospect of depression, and a deeply polarized coun-try, Obama’s ‘change’ did not come as easily as his speeches.

It has become increasingly ap-parent that President Obama is a centrist politician. Moderate in his beliefs, Obama has played to both sides of the United States political spectrum. From his health care plan to his push for a green future, the President has swayed back and forth between Democratic and Republican ide-ologies. This centrism, however, inevitably has created tension.

From the Democrats’ per-spective, the United States’ health care problem should be solved through government in-tervention: for them, the govern-ment-run public option is ideal. Although Obama did originally propose this solution in his first year, the President was forced to compromise with the Republi-cans and retreat to a single-pay-er-system advocacy. Different sections of this policy have been approved by both the Senate and the House of Representa-tives and are now in the process of negotiations between the two

chambers.In terms of the military, President

Obama openly voiced the strategy he plans to pursue in the future. In a speech addressed to the military academy at West Point, Obama laid out his intentions for the two wars. He stated that the Afghani-Pakistan border is the true problem and the United States military should be fo-cused on eradicating the Taliban there rather than fighting in Iraq. Obama plans to send an additional 30,000 troops to Af-ghanistan by July 2011.

Also concerning the military, President Obama has expressed wishes to remove a policy that has been present in the Unit-

ed States armed forces since 1993. The “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, which was put in place as a result of compromise un-der Clinton, prevents all members of the US service from disclosing their sexual identity and forbids all investigation on the matter. At a human rights meeting, Obama stated that he plans to remove this ban, saying that the policy is only “punish-ing patriotic Americans who have stepped forward to serve the country.”

When Obama arrived at the problem of the United States economy, he enacted a stimulus package. In an effort to prevent the United States from falling into the hands of depression, the President allot-

ted federal money to the states in order to keep them afloat. This stimulus acted as a safety net for unemployment and further debt. The plan was predicted to create one to three million jobs and has set aside $100 billion for educa-tion.

In moving the country for-ward, the President has also been pushing towards a green Amer-ica. He has launched the first construction of nuclear energy plants in the past 30 years and has announced an $8.3 billion loan guarantee for a company to build two of these plants. These projects in the South still need to win licensing approval. Many view this policy as a move to the center, to win the favor of the Republican Party.

President Obama has held his title for only one year. He en-tered office with a challenge be-fore him. He ran for change and continues to reassure the people with grand promises of hope and evolution. After all, change only comes with time.

The Chariot

16 March 2010

PERSPECTIVES ON

Frustrated

17

www.gunnchariot.com


A Momentous StartPriya Ghose

Publicity

At the time oF Obama’s election, the expectations for his presidency

had grown out of hand. People saw him as superhuman and expected him to come into office and change everything imme-diately. He obviously could not live up to these unrealistic expectations. However, when measured against past presidents or his own campaign promises, the Obama hype is not undeserved.

Actions like reforming health care and closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay take time, and Obama is actively working towards these goals. Instead of criticiz-ing Obama for what he has not done, he should be lauded for what he has accom-plished in the brief year and two months since his inauguration.

He came into office as the United States entered the worst recession since the Great Depression. Before he even entered office he led a second bank bailout of $350 bil-lion (with the help of former President George W. Bush). Two weeks after taking office, he signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, a $787 bil-lion stimulus bill. While some people com-plain about the amount of money spent, the stimulus bill kept the country from spi-raling into a full-fledged depression.

Since this act, the rate of job loss has slowed tremendously, and the American economy is slowly growing again.

Obama also created the “Cash for Clunkers” program, which helped both American citizens (cheaper cars) and the car industry (increased sales).

In another win-win situation, Obama approved of 2,500 highway projects, creat-ing 260,000 jobs and improving the U.S.’s

roadways, which are in need of repair. In addition, Obama cut taxes by $288

billion, allowing citizens to spend more money at a time when they were inclined to save (which would have slowed the economy even more).

But saving this country from economic collapse is just the beginning. At the same time, Obama improved the U.S.’s inter-national relations. He made speeches in Prague, Cairo and Ghana, among other places, to apologize on behalf of the U.S. for its boorish behavior over the last eight years. Sincerity and eloquence improved this nation’s international standing imme-diately, something Bush had not been able to accomplish in all his time in office de-spite a “public diplomacy” budget of $1 billion per year.

Obama’s speeches weren’t just empty words; two days after taking office, Obama banned the use of “harsh interrogation” at Guantanamo, and a month later he formally announced America’s upcoming withdrawal from Iraq.

He called a meeting of the UN Security Council that was attended by the heads of government of each member state, only the fifth such meeting in history. This meeting was also the first time a U.S. presi-dent chaired the Security Council. The at-tending countries unanimously approved

Obama’s commitment to working towards a world free of nuclear weapons.

In addition to saving the American economy and improving the U.S.’s stand-ing in the world, Obama has had numer-ous other accomplishments. These include lifting Bush’s restrictions of federally funded stem cell research, progressing to-wards universal health care, and making the government more accountable and less secretive by changing the Freedom of In-formation Act. The list goes on.

Obama has accomplished so much in so little time that the newspapers cannot even keep up. Sam Stein of the Huffington Post explains, “Stories that once could or would receive front page treatment have faded fast. Indeed, some of the most con-sequential changes made by the president to date—affecting our nation’s health care system, infrastructure, urban and foreign policy—have received modest to little cov-erage, either discussed, but not appreci-ated, or reported, but not in great depth.”

Whether one agrees with Obama’s ide-als or not, one cannot deny that he has ac-complished much as president so far. He still has three more years to impress this nation as well as the world. He is living up to the hype and fulfilling his campaign slo-gan of “change we can believe in.”

OBAMA’S FIRST YEAR

Giving his “End of an Old GM” Speech

The Chariot

18 March 2010

A Year WastedKevin Zhang

Contributing Writer

Barack Obama ran one of the great-est presidential campaigns in Unit-

ed States history. His emphatic speeches shook the nation, and his enduring sayings gave Americans the courage to be auda-cious. Obama made numerous campaign promises that he thought would aid the economy and alleviate the citizens’ stress.

His largest promises included increas-ing capital gains taxes and taxes for high-income taxpayers, eliminating oil and gas tax loopholes, improving environmental and labor standards in trade agreements, expanding child and dependent care credit and requiring publicly traded financial partnerships to pay the corporate income tax. Many of these promises attracted Americans to elect Obama as the Presi-dent of the United States.

However, Obama has done poorly in living up to his word. There is no doubt that he has done ample talking, but his ac-tions have not suf-ficiently backed up the promises that Americans expect-ed from him.

One of Obama’s goals was to make the government more transparent and efficient. Obama promised that the public would be able to make comments on bills for five days before they were to be signed. Additionally, Obama promised that there would be tougher restrictions on lobbyists in the government.

However, both of these promises have remained unfulfilled. This is potentially detrimental for Americans. Obama’s first

promise of enabling the public to com-ment would likely enable Congress to make a better informed decision.

Obama broke this promise in order to expedite the process of passing bills, espe-cially the stimulus package. The stimulus package is a prime example of a rushed bill; over 1588 pages of dense material that decided where $850 billion of the country’s money would go throughout the whole country was passed in less than a month.

This is especially alarming and frustrat-ing because American citizens should be more aware of the government’s actions. It was disheartening to see Obama advocate government transparency so adamantly during his campaign and then break his promises months into his presidency. It was inauspicious for his presidency and aggravating for the Americans who de-tested the supposed lack of transparency during the Bush administration.

Most of Obama’s top promises are “still in the works” or “stalled.” Only a couple of his top promises were kept—he sent two additional brigades to Afghani-

stan and reformed mandatory mini-mum prices. How-ever, many of his promises regarding health care reform (requiring children to have health in-surance, investing in electronic health

information systems) are still far from be-ing kept as Congress continues to bicker. In addition, Obama’s promises of closing Guantanamo Bay and ending torture are still in the works. These promises were sig-nificant aspects of Obama’s campaign, and Americans should not be complacent with the amount of progress made on some of his top campaign promises.

Furthermore, one of Obama’s top ob-stacles going into his first term was the eco-nomic recession. After aggressively push-ing for the stimulus package and eventually passing it, the United States lost 598,000 jobs in January, and the nation has had the worst 13-month job loss since 1939.

Although Obama has three years left in his first term, his first year has definitely not been successful. The vast majority of his promises have not been fully kept and several of his most important promises have been broken. Obama’s presidency is indeed off to an inauspicious start.

PERSPECTIVES ON

Was the Nobel Prize deserved?

The vast majority of his promises have not

been fully kept

19

www.gunnchariot.com


Capitalist Yes, Socialist No

Arjun BharadwajContributing Writer

These days, we frequently hear the con-servative claim that the United States is be-coming the next Venzuela. But the claim that Barack Obama is turning the U.S into a socialist nation is not only completely ridiculous but insulting to actual socialists as well. There are numerous reasons why Obama isn’t the socialist anti-Christ that he is painted as.

HealthcareHealthcare is the main issue that con-

servatives see as the best proof of the we-are-turning-into-socialists theory. The United States is the only developed coun-try that does not have a universal health-care system. And it will not have one in the near future even if the healthcare reform bill is passed. There is no “public option” in this bill because, for the Democrats to win over members of their own party, they have had to strip out some of the more radical reforms. A party that is trying to bring socialism to the States wouldn’t have to do this.

Wall Street bailoutsThe Wall Street bailouts clearly show

that Barack Obama is not a socialist. In-stead of following the socialist principle of giving money to the poor, he is giving money to the wealthier part of the U.S; the corporations. With the economy in sham-bles and unemployment rising, a real so-cialist would distribute government money to the impoverished and unemployed in the US. While Wall Street flourishes, the common man starves. How is this in

any way equalizing the gap between the wealthy and the poor? Although Obama is intervening in the economy, he is only doing it to preserve the capitalist system. He is not doing it to change or reform any-thing about our system and its inequality.

Claims that Obama is a socialist fail to hold up upon examination of his admin-istration’s policies. Although Obama is a moderate liberal, his financial decisions

and his healthcare polices prove that nei-ther he nor his party are in any way so-cialist. The whole fear of a “socialist take-over” is ridiculous and insulting to people who actually dislike the free-market system and hope for a change.

OBAMA’S FIRST YEAR

Number of people unemployed

Percent of workforce unemployed

The Chariot

20 March 2010

Chaos in IranNaor Deleanu

Contributing Writer

In may 2009, Iran held its presidential election, pitting incumbent President

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad against opposi-tion candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi. The election caught the eye of many in the West hoping for a change in power from the Holocaust-denying, bellicose presi-dent. It was marked with a high turnout and expectation for a close result. How-ever, the official tally showed Ahmadinejad with over 60% of the vote.

All three of the challengers did not ac-cept the results, and there were widespread allegations of fraud. In the proceeding days, hundreds of thousands of Iranians took to the streets in protest over the elec-tion. More than six months later, many Iranians still view Ahmadinejad’s presiden-cy as illegitimate.

In the months following the election, thousands of Iranians have protested pub-licly in what have been some of the most widespread demonstrations since the 1979 Iranian Revolution. The protests started as mostly an issue over the election, but have developed into protests against the very foundation of government in the country.

In Iran, most of the political power is concentrated with the unelected Supreme Leader, also the highest religious power, making the country basically a theocracy. In addition, the presidential candidates must be approved by the unelected Guard-ian Council. Some protestors have been openly disparaging current Supreme Lead-er Ali Khamenei, chanting “Death to the dictator.” Former Iranian regime mem-bers, including former presidents and elec-tion candidates, have called the results ille-

gitimate, still not agreeing to the election’s validity. The Iranian government has dis-missed the protesters as part of Zionist or Western plots for “Color Revolution.”

With the demonstrations have come physical clashes between the protesters and the Iranian authority. The large, vol-unteer paramilitary force is known for its brutal display of force. The protesters have been hit with tear gas and tortured with batons. Hundreds of protesters have been killed in the violence, and thousands have been arrested. The Supreme Lead-er has forbid any demonstrations against the government, and authorized the use of force to stop demonstrations. Many influential Iranian politicians and clerics have called for mass arrests of all demon-strators and opposition leaders. Since the election, Iran has banned foreign journal-ists from covering the demonstrations. All of the video footage seen on YouTube has been smuggled, often through cell phone cameras.

The crackdown on the demonstrations has been, quite literally, brutal. Of those arrested, there are credible allegations of

torture, rape, and even death in the infa-mous Iranian prisons. The government even temporarily shut down one of its fa-cilities due to widespread reports of tor-ture. Many of those arrested were forced to make televised “confessions” that the protests were orchestrated by the CIA or by Israel. Two protesters have been exe-cuted for their actions in a country that has the highest per capita capital punishment rate in the world. The government has shut down opposition websites, disbanded reformist media, and blocked social net-work sites including Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

The efforts by the Iranian people to resist the current government have been called the “Green Revolution,” the Twitter Revolution. A few people have called this the “end of the Iranian Republic.” The government, perhaps fearing something of the sort, has continued to crack down on protesters, making the human rights sit-uation worse and worse. Many, including Hillary Clinton, are seeing Iran as moving from a theocracy to a military dictatorship. It seems that, for now, the government has the upper hand, evidenced by high turnout for a recent pro-government demonstra-tion compared to lower-than expected an-ti-government protests. The government has effectively stifled communication, free speech, and free information, but this has not done anything to heal the fracture left by the controversial election.

INTERNATIONAL

Protesters have been hit with tear gas and tortured

with batons

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

21

www.gunnchariot.com


Terrorism in YemenYoni Alon

Contributing Writer

We must prevent Ye-men from becoming

another hub for terrorism. As the U.S. continues its offensive in Afghanistan, more and more terrorists are fleeing to Yemen.

A strong jihadist presence has nested in Yemen’s rugged and remote landscape for the last decade. In 2000, a group of Yemini terrorists blew a hole in the U.S. Destroyer Cole, kill-ing 17 soldiers. In 2008, two car bombs went off in front of the U.S. embassy.

Al Qaeda has grown dramatically in the last year and will con-tinue to do so, especially if President Obama follows through on his plan to send about half of Guantanamo’s Yemeni detainees back to their home country.

Even as the U.S. has aided Yemen in countering the inner jihadist movement for years, the recent attempt to down a plane on Christmas Day galvanized the U.S. into giving more aid, as the Nigerian responsible is believed to have been trained in Ye-men. In the next year and a half, the U.S. will be spending about $70 million to train the Yemini military.

However, Yemen is becoming less effective in fighting the jihadist movement as its government and economy, both de-pendent on dwindling oil reserves for cash, continue to lose revenue. With diminishing government revenues, the Yemini military in particular needs help.

Over 20 countries, including the U.S., have recently pursued military aid as well as other, non-military approaches in Yemen. There is rampant poverty and illiteracy; about half the popula-tion lives on less than $2 a day, and about 45% of the nation’s 22 million are illiterate. Al Qaeda is flourishing in these condi-tions. The U.S. and other western nations must act. Whether we choose to build schools or arm the military, the jihadists must not be allowed to take root and flourish. Although there are many obstacles and challenges to overcome, the U.S. must take risks to squash this branch of Al Qaeda or it will suffer grave consequences.

AFFAIRSSenioritisAaron GuggenheimCo Editor-in-Chief

Most of you have been looking forward to second semes-ter senior year for the better part of high school. Colleges can no longer scrutinize what you have been doing with your time. Your applications are out and everything is pretty much set. Studying a whole lot more now is not going change how they read the applications. As long as you don’t fail your class-es, Harvard or Yale or wherever you go will be happy to have you in the fall.

What this means for most of us is that grades aren’t as im-portant as they used to be. Four years of long nights, endless hours of extra curricular activities and well, too much school, can be exhausting. While I know that it might be tempting, now more than ever, to slack off, seize the opportunity that is second semester senior year.

Take this opportunity to finally learn purely for the sake of learning. Don’t worry about getting the A in each and every class; make sure you learn the material and try your best. School, as cliché as it sounds, teaches you how to think. Whether it is through physics or U.S History or English, each subject provides an opportunity to approach the material from a unique angle.

Simply put, school forces you to expand your mind to solve problems and challenges how you view the world. For us seniors, we finally have this opportunity to do this without the pressure of fighting for meaningless points or worrying about taking a risk that could help you learn, but hurt your grade. Being able to think analytically and creatively is some-thing that will help you for the rest of your life. Use your second semester of senior year; don’t squander a chance to learn that is so valuable and so often taken for granted.

The Life

The Chariot

22 March 2010

Editors-in-ChiefRobert Chen

Aaron GuggenheimSenior Editors

Ben Bendor Andrew Liu Sarah Zubair

Copy EditorsAndre Garrett Tommy Huang

Graphics/LayoutBrittany Cheng Celine Nguyen

Scott Wey Alexandra Yesian

CirculationJacob Guggenheim

PublicityPriya Ghose

Contributing WritersRon Ackner Yoni Alon

Arjun Bharadwaj Neil Bhateja Corey Breier

Will Cromarty Naor Deleanu Henry Gens Tara Golshan James Gupta Anish Johri Ryan Lee Alice Li

Max Lipscomb Jeff Ma

Sam Neff Saurabh Radhakrishnan

Roxanne Rahnama Hina Sakazaki

Yoyo Tsai Daljeet Virdi Ian Wilkes Kevin Yang Stanley Yu

Ethan Yung Omer Zach

Kevin Zhang

Foundation/Group Sponsors

Adobe Systems Daughters of the American

Revolution Palo Alto Lions Club

Patrons ($100+) Lauren Michals and Vinod

Bharadwaj Steven Guggenheim

Shirley Zeng and Yajun LiuSponsors ($50-99)

Mark and Rhonda BreierContributors ($21-50)

Special thanks to Advisor, Marc Igler


Bill Dunbar, Bakari Holmes, and Josh Paley have done an amazing thing: they’ve paved the way for an entirely new academic department. Starting next year, there will be four engineering lanes, each with a different emphasis.

These courses teach skills that 21st century stu-dents will need to be productive at real jobs in engineering fields. That’s what makes these espe-cially valuable—they give hands-on training with real application, something few other courses can resolutely claim.

Because the four lanes above are just a sug-gestion, in reality most students will not have to

strictly follow a specific lane and jump around to any class that interests them. As more classes are added, students will have a wider selection of courses that may fascinate them. (It’s rumored that an Aerospace class might be added)

As the number of these classes grows, Gunn should separate them into their own department. Although they already fall under the career/voc ed and applied academics categories, neither of these are formal departments. These courses take substantial funding for the equipment, which is why they should have their own financial systems and accountability.

This department will fulfill a growing interest in engineering and is what students (well, me at least) want.

GUNN ENGINEERING

About UsThe Chariot is intended to create and promote political discussion at Gunn and make people aware of

issues that matter. We ask that you respect all opinions which are reflected in our publication, and write letters to the editors if you wish to voice your opinion. The views expressed do not reflect that of The Chariot, but rather those of the individual writers.

The Chariot was originally founded in 2004 as the Partisan Review by Gunn alumni Ilan Wurman (‘06), Channing Hancock (‘06), and Sarah McDermott (‘05).

Visit our website, www.gunnchariot.com if you wish to view any issues from previous years or for more information about us. Any questions, comments, suggestions, or requests to join can be sent to [email protected]

If you’d like to make a donation or subscribe, please send checks to:Marc Igler

Re: The Gunn Chariot780 Arastradero RoadPalo Alto, CA 94306

Checks can be made out to Gunn High School with “The Chariot” on the memo.

23

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The Lightning ThiefRyan Lee

Contributing Writer

Nine years ago, director Chris Columbus directed a kid’s fan-

tasy film based on a popular book series about a kid who discovers he’s destined for a magical world beyond ours, and joins forces with his best friend/comic relief and a girl he meets at a special school for similar children. That was Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

This year, Columbus has basically tried to make the same film again. He’s taken Rick Riordan’s The Lightning Thief and dis-tilled it down to its most basic elements in an attempt to simplify the narrative, but he’s sacrificed much of the originality and character of the original work.

I’ve read all of the Percy Jackson books, and was cautiously optimistic regarding this adaptation. The first two Harry Pot-ter movies, also helmed by Columbus, had some great design and effects, but had a simplistic, exposition-heavy script, the same problem that plagues Percy Jackson. There are no layers to the characters; they say exactly what they mean, 100% of the time.

The character back stories and develop-ment from the original book are thrown to the wayside in order to keep the story easy to follow, which is not necessarily bad as long as they are eventually alluded to, which they are not. The result is that each character is extremely one-dimensional, from the abusive husband, the cheeky comic relief, the wise mentor, the obliga-tory love interest.

Though the script was simple and at times clichéd, the direction and effects were well-done, and even the acting was decent. There were some good lines, most-ly coming from Grover (Brandon T. Jack-son), but they are mixed in with countless groan-inducing ones.

I hope, if this movie does well, that the next movie be handled to a scriptwriter who would be able to include both charac-ter and effects, as opposed to Craig Titley, the writer of Thief, whose previous credits

include Cheaper by the Dozen 2 and Scooby-Doo.

Overall, this movie should both please and annoy fans of the book. For those who want the spectacle of the Greek gods, the adventure and fun of the original work, it works well.

However, those looking for dialogue, character development, and a well-written storyline may want to look elsewhere.

Google BuzzWhat It Is and Why It Failed

Ron AcknerContributing Writer

On February 9th, Google an-nounced a new feature that they

were tacking onto their popular Gmail in-box server – Google Buzz. Buzz is a micro-blogging tool based upon sites like Twitter and Facebook, but also incorporates posts from YouTube, Blogger, and Flickr.

Google is very smart to get into the microblogging arena, as integrating it into their area of control will allow them to in-corporate recent posts into search results, a feature that has already been implement-ed. For example, a search for the Olympics brings up real-time results from news web-sites, Twitter, and Google Buzz posts.

All of this is great… So why do I say that Google Buzz sucks? There are several main reasons. First, it’s been done. Twitter and Facebook statuses encompass pretty much every aspect of Google Buzz. It’s too little, too late, and Google should rec-ognize the fact and reach out to Twitter instead of attempting to compete.

Second, and even more worrying, is how Google attempted to integrate Buzz. Google didn’t ask their users to opt in to

use Buzz. Instead, they simply added it to every Google account. Anyone who tried Buzz automatically saw all their Google contacts added, and this information was essentially made public.

For some people such as me this isn’t an issue. My Google contacts aren’t very interesting. They are my friends, my teach-ers, and relatives.

However, imagine a journalist who sud-denly finds his secret source exposed be-cause Google decided not to introduce this feature without asking.

Imagine the ex-boyfriend who never got around to removing a girl from his Gmail contacts and suddenly finds out all about the girl who never wanted to talk to him again. He now has the tools to stalk her (as if Facebook wasn’t good enough).

Imagine a wife who suddenly found out that her husband has an old flame as a Gmail contact. Even if it were innocent, Google Buzz would hint at affairs and oth-er raunchy extramarital happenings.

Imagine if someone was seeing a per-sonal therapist or a psychologist, and had their email in their contacts. Suddenly, the doctor you have been getting help from and who you worked so hard to keep a se-cret, is common knowledge.

Third, it undermines Google’s credibil-ity when it comes to privacy issues. Just weeks after they were lauded for threaten-ing to leave China after hacking attempts against the Gmail accounts of human rights activists, they have now become re-sponsible for one of the worst violations of privacy in the history of the internet.

Google has since then fixed many of the problems, but the botched release still has left permanent damage. Google’s already-swamped legal department got even busier with a San Jose class action complaint and a separate complaint filed by Electronic Privacy Information Center to the Federal Trade Commission.

Among other things, they accuse Google of breaking the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. Even if these are settled, Google’s reputation of “Do no evil” is called into question.

Sorry, Google. You guys messed up.

The Chariot

24 March 2010

WHAT’S THE BUZZ?

ByTheWay...Google has already had a hand in social networking with

HOWITWORKS

PARTNERSHIPSFORMOBILE

Basically Facebook and Twitter rolled into one

Search

CreateGoogle Profile

Detects location with GPS & WiFi triangulation technology

Voice recognition to speak posts

Suggests locationsConnect to people nearby

Nexus Oneaka Google Phone

BuzzPublic or private

Profiles or Buzz Stream


PRIVACYCONCERNS

Who’s your “friend?”

Shares your location (mobile only)

Uploaded images automatically get put onto Picassa

Comments linger (like on Facebook and Twitter)

Gmail integration

Documents

March 2010