After four long, yet simultaneously ephemeral years at Occidental, I will reap the fruits of my laborious days spent here, along with about 500 other seniors, in a little over two weeks. The two research papers standing between my Bachelor of Arts degree and me make it highly unlikely that I will cross off from an impossibly long list many...

Every minute, someone in the United States attempts suicide. On any given day, 12 people ages 15 to 24 will commit suicide. Out of every 100 college students, 1.5 have attempted suicide. For college students, external factors like the economy, academic and social competitiveness, tuition and campus crime can significantly impact their mental health. Yet many undergraduates do not receive...

Project S. A. F. E. hosted its annual Take Back the Week (TBTW) event last week as part of Sexual Assault Awareness Month, with several changes to keep it current. Coordinators renamed the survivor vigil a "speak-out," in order to empower sexual assault survivors and their allies. "[TBTW] is a way for us to, one, inform the students and administrators,...

The Keystone Pipeline, a massive pipeline system that carries crude oil across the United States and Canada, recently took the center stage in the national conversation about energy. Two of four proposed phases have been constructed already. The building of the third phase began in January, and President Barack Obama has yet to decide the fate of the fourth phase....

Tufts University recently announced the program, "Tufts 1+4," that will help mitigate the costs of taking a gap year for admitted students before beginning school, sparking a national conversation about the accessibility of unconventional routes to college. The gap or bridge year — a year students spend before entering college studying or volunteering either abroad or domestically — is an...

Broadly defined, "Electronic Dance Music" (EDM) has undeniably transformed the music scene, and intrinsic to EDM's success in the U. S. is the festival culture that has grown around it. Large-scale music events have helped shape and define music since well before Woodstock, but the explosion of large festivals featuring dance music within the past decade contrasts sharply with the...

Nine Occidental students and politics professor and Department Chair Caroline Heldman attended Dr. Patricia Esparza’s probable cause hearing last Wednesday to express support for victims of sexual assault. Esparza has been charged with special circumstances murder for the murder of the man who raped her nearly 20 years ago. If convicted, Esparza could face life in prison. Heldman and multiple...

Numerous heated conversations have transpired about the social scene at Occidental since the moratorium on school dances last fall, yet virtually none delve into the complex relationship students have with alcohol. Although both sides of the debate have raised pointed questions and concerns about the implications of Occidental's policy regarding alcohol use, the extent to which students use and abuse...

With the flair and audacity of Beyoncé’s surprise album, last Friday’s performance of the Vagina Monologues took the classic show in original and personalized directions. New monologues grappled with abortion, masturbation, transsexual experiences and the fluidity of queerness, as well as street harassment. As with previous years, this year’s show generated a whirlwind of emotions, from screaming out loud laughing...

California’s new minimum wage law, passed last September, will go into effect on July 1 of this year, making the new minimum in Calif. $9.00 an hour. The minimum wage is scheduled to increase by an additional dollar on Jan. 1, 2016, to $10.00 an hour. For Occidental students working on campus, the new law will mean an increase in...