Last week, South Dakota became the 25th state to pass a resolution calling for a convention to amend the United States Constitution. Led by Ohio Gov. John Kasich, the Balanced Budget Forever movement aims to pass an amendment requiring the federal government to maintain a balanced budget and cease excessive borrowing. Allowing for a deficit only in extreme circumstances such...

As Major League Baseball training camps opened for Spring Training last week, one of the most promising international free agents in recent memory, 19-year-old Cuban shortstop Yoan Moncada, was in the midst of finalizing a deal with the Boston Red Sox. Given the timing of his defection from Cuba and the current thawing of diplomatic and economic relations between Cuba...

Abbey Williams '14 never imagined she would give a TEDtalk a year after graduating from Occidental College. Speaking last November at a StateStreet sponsored event in Boston, Williams gave a talk titled Ghost Town Road Trip: Evocative Glimpses in Time, based on her senior comprehensive project illustrating ghost towns through printmaking. Williams applied to speak at the event through the...

When asked about her start as a musician, Rachel West (senior) can’t help but smile. “It’s actually really funny—my mom recently found one of the first [songs] I ever wrote in like fifth grade,” West said. “It’s called ‘Falling Down’ and it’s great. I’m just going to go ahead and claim it’s great.” Although West is entering the final months...

Economics majors would agree that the true price of something is what you are willing to give up for it. Gamers know the value of their favorite games, and to me, “Resident Evil 4” is worth buying three separate times. I know this game came out around a decade ago, but the recent release of a remastered HD version of...

United States Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson will be the keynote speaker at Occidental's May 17 commencement, according to a Feb. 9 post on the college's website. According to Occidental's Director of Communications James Tranquada, Johnson's connections to Occidental made him the ideal candidate to speak at graduation this year. The secretary's son, Jeh Johnson Jr., is a sophomore...

The Neighborhood Partnership Program (NPP)—an on-campus organization that hires Occidental students to support youth in at-risk schools—is taking steps to address concerns of inefficiency raised by tutors working in the program. NPP is an umbrella organization that encompasses Title 1 and GEAR UP 4 LA, federally funded programs that provide tutoring and mentoring services to underrepresented schools in the Los...

Japan. Kagome, a Japanese juice maker, developed a robot named Tomatan designed to be worn on the go. Users wear the backpack-like device, which weighs about 18 pounds and has a tomato-shaped head that dispenses tomatoes via metal arms that reach to the individual’s mouth. Kagome claims the device would benefit Tokyo marathon runners by providing them more access to...

Art History and Visual Arts Professor (AHVA) Mary Beth Heffernan and College Photographer Marc Campos are spending two weeks in Monrovia, Liberia to implement an in-the-field art project in Ebola Treatment Units (ETUs). Heffernan said that the project—affixing portraits of health care workers to the outside of their protective equipment—will aid in improving the psychological comfort of both Ebola patients...

Students entering the Green Bean for their daily dose of caffeine this February will immediately notice the vibrant artwork displayed across the walls. Wire chains suspend a trifold board collaged with newspaper articles, and two monochrome portraits of young girls involved in the Civil Rights movement command attention from the back wall. The emancipation-themed installation is a first-time collaborative effort...