Ever since I decided to become an Art History and Visual Arts and Spanish double major, people (mostly adults) have bombarded me with variations of the same question: “What are you going to do with that?” Regardless of the phrasing, the implication — that these majors are not marketable — still rings loud and clear. As the prospect of beginning...

Roughly 40 percent of Occidental students compete in some form of athletics in a given school year. A large percentage of them are members of highly competitive NCAA Division-III varsity teams. But if one was to ask a random student walking across the quad whether or not they had recently attended a particular sporting event, the answer would most likely...

Annual giving to Occidental last year amounted to over $18 million, or 4 percent of the school’s annual budget, according to the 2013 annual report. Much of this fundraising is thanks to Telefund, a team of student callers who reach out to alumni and parents for the donations that make many of the activities of Occidental students possible. However, recent...

Hats off to Programming Board (PB) for a very successful SpringFest. Apart from a few minor glitches, common at most events, the day ran smoothly. The massive turnout and enjoyment of the events demonstrate a need for more large-scale events, like dances. Pre-gaming for SpringFest happens each year and this year, it resulted in two alcohol poisonings before the concert...

Trees and heritage alike uprooted, water poisoned, people displaced from their homes and animals disappearing from existence; these are the most pressing consequences of modern progress. The Nicaraguan government plans to build a canal bisecting the country starting this year, linking the Pacific Ocean to the Caribbean Sea. A maritime shortcut of this magnitude is a frightening idea that would...

Dear Editor, In Juliet Suess’s April 2 article on the TEDx conference, junior CTSJ major Andrew Wilcox expresses his disillusion with the event, writing, “The first portion of the event was comprised of a group of salesmen whose successes have been established through the very systems that TEDxOxy should have aimed to re-imagine. Guest speakers betrayed the name of the...

Each year registration, like room draw, is inevitably stressful for students. While much of this stress can be attributed to a desire to get the perfect schedule, popular classes or to have certain professors, and thus cannot be helped, registration could be simplified with an online PIN access system and a way for students to gauge the popularity of courses...

While Occidental takes great pride in the number of student employees on campus, there is still a large percentage of students here who are not employed by the college. With the exception of the larger employers like the Green Bean, The Occidental Weekly and Telefund, on-campus jobs are sparse for students who are not international students or do not have...

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....

If anyone asks if I have a Facebook, I tell them I do not. If they somehow find me on Facebook, I refuse their friend requests. It is a forum I use strictly to communicate with friends who live abroad. And to read "Oxy Confessions." When I first began reading the page, I thought of it as a guilty indulgence...