Perspectives

Health care reform has passed. For all the uncertainty about reform— only time will tell if it succeeds at containing costs and improving quality— it is justified by the direness of the country's challenges in health care. Perhaps no state has as much to gain as California whose woes are a particularly astonishing depiction of all that has gone awry in American … [Read more...] about Health reform brings hope to Californians

In our society of constant visual and auditory stimulation a disturbing thing has happened to the typical media of communication. Words images— they seem to lose their meanings the more we hear or see them the stronger or more startling they are instead of gaining importance and poignancy.We are bombarded by news of disasters misfortunes and injustices on a daily basis. … [Read more...] about Eyes reveal story behind injustices

This most recent decennial census is asking some questions that go beyond the constitutional mandate of counting the country's population. Some people are taking offense as to the nature and wording of several questions on the form but even more puzzling is why they were deemed necessary to appear in the first place. Yet these facts may even be secondary considering that our … [Read more...] about Census questions discriminate offend

Last week the Texas Board of Education debated the statewide curricula most notably the social studies curriculum. These board members are elected officials— not experts or professional historians— though according to the March 12 issue of The New York Times "some members of the conservative bloc held themselves out as experts on certain topics."What upset people … [Read more...] about Texas textbooks rewrite U.S. history

On Monday night the Pepperdine Green Team hosted a screening of the Oscar-nominated documentary "Food Inc." in Elkins Auditorium to raise awareness about how the food we eat is grown and processed. One student freshman Casey Edwards anticipated a film that would "open our eyes to how messed up our mainstream food industry is." Striking a balance between being realistic and … [Read more...] about "Food Inc." unveils startling realities