Opinion

When I applied to schools my senior year of high school, my dad advised me to make a list of the pros and cons for every school I applied to. While compiling information about the size of the towns and friendliness of the students, I came to the conclusion that there was only one negative on my list for Cal Poly: deciding my major.

Local government is “where the rubber hits the road” as Barack Obama said in reference to the role of local governments in making change. While our national presidential candidates “yak in the Senate,” mayors and city councils “actually have to fill the potholes and trim the trees” and make decisions that often directly affect the daily lives of Americans more than a national celebrity or maverick.

After Cal Poly men’s soccer team’s loss to Santa Barbara on Oct. 17, the talk should have been about a classic game that renewed a rivalry between two powerhouse teams. But attention was averted from the 1-0 double-overtime defeat to the unruly Cal Poly fans that made a scene on national television.

What’s in a law? A few months ago Secretary of State Debra Bowen distributed millions of official general election California voting guides. This voter guide not only speaks about political candidates vying for office, it also addresses the 12 very important propositions – statements that (if passed) will eventually become law.

California girls showing a little too much skin

With the recent heat wave I’ve noticed a flood of beachwear-clad students. Or, to be more precise, I’ve noticed the lack of clothes on the women, which brings me to the subject of this letter: school dress codes.

Every week John McCain creates a new tabloid exposé on Barack Obama. The negative politics practiced by the Country First camp could be a sign that McCain’s rickety Straight Talk Express is now clunking down a dark dumpster alley, scavenging for garbage designed to scare the American people away from Obama.

There is one thing that Oprah, Ellen and I have in common: we are all talking about California Proposition 2. However, as a conservative and an agriculturalist I have a completely different take on the issue. And given the public safety and economic effects of this provision, Proposition 2 warrants a much closer inspection.

Support our team, don’t heckle the opposition

I would like to thank the many thousands of Cal Poly students who attended last Friday night’s soccer match against UC Santa Barbara. Over 11,000 people attended the match and most were on their feet singing and cheering for the entire match and from the opening minute both teams played with immense desire, passion and at full speed.

University is the place where most of us first taste true freedom. Freedom from curfew, from supervision (mostly), from decent home-cooked meals, from you name it. Yet, in the midst of all this novel independence there are typically two chains of dependence that stubbornly remain unbroken.

As we make painfully slow progress towards a final outcome in the American presidential elections, let us pose some rhetorical questions for intellectual reflection. Does our unique American electoral process have to be the way it is now? Should we consider reform of our electoral protocols to devise a more streamlined process with a much shorter time cycle and reduced campaign expenditure? Would the streamlined process used by most democratic nations around the world work well for us too? Our current system does eventually elect a president but does it really secure the best leader ? Other leaders from around the world very effectively make their pick with a much shorter electioneering period.

First, I’d like to say that I most certainly agree with you, Ms. Newman, that drinking and debating politics should never be mixed. I’d also like to add that publishing an article about your drunken political conversation should be a big college “no no” as well.