Wednesday Word: First Woman is Chosen to Lead Secret Service

Peter Baker’s March 26^th, New York Times article, details the appointment of the first ever female to take charge of the Secret Service, one of, if not the most prestigious security organization in the country. In his landmark decision, Obama bestowed into Julia A, Pierson, not only the honor of leading her country, but a platform to comment on women’s abilities and capabilities in the modern world.

As a long time Secret Service agent, Pierson will adopt the role of protecting our President. Dramatic as it may seem, his life is in the potentially nail polish clad hands of Mrs. Pierson.

Baffling as it may seem to some that Obama would make entrust his existence to an individual who may be physically smaller in stature or one who is assumed to be “less able” to protect him, his appointment served as a milestone for law enforcement. In regards to his appointment the President exclaimed that, “Julia is eminently qualified to lead the agency that not only safeguards Americans at major events and secures our financial system, but also protects our leaders and our first families, including my own,” Mr. Obama said. “Julia has had an exemplary career, and I know these experiences will guide her as she takes on this new challenge to lead the impressive men and women of this important agency.”

Her position is “uniquely visible”, thus making his nomination of a female all the more significant. In fact, only about 10 percent of today’s Secret Service agents are females. Her appointment proves that women have something valuable to add and to innovate in the realm of American law enforcement.

Pierson’s resume, constructed from 30 years of experience, is comparable and competitive with those of her male predecessors. But Pierson’s role will be twofold. She is not only expected to guard the life of our Commander in Chief, but must prove to the public that she is strong enough to unfasten the predominantly male driven culture of the security agency.

Post Submitted By: Ashton

Thursday Take-Off: Will your voice be heard this election?

As proud, intelligent, and opinionated students we pride ourselves on our swapping of witty banter, political cynicism, and plethora of evolving opinions. Does this discourse matter if we don’t act on these personal beliefs? As the election rolls around, we, especially the students, become disillusioned with the continual blur of news reports on the latest Obama slam or the highly charged statement made by your professor in class today.

As a fellow student I challenge you to resist the statistics. Historically, the youth have represented one of the lowest voter turnout blocs. Although youth voter turnout in the 2008 presidential election was the highest it has been since 1960, only 53 percent of eligible youth actually stepped up to the polls to empower themselves.

According to a report released by the Center for the American Electorate, youth voter turnout is predicted to drop significantly in the 2012 U.S. presidential election, due partly to the decline in political interest among young people.

Students echoed these sentiments when interviewed for the report, “Truthfully, I have the one-vote- isn’t-going-to-make-a-difference attitude.”

“Young people assume their views will be reflected in the results of the elections. When you’re just hanging out with a group of friends who share similar views, there’s a misconception [that everyone shares your beliefs] and people assume that their votes will be accounted for.”

During a time where occupy movements have sprung up on UC campuses and tuition increases are central points of discussion, social and economic issues are clearly central features of our everyday lives. Our complaints are negligible if we do not put in the effort to change our own situation. I am here to encourage you to be your own advocate and take the simple steps necessary to translate your witty banter to the powerful hands of the polls. Will your voice be heard this election?

Post submitted by: Ashton Rosin 

Wednesday Word: Obama continues efforts to “Stop Kony”

A little over a month ago a 30-min video entitled “Kony 2012″  sponsored by the documentary series “Invisible Children” went viral among every social media outlet imaginable (Facebook, twitter, etc..). The video chronicled the lives and struggle of the people of Uganda as they attempted to fight the influence of Joesph Kony, the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army. This rebel group is responsible for the kidnapping of thousands of children, turning the young girls into sex slaves and the young boys into child soldiers.

Read the article to find out how Obama pledges to make efforts to stop and capture Joseph Kony. Read Here

Post Submitted by Jadessa

Wednesday Word: The War on Birth Control

The ‘war’ is on between the Catholic church and other conservative opponents  and the Obama administration over the issue of women’s health.  A recently passed federal mandate requiring religion-based establishments to include birth control in their health care coverage has sparked a windstorm of protest from the Catholic Church. Continue to read the article below:

From Maine to Phoenix to southern Louisiana, Catholic churches across the USA this weekend echoed with scorn for a new federal rule requiring faith-based employers to include birth control and other reproductive services in their health care coverage.

Dozens of priests took the rare step of reading letters from the pulpit urging parishioners to reach out to Washington and oppose the rule, enacted this month.

The rule requires nearly all employers to provide their employees access to health insurance that covers artificial contraception, sterilization services and the “morning after” birth control pill.

The mandate exempts churches but applies to Catholic universities, Catholic-based charities and to groups affiliated with Methodists, Baptists and other denominations.

Roman Catholic leaders morally oppose artificial birth control and related services, and they called the rule an infringement on their constitutional rights. “This is the government interfering in the workings of the church,” says Sister Mary Ann Walsh, spokeswoman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Catholic Church actions in opposition to the federal edict included:

•New Orleans-area churches read a letter from Archbishop Gregory Aymond at Saturday and Sunday Masses, directing churchgoers at the diocese’s 108 parishes to denounce the rule and contact Congress to reverse the ruling. “This ruling is an example of government violating our rights,” the letter read.

•The Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix issued a similar letter to its 92 parishes, saying it plans to flout the law and urging churchgoers to write Congress.

•Church leaders in Maine read a letter from Bishop Richard Malone protesting the rule he called a violation of the church’s First Amendment right to freedom of religious practices and urging parishioners into action.

It was not known exactly how many churches addressed the issue. About one-third of America’s 50 million Roman Catholics— more than 15 million — attend Mass once a week, says William D’Antonio, a sociologist at the Catholic University of America. However, in recent polls, about 95% of Catholics have said they use contraceptives and 89% say the decision to use them should be theirs, not the church’s, he says.

Judy Waxman of the National Women’s Law Center, says easier access to contraceptives could prevent unwanted pregnancies and cut down on the number of abortions. “This is such a major step forward for women in this country,” she says.

Wesley and Lesley Sterling of McComb, Miss., heard about the rule for the first time while attending Saturday Mass at St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans. Both side with the church on the debate. “It’s wrong,” Wesley Sterling, 30, says of the rule. “It should not be forced upon what we believe in as Christians.”

Post Submitted by Jadessa

Wednesday Word: Obama’s Military Decision in Australia

“The notion that we fear China is mistaken. The notion that we are looking to exclude China is mistaken”–President Barack Obama

I am enrolled in an Air Force education class this quarter at UCLA, which inspired me to research current events that have to do with the military.

The first, and most current event, I could find involving the military was announced today, November 16th, 2011.

On Yahoo news I read an article that discussed the U.S.-Australia relationship and how Obama is deepening U.S. presence in the Asian Pacific.  Obama stressed that this decision is not intended to threaten or isolate China, and that we do not fear China by any means.

Read the full article (above) for details

Post submitted by Casey O’Neill

Free Speech Friday: Akon Responds to Lupe

Last week, we posted a video where Lupe Fiasco calls Obama a terrorist. Akon responds to Lupe in this video and says Obama is not a terrorist, but perhaps the GOP is.  What do you think?

 

If I’m Biracial, Who am I? A Short Essay About the “Problematic” Nature of Being Multiracial

Racial identity is one of the most prominent internal conflicts that Americans face in today’s society. We are a melting pot nation, full of biracial citizens who are torn between being accepted by one culture versus being rejected by the other. In Barack Obama’s Dreams from My Father, Obama expresses his identity crisis of being both a Caucasian and African American and how that affected him on a personal and political level. With an excerpt from Obama’s book in mind, this paper will argue that a biracial or multiracial individual faces more discrimination than a non-biracial/multiracial individual due to the fact that he has to prove himself to be strongly identified with both cultures. Using my personal experience, I will also support this argument.

Obama retells his tale of being “mixed” in order to reveal the everyday struggle that biracial people undergo, arguing that society causes this internal conflict. Obama opens up the fourth chapter of his book by discussing his relationship with his African American friend Ray, who has a strong distaste for White people. Throughout his conversation with Ray, Obama plays the Devil’s Advocate not to support or strengthen Ray’s arguments, but out of a genuine understanding of how some White people develop frustration with a certain type of African American people. After Ray complains about how his basketball coach was not giving him adequate time to play in games, Obama states, “’As for your greasy-mouthed self, I’m saying the coaches may not like you ‘cause you’re a smart-assed black man, but it might help if you stopped eating all them fries you eat, making you look six months pregnant’” (Obama 74). In response, Ray exclaims, “’Man, I don’t know why you making excuses for these folks….Let’s get out of here. Your shit’s getting way too complicated for me”’ (74). This heated conversation illustrates the price Obama has to pay for being biracial. He is not fully accepted by the African American race—as depicted through Ray’s treatment of him—because he’s “too complicated,” too White.

 On the other hand, White people do not fully accept him either: his White basketball coach, in response to losing a game against a team of African Americans, said, “’there are black people, and there are n*ggers. Those guys were n*ggers” (80). Obama took personal offense to this because he identifies with being an African American; it is unacceptable to him to have prejudice against a race and not accept the consequences for that prejudice. Moreover, throughout this excerpt, Obama argues that being both African American and Caucasian is intolerable by the American society. One cannot feel comfortable being biracial because he is either too much of one culture or not enough of the other. At the end of his recount, he admits, “[I] knew for the first time that I was utterly alone” (91). Having such a powerful political figure tell his story of the pain he daily suffers for being biracial allows the biracial/multiracial community to identify with the struggle and understand that is good to stand up against the discrimination it faces. However, the fact that Obama even wrote this book says something about how detrimental this issue is to an individual. Thus, it is vital that people recognize the severity of the internal conflict of being biracial. While many multiracial people may not feel the effects as strongly as others, the fact remains that society, in general, does have a hard time understanding how to categorize a person who is not fully one race or the other.

 My personal experience with being multiracial supports the argument that prejudice and discrimination is strongly prevalent in the biracial/multiracial community. I am a ballet folklorico dancer here at UCLA. Ballet folklorico is a type of dance that focuses on preserving the Mexican heritage by dancing traditional Mexican dances. While preparing for one of my performances in the women’s restroom, a salsa dancer blatantly asked me, “Are you even Mexican?” I laughed it off and explained to her that I am both White and Mexican and that my great grandparents were from el Distrito Federal—Mexico City. She was like, “Oh that explains why you’re so light.” Even though I handled the situation tactfully, I could not help but be internally offended by her comment: “Are you even Mexican?” To this dancer, being “Mexican” meant being dark and fitting a certain stereotype about the race. I was bewildered by the fact that she asked such a question of a complete stranger and that she felt so comfortable to ask the way that she did. Simultaneously, one of my African American friends once pointed out to me, “But why do you even claim that you’re Hispanic when you are 75% White?!? That does not make sense to me.” I felt conflicted—why does society require that I claim that I’m either all White or all Mexican? Genetically, I am both! Culturally, I preserve my Mexican heritage the most by dancing the traditional dances and speaking the language, but I equally discover my European roots by researching and learning different things about my background. It may seem to be a trivial concern or struggle; it’s not like I’m experiencing explicit discrimination. However, it is much more complex than that: I am not accepted for who I am, at least not by general society. Point being, multiracial people do in fact experience prejudice, and this fact needs to be altered.

In conclusion, Barack Obama’s personal experience with being biracial as well as my own story suggest that there is a “biracial issue” in this nation. Even though we are “the land of the free,” many people in the United States still do not approve of interracial relationships or accept the offspring of such a situation. I argue that biracial/multiracial people face an internal struggle to fit into a society that does not accept them for who they are. Therefore, by bringing awareness to this issue, I hope that people reading this essay ponder how they treat biracial people. Whether positive or negative, this treatment reflects modern society’s judgment of mankind, of a type of the human race. Let’s strive to appreciate people in spite of racial background, for that will lead to much more positive environments than those established through discrimination.

Wednesday Word: President’s Priorities

“The president should immediately return homeand call Congress back into session so that this action can be fully debated,” said [Representative Candice Miller)  in a statement.”

For those who are unfamiliar with the current situation in Libya,  Obama decided to take military action in Libya for “humanitarian purposes.”  However, the controversy that has risen is  two-fold: whether or not Obama plans on removing Qaddafi, Libya’s dictator and whether or not we should be there in the first place–considering that he never notified Congress; he just went to Libya.

The below article shows the dissension that President Obama’s decision has caused within the liberal and Democratic communities. It taught me, personally, that just because a person identifies with a certain political party does not mean:  1) that person, in the case of President Obama, always follow the ideology (if he did, he would be less inclined to initiate war) or  2) that the main political figures of that party agree with the President’s impactful decisions.

For further information, I would suggest browsing different types of newspaper coverage of the issue in order to get a more objective view of what the Libya situation entails; however, what first grabbed my attention regarding this issue was Fox News’ coverage of Louis Farrakhan’s unsettling disagreement with Obama in an interview he participated in.

See this link for details:

Read more:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/03/21/lawmakers-angry-obama-libyan-strike-warn-administration-lacks-end-game/#ixzz1I1V5lTNH

Post submitted by Casey O’Neill

Wednesday Word: Obama and His Smoking Addiction

“Once you’ve gone down this path, then it’s something you continually struggle with’”–Barack Obama

In reference to his smoking addiction, President Obama (above) states that his battle and inner struggle is constant.  However, through the article (posted below) we see evidence that Obama has quit smoking.  This elicits hope for addicts (whether of smoking, drugs, alcohol, Facebook, etc.); it is possible to abandon one’s addiction provided dedication, familial support, and the willpower to stop.

Obama’s quote not only applies to addictions, but also to  issues in life such as self-deprecation, poor decision-making, negative/unhealthy approaches to romantic or non-romantic relationships, and more.  There is truth in the statement that it is hard to resist getting in the habit of participating in negative behavior once you’ve been exposed to it.

BUT, there IS hope!!! I am a strong believer that every person has the ability to improve their own challenging situations despite how difficult they may appear to be.  Whether it’s through a change in attitude, a proactive approach, quitting an addiction, or simply finding support so that it’s easier to cope with the adversity, it is possible to alleviate the pain you may be going through.

I hope this article acts as an inspiration If not, what’s your take on it? What kind of emotions did it evoke for you? Feedback would be wonderful!

P.S. here’s the link for the article:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110208/ap_on_re_us/us_obama_smoking

Post submitted by: Casey O’Neill

Wednesday Word: I don’t think about Sarah Palin.

Peep this BBC article from November 24, 2010.

President Barack Obama has said he does not think about Republican former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, a possible contender for his job in 2012.

In an interview, Mr Obama acknowledged her popularity among Republicans and said he “respected those skills”.

But he told ABC television: “I spend most of my time right now on how I can be the best possible president.”

Mrs Palin, in the midst of a national book tour, said recently she could beat Mr Obama in the 2012 election.

But a recent poll showed Mr Obama comfortably leading Mrs Palin in a hypothetical 2012 match-up.

“My attitude has always been, from the day I started this job, that if I do a good job and if I’m delivering for the American people the politics will take care of itself,” he said.

“If I falter and the American people are dissatisfied, then I’ll have problems.”
Diminished strength

Mr Obama’s remarks came three weeks after his acknowledged “shellacking” in the mid-term elections.

Mr Obama’s Democratic party lost control of the House of Representatives and saw its strength in the Senate diminished, threatening the president’s ability to enact his legislative agenda.

Asked to comment on Tuesday’s military clash between North and South Korea, Mr Obama told ABC: “South Korea is our ally, it has been since the Korean War, and we strongly affirm our commitment to defend South Korea as part of that alliance.”

He said he would not speculate about a military response but said he would consult with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on the matter.

On Wednesday morning, the US deployed an aircraft carrier fleet to Korean waters to join South Korean forces in military exercises.

Posted by: Tiffany

Free Speech Friday: State of the Union Address 2011

One of the most recent speeches I had the opportunity to listen to was President Obama’s State of the Union Address for 2011.  Below are two links, the first being a summary of the highlights of his speech, and the second being the actual speech, which is around one hour long.

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2011/01/22/VI2011012203303.html

President Obama’s strong speech delivery skills are inspirational, especially for those who are well-versed in public speaking or are striving to gain those skills. It’s interesting that I came across this speech because at WSP we just learned public speaking skills (shout out to Sahra Nguyen and Miqi Cos!) and improvements, so it was great to see the skills put into action.

Hope you enjoy!

Post submitted by Casey O’Neill

Thursday Take-off: The results are in…what now?

Image courtesy of The New York Times

Like the millions of Americans across the country, last Tuesday I cast my vote for Election 2010.

I had forgotten what it felt like to be a college student around election time.  You take a walk through campus and you can just feel it–the buzzing, the excitement, the frenzy, the unavoidable urge to grab a megaphone.

Some express their passion for politics by camping out along Bruinwalk with flyers and signs; others pass by still as unregistered voters.  Some students walk around with campaign stickers plastered to their backpacks, while others don’t even know where they can go to cast their vote.  And to be honest, I was kind of lost myself.

But overall the atmosphere election time brings to campus is a memorable one.

Voting for the first time, however, was a empowering yet awkward experience.  For ten minutes I walked aimlessly around a park next to the Federal Building on Wilshire trying to find the damn polling place.  When I found it, I learned how much of a noob I was at the whole being politically active thing.  The ladies at the recreation center were nice and directed and redirected me to all the places I needed to go, and when I finally had a blank ballot in my hand and a booth to myself, I did my thing and voted.

And it felt good.  Clicking “I Voted” on Facebook was the icing on the cake.

Now since Tuesday, we have known the outcome of the election.  The Republicans have gained control of the House, while the Democrats managed to maintain a slim majority in the Senate.  Representative John A. Boehner Overall (R) is now the House Speaker in waiting, and in California, former governor Jerry Brown (D) bested billionaire Meg Whitman (R).

So here are today’s Take-off questions:

What do you think was the most memorable moment about this midterm election?  What was most compelling?  Or the funniest?  Or the most bizarre?  What sorts of implications does a divided congress have on President Obama’s attempt at re-election in 2012?  How will these results affect the Tea Party’s impact and influence?  In California, the people voted down the legalization of marijuana.  What went wrong with Prop 19?

But most important question I could ask you is this: Did you vote?

Post submitted by Crystal Maranan

Free Speech Friday: Obama’s Speech on Race

March 18, 2008

A moving and historic speech by President Barack Obama on the subject of race.  It was delivered during his presidential campaign in Philadelphia.  Please take the time to listen and reflect.  This isn’t a speech about politics; it’s much more than that.

 

Full video and transcript.

Post submitted by Crystal Maranan

Free Speech Fridays: JFK’s Inaugural Address

In order to highlight the power of words, every Friday WSP will be posting a video of a speech. For this Free Speech Friday, I would like to share one of my favorite speeches by  President Kennedy.

One of my good friends visited the WSP office this afternoon and we had a nice chat about presidents. In elementary schools, many children are taught to memorize the names of all U.S. presidents. Every time I here kids reciting the presidents’ names, I was feel like I didn’t learn how to be proud of presidents, or look at presidents as the protectors of my country, etc. Watching this speech was interesting because although JFK didn’t deliver on everything he mentioned in his inaugural address, his words reminded me of President Obama’s. The promises of change, hope, and peace were familiar and it makes me think that maybe the 1960′s political agenda might not be as far as I previously thought.

Post submitted by Tiffany