Opinion

Seven years ago, when the Olympic Committee chose Beijing as the location for the games, the Free Tibet campaign didn’t do anything substantial to prevent China becoming the host for the Olympics.

Free Tibet, a campaign that protests the abuse of Tibetans by the Chinese government, has decided to take action by boycotting the Olympic games. This act is unreasonable and only shows how desperate the Free Tibet campaign has become, relying on such an important event to make their cause come to light.

It’s that time of the year again. The weather warms up and everyone heads to the beach to lie in sun, returning a nice shade of tan. Oh, except me.

When I go to lie in the sun, I bring my Costco industrial-sized jug of 50 spf sunscreen and prepare to blend in with the white sand beaches, destined to return the same shade of fluorescent white I was when I left.

Sivakami Sambasivam: salutatorian of the class of ‘07, Speech and Debate captain, member of the PTSA Liaison, School Site Council representative, current MIT freshman … Uma Sambasivam: co- MVP JV basketball player, co-president of science club, and reporter for the school Newspaper… I think you get the point.

A Saratoga driver sits in his car on his way to work in the morning in front of a stop sign, waiting for a line of cars to end. After a while, traffic has not lessened. The number of cars going down Saratoga Ave. is nearly endless. The driver finally attempts to rush through the traffic, barely avoiding another driver in a large SUV going 60 mph honking the horn angrily. Surviving the incident, the driver then makes his way towards his office.

A Saratoga driver sits in his car on his way to work in the morning in front of a stop sign, waiting for a line of cars to end. After a while, traffic has not lessened. The number of cars going down Saratoga Ave. is nearly endless. The driver finally attempts to rush through the traffic, barely avoiding another driver in a large SUV going 60 mph honking the horn angrily. Surviving the incident, the driver then makes his way towards his office.

This story first appeared in the April 4 issue of The Saratoga Falcon.

Second semester senior year. For many students this short, five-month period represents freedom from academic responsibilities and a break before college. Some students, however, continue their pre-college work through the spring by applying for various scholarships to aid their college endeavors. Unfortunately for these students, however, applying to a scholarship may be more of a hassle than a benefit.

This story originally appeared in the February 15, 2008 edition of The Saratoga Falcon

Recent decisions by Yale and Harvard to significantly increase financial aid for students of middle-class families (defined as families accruing $120,000 to $180,000 annually) have been met with fanfare nationwide. Although this is terrific news for students of Yale, Harvard and other wealthy, high-end universities with endowments in the tens of billions, it would be wrong not to discuss the inevitable repercussions of these moves.

This story originally appeared in the April 4th issue of The Saratoga Falcon.

When a California state appeals court ruled on Feb. 28 that all homeschooled children should be taught by a credentialed teacher, homeschoolers and their supporters were outraged. Focus on the Family, a Christian values organization, deemed the ruling an “assault on family”; Gov. Schwarzenegger vowed to overturn the court’s decision; and 74 percent of participants in a San Francisco Chronicle survey voted against the appellate. A deeper analysis of the court’s motives, however, reveals that the ruling may actually have more benefits than harms.

This story originally appeared in the April 4th issue of The Saratoga Falcon.

When it comes to having access to an advanced education, there is a big difference between an engineering student at a premier university and a bicycle repairman in a rural village in China. Now, thanks to a rapidly growing program called Open CourseWare–popularized by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology–that repairman in Luoyang, China, can, with a little bit of initiative, learn the same material as the student and give himself the technical skills necessary for job advancement.

This story originally appeared in the April 4th issue of The Saratoga Falcon.

When a California state appeals court ruled on Feb. 28 that all homeschooled children should be taught by a credentialed teacher, homeschoolers and their supporters were outraged. Focus on the Family, a Christian values organization, deemed the ruling an “assault on family”; Gov. Schwarzenegger vowed to overturn the court’s decision; and 74 percent of participants in a San Francisco Chronicle survey voted against the appellate. A deeper analysis of the court’s motives, however, reveals that the ruling may actually have more benefits than harms.