Leilani Downing came to UCLA in the winter of 1998, only months after the implementation of Proposition 209, which banned the state’s use of affirmative action in hiring and admissions policies. Read more...

For the most part, life is simple. It is just us who make things more difficult than they need to be. This is one of many lessons I have learned quite well during my time at this university. Read more...

UCLA’s seniors graduate this week, and they will enter a world that has changed tremendously during their educational hiatus. As they take on jobs and new challenges, their choices will shape the course of this nation’s progress. Read more...

When this year’s graduating seniors first came to UCLA, the state economy was booming, the state budget was in check, and then-Gov. Gray Davis was signing the diplomas of University of California students. Read more...

Now that I’m graduating, I’m starting to wonder more and more what my degree is worth. Graduation is supposed to be one of the proudest moments of your life, a crowning achievement of education and dedication to learning. Read more...

I used to wait for my Fisher-Price “photos” to develop with such anticipation I could hardly stand it. I would wander around my backyard with my little plastic camera, shooting the wildlife ““ marigolds and potato bugs, as well as the inhabitants ““ my mother gardening and my brother telling me to go away. Read more...

Four years ago, the conflict in Israel-Palestine hit the news in a big way. UCLA students ““ usually an insular community ““ opened their newspapers to images of war: photos of the aftermath of suicide bombers, pictures of the carnage wrought by Israeli tanks, dead civilians of all ages, from both sides. Read more...