Two other people from my best friend’s town died the same day he did. They were 78 and 89 years old. He was 17. Under the influence of hallucinogenic mushrooms, he got into his truck, leading to his drug-induced suicide with a rifle on an abandoned logging road…

Eastern Washington’s Rep. Cathy McMorris-Rodgers has single-handedly secured Spokane funds for a new highway and is the ultimate “champion,” even though she voted against the stimulus package that provided the funding. “I am pleased the U.S. Department of Transportation has chosen to award $35 million for the North Spokane Corridor…

As the weather improves, students have fewer excuses for staying inside. As Cougars come out of hibernation, many may notice they have gained some weight. Never fear – this extra winter poundage is not inevitable or irreversible. For those of you who are looking for a reason to workout…

Politics makes for strange bedfellows, and sometimes that means the unspeakable will happen. That is the case here. I find myself writing to defend the conservative anti-gay rights group, Protect Marriage Washington. The United States Supreme Court has set April 28 as the date it will hear arguments concerning the privacy of people who signed Referendum 71…

As rumors of tuition hikes and massive budget deficits swirl around Olympia, the state legislature debates whether to give free money to the state’s struggling companies, like Microsoft. Let the tea parties begin. So far, the public outcry of “Where’s my bail out…

Guns do not kill people. People kill people, but some guns enable handlers to commit large-scale slaughter. These weapons are typically labeled assault weapons. They fire rapidly and have a large ammunition capacity, ideal for mass murders and civilian shootings like the Columbine shootings in 1999…

After passing the cloture motion on The Civil Rights Act of 1964, Senate Minority Leader Everett Dirksen (R-Ill.) said, “ Stronger than all the armies is an idea whose time has come. The time has come for equality of opportunity in sharing in government, in education and in employment…

Aside from the miserable weather, this really is the most magical time of the year. These winter wonderland holidays have been manipulated by corporate and political interests, meaning the magic has been distorted beyond recognition. Some of the traditions we celebrate are not only impractical but go against everything the holidays are about…

After my family’s delicious Thanksgiving feast I could not help but reflect on a different, more sparse dinner I had at The World Hunger Banquet a few weeks prior. Students who attended the banquet were given only a small plate of white rice. My shriveled stomach growled at the unsatisfying supper while I tried to imagine living off this lone meal for a whole day…

For many students at WSU, Veterans Day will be used as an excuse to party. However, it is important to remember that our veterans are the ones who had to fight for our right to party. Since the first volleys were fired at Lexington and Concord, our military has been essential in protecting our rights…

Just last month in a Philadelphia alley, more than a dozen teenagers found fun in the form of a kitten. They surrounded the 6-week-old feline, threw stones at it, set it on fire and left it to die. This is hardly an anomaly in America. According to the Humane Society of the United States…

Voting in the 2008 Presidential Election was my political coming of age. I thought I would never vote in an election as important again. But I was wrong. This off-year election is just as important to Washington voters as any other. The political action committees Protect Marriage Washington and Voters Want More Choices are the two groups responsible for making this election exciting…

President Barack Obama has received a lot of criticism during the last few days. Obama did something only two other sitting American Presidents have done: win a Nobel Peace Prize. Regrettably, many saw this as cause for insult. In an interview with Newsweek…

Last year’s budget fiasco will be nothing compared to 2010 if Tim Eyman has his way. Anyone who enjoyed the raised tuition and decreased funding at WSU is bound to love Eyman’s latest ill-conceived initiative: I-1033. Eyman is an initiative-writing robot…

At WSU, the only time we think about Hispanic culture seems to be when the Cinco de Mayo parties come around, and most of us don’t know what we are really celebrating. But with Hispanic Heritage Month, it is important to reflect not only on what Hispanics have done for this country…