sometimes, I feel unbelievably awesome.

WHY THE FUCK...

…isn’t birth control dispensed FREELY around the country? I mean, I understand that it costs money to make, so I’ll gladly pay for it, but I want to know why it’s so DAMN DIFFICULT to obtain it. Why isn’t it sold over the counter? Why can’t you just go to Walgreens and browse near the condoms for some pretty little Ortho-Evra patches and some Ortho-Tricyclen pills?

I just had to endure hours of phone calls, lines of “we can’t fill your prescription because according to our records you still have some pills left”, and a lot of volleying back and forth between the clinic nurse and the pharmacy clerk. ALL I WANT IS TO NOT HAVE BABIES. I’m not asking for more Vicodin, or any of that shit that will deliver you an enhanced sense of being. YOU CAN’T GET HIGH OFF OF PROGESTERONE. ALL I WANT IS TO BE ABLE TO REDUCE MY CARBON FOOTPRINT. Did you know that having unwanted babies is the major source of carbon footprinting? Then WHY is birth control still so damn hard to obtain???

Okay, granted, the only reason I wanted that prescription filled today is because my insurance runs out at the start of next semester, and I don’t want to be without pills during that time. But there is NO REASON why they should refuse to discharge more than 6 months’ worth of birth control at a time. I like the medication I’m on, I don’t see myself changing it, it doesn’t do weird shit to my body, so why not give me enough so that I don’t have to deal with the festering turd bureaucracy?

And this is at Berkeley, one of the most liberal cities in the world. I don’t even want to imagine what other places are like.

I found this on UCB Anoncon

For those of you unfamiliar with this finals phenomenon, “Anoncon” is a livejournal community that’s set up every finals period with anonymous commenting enabled and IP indexing disabled. People (anyone, really, but for the most part they’re Berkeley students) are encouraged to comment with an anonymous confession (hence, anoncon) but there are always those sex solicitors and fight instigators on it. This one isn’t, though, and it’s about the Wheeler Hall “protests” and general “grassroots activism” that has been popping up around here in response to the actions of the state and UC legislature.

It says exactly what I want to say, but with much better references, information, and vocabulary.

Titled “If you’re bored [pt 1 and 2]”:

After another 65 arrests a few mornings ago at Wheeler, I feel I need to express my outrage of late. Many speak of the Daily Cal and the administration distorting facts and maligning the goals of the protests. Then I, as an undergraduate student unaffiliated with either the protestors or the administration would like to provide some insight shared by many students.

There needs to be a clarification of the concept upon which the recent grassroots activism have been based. The root stems from the misguided slogan that “the university is ours.” Sure it is, but only in the sense that we belong to a community of Cal students who share pride and show loyalty to the campus. However, the possessive pronoun “ours” stops there.

Emphasizing “our” implies ownership. Reiteration of “public” in “public institution” gives the notion all buildings and areas on the UC campus are domains that cannot be denied access to. We neither own UC Berkeley, nor can we go where we wish on whim. There are access laws governing most, if not all, “public”, state-owned lands and facilities. Assume for a second that Cal is like a state park. State parks are goods provided to the public (like education) but are governed by access rules and state laws (ex. no littering, no feeding wildlife). They also collect entrance fees (think tuition), control the flow of visitors (students) and restrict times of day when the park is accessible. If you still do not see the corollary between our campus and say, Big Sur, then think of a public library. While it is publicly owned, you cannot break in to read its books. Like public parks and libraries, UC Berkeley is governed by similar laws. Breaking into campus buildings after hours is criminal trespassing and should be prosecuted as such, much like doing so at any other public or private facility. What students do while trespassing is irrelevant. Whether you are pulling fire alarms to cancel classes or simply studying in the empty hall does not matter. You have no right to do so. Please end the feelings of entitlement.

The university is a state-owned institution offering a service. It is not a public corporation where students are shareholders. We are not its owners nor do our rights to the institution extend indefinitely. As interpreted by the Supreme Court, a state university is a market participant that provides a service (education) to residents (and non-residents) of its host state. Higher education is NOT a fundamental right—it is a service for which we pay (this reasoning by the courts is also what allows state universities to charge higher tuition for out-of-state residents, see Reeves Inc. v. Stake, 447 U.S. 429 (1980)). In this context, tuition fee increases as a result of poor budgeting decisions by the State of California is not entirely unfathomable. We are merely paying for a service provided by a firm of sorts that responds to prevailing economic conditions. In order to continue to provide an education for the vast majority of current and prospective students, certain policies like fee hikes, popular or not, must be implemented. If you do not accept this, you should protest to the state government or transfer to another institution. I hear CSU Bakersfield is quite affordable.

Many claim they protest against fee hikes and the lack of administrative efforts to fight for students and staff. Then I will not be the first or the last to question the efficacy of these protests. Given their intention, how have the demonstrations furthered the cause? At the Wheeler occupation, students and staff alike were denied access to the building, thereby affecting classes, review sessions, and other UC activities. To what end? The occupiers disrupted education and imposed even greater costs to the institution by forcing UCPD to mobilize extra officers and appropriate for overtime, the fire department to respond to false alarms, among other administrative costs. And the result? Just arrests, citations, and few good photo-ops.

Furthermore, the activism is not only harmful to the campus, but is ineffective. Many participate for the wrong reasons. Although I cannot speak for all, I know many choose to “protest” because they feel like it is “the Berkeley thing to do.” Others join to have their 15 minutes of fame, perhaps hoping to land their face on the Daily Cal. One enthusiastic protestor said he went because, “There were hot girls.” Perhaps I happened to speak to all the exceptions to an otherwise well-intended group. Regardless, thinking realistically, how would barricading oneself in Wheeler set the stage for a successful compromise resulting in the rehiring of staff and reversals of budget cuts and fee increases? Where would that money come from? Your time would have been better spent sending letters of appreciation to the Steiny family for donating the $30,000 that is keeping our libraries open around the clock.

Please understand I am not defending the actions of the administration nor the UCPD. There are legitimate grievances against the police department and the way our leaders have acted at times. Indeed, you should also be enraged by the 32% fee hike and rightfully so. If public institutions were created to serve the state and its residents, then keeping it accessible to all should be a top priority, but direct most of your anger and disappointment toward the source of the budgetary problems, the State of California. UC Berkeley, while culpable in its own right, is sadly an intermediary who simply responds to what flows down from Sacramento.

And if you still don’t agree with me…then suck it?

Now here’s something we can all agree on:

1. Ace your finals
2. Get really fucked up

Go bears

I really like the last four lines. Overall, well said, Anon.

Just another night at Christine and Cindy's Party Pad

Is it wrong that I'm kind of mad that one of my professors planned for a 3 hour final? I mean, yes, we are allotted three hours, but it's been years since anyone has ever actively planned for a 3 hour final. They usually plan for 1.5-2 hours, and we are given three hours to complete it. This is madness. This is....Sparta?

Food-Related

Cindy and I have been having our fair share of Indian food for the past three days. Tuesday we had Biryani House, yesterday we had Viceroy, and today we tried Punjabi by Nature on Oxford and Center. Warning: do NOT ever go to Punjabi by Nature. The food there is off-color, watery, and utterly flavorless. There was a point (between second and third plates—regardless of how awful it was, we were hungry and wanted to get our money’s worth. Ah, buffets…you do such odd things to me.) when we even looked at each other and said, “I’m getting full, but there’s a hole in my heart that has yet to be filled.”

That hole can really ever be filled with good, soul-warming food. You can eat all the volumes of tasteless, bland, textureless food you want, but that hole will never be filled unless it’s damn good food.

We left the place today with that hole in our hearts, our spirits down, and a fiery resolve to never grace their doorstep ever again.

In other news: Michael Voltaggio, Top Chef of season 6!!! I was so disappointed when it wasn’t Bryan (especially cause I let out fangirl-gasms when he was teamed up with Jennifer and Ashley as his sous chefs…those three are still my top three favorite chefs of the season!!), but I honestly think it was such a toss up because Bryan, Michael, and Kevin are all top-notch chefs, and any one of them could have walked away with the title and we would all say he deserved it.

Ah, next season…I’m still waiting for my prediction of having a season of Top Chef being filmed in the deep south come into fruition. New Orleans, New Orleans, New Orleans!!