Opinion

 By JERRY GILL My life has been strongly impacted by the lives and teachings of three master teachers: Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha), Socrates and Jesus.  One could argue that these three are the most influential teachers of all time. Although none of the three ever yielded political power, traveled far from his homeland, or wrote any books, each played a major role in the development of the beliefs and practices of literally billions of people. Also, each distanced himself from formal religion. I have always been fascinated by the methods which these three teachers inspired so many people and guided entire cultures.  Although there are similarities in their respective teaching methods, each stands on its own in unique ways. Basically, each followed a very personal and dialogical approac...

By JOE GIDDENS Years ago, I was wandering the deserts of Central Utah. It’s a stretch of country that more closely resembles Mars or the cover art off a ’70s prog-rock band than it does anything terrestrial.  It’s a beautiful and weird stretch of country such as the small town off a state highway where the gas station was populated exclusively by ginger, but I probably just needed to inspect a larger sample size.  At the time, I was prospecting for phytosaur fossils in the San Rafael Swell. A Triassic reptile that, if around today, could easily be confused for a gator. Which also helps give an indication of the West’s wetter climate at the time, alongside the massive amount of petrified wood of long since fallen conifers some 200 million years ago.  The minerals in that area gave all ...

By JOSH GRAY I had the perception that community college was for losers that couldn’t handle college and didn’t care about their lives.  I never knew what I wanted to do until two weeks ago, but in high school I knew that I would go to a four-year institution. I was not going to end up like all the others going to community college.  Obviously, life had other plans for me.  When I eventually made my decision, I knew I wanted to leave boring Pennsylvania and go somewhere new. That kind of move, however, comes with a price.  So I made the decision to come to Pima Community College, and then I planned to transfer to the University of Arizona. After spending about two years at Pima, I have changed my perception of community colleges. Community college was an excellent choice for multiple...

By COSTA B. PAPPAS As my last few weeks at Pima Community College dwindle to an end, I have been reflecting on my semester living in Tucson. Every time I tell someone that I moved to Tucson from California they always gasp, having this shocked and slightly horrified look in their eyes that someone could possibly trade the ocean for a desert, celebrity sightings for University of Arizona basketball team sightings, and popular nightclubs for dive bars. But Tucson has been one of the most memorable experiences of my life. If not for the great classes at Pima, my time has been well spent on a series of never-ending adventures and stories alongside some amazing people. With Tucson as the backdrop to this chapter of my life, a character of its own, I have come up with some of the top places...

By ALEXZANDRIA MARTINEZ  June 4 will mark 100 years since the 19th Amendment was passed by Congress, which allowed American women to vote.  In today’s America, we see the women’s rights movement shifting in different directions. “Modern feminists” are not always a middle-aged white woman picketing the White House fence. A feminist is whoever believes in the equality between women and men regardless of race, gender, religion or political beliefs.  It is about advocating for women’s rights, so that all women can be awarded the same privileges and opportunities that men have automatically.     The division between women of color and white women especially the exclusion and demonization of women of color because of white feminism. White feminism disregards marginalized groups of women and ...

By MONTY GANTT      Music is an essential part of our lives. It’s the soundtrack to our situations, it exposes us to stories from a variety of people and brings people together during unfortunate circumstances.  However, one thing I’ve noticed during my 19 years of life, is that while music brings people together, it also seems very segregated regarding certain genres.  People of different ethnicities claim a music genre as their culture’s own.  We’ve all been guilty of this. I recall back in elementary school the anger I had with a white classmate of mine for reciting lyrics to an Ice Cube song I had heard on the radio. This negative feeling I had toward him stemmed from how I saw other black people treat fans of hip-hop who were not people of color.  Years later, similar feelings we...