It doesn’t take much to be disenchanted with our federal government. Optimism and progress are consistently stunted because of overspending, inaction, stalemate and utter incompetence. Take the war in Iraq, for example. Democrats replaced many Republicans in the 2006 election based primarily on unfulfilled promises and a shift in public sentiment toward the conflict in the Middle East.

Last Friday, Colorado State University’s student newspaper decided to replace an editorial with the statement, “Taser this? F*** Bush.” It was meant to be a point about free speech. The editors of that newspaper decided that the electrocuting of a student by police in Florida during a political rally was another example of our country cracking down on First Amendment rights.

Roughly 3,800 Americans have died in Iraq. If you ask policy-makers why, they’ll answer with some variation of this line: “We want to bring freedom to Iraq. We want to make sure they have the same rights that we have here in America.” In light of recent events, one has to wonder how true that is.

Reading the news can make anyone feel a bit depressed. Death, disease and global warming are consistently front page headlines, which leads readers to question what is actually going right in the world. Technology has created ease in our everyday lives, yet it has also somehow caused face-to-face greetings to be replaced with a text messages reading, “How r u 2night?” But I must concede that the recent technological boom has caused a positive effect on our society: citizen journalism.

San Diego State will welcome the families of its new students during Family Weekend, which starts tomorrow and ends on Sunday. The annual three-day event gives families of new college students the chance to explore and learn more about SDSU on their own or through a number of planned activities, such as lunch in the Cuicacalli Dining Room and a pep rally in Aztec Center.

Seven cars have been stolen from campus since the beginning of the school year, according to University Police Lt. Lamine Secka. However, Secka said about 80 percent of all cars stolen in San Diego County are recovered within a year. Over the weekend, one car was reported stolen from Parking Structure 3 and another was burglarized in front of University Towers.

San Diego State has been in this city when there was absolutely nothing surrounding it but dirt. However, the neighboring community of Rolando aims to prevent any school-related expansion regardless of the area’s university-based history. Residential management company JPI has proposed a new complex, dubbed as a “mega-dorm” by some, to hold more than 1,000 residents, targeting students as people to rent out the apartments.

See spectacular valleys, awe-inspiring glaciers, natural beauty and modern cities – all things that travelers and students find in Argentina. Travel between cities is simple and cheap, so if you’re there for only one semester, you can still explore areas beyond your university.

Not many people can say they’ve lived directly across the street from the United States Supreme Court. Not many can claim their daily workouts included jogging on the National Mall, which passes The Capitol and the Washington Monument. It’s likely that many students haven’t visited America’s capital, but the opportunity is there for San Diego State students.

Every two and a half minutes, someone in America is sexually assaulted. In addition, college women are four times more likely to become victims of sexual assault than any other age group. Even so, less than five percent of women under 25 years old report these acts.

Fall recruitment wrapping up Recruitment for the Interfraternity Council is slowly coming to an end. Most fraternities ended their recruitment last week and others are slowly continuing to accept new members throughout this week. Doug Case, coordinator for fraternity and sorority life said there were about 600 men who joined a fraternity.