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'Waterboarding Memo' Author Speaks to College Republicans

Joshua Sharp — 2009-04-26T00:36:00+00:00

Filed under: Politics, Small Campus, Big Story, USC

Joshua Sharp is now a contributor for The Cram, a student news arm of the newly launched PoliticsDaily.com. To follow his future work, click here.

Former Bush Administration official John Yoo, author of several Justice Department memos determining waterboarding and other "enhanced interrogation techniques" to be legal, addressed the California College Republicans as the keynote speaker at their statewide convention in San Francisco this weekend.

Author's note: In addition to political commentary, I'm a member of the USC College Republicans. Views posted here are my own.

Two dozen protesters gathered outside the Hyatt Fisherman's Wharf hotel where the convention was being held, holding signs calling Yoo a war criminal as they chanted, "Jail John Yoo!"

Yoo was actually remarkably soft-spoken compared to the protesters outside. He described his background and his support of key Bush Administration policies, saying, "Sometimes in war, you have to take pre-emptive action to stop someone from trying to harm our country." He pointed out that al-Qaeda had deliberately targeted civilians on Sept. 11, not combatants or military troops.

Putting perspective on enhanced interrogation techniques, Yoo said the United States interrogates detainees "not because we're trying to get a confession [for use in the courts], we're trying to get information to prevent the next attack."

Yoo closed with a question: "Were those policies successful?" It's been almost eight years since 9/11, he said, and our nation has not seen another domestic terrorist attack "because of the Bush Administration's counterterrorism policies."

Yoo also encouraged young conservatives to "have the courage of your convictions" and engage in free speech and open debate with "the people who would shout you down."

Earlier in the day, hundreds of College Republicans took to the streets of San Francisco for an anti-bailout "Tea Party" protest, holding signs with slogans like, "You keep your Hope, I'll keep my Change."

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Miss California & The Gay Rights Thought Police

Joshua Sharp — 2009-04-20T20:22:00+00:00

Filed under: Politics, USC, News

OMG! Miss California is a social conservative!

Last night, the Miss USA pageant was held -- unbeknownst to me, since all I know about pageants is what I've seen in Little Miss Sunshine. Near the end of the pageant, celebrity judge Perez Hilton was tasked with asking one question of then-frontrunner Miss California Carrie Prejean. He decided to lob a question about one of the most politically controversial issues of our time; Prejean's response may have cost her the title:

Hilton: "Vermont recently became the fourth state to legalize same-sex marriage. Do you think every state should follow suit, why or why not?"

Prejean: "Well, I think it's great that Americans are able to choose one or the other. We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage. And you know what, in my country, and in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that's how I was raised and that's how I think that it should be between a man and a woman. Thank you very much."

Now, most politicians don't like answering that divisive question in front of a split audience, and typically squirm while doing so. For Prejean to have the courage to (even somewhat inarticulately) frame the issue as a state-by-state choice while acknowledging her honest personal beliefs, I think, shows a lot of strength and reflects well on her character.

But the beauty pageant judges were aghast at Prejeans' lack of political correctness, and retribution was swift.

"I think it did lose her the crown," Hilton said today on MSNBC. On a webcast posted late Sunday night, he ranted against Prejean, saying, "She lost not because she doesn't believe in gay marriage; she lost because she's a dumb b****."

More from Hilton: "... [T]hat is not the kind of woman I want to be Miss USA. There's a difference between running for president and being a beauty queen.

"A president is affiliated with a political party, that political party has ideologies, they are in favor with or against. A beauty queen, a beauty pageant queen, Miss USA, should represent all Americans. And with her answer, she instantly was divisive and alienated millions of gays and lesbians, their family, their friends, and supporters."

I have a much simpler answer: Why not avoid the hot-button issue during a beauty pageant in the first place? By asking that provocative question, Hilton was giving Miss California an ultimatum: answer correctly, or risk the crown.

Hilton claims no political bias, saying, "I was not upset or frustrated with her disagreeing with me about gay marriage. I was just upset and frustrated with how she answered the question."

Um, that's essentially the same thing.

Regardless of one's personal views on the issue, and whether we agree or disagree with Prejean's opinion, it's extremely troubling to see someone answer a question honestly -- articulating a viewpoint consistent with roughly half of the voters in her home state -- only to be punished by those who disagree.

It is hypocritical to fight for freedom of speech and freedom of expression if one has no tolerance for those with opposing views, and I am deeply concerned by the gay rights movement's overall decision post-Prop 8 to begin blacklisting political opponents out of anger and vengefulness.

Let's cut out the litmus test, and leave politics in the political arena.

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Tea Parties: Conservatives' New Media Launch?

Joshua Sharp — 2009-04-19T00:20:00+00:00

Filed under: US Elections, Politics, USC, Media

The "tax day tea parties" this week marked arguably the most visible sign of a conservative uprising since before Bush 43's presidency, with over 300,000 estimated attendees across nearly 350 cities nationwide.

But the larger impact embodied by these protests is a bit more subtle: It shows that conservatives have discovered new media in a very powerful way.

Political campaigns of all ideological viewpoints have long gathered e-mail lists of supporters and built professionally-designed websites to serve as their online presence. But only recently has the Internet evolved to serve as a global town hall, with activists uploading pictures and videos from events held around the world, and networking tool, with registered organizers pooling resources and sharing plans.

In the last election season, both Barack Obama and John McCain created social networking sites and event registration tools in addition to Facebook pages and a YouTube channel. The Obama campaign was more successful with these tools for a variety of reasons (younger base of supporters, ridiculous talent on staff), but the online media landscape is changing so rapidly that conservatives have a real chance at surpassing the most impressive techniques of the '08 cycle.

Beyond the ideological debate behind Wednesday's protests, the fact remains that hundreds of events, sometimes thousands of miles apart, were linked together by the power of social media, as organizers coordinated events online and exchanged pictures (video, stories, etc.) afterward.

More on new media after the jump...
Politico's Jonathan Martin co-moderated a panel Wednesday -- the same day as the tea parties -- with USC Unruh Institute of Politics director Dan Schnur on "Political Organizing in the Internet Age." I served as a panelist alongside some more experienced campaign experts; here are a few highlights:

- Message still paramount. Almost every panelist agreed that campaigns must use new media to reinforce an established, compelling campaign message. Creating an account on Twitter is useless if it does not engage the campaign's followers in a unique and ongoing way.

- 'Day-to-day combat.' Modern campaigns now have to hire extra staff to manage the 24-hour chatter generated by blogs and online news sites like Politico, said Jennifer Palmieri, senior VP of communications at the Center for American Progress. Leslie Miller, senior communications director at Obama for America, noted that Obama's "bitter" comment went viral on a late Friday afternoon, when campaign staff would normally be winding down from a long week. Instead, the campaign was forced into a flurry of action.

The instantaneous speed of modern messaging creates both a challenge and opportunity in the "day-to-day combat" of contemporary politics, added Adam Mendelsohn, former communications director for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Though harmful news can spread like wildfire, a campaign's response can be delivered just as rapidly through similar channels.

- Endless opportunities... to succeed, and to stumble. Palmieri suggested that new media makes each individual interview less important, but I disagreed, noting that George Allen is no longer a presidential contender after a certain "macaca" moment, and Sarah Palin's turkey pardon interview is permanently embedded in the public's memory, thanks to YouTube and other media outlets.

Toward the end of the panel discussion, Schnur pointed out that the former managing editor of USC's student newspaper, the Daily Trojan, was present and live-blogging for a new online media outlet run through the USC Annenberg journalism school. Her shift from print to online, Schnur said, was representative of a greater, global transformation.

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Conservative Filmmaker Tries To Get Arrested, Succeeds [Updated]

Joshua Sharp — 2009-04-17T18:45:00+00:00

Filed under: Politics, Small Campus, Big Story, USC

John Ziegler is an idiot.

The conservative filmmaker/activist managed to get himself arrested Wednesday after trying to rile up opposition to a journalism award given to Katie Couric for her Sarah Palin interview. Now he's pushing a 20-minute video of his antics and subsequent arrest, claiming anti-conservative bias.

As a senior at the USC Annenberg School for Communication, I know almost everyone featured in the video, including the university officials, event organizers and campus police who Ziegler claims "literally abused" him. Not too surprisingly, Ziegler is wildly exaggerating what really happened:

In the days leading up to the event, Ziegler had announced his intention to protest the award. USC provided a gated space near the entrance of the event for demonstrators, but Ziegler and his film crew were the only ones to show up. So Ziegler started calling himself a journalist and demanding full access to the event.

Conveniently enough, a film crew is on hand to document Ziegler's plight, either brought by Ziegler or hired for the occasion. Ziegler, microphone in hand, repeatedly tries to get university officials to say something controversial, pouncing at every opportunity and offering slanted commentary to the camera.

Meanwhile, Zeigler still refuses to move to the area provided for visiting demonstrators, ten feet away. After putting up with Ziegler for nearly an hour, campus police tell Ziegler that he's made his point and is no longer welcome on campus. Of course, the university is well within its rights; Ziegler is standing on private property.

Ziegler cries foul and resists arrest, grunting, "You guys realize you're breaking all sorts of constitut-- I'm not gonna move!"

He's promptly escorted off campus. Feigning outrage, he went to Greta Van Susteren and Fox News for a softball interview so one-sided that it insults the journalism profession far more than any award.

The Drudge Report did its part by posting a link to the video, and Ziegler's website now reads: "I am simply shocked and horrified by what happened here, as should every freedom loving American. I did absolutely nothing wrong and I was handcuffed, detained and literally abused by law enforcement at the event."

What a joke.

Yes, the award was silly. But its actual title was "Special Achievement for National Impact on the 2008 Campaign." Though I don't think Couric deserves an award, it's a bit ridiculous to protest Annenberg for recognizing the national impact of the Couric interviews. Let's remember, Palin botched interviews on plenty of other occasions.

As I've said before about Zeigler, claims of liberal bias can usually be substantiated with the facts. As a registered Republican, I'm usually sympathetic to these claims. But Ziegler seems more intent on generating publicity stunts and manufactured outrage than actually serving any legitimate public interest.

It's an embarrassment to fellow conservatives.

* Update: USC Annenberg professor Marc Cooper writes on his personal blog that campus police responded poorly, but Ziegler showed up "hoping to goad the cops into action." Cooper also links to a revealing April 2005 profile of Ziegler in The Atlantic, which confirms some nagging suspicions about Ziegler's mental stability (remember the Nate Silver interview?).

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College Seniors Leaving Jobs to Search for Employment

Joshua Sharp — 2009-04-12T22:06:00+00:00

Filed under: Small Campus, Big Story, Featured Stories, USC, The Economy, Recession on Campus

Bright Hall explores the far-reaching effects of the financial crisis on the youth and campuses of America. Click here for the full series.

In an e-mail to fellow student workers in a university office, my colleague penned a letter which was at once both sad and terrifically ironic.

"I'm having a much harder time finding a full-time job after graduation than I anticipated," my friend, a senior majoring in print journalism, wrote.

"Unfortunately, I am going to have to cut back on my hours ... in order to dedicate more time to the job search," she said, asking if anyone could pick up her Friday shift for the rest of the semester.

The mood among campus seniors hinges on whether one has plans for after graduation. With final exams approaching and graduation ceremonies only a few weeks away, a sense of anxiety is increasingly apparent -- and it's not just the print journalism majors who are struggling.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 13.9 percent of adults between the ages of 20 and 24 were unemployed last month, well over the national average of 9 percent. Adults ages 25-34 face similar odds, with 10 percent unemployed.

The New York Times today rightly points out that even though older Americans have lower unemployment rates, they face longer periods of unemployment and are paid substantially less in new jobs.

But breaking into the job market is proving to be an especially difficult task in the current economic climate. Many college seniors have already completed one or more unpaid internships, and the idea of beginning another -- a common piece of advice -- is both unappealing and often financially impossible.

My friend's on-campus job is her third part-time position this semester, in addition to a full class schedule. With her apartment lease ending, she's searching for a new apartment, in which city she knows not, and faces dauntingly high security deposits upon reaching a decision.

Perhaps sleeping on the parents' couch in the interim isn't such a bad idea. But for graduates of an elite institution, the prospect of temporary unemployment despite a hard-earned four-year degree is only now fathomable in the incredulous minds of students.

And so, some seniors are cutting hours at their campus jobs ... to spend more time searching for employment.

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Fighting for Cheryl: How We Can Kill Cancer

Joshua Sharp — 2009-03-29T00:07:00+00:00

Filed under: USC, Science

Cancer may be one of the most powerful forces we have ever seen.

It has the power to take away loved ones, and bring them closer together. Cancer boggles the mind with its indiscriminate cruelty, but also distills our emotions to the simplest common denominator of unconditional love. Cancer wreaks devastation on its victims in many ways, but also unites a community of fighters, survivors and supporters on a level that others can never fully understand.

This month, I've been a little distracted thinking about the many implications of cancer. My aunt, Cheryl Mann, passed away on March 7, 2009, after battling breast cancer for nearly five years. Since being profiled in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in a 2005 series, Cheryl, 47, had become a leader in the Atlanta area with the American Cancer Society, helping to raise nearly a million dollars for medical research and awareness. She leaves behind a husband, three young children, and her mother, father, brother and sister.

Throughout it all, Cheryl used her vibrant, spunky personality to help raise the dialogue about cancer, asking strangers in supermarkets if they had been checked recently. And as her body struggled through those final days, I was left wondering what the future holds for our generation.

Will we be the generation to see the worst effects of cancer continue, often from preventable causes? Or, will we be the generation to finally solve the puzzle, finding a full cure for the second-leading cause of death in America?

As it stands, nearly one in two males in the United States, and more than one in three females, will be afflicted by cancer at some point in their lifetime. Due to extraordinary developments in scientific research and public awareness, death rates are declining, according to the American Cancer Society's comprehensive report Cancer Facts & Figures 2008. But millions of deaths are still preventable.

As the report details, healthy eating habits and a physically active lifestyle are two of the simplest ways to reduce cancer risk. Regular check-ups and widespread awareness are also critically helpful tools in this fight.

Cheryl's battle is also a reminder that investments in cancer research and support are not in vain. In 2005, she participated in a groundbreaking clinical trial for the drug Herceptin, which has since been proven to cut breast cancer recurrence rates in half and has been approved by the FDA for wider use. Other life-extending therapies are being developed at an encouraging rate, propelled by public activism and government funding.

It is these resources -- public and private support, donations of time and money, and advocacy for the cause -- which will ultimately determine the survival chances of future cancer patients. The good news is that victory is within our reach.

Click here for a list of ways you can help

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Obama Hypocrisy: Fundamentals of the Economy Are 'Sound'

Joshua Sharp — 2009-03-17T00:02:00+00:00

Filed under: Politics, USC, The Economy

"The fundamentals [of the economy] are sound," Obama economic adviser Christina Romer declared Sunday on NBC's Meet the Press.

The irony of the statement was not lost, even on the ears of the media elite, in light of candidate Obama's harsh rhetoric towards then-rival John McCain for saying "the fundamentals of the economy are strong."

"It's not that I think John McCain doesn't care what's going on in the lives of most Americans," Obama said then. "I just think he doesn't know ... Why else would he say, today, of all days -- just a few hours ago -- that the fundamentals of the economy are still strong?

"Senator - what economy are you talking about?"

President Obama last week: "If we are keeping focused on all the fundamentally sound aspects of our economy, all the outstanding companies, workers, all the innovation and dynamism in this economy, then we're going to get through this," Obama said, contradicting his own budget director's recent assertion that "fundamentally, the economy is weak."

So what has changed since the campaigns ended?

Sept. 15, 2008: The Dow Jones Industrial Average is at 10,917. Sen. McCain says that the fundamentals of the economy are strong.

Nov. 4, 2008: Election Day. The Dow has dropped to 9,625.

Jan. 20, 2009: Inauguration Day. The Dow has plummeted further to 7,949.

Mar. 15, 2009: Obama economic adviser Christina Romer says, "Well, of course the fundamentals [of the economy] are sound..." The Dow is just over 7,200.

Prompted by MTP host David Gregory to explain Obama's about-face, Romer dodged before reinforcing the McCain/Obama comparison:

DR. ROMER: I think when the president says he's focusing on fundamentals, what he means is, is we're focusing on, on fixing the fundamentals; that we've always said we're not looking at the ups and downs of the stock market, we're looking for those crucial indicators: when are jobs turning around, when are sales turning around, when do we see consumers coming to life? That's the kind of thing that--certainly that I'm looking at in terms of when's the economy going to be doing better and, and when can we see some hope.

MR. GREGORY: Are the fundamentals of this economy sound?

DR. ROMER: Well, of course the fundamentals are sound in the sense that the American workers are sound, we have a good capital stock, we have good technology. We know that, that temporarily we're in a mess, right? We've seen huge job loss, we've seen very large falls in GDP. So certainly in the short run we're in a, in a bad situation.

--
You might remember that Sen. McCain also explained his statement by saying he was referring to the strength and ingenuity of the American worker.

President Obama recognizes now what Sen. McCain understood last year - consumer spending will not rise significantly until consumers believe that the economy is about to improve. While Candidate Obama rode to electoral victory by overstating the most depressing economic news and promising "change," his Administration is now burdened with a country suffering from a crisis of confidence.

That the stock market has continued to crumble since Obama's election certainly doesn't help. It would appear that governance can be a lot tougher than a political campaign.

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2009 College Grads: We're the Lucky Ones

Joshua Sharp — 2009-03-09T10:26:00+00:00

Filed under: USC, The Economy, Recession on Campus

Bright Hall explores the far-reaching effects of the financial crisis on the youth and campuses of America. Click here for the full series.

Popular opinion suggests that the collegiate Class of 2009 picked the wrong year to enter the job market. My classmates and I joke that we are the luckiest graduates in recent history, happening to chance upon the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

But optimism has its benefits, and there are a few rays of hope which have been mostly overlooked in mainstream coverage of the economic crisis. (Full disclosure: As a graduating senior, it's hard for me to be objective on this.)

1. We have a unique skill set. Our understanding of emerging technologies and new media networks is a terrific advantage compounded by a lack of reliance on traditional industry formulas. From public relations to online publishing, many companies are looking for innovative new ways to attract attention, retain customers and improve revenue models.

One unemployed 55-year-old -- who, until recently, was a magazine editor with a six-figure salary -- is now taking an unpaid internship to learn Internet marketing techniques. Our generation has been raised in a high-tech environment, and our endless online activity may finally pay off.

2. We're cheap. Most college graduates expect little more than entry-level pay and an overwhelming workload, "commensurate upon experience" clauses notwithstanding. Conveniently enough, the companies which are firing high-salary employees typically end up with more work than the remaining staff can handle. Enter, cheap labor.

Some companies are resorting to unpaid internships to help manage the excess work. But for those employers choosing between an eager, inexpensive amateur and a budget-breaking veteran, I'm willing to bet this job market leans toward the cheap rookie with potential.

3. Searching is easier than ever. The job-hunt toolbox now includes a number of new resources driven by technologies which were previously unavailable or underdeveloped. We can search through comprehensive job sites (CareerBuilder, Monster.com), a wide array of niche sites (MediaBistro, Idealist.org), or subscribe to a handful of semi-exclusive e-mail lists built on personal networking connections. New resume creation sites offer flexible multimedia capabilities, though these have yet to gain significant traction (VisualCV, ResumeBear).

Another idea is to create a custom website, which introduces both opportunities and risks (Six Rules for Personal Resume Web Sites). Excited by this platform's potential, I recently bought a domain to aid my own job search. The site hosts my resume along with a few writing samples and multimedia clips, but its actual impact on employment prospects, if any, is difficult to quantify.

* * *

Searching for a job in our current economic climate is certainly stressful, especially for college seniors looking at full-time positions. But with new tools, a fresh message and competitive value, we may be better equipped than most to traverse this rocky terrain.

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Meg Whitman Hands Out Free USB Bracelets

Joshua Sharp — 2009-03-01T17:23:00+00:00

Filed under: US Elections, Politics, USC

It may not have been as evident in this weekend's CPAC conference with the typical bumper stickers and bombastic speakers, but a growing number of Republicans are moving to close the technology gap with 2010 campaigns in mind.

Consider the innovative USB bracelets handed out by Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman's campaign at the California Republican Party Convention. The 512MB flash drives contain a two-minute campaign video with space left for other files, so it can be used for daily tasks while bearing Meg Whitman's campaign message around the user's wrist.

For the former eBay CEO, the bracelets are a strong reinforcement of her theme, "A New California." But their price tag -- up to $8-$12 apiece, a quick Web search suggests -- threatens to undercut Whitman's desired image as a fiscal conservative.

UPDATE 6:31pm: Whitman campaign spokesman Mitch Zak says in an e-mail that the campaign distributed close to 1,000 USB bracelets at the state party convention, at a cost of around $7 apiece. The idea came from senior advisor Jeff Randle, according to Zak, and "the response was phenomenal."

Zak adds: "We liked them because they allowed people to show their support for the Campaign, we were able to share a video produced to engage people in the effort and it's something that people will keep and use most likely for the duration of the Campaign. It's a great value and demonstrates the power of technology and creativity Meg wants to harness to create a New California."

Meanwhile, GOP Senate hopeful Chuck DeVore has attracted national attention for fundraising via the social networking site Twitter, with donations reported via a Twitter feed. The California Assemblyman hopes to defeat the incumbent Democrat Sen. Barbara Boxer in part by modeling the Obama presidential campaign's embrace of new technology and small donations of around $20. Instead of hiring a communications director in the typical sense, the DeVore campaign has brought on Justin Hart as "director of new media."

Even John McCain is twittering, counting down the top 10 "porkiest projects" in the omnibus bill. The list is dutifully recorded by Politico: here, here and here, with $1.7 million for pig odor research in Iowa winning the dubious top honors.

My colleague Kaitlynn Riely cautions not to fall behind, but I think the key is in using these new technologies for practical and effective purposes. Gimmicks are an easy way to generate buzz in the short-term, but the greater challenge is found in translating that momentum into greater fund-raising and electoral success.

UPDATE 11:21pm: In a comment below, Justin Hart discusses another low-cost tool used by the DeVore campaign.

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Carly Fiorina "Considering" Bid to Oust Barbara Boxer in 2010

Joshua Sharp — 2009-02-21T19:36:00+00:00

Filed under: US Elections, Politics, Small Campus, Big Story, Breaking News, USC

SACRAMENTO, CA -- Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina indicated today that she might seek the Republican nomination in 2010 to challenge incumbent Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.).

In a meeting with California College Republicans, Fiorina acknowledged that she is "considering a run for Barbara Boxer's seat" in the U.S. Senate. The room of young Republicans erupted with applause at the mention of Boxer's name. The Senate Democrat is a staunch liberal and the subject of much ire in conservative circles.
The California Republican Party Convention this weekend is playing host to a number of 2010 hopefuls. The halls are covered with competing campaign posters for California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner and former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, both of whom have started exploratory committees for a possible gubernatorial primary bid.

Poizner also spoke to the College Republicans, calling California's special-session budget deal "one of the worst pieces of public policy" in recent history and citing his own record of cutting the insurance department's budget by 10 percent.

The mood at the convention is a combination of angst and optimism. Two others who spoke at the College Republicans meeting, Assemblyman Chuck DeVore (who has declared his candidacy for Sen. Boxer's seat) and California Republican Party Chairman Ron Nehring, engaged in a friendly competition over who had more Facebook friends and Twitter followers.

DeVore is ahead, with over 1,500 Twitter followers and almost 3,000 Facebook friends, but the anecdote speaks to the Party's understanding that a technological revolution is necessary to secure electoral victories.

Meghan McCain will be pleased to know that all is not lost.

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Don't Lower the Drinking Age

Joshua Sharp — 2009-02-20T20:36:00+00:00

Filed under: USC, News, Advise & Dissent, Microtrends on Campus

Animated disagreement between coworkers is a venerable tradition often denied to Bright Hall's far-flung, break room-less staff. Advise & Dissent is an attempt to fix that. Click here for past debates.

My colleague Megan Baker has a post up today proposing that the U.S. would be well-served by a lower age limit on alcohol consumption, in advance of a "60 Minutes" special airing Sunday which is sure to renew the national debate.

Critics of the current age limit are undoubtedly well-intentioned, but their focus is ill-advised. Lowering the age limit from 21 years of age to 18 would send precisely the wrong signal to young people across the country: that alcohol isn't as dangerous and serious a substance as has been suggested for the last twenty-five years, when the current limit was put into effect.

Rather than focusing energy on slightly modifying a somewhat arbitrary number, we should instead unite around effective education and prevention programs led by student ambassadors armed with the real facts. Too many alcohol education programs sound like they've been crafted by out-of-touch administrators instead of actual peers.

Students need to hear about the effects of alcohol from fellow classmates speaking in our common language. Relying on hyperbolic scare tactics and abstinence-only rhetoric ends the dialogue far too early.

"Haze" is a new documentary which strikes this important balance. Centered around the devastating, preventable death of a University of Colorado freshman, this gritty film explores the culture of binge drinking and guides viewers toward an effortless conclusion, reinforcing the stark realities of excessive alcohol consumption. (You can see the film here. It is difficult to watch, so viewer discretion is advised.)

At the start of my freshman year at USC, all incoming students had to complete a two-part online education course, AlcoholEDU. The first half of the program had to be completed before the start of classes, and the second half began much later in the semester. While AlcoholEDU was certainly more memorable and conversational in tone compared to others I've seen, there remains a powerful subculture at college in which binge drinking is socially acceptable.

Penetrating this subculture and making binge drinking "uncool" again has to be our top priority today on campuses across America. Instead of spending money on campaigns whose legislative proposals, if passed, would suggest that alcohol is now more acceptable than ever before, we should work together on making binge drinking more unacceptable than ever. Such a social stigma would have a far greater impact than any legal limit.

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A Nation of Whiners?

Joshua Sharp — 2009-02-20T13:40:00+00:00

Filed under: USC, News, Microtrends on Campus

Last year, McCain 2008 economic adviser Phil Gramm was forced to resign after commenting that America had become "a nation of whiners." A recent New York Times story indicates that a similar mentality has spread to the younger generation in colleges across America, but students may not be entirely to blame.

Based on a study conducted by the University of California, Irvine, The Times reports that students are complaining more often about their grades and expecting to earn a B-average just for showing up. The study's lead researcher and other college professors attribute the shift to "achievement anxiety" and mounting parental pressure, adding that the mentality is reinforced by experiences in K-12 education in which many students have never received a grade lower than an A:

James Hogge, associate dean of the Peabody School of Education at Vanderbilt University, said: "Students often confuse the level of effort with the quality of work. There is a mentality in students that 'if I work hard, I deserve a high grade.'"

I see two things happening here. First, the article is right to point out that the pressure placed on students to achieve straight A's has spread across more and more families, pervaded our academic system and subsequently dictated career and financial success with increasing subjectivity.

Though loftier ambitions can be a positive development in moderation, they are psychologically defeating when taken to the extreme. Compared to our predecessors, my generation is more competitive, more adept at multi-tasking and more insistent on reaching the highest levels of personal success.

Second, changes in the American education system -- "socialized education," Michael Moore calls it -- have included so-called reforms which pass failing students simply by changing the threshold for a C-average. Much like inflation, the reduced value of a C grade and ease of access to it has made simple task completion and earnest effort seem like overachieving. Above-average students then seem like academic all-stars by comparison.

In universities across the nation, including my own, incoming freshmen classes are lauded each year as the most competitive and highest-achieving class yet. We would be wise to remain mindful of both the deflationary value of contemporary academic standards and the psychological effects of a make-or-break mentality which looks to fill a formula instead of simply pursuing a passion.

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World's Pitiful Unite at FMyLife.com

Joshua Sharp — 2009-02-12T18:38:00+00:00

Filed under: Culture, USC, Odd News

Put it down as one of the great message boards of our time. Great in the worst possible way.

Powered by shameless self-pity, adored for its pure, unadulterated entertainment value, and shared for its sheer addictiveness, FMyLife.com is destined to become a permanent resource to put your most disappointing days in their proper perspective -- even if it is a bit NSFW (not safe for work).

One user submits: Today, I received my passport in the mail. They got my birthdate wrong. Then I picked up my birth certificate that I had sent in with the application. Turns out my parents have been celebrating my birthday on the wrong day for 16 years. FML.

FML. Meaning, of course, F@!* My Life.

Though many FMLs involve relationship complications, others are just sadly sardonic about their patently unfair life: Today, my boss fired me via text message. I don't have a text messaging plan. I paid $0.25 to get fired. FML.

The site owners say they check each submission before publishing it online, attempting to weed out the exaggerated and the outright false. But there is no basement for the pitiful stories which populate this den of shared misery in the interest of public amusement, and some of these are so inconceivably horrible, part of me wishes they weren't actually true.

Today, the girl I love and I went to visit my parents out of state for the first time. My father grinned and acknowledged that she was a 'keeper,' at which she laughed and said we were 'just friends. I was going to propose to her next week. FML.

Factual or not, this site is remarkably therapeutic -- which is rather timely, given the current recession.

FMyLife.com. It will make any day seem infinitely better by comparison.

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The Audacity of Fear Appeals

Joshua Sharp — 2009-02-09T00:48:00+00:00

Filed under: Politics, USC, The Economy

When all else fails, scare us.

The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, whose conclusions typically aren't very controversial, said the proposed Democratic "stimulus" bill's short-term advantages would be eclipsed by the long-term ramifications of creating additional debt. In other words: this big, supposedly important thing might hurt more than it helps. That's scary.

But the hyperbolic rhetoric being used right now by the Obama Administration and Congressional Democrats certainly doesn't reflect the all-too-apparent need for a thorough debate, as they try to shove through this massive and immediate stimulus package which has been struggling to secure final passage in Congress. Per the Washington Times:

Last week [Obama] said, "A failure to act, and act now, will turn crisis into a catastrophe." ... House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California said last month that our economy "is dark, darker, darkest." Rep. David R. Obey of Wisconsin said, "This economy is in mortal danger of absolute collapse." And Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri said of the economic-stimulus bill, "If we don't pass this thing, it's Armageddon."

Congressional Republicans are calling for more time to review the legislation and consider alternative proposals.

This is not to say that the Obama Democrats are necessarily wrong in their analysis, though they could be. The truth is, we just don't know, and we're being herded toward a bridge or a cliff without really knowing what lies ahead.

Of course, fear appeals have been used as far back as I can remember -- specifically, first grade when a devious classmate threatened to frame me for stealing glue if I didn't play tetherball with him.

But this is much more serious than a looming time-out. The last time we were this scared, the result was a sugared-up Troubled Assets Relief Program (aka TARP), and we all know how that turned out.

For someone who campaigned on defeating "the politics of fear" with magic words like Change and Hope, Mr. Audacity sure has been scaring us a lot lately.

This proposal has trillion-dollar implications, for this and future generations. It might work, or it might not. Instead of reverting to ramped-up rhetoric, let's work together and be sure about this.

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College Seniors Facing Tough Decisions

Joshua Sharp — 2009-02-07T17:48:00+00:00

Filed under: Small Campus, Big Story, Featured Stories, USC, The Economy, Recession on Campus

Bright Hall explores the far-reaching effects of the financial crisis on the youth and campuses of America. Click here for the full series.

A line of 50 students, dressed in business attire and clutching thin binders with carefully-prepared résumés, wove beyond the line of tiny booths at USC's annual career fair Thursday and stretched onto an adjacent cement walkway.

The students were waiting to talk with a single company. I didn't recognize the company's name, but it looked like a consulting or engineering firm. The scene was indicative of the overall mood among graduating seniors at the fair, which included roughly 115 companies (down from nearly 200 last year) and students of all majors. Appropriately, the normal Southern California sunshine temporarily gave way to looming dark clouds and strong winds, though rain didn't fall until later that night.

With the economy in swift decline and jobs disappearing at a disturbing rate, many college seniors -- myself included -- are casting as wide a net as possible in our job-hunting efforts.

And while college career fairs can often be nerve-wracking, with prospective employers scrutinizing every detail and anxious students over-analyzing every aspect of the event, there seemed to be a particular sense of urgency this year. Many of the employers had no positions available, instead recommending unpaid internships to get a foot in the door.

Surprisingly, some recruiters didn't have students lining up. They just stood in front of their booth, waiting. The busiest booths were for engineering, corporate consulting and information technology, though that could be partially attributable to USC's highly competitive students in each of those degree programs.

I visited a small handful of booths searching for openings in communication/press offices, but it was admittedly a slow grind. With job offers being retracted in some parts of the country, the only option is to blanket the planet with a catchy appeal and forget about being picky.

Stay tuned for more campus updates throughout the spring semester.

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Why Daschle?

Joshua Sharp — 2009-02-06T15:12:00+00:00

Filed under: Politics, USC

I'm still a bit perplexed following former Sen. Tom Daschle's surprise withdrawal as President Obama's nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services.

It was apparently okay to have a Treasury Secretary with $42,000 of "mistakes" in unpaid taxes.

Charlie Rangel, the powerful chair of the House committee that writes our tax code, is still in charge despite tax mistakes so egregious, Rangel had to hire a forensic accountant. The New York Times reported Wednesday that Rangel left out more than $239,000 in assets from financial disclosure forms, with 28 mistakes over 30 years. But he still writes our tax code.

Labor Secretary-designee Hilda L. Solis' nomination is being delayed while a Senate committee reviews $6,400 in tax liens on her husband's business, but White House spokesman Robert Gibbs assured reporters that her nomination was still on track.

All this makes Joe the Plumber's $1,182.98 tax lien seem a bit silly. But wait, he was skewered for that!

Obama's nominee for chief White House performance officer, Nancy Killefer, withdrew her nomination following reports that she didn't pay taxes on her nanny. Her newly-created position was meant to root out waste and inefficiency in government, and she was generally well-regarded as a very qualified person for the job. A $950 tax lien rendered her unpalatable.

Again, I'm a bit perplexed. There is no real standard. Perceptions of political pressure are determining who is best qualified for some of the most powerful and influential positions in America.

Daschle's $128,000 in unpaid taxes accumulated because he didn't report a car and driver given to him by a friend, which, most simply stated, is one omission. (One huge omission, but a single mistake nonetheless.)

There were other allegations, sure -- that Daschle was too close with the health care industry, that he recommended the car-donor friend (a million-dollar Democratic Party contributor) for positions in the Obama Administration, etc. -- but the tax issue was the primary problem facing his nomination. His selection had initially been praised by advocates of liberal health care reform, who saw him as capable of constructing a passable compromise.

So where do we go from here? Treasury Sec. Geithner's tax problems are surely more relevant to his job than Daschle's omission. The criteria is not whether the tax problem is relevant; rather, whether the mistake is survivable politically.

That is the true shame in all of this.

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Steele Wins! "Change" Coming to the Republican Party

Joshua Sharp — 2009-01-30T16:15:00+00:00

Filed under: Politics, Breaking News, USC

Exit, another old white guy. Enter, Michael Steele.

The Republican National Committee took a major step toward rebuilding its brand with growing voter groups by electing former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele as chairman Friday. The five-man race whittled down in later rounds to two choices: one, an articulate, more moderate conservative and African American who had won in a left-leaning state (Steele); and the other, a white Republican from the South who belonged to an all-white country club until he began running for RNC chair (South Carolina's Katon Dawson).

Frankly, I'm a bit insulted the election was so close. It took six rounds of voting for Steele to squeak past Dawson and achieve a simple majority, 91 votes out of 168 total.

But Steele's election provides the Republican Party with a talented communicator and a fresh new face for conservative ideals. Steele will undoubtedly become an even more popular booking on the Sunday morning talk shows, with plenty of experience in that medium. And he seemed to be the popular choice among young Republicans, dominating many of my Republican friends' Facebook status updates in recent weeks and the only name mentioned at a recent USC College Republicans meeting.

Steele has also appeared on The Colbert Report, Stephen Colbert's Comedy Central fixture popular among many politically-savvy youth. And while I'm not sure it swung the election, he was also a key part of my "Grand New Party: Ways to Win" series.

Said the outgoing chairman Robert M. "Mike" Duncan, the aforementioned old white guy referenced at the top of this post: "The winds of change are blowing at the RNC."

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Obama Taps "American Taliban" Defense Lawyer

Joshua Sharp — 2009-01-26T07:02:00+00:00

Filed under: Politics, USC

President Obama, who as a candidate was accused of "pallin' around with" former domestic terrorist William Ayers and other controversial figures, has selected the "American Taliban" John Walker Lindh's defense attorney for a key Justice Department post.

Tony West, a San Francisco-based lawyer who worked in the Clinton Administration's Justice Department, has been nominated for an assistant attorney general position overseeing Justice's Civil Division. He also, conveniently enough, helped raise $65 million for Obama in California as a state finance co-chair during the campaign.

Not a bad down payment.

West is undoubtedly a talented attorney, negotiating a guilty plea for Lindh on reduced charges and helping the ex-Taliban fighter avoid the death penalty or a lifetime jail sentence (Hurray!). And, like Ayers, West doesn't regret his past -- even "said it was the kind of work he believed in," Bob Egelko writes in the San Francisco Chronicle.

But his nomination could brew another fight on Capitol Hill, should Senate Republicans locate their cajones.

President Obama and his supporters have been trying to characterize Obama's more controversial appointments as a demonstration of his commitment to pragmatism despite political risks:

Raytheon lobbyist for deputy defense secretary? "He obviously needed and wanted this man," Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) says.

Hillary Clinton for Secretary of State, shady donations and all? It's a Lincoln-esque "Team of Rivals."

Rahm "Rahmbo" Emanuel for chief of staff, a man known for his aggressive partisan tendencies? Obama calls him "'the whole package' of political acumen, policy chops and pragmatism," according to the New York Times.

Political spin aside, surely Obama could have found a less toxic choice than a Taliban fighter's lawyer; maybe someone who defended the other guy?

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Students Pack Classrooms and Coffee Shops

Joshua Sharp — 2009-01-20T11:10:00+00:00

Filed under: US Elections, Small Campus, Big Story, Breaking News, USC

Joshua Sharp is reporting live from the University of Southern California as students gather to watch today's inauguration ceremonies. Check back throughout the day for more updates and student reactions.

8:10am PST / 11:10am EST
The student coffeehouse Ground Zero is serving as the main watch party for USC students willing to wake up at this unseemly hour, and the room is already packed to capacity. USC professors Dan Schnur and Roberto Suro are opening a discussion at 8:30am, with a huge projection screen displaying a C-SPAN feed of the inaugural festivities. There is a palpable feeling of nervous excitement in the air.

Other watch parties are being held around campus, in apartments and in my COMM-375 Nonverbal Communication class. Next update coming from there...

9:06am PST / 12:06pm EST
Our 9:30am class has opened early to host a live watch party. A few chuckles after Obama stumbled through the oath of office, but his speech delivery is almost flawless so far... lots of proud smiles around the room.

9:45am PST / 12:45pm EST
Laughter in the classroom as CNN displays the temperature in Washington, D.C.: 28 degrees Fahrenheit, feels like 17 degrees.

Los Angeles today is overcast with a high of 75 degrees. It's a bit chilly inside for us, too, though: Someone left on the air conditioner...

9:52am PST / 12:52pm EST
It's odd to see President Obama and former President George W. Bush walking side-by-side as they exit the inauguration ceremonies. As I remarked in an earlier post, Dubya was the first president that my generation of college students have really ever known. Times, they are a'changing...

My initial reaction to Obama's succinct, powerful inaugural address? Three parts of the speech really stood out to me:

"Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted - for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things ... "

An early challenge to his critics:

"... [T]here are some who question the scale of our ambitions - who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done ..."

And, a passage that could easily be voiced by Bush 43:

"We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you."

Share your comments below, and stay tuned for instant student reaction over the course of the day.

11:56am PST / 2:56pm EST
Either "The Speech" was overhyped or Trojans are just hard to impress, because my conversations with students and staff around campus indicate a lukewarm, almost indifferent reaction to Obama's inaugural address today.

"It was good," shrugged Tyler Deutsch, a senior majoring in communication who watched Obama's speech over the Internet while at work.

Other students and staff members said the speech wasn't exceptional, but that they felt at least "satisfied" and more interested in seeing how the Obama Administration's policies actually develop. One student said she still hadn't watched the speech, but would after classes today.

Everyone expressed awe at the historic nature of Obama's presidency, but the tepid responses to his speech surprised me. We knew the immense hype surrounding Obama's inauguration would make it difficult for Obama to match expectations, but my impression was that he delivered a sharp, forceful address and met all of his objectives. Post your thoughts in the Comments section below...

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CNN Needs Help... Anyone?

Joshua Sharp — 2009-01-18T21:09:00+00:00

Filed under: Breaking News, USC, Media, Microtrends on Campus

If this is the future of 24-hour cable news, I'm going back to newspapers.*

CNN has launched a new gimmick, melodramatically named "THE MOMENT," by which ordinary citizens present at Barack Obama's inauguration on Tuesday can submit a picture of Obama being sworn in, as seen from their viewpoint -- in all likelihood, miles away and among standing-room-only crowds. The idea is to create a miles-long collage of pictures capturing Obama taking the oath of office. CNN calls it "the most detailed experience of a single moment ever."

While this project may offer a mildly interesting result, CNN's continued self-congratulating gimmickry strikes me as rather annoying. Remember their utterly useless live hologram? Wolf Blitzer kept chanting that television history was being made. No, television history was being made in 1950 when CBS gave the public color programming. CNN's Jessica Yellin going Princess Leia on us isn't particularly useful (and technically, it wasn't even really a hologram).

Instead of focusing on the "just the facts, ma'am" style of reporting which made the network so reliable and informative in the past, CNN insists on elevating bombastic personalities and cheesy interactive features alongside the regular informed perspectives and in-depth reporting. Is this the future of journalism?

Even "THE MOMENT" isn't quite as ridiculous as Rick Sanchez asking me to Twitter, Myspace and Facebook him so we can feel like buddies and he can read my comments on-air. It isn't as biased as Jack Cafferty ranting for a minute and a half and then asking viewers a slanted question along the lines of, "Why do you agree with what I just persuasively argued?"

And it isn't as arrogant as CNN constantly labeling itself "The Best Political Team on Television" with "The Best Political Podcast from The Best Political Team" and "The Best Political Roundtable from The Best Political Team on Television" (TBPRFTBPTOT for short).

I could air other complaints about Fox News' fluff stories or MSNBC's aggressive editorializing. But whatever happened to just telling us the five W's with a dash of context? I don't want CNN spending its advertising dollars trying to impress me with new technology. Just give me the news.

* SIDE NOTE: In my First Amendment class last week, my fellow students and I used handheld clickers to answer polling questions about how we receive our news. The 45-person class certainly has a selective bias and the poll isn't scientific, but it appears that newspapers aren't dead: More than 70% of students said they obtain their news online, while 51% indicated they rely primarily on newspapers' websites when browsing for news online. While not scientific, the poll suggests that younger generations still trust newspapers for information; we just obtain the information in a different format than our predecessors.

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