His faint smile transformed into a look of utter confusion as the girl stopped and gave him an equally confused stare. Pretending not to see the awkward situation, I entered through another set of doors. Read more...

DURBAN, South Africa “”mdash; Besides being basically across the globe from each other, the United States and South Africa have a lot of things in common, including a recent history of racial segregation and a mechanism of trying to make amends for that history ­”“ racial affirmative action. Read more...

Read more...

“No man is an island,” you may have read in high school. “Unless,” poet John Donne should have written, “he lives in Westwood.” Castaway stories aren’t uncommon. Read more...

You know what we need? More jackasses in politics. Sure, the right has plenty of rude, obnoxious talking heads, but what about the liberals? Our stock of crazy people is pathetic by comparison. Read more...

Bruin Republicans are open, diverse Is the religious right splitting conservatives? As David Lazar pointed out in his column (“Religious right splits conservatives,” Oct. 20), social conservatives and social moderates within the Republican Party have been split in the past. Read more...

Azerbaijan leaves much to be desired While mentioning Azerbaijan’s oil wealth and ostensibly secular nature, Jennifer Mishory’s piece (“Azerbaijan deserves U.S. public attention,” News, Oct. 23), misses some other aspects of Azerbaijan that are worthy of attention. Read more...