Democrat, Republican, Green, Libertarian or whatever third party pops up into the political arena – there are so many to choose from that it makes my head hurt. AP US Government & Law class is to blame for doing this to me. Choosing a political party to side with isn’t something that interests me at the moment so feel free to call me an ignorant fool for not seeming to care, even with the mess that our federal government is in right now.

I’ve been “of voting age” for a while now, yet I can’t bring myself to register for a political party of my choice. I don’t feel the pressure of registering as a Democrat even if most of my relatives and friends swear allegiance to Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama, although I am leaning towards siding with that pitiful-looking donkey. The negative connotation of the words “Republican” and “conservative” at my school is enough for me to say, “No thanks.” The Dick Cheney jokes still make for a good laugh though.

I’ve got a ways to go in order to educate myself on third party philosophies and the like, but the chances of me registering for one is a long shot. I will probably eat my words at about the same time next year when the 2008 presidential race heats up. I have a feeling that college will open up my eyes and ears to the political world, so why should I rush now?

- Joseph Natividad

It’s that special time of year once again for high school juniors and seniors. The tuxedos and ball gowns make up for just a portion of the large sum of money that goes to prom. Girls are usually more “into” the whole ritual while guys take a step back for what hopes to be a memorable night. The real fun supposedly takes place during prom after-parties, and this is usually where the trouble begins.

Throughout this past week, a totaled pickup truck was put on display in front of my high school to serve as a reminder of the dangers of driving while intoxicated. Police officers were on hand and called together an upperclassman assembly to warn us against life threatening situations that often occur during prom night. Included in this congregation was a showing of “Red Asphalt V,” the documentary best known for its footage of the aftermath of deadly car crashes. This brought about a number of “Oohs” and grossed out looks at the graphic images of organs lying on the pavement and bodies bent in positions they aren’t meant for. If the threat of “You don’t want this to happen to you” isn’t going to work, I don’t know what else grownups could think of.

My high school prom is only a few hours away, so getting some last minute shut-eye before heading off to the city would probably be a smart thing to do if I expect to be wide awake till tomorrow morning. I have a sinking feeling that a number of my schoolmates plan to disregard the weeklong warnings from the faculty and the Berkeley Police Department, especially after quite a few of my classmates had decided to cut school yesterday to celebrate 4/20 in a not so down low fashion. It’s hard to tell whether common sense exists nowadays.

- Joseph Natividad

Yesterday marked the annual celebration of the Day of Silence, when students across the country took a symbolic vow of silence against the harassment and discrimination of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students.

Created by former University of Virginia student Maria Pulzetti 11 years ago, the Day of Silence is usually held during a Wednesday in April with more than 450,000 participants from 4000 colleges and high schools in America.

At my high school, the Diversity Club took initiative by leading discussions on identity issues and handed out signs to those willing to participate in the nine-hour long demonstration. A fraction of the student body participated in the organized effort, and at 5:00PM the breaking of the silence brought the quiet protest to a conclusion.

- Joseph Natividad

So. I was recently on Facebook. (Actually, I’m on facebook quite often.) Anyway, as you know if you have a Facebook (and if you don’t have one, you need to get one RIGHT NOW or you’re not cool AT ALL (that was sarcasm)), there is a little menu type agenda thing that you are taken to every time you sign on. It is appropriately called “Home.” It’s not part of your profile, so you don’t edit it or anything, but you basically get a newsfeed of what’s been going on with your friends lives in several categories: events, groups, photos, notes, relationships, friends, wall posts (similar to comments on the inferior Myspace), profiles, status, and posts. Basically for the non-facebook user, you can learn what events are going down, what groups people have joined/left, what photos people have uploaded or commented, what notes people have posted, what people’s social lives are like, what other people are saying to them, what they changed in their profile, what there doing currently, and what they announce to the Facebook world.

However, I didn’t write this blog post to introduce people to Facebook. I think that I have unlocked the secret to why Facebook is steadily becoming more popular than other such networking sites, including Myspace. It is because on your wall, you get to spy on other people. Yes, that’s right, Facebook essentially tracks your friends’ every online move and reports it to you. With an ad or two. And, knowing the curiosity of most people, this is definite plus. You will be told the very SECOND that Sally and Jimmy break up. Oh No! Bobby joined the “Super Cool Kids Club” group! You must do it too this very moment, or you might be left in the dust! What??? Joe uploaded that crappy picture of me that I told him not to! I must go comment it with insults right now! All Facebook is doing is further fragmenting our digital society, already based too much upon internet interaction. We need to learn to break away from this electronic voyeurism that is so appealing.

As you can tell, I’m a little miffed at Facebook. But it’s not their fault. I just waste too much time on the site when I should be doing homework, and writing essays. But it’s OK. Facebook has a solution for me. I have joined the “F*** you facebook, I’m trying to do my homework.” group and the “I Stay Up Late and I Don’t Do Anything Productive” group.

And now I have an essay to go write. And by “an essay to go write,” I mean a Facebook wall to watch intently for every little change in people’s lives.

- Colin Kennedy

The flawed editing, the weathered film reel look, the nonstop gore and action – I can’t believe that “Grindhouse,” the amazing double feature from the creative minds of Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino, has done so poorly at the box office. Even though I’ve been suffering a little jet lag from a recent spring break trip, I couldn’t wait any longer to feast my eyes on this particular film.

I feel sorry for the international moviegoers, who will have to pay twice in order to see both “Planet Terror” and “Death Proof.” The Weinstein Brothers are doing the wrong thing by splitting “Grindhouse” into separate showings, and it can be argued to be just a ploy to earn more box office dough in order to make up for the losses here in the US. I’d be annoyed if they decided to do this over here. Already, I can’t wait for what’s in store for me when “Grindhouse” releases on DVD with what I hope to be tons of extra material. The straight-to-DVD adaptation of what I saw in the trailer for “Machete” should also be worth a look.

If I had to choose which of the two main features was better, I’d have to go with Rodriguez’ “Planet Terror,” the first of the two shown. I actually enjoyed the comedy of seeing body parts either fall off or get ripped apart. I think that Tarantino dragged his “Death Proof” just a tad bit much with the extended dialogues between his female characters. These long, intimate conversations did allow me to get a deeper feel for the kinds of people they were, and having the feeling that I knew them made me more sympathetic as they faced off with the villain, Stuntman Mike (Kurt Russell). “Death Proof” also had one of the more memorable car chasing scenes I’ve seen in awhile.

Although “Grindhouse” may sound long at a little more than three hours, I really think that it’s worth your time and money to go see this film. I couldn’t get enough of it that I sat through the entire credits (expecting a bonus scene or trailer). There wasn’t one, but I didn’t really feel disappointed. It’s not too often that people get to see a double feature as well as hilarious trailers from directors like Rob Zombie and Eli Roth. If you’ve enjoyed past works by Tarantino and Rodriguez, you will surely be blown away by what’s in store for you at your nearest movie theater.

- Joseph Natividad

Getting the window seat and meeting the captain used to be things I looked forward to as a kid. It used to be an adventure. But as I got used to the less than satisfactory experience of economy class traveling, long international flights have transformed into the part I dread most about my vacations.

The food on the plane is horrendous, but I force myself to eat the dry bread, the yucky salad and the chicken parmesan that doesn’t taste like chicken parmesan. (And everything’s supposed to taste like chicken right?) The complementary salted nuts and choice of soda are not enough to fill up my stomach during domestic flights either.

I hate those planes with TVs above the aisle. It forces me to look up the whole time and squint to read the subtitles that my neck and eyes just end up getting sore. Sometimes the headphones being handed out don’t even work properly. It’s impossible to be entertained if you can only hear out of one earjack.

I figured out that the best way to make long flights seem as short as possible is to sleep my way through it. I force myself to stay up the night before I travel so that I’ll end up dozing off as soon as I get on board the plane. Still, the closeness of each cabin seat makes me feel claustrophobic and uneasy. The person sitting right next to me might have bad breath and a tendency to snore or talk way too much. The airplane is not a place to make new friends and learn each other’s life stories.

I’ve spent the past month in the Philippines, missing some school but enjoying a longer spring break than most of my friends. I’ve had a great experience here and am sad to see it near an end (like most vacations do). The 12 hour plane ride back to San Francisco will most likely include a combination of the things that really annoy me. The process after it – passing through customs, waiting forever at the baggage claim and having to adjust to another time zone – that’s more than enough stress to erase the pleasant mood out of my trip.

- Joseph Natividad

I’ve never been a fan for Internet socializing (how can punctuation marks represent feelings?), but even I couldn’t resist joining Facebook’s UPenn Class of 2011—a group of students who, like me, would all be attending the University of Pennsylvania next fall.

As the New York Times reported, these college groups are part of a growing trend that combines the college admissions bubble with the Internet’s takeover of teens’ lives. As of right now, 1036 people have joined our group and the number is climbing every day.

As I see it, this is a fantastic way to acquaint oneself with future classmates. Students come from Korea, Guam, and Kentucky and the Internet is the only method in which we can actually meet each other before setting off to Philadelphia. We can swap stories, experiences, and March Madness picks all within the comforts of our bedrooms.

Yet one of my ’06 friends who went off to college was horrified at the concept. She said that once you’re on campus and meet these people in person, there is a high potential for awkward turtles to ensue. She said we’d have four years to get to know each other—why not wait?

I’m unconvinced. I received some great advice on which foreign languages to take, which airlines to fly with, and which dorms to avoid. Together, all 1,036 of us can contribute something and form together a massive wad of informal information, a lot of the stuff you can’t find on the official website. This swapping of facts and hearsay has prepared me for what I can expect and also encourage me to look into things that I wouldn’t have thought of otherwise.

Thus it seems reasonable to use these groups for information. The relationship-building, however, seems faulty. How strong can a relationship be when the only communication has been comments over Facebook? While there are online dating sites, no relationship can spawn until you are actually face to face with the person.

I’ve never made a friend on Facebook, but I see a lot of potential once I arrive on campus. Until we shake hands, however, all of these relationships are simply cyber.

Brian Mertens