June 18, 2007
American embassies across the world are not just mere symbols of diplomatic relations. They are impenetrable fortresses that even Americans have a hard time accessing. In Amman, the American embassy is barely visible from the thick concrete walls that surround it.

May 31, 2007
Sometimes, with summer right around the corner and the sun shinning down on us with record-breaking heat, classes just don't seem worth it. For seniors, senioritis might be taking over, making the temptation to skip classes more powerful. For the rest of the student body, graduation might seem too far away to take bother with.

May 30, 2007
For more than four years now, America has waged a war in Iraq and I have used my column in The Daily to reflect on its repercussions. At the beginning of the war one warring party said about the other side, "Their ultimate ambitions are to control the peoples of the Middle East, and to blackmail the rest of the world with weapons of mass terror."

May 30, 2007
We've all heard it before. Memorial Day weekend should be more than just one less day of class. It should be a time to celebrate those who have served our country and think of those who are serving, right?

May 29, 2007
Porn and chat rooms are vices that have ended many a relationship. They have also been reasons for getting fired for some people who like to indulge themselves while at work.

May 24, 2007

May 24, 2007
The iconic college road trip keeps getting more expensive as gas prices continue to rise in Washington state. According to an article yesterday in MSN Money, Washington now has the fourth-highest gas prices in the country, right behind Illinois, Michigan and California.

May 23, 2007
Respect your elders and learn from them. It's a concept that transcends culture and faith. But not politics. Nothing is ever too low or too outlandish for politics.

May 23, 2007
Next year's incoming freshmen at the UW will likely be the highest academic achievers the school has ever seen — or so one would think, based on high school transcripts.

May 22, 2007
With the fire season having already arrived in parts of the country and quickly approaching the Northwest, many homeowners are starting to think about how to protect their home for the season.

May 21, 2007
A lot of people are tired of reading about Iraq. It's not that they don't feel bad about the war, it's just that they can't bear the thought of reading one more report on a car bomb exploding somewhere or the pond scum that some Iraqis are having to drink for lack of clean water.

May 17, 2007
The foundering recording industry, suffering at the hands of the illegal music downloading taking place everywhere, has a new tactic in the battle to stop college students from copyright infringement through file-sharing.

May 16, 2007
Arranged marriage. The mere thought brings a disgusted frown to people's faces. The idea conjures up images of veiled, powerless young women nervously waiting to see their husband for the first time on their wedding night.

May 16, 2007
The state of Washington's history with sex crime prevention isn't a good one, and its high time state agencies taking greater measures to ensure the safety of citizens –— especially children.

May 15, 2007
Beginning next year, cell phone users won't have to worry about driving getting in the way of their text-messaging.

May 14, 2007
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are still raging, and some kids couldn't celebrate Mother's Day yesterday because their moms are deployed overseas.

May 10, 2007
Researchers at the UW released a study Monday reporting that 40 percent of 3-month-old babies regularly watch television. The figure for two-year-olds is more than twice as high at 90 percent.

May 10, 2007
In February, the Washington Post ran a story about embarrassingly bad conditions at the Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, D.C., the United States' premier facility for returning war veterans.

May 9, 2007
Gig Harbor High School's Dean of Students Keith Nelson just made a big mistake in the school's halls. The dean has been reassigned to a new position, but the damage has already been done.

May 8, 2007
We all know about the WASL.

May 7, 2007
With the UW receiving significant attention for taking the top medical school spot the U.S. News and World Report's annual ranking of America's colleges, it's hard not to be proud of that notable rating.

May 3, 2007
Edward Scissorhands has a designated spot in many movie viewers' minds as the iconic gothic fairytale starring Johnny Depp, and it might be too hard to imagine anyone besides him playing that lanky, eccentric character.

May 3, 2007
As it has become increasingly apparent that foreign oil will not be able to sustain domestic energy consumption in the future, scientists and foresighted politicians alike have scrambled to find viable alternatives.

May 2, 2007
In recent years, blogging has steadily cemented its position as a new and hip form of communication for millions of Americans who read or write blogs. Everyone from the hormonal high schooler to your grandmother can create one in minutes to begin blogging their way to fame.

May 2, 2007
Yesterday, President Bush and Congress completed a set of totally useless symbolic political dance steps when Bush vetoed legislation to pull U.S. troops out of Iraq.

May 1, 2007
A walk down the Ave. is enough to illustrate the trend noted in a recent Associated Press article – vegetarian dining is growing in popularity. From Veggie Veggie to Araya's Vegetarian Place, the University District has its fair share of strictly vegetarian or vegan restaurants.

April 30, 2007

April 27, 2007
America's flag is still at half-staff, grieving the massacre at Virginia Tech that took 32 lives Monday, April 16. The country was stunned last week as it watched the tragedy unfold on news networks that were in a frenzied stampede to get to Blacksburg, Va., to cover the story.

April 26, 2007
Capital punishment has reared its controversial head once again, this time in the form of concerns about lethal injection procedures across the country.

April 25, 2007
The decision to move Seattle's annual gay pride celebration, Seattle Pride, to Seattle Center last year rather than keeping it in its traditional location on Capitol Hill was hotly debated by members of Seattle's gay community.

April 24, 2007

April 23, 2007
Since when does corporate America listen to anyone? The answer is, when a movement is so powerful, it becomes fiscally important, and even necessary, to listen to a vocal consumer base.

April 19, 2007
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas started a series of meetings last week amid pressure from the United States to get peace talks rolling.

April 19, 2007
The tainted pet food fiasco that has shaken pet owners and brought forth the wrath of animal rights groups across the nation may be indicative of far more serious problems in the way our nation monitors imported food products, according to a new report from The Associated Press.

April 18, 2007
Monday's brutal killing at Virginia Tech in the picturesque town of Blacksburg, VA stunned the nation. A mechanics professor. A Holocaust survivor. A Peruvian international relations student. Future engineers. An Air Force cadet. Parents, brothers, sisters and friends. They were taken away in the blink of an eye because of one young man's wanton rage.

April 17, 2007
Visitors can now walk right off the edge of the Grand Canyon.

April 16, 2007
Last week, the media airwaves were abuzz with the news that Paul Wolfowitz, president of the World Bank, had improperly secured a raise for his girlfriend, Shaha Riza, who works at the bank.

April 12, 2007
Imagine living in a concrete prison. You are in a windowless cell for 22 hours a day, exercise briefly at night and can spend days without seeing natural light.

April 12, 2007
For people interested in donning the latest fashions at exorbitant prices, this small boutique and its sister store Dream are the right places to shop.

April 12, 2007
What used to be two separate shops, Burnt Sugar and Frankie joined together to form a type of shoe and novelty shop in the heart of Fremont.

April 12, 2007
From the outside, Costas Opa looks like an unassuming Greek restaurant.

April 12, 2007
This art shop's credo is "Fun art, functional art, fine art by local artists," and it does a fantastic job of adhering to it, while giving shoppers a funky variety of local art.

April 12, 2007
This tiny shop in the heart of Fremont is easy to miss, but its small location belies its big reputation.

April 12, 2007

April 12, 2007
Few Americans really understand what it is like to live in a war zone. Americans hear about war in Bosnia, Rwanda, Sudan and Iraq, but few can say that they know it firsthand.

April 11, 2007

April 10, 2007

April 9, 2007

April 5, 2007

April 4, 2007
Whenever Iran is mentioned in the news, it's a pretty safe to bet that whatever the story is, readers are going to shake their heads and grumble...

April 4, 2007

April 3, 2007

March 29, 2007

March 28, 2007
America's endeavors have no bounds. This country has made no secret of its political and military trampling across the world, and corporate America has also stretched its wealthy and powerful arm.

March 28, 2007

March 27, 2007

March 26, 2007

March 8, 2007

March 7, 2007

March 6, 2007
Unfortunately, mental health care in Washington is facing a dilemma that could hurt the quality of care in the near future.

March 5, 2007

March 1, 2007
Family trees are relics most often found in the bottoms of dusty trunks in basements across America, tossed in there among old photo albums and elementary school sports trophies.

March 1, 2007

February 28, 2007

February 27, 2007

February 26, 2007
We expect a certain amount of safety as students, and fortunately, we get it. But not all college students across the world are so lucky, and we take this fact for granted. If school were a life and death situation each and every day, would we go?

February 23, 2007
In the eyes of many Americans, the Middle East has shown itself to be a horrendous Pandora's box of one major catastrophe following another.

February 22, 2007

February 21, 2007

February 20, 2007

February 15, 2007
With the presidential campaign season quickly descending upon America and politicians declaring their candidacy, the nation's airwaves and newspapers are already becoming littered with the personal attacks, insults and threats that politicians and the media fling around in attempts to discredit candidates.

February 13, 2007

February 12, 2007

February 8, 2007

February 7, 2007
People seeking social, mental or professional help in their lives often turn to counselors for guidance, but they may want to double-check credentials before they pour their hearts out.

February 6, 2007

February 5, 2007

February 1, 2007

January 31, 2007

January 31, 2007
A few years ago I interned at a journalism center in Amman, Jordan.

January 30, 2007

January 29, 2007

January 25, 2007

January 24, 2007

January 23, 2007

January 23, 2007
Last quarter at The Daily, we had an impromptu science experiment going on with a few pieces of piping hot pizza.

January 22, 2007

January 18, 2007

January 17, 2007
For all of America's celebration of democracy, I can't help but notice an infatuation with royalty and monarchies.

January 17, 2007

January 16, 2007
The goal of holidays like Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Veteran's Day is to draw national and individual attention to the struggles and sacrifices of communities in our nation.

January 11, 2007

January 10, 2007
In the early morning hours of one of the holiest days of the year for millions of Muslims, Saddam Hussein awoke to the sight of a red card bearing his death sentence.

January 10, 2007
Parents at Whittier Elementary in North Seattle are up in arms, and with good reason.

January 9, 2007

January 8, 2007

January 4, 2007
If you went to a Starbucks coffee shop yesterday and bought a pastry, you were among the first to taste the company's new trans fat-free foods.

January 3, 2007
Madonna goes to Malawi to adopt a child. Brangelina takes an extended vacation in her adopted daughter's native Namibia.

December 7, 2006

December 7, 2006
As the year winds down to an end, it seems worthwhile to step back and examine the progress we have made as a nation, or, as some have come to believe, a great empire.

December 6, 2006
They're coming. Thousands of them in six-story swarms. Razing buildings to the ground. Sucking the life-blood out of entire neighborhoods, and leaving nothing but Craftsman rubble in their wake.

December 5, 2006
Keith Ellison, Minnesota's newly elected Democratic congressman, identifies himself as a member of the Muslim faith and as such would like to carry a Quran while being sworn into office.

December 4, 2006
The Seattle City Council will vote next Monday on a proposed set of revisions to city parking standards.

November 30, 2006

November 29, 2006
With Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth released on video last weekend, and with the Supreme Court intending to hear its first case on global warming starting today, human-induced climate change is clearly a hot topic.

November 28, 2006
You may not pay much attention to it, but you know its there. You know it's there because, even if you're not, someone else might get to be.

November 27, 2006
With the political mudslinging over and the post-fall election cleanup in progress, it's easy to forget the messages that candidates peppered voters with to gain a vote.

November 27, 2006
An increasing trend of Internet slang and casual abbreviations used in academic writing is being seen by both high school teachers and university professors, according to a new report by <i>Newhouse News Service</i>

November 22, 2006

November 21, 2006
The Pacific Northwest is renowned for its natural resources, with Mount Rainier on one side and the Puget Sound and Pacific Ocean on the other. Many Seattleites pride themselves on being environmental activists.

November 20, 2006

November 16, 2006
For decades, the cornerstone of American news has been evening broadcasts that offer the events of the world in neatly packaged, half-hour segments. The advent of the Internet has offered more choice in what news we want and when we want it. Either way, we expect our sources to be ethical, comprehensive and truthful. It's comforting to see big names precede our news stories and broadcasts; it gives us a sense of security.

November 14, 2006
Hola. Bonjour. Konichiwa. If you're like many of us at The Daily, you probably had your first taste of a formally taught foreign language as a middle or high school student.

November 13, 2006
When most students consider the global HIV/AIDS pandemic, they think of disease. Perhaps they think of hunger, too, but they probably do not realize that a lack of food is undermining the effectiveness of AIDS drugs in impoverished nations where the crisis is at its worst.