In response to this article by Editor in Chief Alisa Farenzena, the following letter was composed by some of the Patriot’s editorial board.

Fellow Patriots,

We strongly disagree with Alisa Farenzena’s Conservative Case for Abortion article.

The article claims supporting abortion is consistent with small government principles. However, the article then goes on to say the government should fund this heinous procedure, giving poor women a perverse incentive not to bear their children. Forcing taxpayers to fund such a disgraceful practice is certainly not small government.

The argument in the article is similarly devoid of family values. The most important value in any family is the love and worth accorded to each member. The youngest and most vulnerable people in a family are the most needing of protection and care, not a death sentence.

Many times the Hippocratic Oath is mentioned. This ancient oath specifically instructs doctors to not engage in abortions.

We, the undersigned staff of the California Patriot, recognize the importance and value of life in the womb and stand firmly against abortion.

Rohit J. Joy
Publisher

Derek Yee
News Editor

Charles Huang
Design Director

Christopher Page
Online Editor

Andrew R. Quinio
Editor Emeritus

Even though the ASUC elections are over, the April issue of the Patriot still has a lot of good material.

Some pieces of interest include Roshanne Katouzian’s report on the end of the “Fresh” tree sit. Tommy Owens examines the costs of all the protests in Berkeley. The great Derek Yee talks about the court ruling and the value of home schooling.

If you want to read something that will get you riled up we have something for you. Justin La Grange writes on why gays should be Republican. Alisa Farenzena makes her conservative case for abortion.

If you think any of the articles in the magazine come up with stupid points or think they are complete loads of crap (like the abortion one), write a letter to letters@californiapatriot.org.

I apologize in advance for any bad links in the April issue. I am on campus and cannot fix them immediately.

I just finished uploading the February issue of the Patriot. If you are anywhere near Berkeley you know the rain has hindered distribution today. If the weather permits, we will be out there tomorrow.

After changing hosts, two dozen plus computer crashes, uploading tens of thousands of files, working with 50+ MB of text, changing tables in sql files, and seeing interesting things in wordpress the blog is back.

Let me know if anything blog related is broken. I will link all the the pictures correctly as soon as I can.

We will get back into posting and be back to normal by the start of classes.

As you may have noticed, we were experiencing some technical difficulties. Fortunately, the blog is up and running as of now. If there are any problems in the future, I will make posts at the blog in exile from last year on blogspot.

The first Patriot of the school year is now online. It you don’t want to read it here, pick up a copy on Sproul. While it is not as funny as Squelch, it is the best full color magazine on campus.

News articles of note include Robert Nathan Eberhart’s reporting on Christian employees in Oakland being prevented from advertising a group, Matthew Vasquez’s article on Berkeley’s new laws that could curtail the homeless presence, and Christopher Page following the Berkeley Unified School District’s reluctance to turn over student contact information to the federal government. There are also opinion pieces. The front and back covers are fun to look at.

As always the California Patriot is printed on 100 percent non-recyclable, non-biodegradable paper, manufactured from virgin rainforest trees.

I have been putting this off, but the blogroll needs to be updated. After Ben’s post yesterday that officially declared Calstuff in a state with zero or less writers following months of inactivity, the Berkeley blogsphere needs some good news.

If you have a unique perspective on things, start a blog.

The Daily Squelch is out there, bringing you SQUELCH! goodness on a daily basis.

Also, Bears Necessity has been active for a while. They actually link here, which is more then the Daily Clog can say.

Do you know of any vaguely Cal related blogs? Drop a link.

There is a new online article by a new contributor, Jessica Vu. In the article she describes what happened in Vietnam after the United States completely pulled itself out.

In the days that followed, a new era of totalitarian rule was unleashed upon the Vietnamese people. The world could only watch and cringe as the newly reinstated Socialist government began its systematic persecution of opposition political leaders and their followers. Thousands of innocents were tortured and executed in “work” camps, mere euphemisms for concentration death camps. In this society, where any deviation from the party line had severe consequences, few dared to protest.

I hope you check it out.

I’m not sure how many of you have checked out this year’s Best of Berkeley…but I’ve noticed that there is no Best Blog award.

I can only wonder…does this has anything to do with the Daily Clog’s arrival?

It’s too bad. Nothing motivates improvement better than a little bit of friendly competition.

Correction: The news item of the scholarship for students who used drugs and not the specific article of the Patriot won the following award from the Collegiate Network.

The ASUC Drug Conviction Scholarship won second place in the Collegiate Network’s Campus Outrage Awards. The news was covered by Derek Yee and Mike Klein as the cover story of last month’s magazine.

Keep up the good work!

Hi everyone! My name is Amaris, and I’ll be the Patriot blog’s newest writer. There’s not too much to say about me…I’m a third year, Business & Econ double major, Publisher of the Cal Patriot, and former Senior Associate Justice of the JCouncil. Politically, I’m probably more of a libertarian on social issues, but a conservative on economic issues.

The others here have already done an amazing job, and hopefully I’ll be able to contribute some good material myself.

Enjoy!

The April issue of the Patriot is now out on Sproul and online. Much of the content is ASUC related, so here is the summary of endorsements:

Fees:
TGIF: NO
Lower Sproul: NO
Student Life: NO

We would have taken a stance on the Squelch fee but since the ASUC changed the rules to allow it to be added after the deadline, we did not know it would make it on the ballot when the magazine went to press.

ASUC Offices:
President: Ilana Nankin
Executive VP: Taylor Allbright
External Affairs VP: Dwight Asuncion
Academic Affairs VP: Carolina Jauregui

These endorsements were by no means unanimous. There is a piece making the case for voting all CalSERVE for the executive offices.

There is also an interview with BCR candidate Chad Kunert for ASUC Senate.

Some other content I will highlight includes an interview with Mark Steyn by Robert Nathan Eberhart and more on the BP and University research agreement. James Fullmer talks about the continuing problem of human trafficking.

Now online is an article by Patriot Editor in Chief Andrew R. Quinio. In it he talks about some fliers that have been posted around campus to vilify Dwight Asuncion in his run for External Affairs Vice President.

Questioning a person’s political beliefs should certainly not be frowned upon. Rather than examining the merits of Asuncion’s plans for the EAVP office, though, his critics are going after a few kind words he had about our president. Having such a litmus test for student-government aspirants is outrageous, especially at the nation’s top public university. One would hope that the preposterous attacks on Asuncion’s intelligence aren’t enough to fool the student voters.

The fliers had no substance to them, only a quote from an article Asuncion had written over 2 years ago. The people who made this don’t even provide an opportunity for response. They are like so many of the anonymous commenters online. They talk and attack but disappear when asked a question.

If you want something to listen to while you are lounging around, check out Alex Marlow’s new podcast. He interviews Kyle Tibbitts about his internship in the White House during the last election. They also speculate about something that is getting closer all the time, 2008 Presidential race.

I try to avoid speculation about nominations this early, but few people share my restraint. Who do you support and like in either side for President in ’08?

I am putting up these two pictures because they have facebook profiles here and here.