David Tran vividly recalls taking frequent childhood trips with
his family to Chinatown in downtown Los Angeles. The fourth-year
sociology student, son of Chinese immigrants from Vietnam, said
they often went to get the herbs and foods they could not find
anywhere else in the city.

Don Terpstra, a U.S. foreign service officer, served in Chile at
the end of Augusto Pinochet’s regime and worked as a U.S.
diplomat in Panama when the Panama Canal and Zone reverted back to
Panamanian control.

In a sometimes heated discussion with witty rebuttals, the Bruin
Democrats and the Bruin Republicans on Tuesday night debated topics
relevant to current national and international politics, including
security threats from Iran, filibusters in the U.S.

Global studies students attended class Wednesday eager to
address their questions about current international issues to guest
lecturer Warren Christopher.
In a lecture and subsequent question-and-answer session, which
was open to other students and community members as well, the
former secretary of state, who served during former President Bill
Clinton’s administration, discussed the actions he thinks the
United States should take in current international affairs.

A recently proposed plan to reform the academic requirements in
Los Angeles high schools may make more students eligible to apply
to the University of California.

Students will mail letters today to the University of California
president and treasurer asking them to investigate the
university’s financial holdings and relinquish stocks held in
companies that do business in Sudan, if such investment is revealed
in their investigation.

Students, faculty and the campus community expressed varied
reactions to Tuesday’s announcement of Pope Benedict XVI as
the new leader of the Roman Catholic Church.
While some were disappointed by the election of a conservative
pope, others found his expressed commitment to Catholic policies
encouraging.

Experts at UC Berkeley, with other institutions and businesses,
are expected to begin work soon to research and develop technology
that will make communication systems more secure.

As Pouya Gharavi exited St. Peter’s Basilica on Tuesday
morning, he spotted a candle displayed in one of the many memorials
that ornamented St. Peter’s Square.

Santa Monica Mayor Pam O’Connor announced last month that
Santa Monica is joining about 10 other cities in drafting a
resolution that will commit those who sign on to it to strive to
reduce industrial gas emissions, which many scientists say
contribute to global warming.