College Shorts - 5/6

Students protest Arizona immigration law

Students from the University of Texas and local civil rights groups staged a protest on the U. Texas campus against the new controversial Arizona immigration law. The students used signs, chants and pink boxers to protest.

Members of the student group wore pink boxers and handcuffs in reference to Joe Arpaio, an Arizona sheriff famous for forcing prisoners to wear pink underwear and pink handcuffs.

The law, which was signed on April 23, allows police to request proof of residency status from anyone under “reasonable suspicion” of illegal residency.

“They’re not going to stop someone who they don’t think looks illegal, but how do you determine that?” said Jenipher Paredes, a member of the league and a biology freshman at UT.

“The constitution doesn’t say, ‘If you look Latino, you look illegal,’ but that’s what this law will mean,” Paredes said. “It’s insane. It’s racial profiling, and it is a big deal.”

— The Daily Texan

Cal biologist discovers new species of orchid

James Ackerman, a biology professor at the University of Puerto Rico, recently discovered a new species of orchid at the U. California Botanical Garden at Berkeley.

The plant was originally discovered by Donald Dod, an old friend of Ackerman’s and a research associate at UC Berkley. The plant was found in the Haitian mountains of Pic Macaya National Park in the 1980s, but Ackerman needed a flowering specimen in order to confirm the new species status.

The plant had been housed in the garden since the mid-1990’s, but had not bloomed until May 2009. Due to the financial limitations of the garden, it was not examined and officially declared a new species until recently.

Paul Licht, the Botanical Garden’s director, estimates that more than 13,000 of the rare and endangered species that comprise only part of the world’s largest collection of wild plants go unexamined.

— The Daily Californian

“Onion” CEO speaks at University of Wisconsin

In a lecture on April 15 at the University of Wisconsin, CEO Steve Hannah of The Onion, a popular satirical newspaper, gave a lecture to stress the importance of satire in today’s news.

Although Hannah previously served as the managing editor for the Milwaukee Journal, Hannah said satire is a more significant news source than those commonly considered reputable by the general public.

“There is more truth to what we do in satire, really, than there is in what passes as mainstream news today,” said Hannah.

To back up his controversial claim, Hannah discussed the tremendous influence of past satirical works, such as Voltaire’s work and Jonathan Swift’s “A Modest Proposal,” as ways satire has transformed society.

The Onion recently signed a contract with Comedy Central and will begin producing an Onion sports show in January of 2011. The Independent Film Channel and the Sundance Channel will also air the show.

— The Badger Herald