It's no secret that Santa Monica College lacks social protocol. Rude Manners are running rampant; time for an etiquette update.

That Tuesday afternoon, the Senate Finance Committee voted 14-9 to move the final health care reform bill through the conservative panel.  This bill comes in at under $900 billion dollars over ten years, being the least munificent in terms of providing for working and middle class Americans to afford health insurance.

The increase of insanity with customers can be attributed to their dwindling amount of money in their bank account. This is understandable considering people look for the best deal or little pieces of sanity after their long workday.  However, this is not an excuse for people to treat other people like they are beneath you.

On Tuesday, October 5, 2009 a suicide bomber attacked the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) in Islamabad, Pakistan. As a result, five people were killed, all Pakistani WFP workers, and at least six people were injured.

With reality T.V. on the rise, what is to come from the decaying of society and diminishing intellect that "Speidi" are leading us all to?

When your Facebook friends statuses constantly update with findings of lost chocolate cows or celebrating the harvest of their sweet potato plant you coldly disregard it. When its 8:30 am, you're late to class and someone in your carpool gasps in remembrance  "MY FARM", you shake your head in disapproval.

Quadrennial presidential candidate Lyndon LaRouche has made the Obama/Hitler comparison a mainstay of his health care opposition on college campuses everywhere, even regrettably here at SMC. Granted, Mr. LaRouche, seven times a Democratic candidate for president, ex-con and a man who has been labeled everything from a Marxist to an anti-semite to a homphobe is no paradigm of sanity.

The parking situation at SMC never seems to be under control. Trying to park a car in any of SMC's structures on the first day of the Fall Semester felt more like trying to park in any of 3rd Street Promenade's structures on Black Friday. And even still, in mid October, the parking ordeal is trying to park at the mall during the holiday shopping season. The difference is that instead of parking at the mall to spend money, we're parking at school, where we have already spent $85 just to be able to park.

When the military disestablished control from Honduras' President Manuel Zelaya, it caused a ricochet of shockwaves throughout Central America and the world. The military furthered the humiliation of Zelaya and Honduras by banishing the president to Costa Rica. The military foolishly acted on impulse, resulting in a massive political scandal instead of letting the situation subside when Zelaya was up for election in January 2010.

When asked last month about a tax on soda during an interview with the magazine Men's Health, President Barrack Obama stated,"I actually think it's an idea that we should be exploring." He went on to state that too many children are drinking soda, and that he believes it is not the only factor in obesity, but that it is a big one.

"Where do you go to school" is a question I often dread when meeting new people. I always struggle to spit out "SMC" with downcast eyes and an I-know-I'm-a-failure shrug.

Your staff editorial on Schwarzenegger's speech was so asinine it's difficult to know where to begin. For starters, it isn't "un-American" or "foolish" to protest the Governor's commencement speech. With just a bit of reading about American history, you'd know that this country was founded by protestors and that King George III thought they were foolish, too.

The recent shooting and killing of a domesticated tiger begs to question why common sense didn't exist in the minds of the members of the Department of Fish and Game, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Ventura County Sheriff's Department.

You've survived to the end of week one, Santa Monica College Spring Semester 2005. Classes are more or less dialed in and time-consuming lines to purchase required texts at the bookstore are behind you. Excited about plunging into what's fun and interesting at Santa Monica College, you apply your own genetically hard-wired Internet savvy to surf SMC's website to discover what's up.