The James Logan Courier

By Paul Tran, Courier Staff Writer

People view birds very differently: as adorable or dirty and elegant or annoying. Should ducks be allowed to be put in public locations? The Union City public library sits by a small lake full of quack-machines. Some people are hostile towards these loud, feathered animals, while others appreciate their contribution to the library’s aesthetic environment.

It’s possible that ducks can both terrorize or be terrorized by people. America’s Funniest Videos has a meaty compilation of clips showing angry ducks harassing women and children. Birds often become violent when in mating season or while protecting their young. As a result, children can develop a fear of beaks and tremble at the sound of quacks. Even in less severe cases, one might get tripped in the dirt or lose a patch of hair. This, of course, is more common the other way around. Curious kids from toddlers to teens might enjoy tossing stones at ducks. Physical abuse towards wild animals is justifiable by child logic.

McClatchy-Tribune News Service (MCT)

The following editorial appeared in the Los Angeles Times on Thursday, Feb. 23:

For 40 years, competitive colleges and universities in the United States have taken race into account in order to increase their enrollment of African-Americans (and, to a lesser extent, other minorities). Originally justified as a way to compensate for a long legacy of racial discrimination, and later embraced as a way to provide a more diverse learning environment, affirmative action has been good for the United States. It has made it easier for minorities to enter the educational and professional mainstream without compromising the rigor of American higher education. It has promoted the broader cause of racial integration. And it has encouraged the emergence of a black and Latino middle class.

By Tierra Negra, Courier Special Correspondent

In the old days, students in Mexico had to do a thesis after finishing college to officially obtain a “bachelor degree”. Other options have been created since then but, at that point in time, I started a research paper on money market because the financial sector was being deregulated (in preparation for the NAFTA treaty) producing a boom of institutions that started to share banks functions. I was never able to secure a job in this sector forcing me to quit its completion but here are some of the basics I learned.

First of all, money does not have the same value in the present than in the future because of the interest and inflation rates. If I want to buy a car that costs $20, 000 but I have to borrow the money I will be paying an interest which will increase this amount. Same wise, if I have money that I decide not to spend now it will be gathering interest in the bank and I will have a larger amount in the future. The interest is the “cost” of money. Inflation produces a similar effect because you buy less with the same amount of money after a certain period of time.

By Tierra Negra, Courier Special Correspondent

The day came when I had to force myself to thin my grapevine last summer. A rule of thumb, according to the internet, is to allow one fruit per every twenty leaves and, armored with this information, I applied to the task at hand. I kept avoiding it because it was hard to decide which ones to sacrifice in order to let the rest develop big enough rather than having plenty in pitiful sizes.

My mind could not help but wonder about our overpopulation problems: seventeen billion and growing! China thought that limiting the reproduction to two per couple might have solved it but then they realized recently that they were having a large number of elders and not enough youth to sustain them.

By Tierra Negra, Courier Special Correspondent

One night, my youngest daughter walked into my bedroom to show me her English portfolio with a dedication letter. As I was reading the letter, she seemed obliged to clarify that she did not add me because she ran out of space.

I kept wondering what would have been her purpose in having me look at such thing if it was only acknowledging her far away father for raising her up alone (up to a couple of years ago) and the coach for supporting her throughout the season. I also asked myself why it hurt so much. It must have been praise what she was expecting of me.