Is Mamdani the right direction for American politics?
Zohran Mamdani won the New York Mayoral election on November 4th, 2025. The 34-year-old Democratic Socialist ran an unconventional campaign characterized by grassroots fundraising, a strong social media presence and the advocacy of radical policies. His decisive victory has generated conversations surrounding the future of American politics.
college admissions culture is too competitive
Last year, many Samo students were accepted to prestigious colleges like Stanford and the Ivies. That kind of success sets a high standard for future graduating seniors, which can inadvertently cause considerable stress. Students will stretch themselves thin, and too often, seniors tie their self-worth to which college they are accepted to.
The development crisis in santa monica
As new buildings take over the streets of Santa Monica, it is now more urgent than ever to rethink the development of the city. With increasing frequency, multi-use high rises and apartment buildings are swallowing up entire blocks and dulling the city’s character. The charm of Santa Monica is fading at the hands of urban developers and something must be done before it is too late.
A fair punishment for an unforgivable crime
The only satisfying way to make up for the psychological effects of rape on a victim is to remove a rapist’s ability to commit that crime altogether. Chemical castration is the practice of using hormonal chemicals and anti-androgens to shut down testosterone production. This treatment renders a patient incapable of having children, as well as removing their genetic capacity for sexual activity.
When war CRITICISM becomes a free pass for bigotry
In just the 3 months after Oct 7, 2023, incidents targeting Jewish people around the world spiked by roughly 361 percent according to ADL (the Anti-Defamation League). Those are not abstract numbers; they are violence and vandalism in synagogues, harassment in public and a constant barrage of threats and hateful messages in comment sections where ordinary family moments are subjected to targets for cruelty. In times of war and political unrest, it's easy to group politics and its relative population together, and even easier to pick a population that has been continuously subjected to unfair stereotypes for centuries.
Free your children: A longer lunch
Lunch is barely a fraction of the overall school day. Should Samo extend the time it allocates to students for lunch?
Is it time to put the dogs away
Flip-flops seem to be taking over our trend cycle at the moment; it’s almost like you can’t escape them. Flip-flops have been a popular footwear choice for a while. Celebrities and people around Samo have been wearing them, but should this trend continue?
Something needs to be done about parking at samo
The student parking shortage at Samo is absurd. As of now there is no subsidized school-provided option for students to park on or close to campus, nor any plans to address this issue.
Accessibility issues leave samo primed for disaster
Samo began a massive transformation at the start of the 2010s, tearing down many of its old buildings and replacing them with new ones. The redesign of much of the Samo campus was largely motivated by a desire to modernize and improve student and faculty life, but this has completely excluded those with physical disabilities. Disabled students are left in an extremely dangerous situation as virtually every new building is without safe exits in case elevators aren't working.
Should AIPAC be forced to register under FARA?
The Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) requires groups that donate to political campaigns to disclose publicly if they are representing foreign interests. This law acts to prevent hidden foreign interests in our politics and ensures voters have an encompassing interpretation of the government’s actions. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is a bipartisan pro-Israel lobbying group that advocates its policies to the legislative and executive branches of the US government. According to ai-pacpac.org, AIPAC donated over $53 million to support the campaigns of 361 Democratic and Republican candidates, in the 2024 election cycle.