It's beginning to look a lot like war on Christmas. Everywhere you go. There's a tree in the Grand Hotel, one on the Starbucks cups as well. And we can't say "Merry Christmas," don't you know? That's the tune the so-called "religious right" will be singing this...
Ben Reicher
I have been writing for The Standard, the Sierra Canyon High School newspaper, for four years, as Opinion Editor, News Editor, and currently Editor-in-Chief.
Countering rape myths in ’13 Reasons Why’
It’s an understatement that depiction of rape in media is an extremely sensitive topic, not least because it’s so often done in an insensitive way. No matter how progressive Hollywood becomes, it continues to perpetuate certain myths about rape and sexual violence in...
Opinion: Science must trump plutocracy
President Donald Trump's climate change denialism, rather like climate change itself, has hardly been hidden, but also hasn't been at the forefront. While less dramatic than his blatant callousness to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico, it’s no less revealing of who he is:...
Column: Yes, Fox News is willing to discuss violence against women. When it’s done by a Democrat
When one learns of a powerful man using his position to sexually assault women, the only morally acceptable reaction is disgust, closely followed by discussion of how such abuse was allowed to happen. Such was the media reaction, by and large, to the revelations...
Opinion: He lies, he cheats, but must Donald Trump be impeached?
At the Los Angeles Impeachment March on July 2, thousands marched from Pershing Square to City Hall, calling for President Donald Trump’s impeachment for obstruction of justice in his handling of the investigation of his campaign’s Russian ties. It was one of many...
Opinion: Hey, hey, NRA! How many kids did you kill today?
On June 1, 2016, Sierra Canyon English teacher Victoria Zielinski went on the UCLA campus to produce a promotional film. While she was on campus, a student fatally shot a UCLA professor and himself. Zielinski was put on lockdown for three hours, in a building very...
Orwell at Oscars 89: The eternal connection of art and politics
With speculation having begun for the next Academy Awards season, one wonders if last year’s unintended finale-- with the wrong film being announced for Best Picture-- can ever be outdone. But, apart from being one of the most memorable Oscars moments in years, one...
Aliso: Shut it all down, for California’s green future
The opinions presented in this article represent those of the nine-member editorial board of The Standard, first published on Feb. 28. The Standard is the school newspaper of Sierra Canyon High School in Chatsworth, Calif. The recent reopening of the Aliso Canyon...
‘Tell it like it is’: Liberal ‘political-correctness’ culture is a myth
When responding to the right's claims of the left being too "politically correct," the left has often mistakenly portrayed political correctness as positive, inadvertently agreeing that they are politically correct. If the right’s definition of political correctness...
Clearing the air on the Aliso Canyon gas leak
More than a year has passed since the Aliso Canyon gas leak was first plugged on Feb. 11, 2016. Despite potentially serious long-term consequences for the environment and lingering controversies about Aliso’s future, for the moment, Porter Ranch may be able to take a...