By Mateen Kaul
The United States needs greater economic and diplomatic efforts, rather than just a better military strategy, to improve the situation in Afghanistan, according to Afghans settled in Fremont.

Story by Linsay Rousseau Burnett
Hollywood often stereotypes librarians as mousy women in horn-rimmed glasses who hide behind books. But the work of a librarian is not limited to searching databases and silencing noisy patrons. As mandated by the Young Adult Services Association (part of the American Library Association), an element of advocacy underlies the work that librarians do. For one Alameda County Librarian, she took the mandate of advocacy to heart to ensure that her patrons, the inmates of the Alameda Juvenile Detention Hall, were not disenfranchised during the 2008 …

By Amanda Dyer
The president of a student organization that oversees Greek life at UC Berkeley said fraternities are making small steps toward improving themselves, but those steps are coming slowly.
“I’m going to honest. It’s a tough sell,” said Max Schorer, president of the Interfraternity Council. “What you get respect for (now) is pulling girls and drinking.”

By Amanda Dyer
UC Berkeley students Elijah Warren and Jeff Ellison had a bond few on campus understood. Having served next to each in Iraq, the two men could see the difference between themselves and all the other students in each other’s eyes, Ellison said.
So, when Warren, 26 and nearly straight-A student, started to miss class and drink heavily, Ellison said he worried. But he figured his friend would snap out of it.

By Karen Weise
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Splashed across headlines and news channels, this was to be the year of the youth vote.
CBS clip: “On Tuesday, the election could very well come down to young voters.”
Low and behold, young voters did turn out in droves. Researchers at Tufts University estimated that 52 percent of eligible youth voted this year, rivaling previous record highs from 1992 and 1972.

By Guo Shipeng
Barack Obama’s historic win has moved many Chinatown residents, who saw the election of a black President as an inspiration and also a potential blessing for the community, but some business owners are pessimistic about an imminent recovery from the current economic hardships.

By Mateen Kaul
American Muslims in Fremont backed Senator Barack Obama’s push for the Presidency, but not his advice to vote no on Prop 8.

By Adelaide Chen
Four generations of the Moal family have had an auto business on East 12th Street since 1946. Since then, two major changes have taken place. The company now specializes in building custom cars, and the area is no longer zoned for industrial use.

Chinese immigrants presented Kung Fu and Lion Dancing performances in a flag-raising ceremony in front of Oakland’s City Hall to mark China’s National Day on October 1.  Click on the photo to play the slideshow.

Audio: Fraternity Election Reaction

By Amanda Dyer
Most fraternity members realize that the general population sees them as ignorant goons in search of the next kegger. But they say most UC Berkeley fraternity members have been intensely interested in this year’s presidential election and a lot of them have been pulling for Barack Obama.
Furthermore, fraternity members say the leadership skills that they’ve learned from being part of a fraternity give them a unique insight into what it takes to run a country.