The Occidental Weekly

At his inauguration ceremony on Saturday, Oct. 24, Occidental's 15th president Jonathan Veitch presented an ambitious plan to improve the school during his tenure at Oxy. "Occidental is at a moment in its history when high-minded abstractions are not enough," he said. "What we need most now is a narrowed sense of vision."

Oxy's first Masculinities Week challenged hundreds of participants from Oxy and beyond to explore their conceptions of gender and gender roles through talks ranging from "Masculinity and Hip Hop Culture" to "Men and Pornography." Dr. Michael Kimmel kicked off the event on Oct. 15 with a talk about "Men in the New Millennium," while Shira Tarrant, an expert in gender politics, feminism, pop culture and masculinity, concluded Masculinities Week on Oct. 23 with her talk on masculinity and feminism in regards to gender equality.

The Urban and Environmental Policy Institute (UEPI) is developing a bike sharing program on campus. Students in UEP Professor Mark Vallianatos' Environmental Problem Solving class began planning the program last semester as a way to make green transportation available to Oxy students. For the past year, students in the class have been planning and researching the bike sharing initiative and examining similar programs at campuses around the country, hoping to create a program that will fit Oxy's location, size and student body.

On Friday, Oct. 23, students at Occidental failed to pass a number of ASOC constitutional amendments due to a lack of participation, despite the voting window being extended an additional week.