By Zachary Valdez

Early Monday morning the news of Osama Bin Laden's death arrived here in Paris, along with the reactions of a rejoicing America -- scenes of celebration in D.C. and New York. But the jubilation in the United States, for American university students like me, raises the difficult question of how to react to the news on foreign soil: what is the appropriate response? 

Like many Parisians, I learned of Bin Laden's death on the radio Monday morning. And like all Americans, the remainder of the day was filled with bizarre moments of disbelief.  After a final exam where our professor made no mention of this news, I met with other American students to mull over the events.   However, instead of a reaction to the death of Bin Laden, we were reacting to those  initial images captured in D.C. and New York.

One student even described her shock seeing video of baseball fans who burst into chanting "U-S-A!" at a game Sunday, presumably after hearing the president's address.   Another student mused about how he would have imagined his response to be much stronger when this day, the death of Bin Laden, finally came. Instead, he feels that any celebration is almost certainly in vain, since there will undoubtedly be a new head to Al Qaeda.  

In fact, if the American students in Paris are not celebrating, it is perhaps because we are a world away from the US, unsure of how to react with our anchors back home -- the people we spoke to, the media we consulted -- now temporarily absent.  

The following originally aired on KCBS.

By Sam Fuller

It’s good we are talking about gun control in the wake of the Tucson shooting, and the LA school shooting last week, but are we talking about the right things?

Both sides are wrong when it comes to gun control. Arming every soccer mom and retiree will not deter crime the way the far right suggests. Have you ever heard of someone with a concealed weapon stopping a killing?

The far left’s idea isn’t much better. If we were to ban guns outright, there’s still no way we could deal with all the guns out there. And a ban would just create a firearms black market.

The real issue is that people want to kill each other, and guns just make it easy. In Switzerland, every military-age male is issued an assault rifle for national defense. And yet they have a lower per-capita homicide rate then the U.S.

The debate should be about preventing homicides, not regulating firearms. Guns are just a tool we use to kill each other. We don’t know the best way to prevent people from wanting to kill. That’s the question we need to be asking.

Previously:

• Raising Muffin
• Muslim-American Celebrates Christmas
• Being A Foster Kid Can Be Tough

As human beings we are all entitled to pursue the best quality of life possible for ourselves, our families, and the generations that will eventually continue our legacy. The Declaration of Independence states: “We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness...” Indeed, as Americans we pride ourselves in our democratic society, free-spirited fervor for independence, and victorious history of sovereignty from our once tyrannical Motherland. America is a melting pot of everything you can possibly imagine. Religions in the United States range from Judaism to Buddhism as a rainbow of ethnicities color this country as well. Whether you’re Nigerian or Chinese, the US offers many opportunities for the individual to take advantage of and with hard work, prospects of reaching the top of the ladder are attainable and most significantly, realistic.
However, living in a land that is so enriched with opportunity and endowed with individualistic freedom does not necessary equate to living the best quality of life. As Americans we sometimes have our heads inflated with false pride that we, in fact, have it the best out of all of the other populations in the world. Contrary to this notion, a 2010 survey by International Living and other statistical firms have concluded that the top five countries that embody the best quality of life are as follows: France, Australia, Switzerland, Germany, and New Zealand. The United States follows shortly at number seven. This annual index is produced with consideration of the following nine categories: Cost of Living, Culture and Leisure, Economy, Environment, Freedom, Health, Infrastructure, Safety and Risk, and Climate.

For the fifth year running, France has taken the number one spot in the annual Quality of Life Index. Although France is not without its tiresome bureaucracy and high taxes, those factors are heavily outweighed by an unsurpassable quality of life. The French enjoy everything from Riviera beaches and Alpine ski resorts to the world’s best healthcare service. According to the survey, ‘Romantic Paris offers the best of everything… it’s impossible to enumerate the joy of lingering for hours over dinner and a bottle of red wine in a Parisian brasserie. Or strolling beside the Seine on a spring morning, poking through the book vendors’ wares. Or buying buttery croissants in bohemian Montmartre…hearing Notre Dame’s bells…walking antique streets paved with poetry.’ In a nutshell, it is said that in France, life is savoured. The French love tidy gardens, pretty sidewalk cafes, and clean streets and cities are well tended and with little crime. Working hours are far shorter than their stressed British neighbors as the French take most of August off, view Sunday leisure as holy, and have more public holidays.

I’m hearing the phrase "Post-Race America" a lot. Just because the president of the United States is African-American, it is far too early to label this era as one of a “Post-Race America.”

I believe America can be personified as a recovering racist.

By Aaron Godine

According to KRON4 news a deadly disease has emerged again known as the swine flu. It is a disease that is caused by when human blood and infected pig blood come in contact. This disease is highly contagious, and has currently spread through the nation. The disease spreads between humans through coughing or sneezing and people touching something with the virus on it and then touching their own nose or mouth. Swine flu cannot be spread by pork products, since the virus is not transmitted through food.

Newly wedded Christian and Mary McArthur share their experience getting adjusted to married life after Christian’s yearlong deployment in Iraq. Kevin Walters has been back for over a year and reflects on civilian life and being a college student at the age of 24.