An Introduction to CalStuff Writer Andy Ratto
Since blogging is a much more personal form of writing than a traditional newspaper, I think it would be helpful for the writers of CalStuff to briefly introduce ourselves. I'm a third year, and I've been writing here at Calstuff since around June of last year. I met Kevin! through the Squelch, where I do some humor writing. I was also a halfhearted candidated for ASUC Senate in the Squelch! party.

Politically, I would describe myself as a liberal/progressive, although here in Berkeley I often find myself taking a moderate or even right of center position. I find myself in much closer agreement with Student Action than CalSERVE when it comes to campus politics. I'm a staunch defender of free speech, and I find attempts by various campus groups to silence speech through the theft of newspapers or through attempting to shout down a speaker reprehensible. There are a number of groups on campus, both from the right and left which I find both extremist and purposefully confrontational (BCR and BAMN, at times), and I will gladly point out instances of this type of behavior in the future.

Personally, I'm a brother in Alpha Epsilon Pi, the Jewish fraternity on campus, a former member of the Parliamentary debate team at Berkeley and a Political Science major. Blogging, more so than most other forms of reporting can allow the biases of the writer to seep into a post, and instead of attempting to silence my own personal beliefs, I would rather acknowledge them here, and include them in the writing that I do.

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