Message from The Smart Ass

Welcome to the Smart Ass website! Smart Ass is the magazine of the Berkeley College Democrats at the University of California at Berkeley. It is our mission to provide college students with the opportunity to express their opinions on a variety of political and public policy topics and to share those opinions and ideas with other Berkeley students and the greater California community.

We feel it is important that Berkeley has a strong progressive voice. Although Cal students certainly have a reputation for being liberal—with only around 20 percent of students daring to call themselves conservative—college is an important time in the lives of young people, a time to affirm beliefs they will carry with them for the rest of their lives. Berkeley graduates disperse throughout the state and become leaders in their communities. It is critical that when these young Democrats leave Berkeley they remember and understand what it means to be liberal and what it means to be a Democrat. It is about valuing those in America who work hard to get ahead. It is about living your life according to your own beliefs, not those imposed on you by the government. It is about upholding the universal values of human dignity and tolerance, working for a society in which no child goes to bed hungry and guaranteeing that every American citizen is entitled to the pursuit of happiness. It is about holding government accountable and speaking for the good of your country when it is in trouble—that is the true essence patriotism.

Smart Ass is part of the great liberal tradition of holding government accountable and seeking change for the betterment of all Americans. We have designed this website so those across our great state and country can have access the progressive ideals the Smart Ass presents in each issue. We have also designed this website to provide information for those at Cal about how to get involved with the publication. We hope that you will come back often for new issues, articles, links, and information that will only be accessible online. In the future, we hope to have an online news staff that will respond to current events as they occur.

Thank you for visiting our site, and thank you to the writers, editors, distributors, graphic designers, board members, and supporters of Smart Ass. Your enthusiasm, dedication, and commitment make the Smart Ass the great publication that it is. Together, we project a progressive voice that echoes far beyond the Berkeley campus.

Mission Statement

The purpose of the Smart Ass is to act as a campus forum for progressive issues and public policy concerns, with a mixture of news, humor, features, commentary, satire, and analysis.

Smart Ass Board

All of the following have been board positions responsible for various aspects of the publication:

  • Editor-in-Chief: Executive official responsible for overseeing all aspects of Smart Ass fundraising, publication, and staff. Serves on the executive board of the Cal Berkeley Democrats.
  • Publisher: Typically a former Editor-in-Chief, the Publisher serves as a guide throughout the publication process
  • Managing Editor: Manages writers and handles submissions
  • Business Manager: Manages all financial and fundraising activities
  • Production Editor: Manages, creates, and coordinates the issue's layout and the layout process
  • Senior Copyeditor: Coordinates the activities of the copyeditors
  • Distribution Manager: Coordinates the distribution process
  • Graphics Editor: Designs all graphics and manages graphics staff, including cartoonists
  • IT Designer: Designs and maintains the website and listserv
  • Online Editor: Collects and manages content for the website

See the contact page for a list of available positions; see the staff page to see who's currently working for the Smart Ass.

Constitution

Read the Smart Ass constitution (PDF, 13K)