EXECUTIVE EDITORS

Marissa Della

 Sophia Gu is a graduating senior, majoring in English and pursuing both College and Departmental Honors. She is currently a URSP scholar and a University Librarian's Undergraduate Fellow as well as a past recipient of the College Honors Irving and Jean Stone Research Award. Her research interests focus on theories of drama and performance. In particular, Sophia is interested in female representation on the early modern stage, collaborative authorship amongst Renaissance playwrights, and the rise of the drama as a literary text. Aside from Aleph, she acts as the Vice-President of Sigma Tau Delta English Honor Society and volunteers with UCLALive. Upon graduation, Sophia hopes to continue engaging in literary scholarship by pursuing a PhD in English. 

  Wilson Yuen is a third-year student in the College Honors Program majoring in Political Science with an emphasis on International Relations. This is his first year as a transfer student and he has demonstrated an interest in research. His coursework at UCLA includes numerous research and honors seminars in Economics, Political Science, and Business Law. This is his first year on the editorial board of Aleph. He is currently working as an Editor of PSSO Quarterly, UCLA Political Science Student Organization Undergraduate Research Journal. Aside from Aleph, Wilson has been a writer of BruinLife, UCLA Yearbook. In his free time, he enjoys playing piano, watching sports news and playing badminton. Upon graduating from UCLA,Wilson plans to pursue a law degree.

EDITORS

Faris Alikhan is a third year History major and is double minoring in Political Science and Public Policy. His interests include international politics and history. His extracurricular activities center mostly around reading obscure books in the depths of Young Research Library, but he has been known to enjoy the occasional game of tennis. He loves traveling, and he hopes to visit every inhabited continent before he turns 22 (he's almost there) . He is also a member of Honors Fellows at UCLA.

Fred Casale is a second year majoring in Political Science and Spanish at UCLA.  His interests include foreign languages and cultures, international politics, creative writing, and social justice.  After graduation he plans to attend law school and pursue a career in public service. 

Ilse Escobar

Alex Goodman is a third-year majoring in Cognitive Science and English. He is a reporter for the Arts and Entertainment department of the Daily Bruin, contributing film and music criticism as well as feature articles. His extracurricular interests include creative writing, non-creative writing, Jon Stewart, The New Yorker magazine, and gourmet food. He used to be a competitive gymnast, but he's getting too old for that stuff.

Catriona Lavery is majoring in Communication Studies and minoring in Political Science.  Born and raised in San Diego County, this is her third year here at UCLA. Her interests include journalism, mass communications, new media, library science, American politics, American history and immigration.  On campus, she can be found reporting for Daily Bruin Television, working in the Law Library Cataloging Department or singing with the University Catholic Center choir.

Arielle Lewis is a freshman Anthropology major, though she will probably switch to international studies or political science--any major under the College of Letters and Science is in the realm of possibility. Due to this indecisiveness and broad array of academic interests, she is looking forward to being an understudy editor at Aleph. She believes she might learn something new. Interests include attempting to reconcile seemingly contradictory interests and ideas.

Alexander Marlantes is a senior in the College Honor's Individual Major Program, set to graduate early with a degree in Complex Systems Analysis with a minor in Film.  His academic interests include chaos, emergence, non-Gaussian phenomena, social patterns, finance and film, but will read just about anything.

Katie Mastro is a History major with a minor in Political Science, pursuing both College Honors and Departmental Honors. During her rather short stay at UCLA, she has explored many career options through internships and volunteer work. She hopes to pursue a Ph.D. in English after a greatly deserved year of relaxation. Although she is a novice to the field of research, her interests in the subject are on the rise and include genre theory, ethical discourse, family law, satire, political allegory, print culture, historical and psychological criticism, and classical literature and culture. A recent member of Aleph Undergraduate Research Journal and the Bruin Leaders Project, Katie has dabbled in various publications. And she wishes to continue her quest to get her work published. 

Lizalene Mijares is a second year history major minoring in global studies.  Her scholarly interests include world wars, ancient empires, and modern languages.  In her spare time she enjoys watching action films and reading texts of no literary merit whatsoever.

Deirdre Weaver is a third-year Psychology Major in the College Honors program.  She transferred to UCLA from Santa Monica College where she majored in Business Administration. She is an inventor and a musician with a great passion for education. She received a U.S. Patent during her studies at SMC. Deirdre is planning to graduate in 2010 and continue on to graduate school for a degree in academic counseling for community college.  

Saif Ansari

ALEPH ALUMNI

Shahane Martirosyan is usually just a second away from having a mental breakdown from panic. During various other seconds of countless days she researches hip-hop globally and locally. Currently, she is working on her senior thesis on localization of hip-hop music in Los Angeles. She has previously researched French hip-hop while in Paris and has explored Nigerian, Palestinian, Turkish and Moroccan hip-hop. She will graduate this June from the Global Studies department with tears in her eyes because growing up was NEVER part of the plan. Before starting law school in 2010, Shahane plans on being a Dostoevsky reading beach bum in Malibu. 

Michelle Mastro is a senior English major with a minor in PoliticalScience.  Her literary interests include works from the Restoration tothe Victorian period, primarily the Eighteenth Century.  Currently, she is compiling a senior thesis, and will be presenting her originalresearch conducted at the Williams Andrews Clark Memorial Library,UCLA's rare books library, at this year's Southern CaliforniaConference on Undergraduate Research.  Aside from Aleph, Michelle hasbeen a member of such campus publications as: Westwind Magazine, FEM Magazine, The Undergraduate Science Journal, and the PSSO Quarterly. Each week she volunteers at the Los Angeles Downtown Resources Center to assist self-represented litigants as a JusticeCorps volunteer.  In her spare time, Michelle spends many an afternoon at the Powell Rotunda, reading works from that of her now lengthy "must read before death" booklist. 

Craig Orbelian is a senior English major who has been on the Aleph staff since 2007.  His academic interests include narrative theory, Orwell, and postmodern ethics.  His extracurricular interests include surfing and music.

Wade Orbelian is a fourth-year English major who enjoys researching Shakespeare, surfing, and occasionally playing the violin. He is interested in the anthropology of gift-giving, research in behavioral economics that distinguishes between economic and social systems of ascribing worth, and the Pauline tradition calling on Christians to“let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another.” He also works as a writing tutor at Covel Tutorials.

Nathan Reed is a senior in the department of World Arts and Cultures, taking a focus in video-production, with a minor in Applied Linguistics and TESL. Nathan grew up in Culver City and has entered UCLA as a transfer student from San Diego State University, where he studied visual art and photography.  His research interests include linguistics, documentary and ethnographic film theory, cultural production/performance, race relations, cultural variation and boundaries, identity politics and the distortion of these topics in the architecture of multi-media.

Aston Tsui is a fourth-year undergraduate student majoring in Psychology with a minor in Education.  He is currently working on a senior research project in the departmental honors program.  Due to his fascination with psychological phenomenon, such as the manifestation of clinical disorders or the overpowering effects of social pressures, he hopes to pursue a Ph.D. in order to spend his life answering questions that have always intrigued him.

GRADUATE STUDENT ADVISOR 

Aya Machida Winston

ALEPH!

 Photographs by Shamime Shaw.