Where’s the only place where one can easily purchase a dress shirt, a basketball and a tomato? The neighborhood Walmart, of course. The world’s largest corporation and retailer has expanded at a rapid clip since its first store opened in Arkansas. The company, which celebrated its 50th anniversary this year, has come to exemplify the distinctly American corporate ethos, yet it is arguably one of the most un-American things that exists today. By its mere existence, Walmart is a prime example of the dangers of unbridled growth. Consumers may benefit, but don’t let Walmart’s slogan of “everyday low prices” mislead you. There’s a much higher price to pay for frequenting this corporation.

After all, why support local businesses and pay more for a slightly higher-quality good when we can just go to Walmart? Why bother about the plight of the Walmart workers? If these workers find the conditions so difficult, can’t they just leave their jobs and let others who are more willing fill in for them? In the end, Walmart’s just a store, right?

These arguments fuel the Walmart machine. The perennial top dog of the Fortune 500, Walmart reaps profits of approximately $50 million each day and would rank among the world’s 25 largest economies if it were a country. These statistics are the result of Americans’ begrudging acceptance of Walmart as necessary to maintain their standards of living. The obvious reason why people shop at Walmart is to obtain everything they need in one place at low prices.

But local businesses aren’t the only ones hurt by the perpetuation of this cycle. Employees are made to work unreasonable hours without overtime pay, especially during days like Black Friday. Workers’ health benefits are nearly useless, and their market-driven wages make it impossible for them to support themselves or their families. As a result, many workers who depend on their jobs at Walmart for sustenance and cannot quit are forced to go on government welfare programs. The Winning Words Project estimates that with a dollar increase in wages for Walmart workers, millions of tax dollars could be saved.

If left unchecked, Walmart will continue to stem local business growth and eventually stamp out the unique characteristics of the places where it sets up shop. Recent failed nationwide strikes against Walmart indicate that nothing short of a massive consumer exodus from Walmart or government intervention will have any impact on its unchecked growth and dominance. It actually isn’t an extreme thought to conceive of Walmart as a monopoly, similar to Standard Oil in the early 20th century. We find no legitimate reason as to why one family can amass the same wealth as the bottom 41.5 percent of U.S. families combined. Each heir of the Walton fortune would need to spend more than $350 million a year for the next 40 years to exhaust the family’s $89.5 billion net worth.

Every member of society has an inalienable right to opportunity and life. But Walmart doesn’t actually do society a service. It does society a convenience, and it’s time that we learned that convenience sometimes comes at a cost.

Hopefully Walmart can learn from Jim Sinegal, the chief executive officer of Costco, who takes prides in the retailer’s policy of paying an average hourly wage of $17 and the fact that it boasts one of the lowest rates of employee turnover for a retail store. Sinegal doesn’t even claim that Costco’s treatment of employees is motivated by “altruistic” reasons. Rather, he said it is simply “good business.” Walmart, by wielding such outsized power, would do society more than enough good by reaching out to the less fortunate and paying their workers a decent wage.

Primary care physicians have more difficulty paying back student loans after graduation than specialty care doctors, according to a report from researchers at Boston U. and the Association of American Medical Colleges.

“Student debt levels have become so high that a growing number of students will struggle on a primary care salary alone to repay educational loans and still have enough left over to cover other routine household expenses,” the release stated.

The study, released Tuesday, found 86 percent of medical students had loan debt at graduation in 2011. The average debt was $161,290, which is the highest reported amount to date.

“Most medical school graduates have education debt and the average amount of education debt is increasing,” the report stated. “Among these indebted graduates, 23 percent of those at private medical schools graduated with loans of $250,000 or more.”

Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs at BU School of Medicine John Wiecha said medical school loan debt is not attributable to a lack of experience.

“Loan amounts are too high for some students to easily pay back given the salaries of doctors in residency training,” Wiecha said in an email. “There are many jobs available.”

The study examined strategies of paying back student loans in a timely manner based on hypothetical scenarios. Students with about $160,000 in debt were able to pay back their loans within ten years, but those with over $200,000 in debt had to consider an extended repayment plan.

“The study’s economic modeling of a physician’s household income and expenses across a range of medical school borrowing levels in high — and moderate — cost living areas shows that physicians in all specialties, including primary care, can repay the current median level of education debt,” the report stated.

Arun Rai, a first-year School of Medicine student, said it is expected that primary care physicians have the most trouble paying back loan debt because residency programs tend to be shorter and primary care residents are paid less than specialty doctors.

“Graduates of many primary care residency programs are not compensated at an appropriate level where they can pay back the interest and the principal back of a student loan in a timely manner,” Rai said.

Rai said specialty physicians, such as neurosurgeons and orthopedic surgeons, are paid more during longer residency programs because these programs are highly specialized and have greater liability.

“Primary care doctors should be compensated with a federal grant program to provide money to help these physicians with loan forgiveness,” Rai said. “They are doing a selfless deed.”

When No. 1 Notre Dame takes the field for the BCS National Championship Game in Miami on Jan. 7, a Southeastern Conference team will be on the opposite sideline.

However, the Fighting Irish should not be suiting up against Alabama or Georgia.

Florida should be playing Notre Dame for the crystal football.

Now before you go H.A.M. on my inbox and call me an idiot, just relax for a second.

I’m not saying the Gators are necessarily better than the Crimson Tide. And as far as the Bulldogs are concerned, well, y’all saw what happened in Jacksonville on Oct. 27.

But in this messed up, no-good joke of a postseason that the BCS forces upon college football every year, it’s all about the resume.

And Florida has one hell of a body of work.

The first item to consider is strength of schedule, and UF wins this three-way battle in a landslide that conjures up images of the vinegar-baking soda volcanoes we all used to make in elementary school.

The Gators have defeated four teams currently ranked among the top 15 in the BCS standings. Two of those victories were fourth-quarter comebacks on the road.

The first rally came against Texas A&M and Heisman frontrunner Johnny Manziel. The second was against Florida State, the likely Atlantic Coast Conference champions.

The other two wins were dominant performances against top-10 squads at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. UF outmuscled and wore down LSU on the line of scrimmage. Two weeks later, the Gators punched Steve Spurrier and South Carolina in the mouth.

Meanwhile, Alabama and Georgia have a combined 2-2 record against the top 15 teams in the BCS.

Let’s branch out to the bigger picture by taking a look at the overall schedule for each team. Eight of Florida’s opponents this season are bowl eligible.

In all, the Gators’ 12 opponents are 92-50 this season, which averages out to 8-4.

Only five Georgia foes will be eligible to receive a bowl bid. That includes Georgia Tech, which will need to request a special exception once a likely defeat in the ACC Championship Game drops it to 6-7.

Alabama boasts a more respectable slate with six bowl-eligible opponents, but take into consideration that its opposite-division draws were Tennessee and Missouri.

Georgia nabbed Ole Miss and Auburn, and Florida got stuck with Texas A&M and LSU.

The average opponent the Crimson Tide and the Bulldogs faced this season was 6-6.

Regardless of schedule, each team took care of business like great teams do. But how did each squad fare in its one bad game?

In other words, who has the best loss?

Again, Florida wins with little contest.

The Crimson Tide fell flat on their trunks from the get-go and had no answer for Manziel and the Aggies, falling behind 20-0 in a 29-24 defeat on Nov. 10 at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Alabama let a freshman quarterback take over Tuscaloosa like it was nothing.

At least Georgia’s loss came on the road to a top-10 team, but the positivity ends there. The Gamecocks destroyed the Bulldogs, jumping out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter and surrendering UGA’s lone touchdown with 1:55 left to play — garbage time.

UF’s loss — albeit to Georgia — was a one-score defeat at a neutral site. While the game was an anomaly for both teams, Florida was competitive from wire to wire.

The Gators clearly have a better claim than both the Bulldogs and the Crimson Tide to play for it all in Miami. The one obstacle in UF’s way is its failure to win the SEC.

But even with a win in the SEC title game, Alabama and Georgia still play second fiddle to Florida when it comes to the overall resume.

Conference championships simply do not matter in the big picture anymore.

Just ask the Crimson Tide, who won last year’s national title despite not playing in the SEC Championship Game. The Fighting Irish are the nation’s top-ranked team, and the school is an independent in football.

The BCS is egregious, offensive and unfair.

When UF is left on the outside looking in, it certainly won’t be the first deserving school shafted by the system. Auburn should have advanced ahead of Oklahoma in 2004, and Texas should have played Florida for the national title instead of Oklahoma in 2008.

Frankly, all three of the SEC’s one-loss teams should be part of an eight-team playoff to determine the national champion, but that would make sense and people would be happy.

The BCS doesn’t exist to produce an honest and deserving champion. It’s shortsighted.

Luckily, this whole sham will be revamped in 2014, and we won’t have to worry about which two teams are the most deserving. More contenders will earn a legitimate shot.

But as long as we’re forced to pick only two teams to play for the national title, it might as well be the squads that have performed the best against elite competition.

This year, those teams are Notre Dame and Florida.

LOS ANGELES — After the final seconds of a perfect regular season vanished and the Irish celebrated at midfield, Brian Kelly put his arm around his daughter and paced toward the tunnel. On his way to the jubilant locker room, he looked toward the Notre Dame fan contingent on the south side of the Los Angeles Coliseum and lifted his index finger.

No. 1 Notre Dame had risen to the task for the 12th time this season, and now a championship berth in Miami awaits the undefeated Irish following a 22-13 defeat of archrival USC (7-5).

“It was as you would’ve expected,” Kelly said of the postgame scene in the locker room. “There was a lot of singing, dancing. It was what you would expect it to be for a team that’s this close and has won so many games in that fashion. It was fun to be in there.”

With the conquest of the Trojans, the Irish will play the winner of Saturday’s SEC championship game between No. 2 Alabama and No. 3 Georgia in Atlanta. A win would secure Notre Dame’s first national championship since 1988, with the current 24-year drought serving as the longest in program history since the Irish won their first in 1924.

Director of Athletics Jack Swarbrick, who hired Kelly nearly 36 months ago, had one word for the feeling as he celebrated with players on the field.

“Phenomenal.”

The Irish held their opponent to fewer than 20 points for the 11th time this season, and the final instance might have been the most impressive, even with USC quarterback Matt Barkley watching from the sidelines with a shoulder injury. Outside of a 53-yard reception by sophomore Marqise Lee, the Notre Dame secondary largely held the receiver and his talented teammate, Robert Woods, in check.

“I think Notre Dame showed me they have phenomenal senior leadership,” embattled USC coach Lane Kiffin said. “You can see those guys understand the game and they really play well together. They’re really physical and pretty old school — that’s why they have so many close scores — but they don’t screw up. You have to play really well to beat them. They don’t hand you things.”

Leading by nine points with a little more than five minutes remaining, Notre Dame’s defense buckled down and held USC out of the end zone with another iconic goal-line stand. The Irish took over on downs with 2:33 remaining after a dropped pass by fullback Soma Vainuku, a symbol of how the archrivals’ fortunes have changed since last season’s 31-17 USC victory at Notre Dame Stadium.

“If you followed us at all this year, that was how we play,” Kelly said. “We come up big defensively at sometime during the game. We did that again. Unbelievable goal-line stand to hold any program, any team … to get inside your two and come up with a great goal-line stand.”

Notre Dame’s offense outgained USC’s 439 yards to 281 and more than doubled the Trojans’ rushing output. Sophomore quarterback Everett Golson and senior running back Theo Riddick fueled the Irish offense, with the former once again showing no nerves on the road and the latter breaking countless tackles to secure precious yardage and field position.

Golson completed 15 of 26 passes for 217 yards and added another 47 rushing yards as he improved to 10-0 in his first season as a starter.

“He’s making better decisions with the football,” Kelly said. “I guess the difference is he’s not careless with the football. Careless I can’t take. He’s going to make some bad decisions every once in a while, but he’s not careless with the football.

“We couldn’t win the game if we were going to control the game [in a conservative] fashion. I felt all week that you can’t come in here hoping that USC doesn’t play well. You’ve got to come in here and take it from them. Our gameplan was to let [Golson] play.”

Golson engineered scoring drives on Notre Dame’s first three possessions, as the Irish jumped out to a 13-7 lead midway through the second quarter. As has been the case during much of the season, Notre Dame stalled inside the red zone, one of the points Kelly said he needs to address during the six weeks and two days leading up to the BCS National Championship Game on Jan. 7.

“It means there’s things we still need to work on,” said Kelly of an offense that scored just one touchdown in six red-zone appearances. “We’re not a perfect team. We know that. Here’s what we like: We know that’s going to get better as our quarterback matures.”

But sophomore kicker Kyle Brindza converted five of six attempted field goals, the longest of which he booted from 52 yards out to give the Irish a 16-10 halftime lead.

“I know [Kelly] has confidence in me and it’s a great thing to have from a coach, rather than having a coach trying to rip your head off,” Brindza said. “He’s a great guy and is able to go up to everyone, even if they made a mistake and be able to talk to them about what you did wrong and what you did right and be able to instill the confidence that you’re going to go out there the next time and do the right thing.”

Brindza contributed with a key special teams tackle as well. Lee, a Heisman candidate, found a seam in the Irish kickoff coverage with the Irish up 22-13 with 5:58 remaining in the game, but it was the Notre Dame kicker who forced the speedster out of bounds at the Trojan 45.

“That was one of my nightmares all week,” said Brindza on being the last man between Lee and the end zone. “It was a nightmare and when Lee was running up, I was a deer in the headlights. It was like a nightmare coming back to me, but then I turned it off and I realized I had to make the tackle and I was glad I was able to help my team.”

After the ensuing goal-line stand and expiration of the clock minutes later, senior linebacker Manti Te’o, who recorded his seventh interception of the season in the third quarter, found his coach in the tunnel and had a simple message for him.

“I said, ‘I love you.’ I love him,” Te’o said. “[Our relationship] was bumpy at first, but it’s great [now]. I’m happy to be part of this and have him as our coach. He’s the best coach in college football.”

Te’o said the Irish reached a goal with the 12-0 regular-season finish, but that there’s one remaining chapter in the 2012 book yet to be written.

“We’ve brought a lot of pride back to Notre Dame,” he said. “I’m grateful to be a part of it.

“We’re the best team. We’re No. 1.”

Notre Dame will have the opportunity to finish as the best team and win 13 games for the first time in program history at the BCS National Championship Game on Jan. 7 against either No. 2 Alabama or No. 3 Georgia.

Unmanned aerial vehicles, most commonly referred to as drones, have been used by the US military to attack suspected enemies consistently since 2004, when President Bush sought to locate and kill Taliban and Al-Qaeda members in Pakistan.

Since then, drone use has been on the rise and has diversified to include other countries, and drone operations are targeting various terrorist groups.

According to a recent article in The New York Times, there have been more than 300 drone strikes and 2,500 people killed by those drone attacks since Barack Obama took office. The Obama administration and the American people need to think carefully and critically about the ethical implications of drone use, as well as what the United States’ use of drones says about our country’s philosophy and global agenda moving forward.

It is unfortunate that President Obama has taken the stance he has regarding the use of drones in military action. As a man who champions himself and is lauded by a good deal of the American people as a supporter of human and civil rights, Obama’s backing of drones doesn’t jive with his ethos.

Obama has sold himself as a President who has concerns for minorities and the weak. Does the use of a remote controlled killing device that sometimes kills children fit Obama’s character? Does it comply with what we want America to be?

Many say the use of unmanned drones is a necessary evil to protect the American homeland. Others will roughly guffaw that President Obama and the government who support drone use aren’t letting down the American people, but keeping them safe. A United States that believes civilian life in Pakistan is less valuable than civilian life in Maryland is not a United States I am proud to be a part of.

While some might groan at the prospect of an increasingly global world community, it is happening and is irreversible. We would be good to embrace the changes, rather than try and fight them. We don’t have a very good track record of attempting to deny cultural shifts.

The legality of drone use has been continually questioned by American and global leaders. A UN specialist on extrajudicial killings, Christof Heyns, has suggested that some drone strikes constitute “war crimes.” Other experts like Ian Seiderman, the director of the International Commission of Jurists, have said that because of drone use, “immense damage was being done to the fabric of international law.” Experts are indeed worried US drone use might be doing more harm than good, encouraging terrorists to act out and possibly provoking other countries to violate laws set up by events like the Geneva Convention.

The ethics of drone use is probably the most challenging argument, as has already been mentioned with the loss of civilian life. A joint 2012 report done by law school researchers at NYU and Stanford titled “Living Under Drones: Death, Injury and Trauma to Civilians From US Drone Practices in Pakistan” details the terrorizing effects drones are having on people in the affected areas.

According to the report, “their way of life is collapsing: kids are too terrified to go to school, adults are afraid to attend weddings, funerals, business meetings or anything that involves gathering in groups.” Obviously drones are not just sniping out evil individuals – they are destroying cultures and innocent lives.

One of the most defeating moments of the 2012 presidential elections came in the last debate when both Mitt Romney and Barack Obama refused to deliberate over the use of drones, both basically conceding that what was happening was working for the country and didn’t need a change. When asked about Obama’s drone policy, Romney said, “I support that entirely and feel the president was right to up the usage of that technology and believe that we should continue to use it to continue to go after the people who represent a threat to this nation and to our friends.” No discussion about the ethical implications or civilian deaths caused by drone use ensued.

While American drone attacks have indeed killed terrorists, legal ramifications and human rights violations must be reconsidered. Like any technology, continued analysis and questioning must be done as America and other countries navigate toward finding peace on the earth. President Obama would do better to reassess his position under the lens of his human rights campaigns.

The American people need to look outside themselves and view all civilian lives as valuable, not just ones with whom we share citizenship. Those things we deem as necessary evils are still exactly that: evil.

The conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza arises from a long-stemming clash between the Israeli Defense Forces and the extremist Hamas government that claimed control over the Gaza Strip in 2007 from the more moderate Fatah government.

But the fate of the Palestinian people living in Gaza is unfortunately at the mercy of Hamas.

Israel is attempting to give the Palestinian people aid and end the horrendous treatment that Hamas provides to the innocent Palestinians living in Gaza.

The history of Hamas is one of violence, a direct quote from Article 7 of the Hamas Charter states.

“The Day of Judgment will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews and kill them,” it said. “Then, the Jews will hide behind rocks and trees, and the rocks and trees will cry out, ‘O Muslim, there is a Jew hiding behind me, come and kill him.’”

This reaffirms that Hamas’ mission is not to create lasting peace with the Israelis, but to kill the Jews.

The conflict that is now arising in the Middle East is in response to rockets being fired from the Gaza Strip into the state of Israel. Hamas has been indiscriminately firing them for the last 12 years, paying no heed to what — or whom — they are targeting.

Hamas has been known to use human shields to cause civilian casualties, in an effort to appeal to the international media.

The fact is, Hamas has killed three Israeli civilians and wounded 68, according to the Associated Press. These numbers would be much higher if the Iron Dome defense system did not exist in the state of Israel — it is an anti-rocket defense system that is fired from Israeli soil to intercept and destroy the Fajr-5 rockets that Hamas has been firing into Israel.

Since the beginning of the “Pillar of Defense,” the operation Israel launched Nov. 13, Iron Dome has intercepted more than 325 out of 700 rockets fired, heading for civilian populations in major cities such as Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. The only purpose of the rockets fired into Israel by Hamas is to kill Israeli civilians.

Israel is amassing troops on the border for a possible ground assault. A cease-fire was attempted when the Prime Minister of Egypt met with Hamas leaders on the situation. Yet during the meeting Hamas vowed to continue firing rockets onto Israeli soil, thereby ending any hopes of a cease-fire.

Unfortunately, the Palestinians casualties have been high, but more than 50 Hamas terrorists and leaders have been killed. Israel attempts to clear civilians from bombing sites before any operation. Unfortunately, Hamas keeps women and children against their will, making them vulnerable to Israeli rockets — another example of the mistreatment by Hamas to the people it supposedly represents, and the reason why civilian casualties have been so high.

At the end of the day, what Israel truly wants is a lasting peace and to coexist with its neighbors without the threat of rockets hitting Israel on a daily basis. Israel is ready to negotiate unconditional peace, but it is up to Hamas to do the same.

What a difference a week makes.

Seven days after a season-deflating home loss to Stanford, No. 6 Oregon ran by No. 16 Oregon State 48-24 Saturday afternoon in Corvallis, showcasing a powerful running attack and converting sloppy turnovers by the Beavers in the 116th Civil War. Oregon senior running back Kenjon Barner churned out 198 yards, most of them in the first half, and sophomore De’Anthony Thomas added another 122 as Oregon gouged Oregon State for a 6.7 yards-per-carry average.

The win puts Oregon (11-1, 8-1 Pac-12) back in the hunt for a fourth-straight Pac-12 Championship, a feat not seen since USC’s five-year dominance in the mid-naughts. Head coach Chip Kelly said there was no secret to bouncing back from the team’s only regular-season loss of the year.

“We ran the same plays we run every week,” Chip Kelly said after the game. “The blocking was just better (today).”

It was all Ducks right from the start. On Oregon’s first offensive possession, redshirt freshman quarterback Marcus Mariota took a quarterback draw through a huge hole up the middle before outracing Oregon State’s secondary for a 42-yard touchdown.

“(The play) was a design that the coaches had,” Mariota said. “They came out in a look we had practiced against all week, and it just so happened the offensive line opened a hole, and I got to run through it.”

The quick strike set the early pace of the game and answered questions about how Mariota would perform following his first loss as a starter. The Hawaii native said he enjoyed the Civil War setting, with Reser Stadium packed to the rafters with a school-record 47,249 in attendance.

“You kind of don’t realize it until you step out onto the field,” Mariota said. “It was a fun atmosphere. The fans can be a little rough, but the guys handled it, and it is just one of those atmospheres where you want to play.”

In addition to his 85 yards rushing, Mariota was 17-for-24 through the air, with 140 yards and a touchdown. But with all the holes banged-up offensive line was opening, Mariota didn’t need to do much more than hand the ball off to Kenjon Barner or another Oregon back.

Barner, who ran for more than 100 yards in the first quarter alone, played with looked to be an abdominal injury in the second half. Team personnel, as usual, refused to comment on the injury, only saying it was “minor.”

“Kenjon’s always been a warrior,” Kelly said. “He responds when he’s called upon, and that’s what makes him a special guy.”

Oregon State (8-3, 6-3) would battle back and trail only three in the third quarter. But Beavers quarterback Sean Mannion’s four interceptions proved too costly. Add the special-teams miscues, and it was simply too much for the Beavers to handle. The win was Oregon’s fifth straight in the rivalry.