sign of the times

The rejection was “a pretty poignant sign of the times in a state like California,” said John Kabateck, state director of the National Federation of Independent Business, which had urged voters to vote no.

In a sign of the times, one popular podcaster talking about the painful recession gripping Hollywood recently declared, “L.A. is a much-better-weather version of Detroit right now.”

"People don't have much money for tickets - its a sign of the times," she says.

It's a sign of the times that university presidents like Folt, who called in the helicopters and body-armored police, sealed the gates of the university, barred non-USC journalists, and implemented double-ID scans and bag checks for everyone on campus, have for now escaped the committee's scrutiny.

First of all, it’s more accurate to say that the media-consuming public is riveted by the contentious political drama surrounding those scenes of campus discord than by the protests themselves, which are a striking sign of the times but hardly a brand new phenomenon.