Genocide, divestment too urgent to ignore

By Kevin Koll / May 4, 2007

Divestment groups will no longer sit quietly and hope for their voices to be heard. The Coalition for Immediate Divestment (CID) was formed for exactly the purpose its name describes. Genocide is an immediate problem and divestment is an immediate action that the University can take to help stop it. Both CID and Students Taking...

Tolerance is a two-way street

By Maroon Editorial Staff / May 1, 2007

The best way to confront opinions you disagree with is through open dialogue—not by quashing speakers you don’t like. Yet many members of the University—an institution that prides itself on vigorous intellectual debate—want to stop General Peter Pace from speaking at the Graduate School of Business (GSB). Pace, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of...

Good economics doesn’t make good politics

By Alec Brandon / May 1, 2007

Last week, the U of C made big news when superstar economist Austan Goolsbee, a professor at the Graduate School of Business (GSB), was appointed as Barack Obama’s lead economic adviser for the 2008 presidential campaign. This means that if Obama gets elected, Goolsbee will have his pick of positions in the new cabinet and...

Let’s have moderation in pursuit of justice

By Matt Barnum / May 1, 2007

Not much happens in my hometown of Cary, a largely white, upper–middle class suburb that is about an hour northwest of Chicago. However, Cary recently gained national attention when Allen Lee, a senior at Cary-Grove High School—where I graduated from last year—was charged with disorderly conduct for things written in a “free writing” essay. The...

Lou Dobbs’s perverse populism

By Steve Michalkow / May 1, 2007

Conservatism in America ultimately exists in two forms. Most obvious is the clearly defined outline of the stereotypical Republican—pro-business, big on defense spending, with a dash of socially conservative values and utter humorlessness. Though the past eight years of American governmental activity would force any freethinking citizen who isn’t firmly suckling at the teat of...

A job best kept within the U of C

By Tara Kadioglu / May 1, 2007

Helping at last year’s spring convocation, I remember sitting amid the graduating class. Despite the gray sky, the rain-wetted grass, and the family members in ponchos, the Class of 2006 was radiant. The students to my left and right cheered as their classmates took their diplomas. One was hard-pressed to find a graduating senior who...

We cannot tolerate UCCID’s tactics

By Reynold Strossen / May 1, 2007

Proponents of divestment are now causing sufficient damage to the University to merit the reproach of all students, faculty, and administrators. While earlier in the year pro-divestment groups used dialogue to seek change, they have now turned to pure coercion and obstruction—not to mention illegal acts—in an attempt to force the University to take actions...

Geeks gone wild

By Maroon Editorial Staff / April 27, 2007

Few cling to tradition like the students and faculty of the University of Chicago, but when the Searle Chemistry Laboratory opened its doors to students eager to procure free lab materials last week, this tradition got a little out of hand. The closing of a chemistry lab at the U of C is usually an...

Let’s give the surge a fighting chance

By Liz Egan / April 27, 2007

In January, General David Petraeus was unanimously confirmed by the Senate to command U.S. forces in Iraq. Since then, the progress his leadership has made in Iraq is astoundingly and therefore astoundingly underreported by the media. When Petraeus was being considered for confirmation, he made it explicit to Congress that he would not be able...

Want to avoid a media circus? Speak up.

By Ethan Stanislawski / April 27, 2007

Last year, I could not have had a worse introduction to the workings of the American media. At the same time that I was beginning my stint as Voices Editor of the Maroon, one of my best friends from home died after being chased into traffic by a group of muggers. The story became a...

Hate France? Royal’s your (wo)man.

By James Conway / April 27, 2007

Recent polling has shown that French voters remain undecided heading into next week’s presidential election. Never fear, good people of France—I am here to help make your decision easier. For you see, unlike most ignorant Americans, I understand you very well. I understand that you enjoy a foreign policy that appeases your enemies and snuffs...

Student Government disappoints as usual

By Barney Keller / April 27, 2007

“Or don’t vote for me…who cares? Don’t vote at all!” So says high school student government presidential candidate Tammy Metzler in the cult classic Election. Here at the U of C, life imitates art. At the annual Student Government (SG) debate in McCormick Lounge last Sunday, Adam Brunk, a member of the Moose Party slate,...