The truth about Osama bin Laden

By Richard Page / November 21, 2004

The reaction to the recent Osama bin Laden videotape has truly amazed me. To begin with, I was shocked by the way the majority of Americans simply choose to ignore it. Here we are, with people taking their own lives flying planes into our buildings, yet we are too busy watching Law & Order to...

Recent University diversity statement misses queer community

By John Gabriel / November 21, 2004

The recently released Statement on Diversity makes no mention of the queer population on campus, either as students, faculty, and staff, or in the community at large. Apparently this statement is an attempt by the University to justify its recruitment, retention, and hiring practices, and since the University doesn’t take sexuality or gender identity into...

Watch the new “value party” in action

By Gautham Rao / November 21, 2004

After basking in the glorious afterglow of election night, the Republican Party has some choices to make. Will it (quite literally) see the light and put every page of the Bible into statutory form? Or will it somehow maintain its appeal to independent and swing voters by holding God’s will at bay? Ground zero in...

Roth book misused to mourn election

By Phoebe Maltz / November 21, 2004

Rebecca Phillips wrote in last Friday’s Maroon (“America ‘le ridicule,'” 11/11/04): “[D]espite the Kerry-Edwards button defiantly pinned on my winter coat, I knew that it was over. It wouldn’t be until the next day that the French newspapers would go to press with headlines such as ‘4 More Years: What Europe Feared,’ but on the...

Gonzales: All the fascism, none of the fun

By Emily Alpert / November 21, 2004

As Bush swaps Ashcroft for Gonzales, even the staunchest civil libertarian can’t help a twinge of nostalgia. Say what you will about Ashcroft—through all the detentions, the tortures, the abuses of privacy and the stifling of dissent, you could always count on Ashcroft to do something so absurd, so cartoonishly zealous, that for about five...

Will Michael Moore cash in on the second Bush term?

By Patrick Burke / November 15, 2004

Although George W. Bush may be Michael Moore’s greatest enemy in an ideological sense, there is no doubt that his term in the oval office has made life a little more comfortable for America’s favorite malcontent. For as much as he portrays himself as a stoic crusader for the politically alienated, Moore’s films, books, and...

Britain’s unjust war on junk food

By Laura Hamilton / November 15, 2004

In a well intentioned but poorly conceived plan to fight its growing obesity problem, Britain plans to forbid junk food advertisements during the hours children are most likely to be watching television. Here, I abstract from the question of whether this violates the right to freedom of speech. I also abstract from the question of...

Planning our southern expansion

By Ryan Uricks / November 15, 2004

With plans for the new dorm underway and completion slated for 2008, the administration once again takes attempts to integrate the south campus with the rest of the University community. Its last major attempt with the Law School and SSA is regarded as an overall failure. This time, the administration seems to have listened to...

Saskia Sassen reveals high-handed habits, stifles discussion

By Peter Berkowitz / November 15, 2004

I wish I could say that I was surprised by the crude conduct of, and fraudulent charges made by, University of Chicago sociology professor Saskia Sassen, my co-panelist at the November 10 debate, “Examining National Identity: Nationalism, Transnationalism, and the Future of the Middle East,” held on campus at International House and sponsored by the...

Could liberalism be dying in America

By Barney Keller / November 15, 2004

I grew up in a town called Belmont, which was right next to Cambridge and Harvard University. I remember going to Harvard Square as a kid, seeing one of the greatest universities in the world, and hearing the activist voices coming from it. These people, I was told, knew how the world should be. They...

Is Harry Reid the leader the Democrats need?

By Andrew Hammond / November 15, 2004

As we recover from the shock that was November 2, Democrats all across the country prepare for the onslaught of an extreme, right-wing agenda. Clinging to hopes of success in the midterms or even retaking the White House in ‘08 might be soothing conjectures for the meantime, but the most important time for the Democrats...

CAPS: Take the next step

By Maroon Editorial Staff / November 15, 2004

As students at the University of Chicago, it is sometimes easy to become lost in the academic workload and various obligations one experiences during the course of a week. While it may be difficult to remember that there is a life beyond the four years of undergraduate education, a student ignores his future opportunities only...