Benefits of the Chicago Initiative

By Jesse Ehrenfeld / April 20, 2004

In many ways, the creation of knowledge and the destruction of academic barriers define the spirit of the University of Chicago. Beginning in 1999, the University challenged itself in a new arena as it launched a plan to surpass one of its own great accomplishments—a plan to break the impressive fundraising record of $676 million...

White House sidesteps 9/11 commissions

By Gautham Rao / April 20, 2004

The behavior of the current White House towards the 9/11 commission has gone so far beyond the pale that former Watergate investigators—and even perpetrators—are outraged. Everybody knows that the self-styled “war president” fears political fallout from the commission’s findings. Yet, in a nationwide poll taken early this month, 56 percent of Americans believed that the...

Vote Your Conscience

By Maroon Editorial Staff / April 20, 2004

Spring quarter is now in full swing. People are donning T-shirts, midterms are starting, warm weather is upon us, and the inevitable approaches: Student Government (S.G.) elections. Voting is a basic democratic right too often ignored in American society. Many assume that in a nation the size of ours, their vote won’t make a difference....

Homophobia at the U of C Elimidate

By Letters from Readers / April 16, 2004

I recently attended the U of C Elimidate screening, a fundraising event that took place during AIDS Awareness week. The event was extremely well done—it was fun, different, and drew a sizable crowd. However, my own experience of it was tainted by the reactions of some of my fellow students. Before the movie started, my...

Flying woes of the special security line

By Leila Sales / April 16, 2004

Last weekend, when I was flying home, I got pulled into the “special security line” at the airport. Of course. I am always in the special security line, especially when I am already running half an hour late because I left the house wearing only sneakers, but then it’s raining, so I have to stand...

A look at Senator Kerry’s bleak record

By John Lovejoy / April 16, 2004

So far most of the analysis of the presidential race has focused on the record of President George W. Bush, but what of this other fellow, John Kerry? Even if one is inclined to dislike our President, one must measure him against the alternatives. Looking at Kerry as a person reveals him to be an...

Preserving Shake Day

By Maroon Editorial Staff / April 16, 2004

If there’s one thing we pride ourselves on at the U of C (other than intelligence), it’s eccentricity. We brag on shirts that our school is “where fun comes to die.” We can expect naked cross-country runners streaking their way through the Reg during finals. And we are currently preparing for four days of spring...

Privacy rights for students and professors at a private university

By William Baude / April 13, 2004

A professor recently sent an e-mail to everybody in a class I took, giving each of our grades on the final paper (by name) and a few comments on the failings of our work. Like several of my angry classmates, I was quite surprised—surely this violates some norm of privacy, if not the Family Educational...

Leila goes to the gym, falls off precor

By Leila Sales / April 13, 2004

I almost never go to the gym and I am thus completely unqualified to write about it. But since it’s spring, everyone will now be getting their exercise outdoors by biking to the Point, or swimming at the Point, or getting hypothermia at the Point because I don’t think you can actually swim there. But...

The Matzah Cycle: France, England, etc

By Phoebe Maltz / April 13, 2004

As a child, up until the age of about, let’s say, 19, I was very confused by where matzah came from. I had not bought into the blood-libel rumors. No, I figured it must be made out of matzah meal, mixed with water then baked. But, then, where did matzah meal come from? It must...

Remember the Lectures

By Maroon Editorial Staff / April 13, 2004

In the course of this week, the University of Chicago has greeted one of the most important names in American entertainment, Sherry Lansing, and will greet one of the most important names in defense policy, Under Secretary Douglas Feith. In life, opportunities to interact closely with people of such prominence are few and far between,...

Frats solve the dating Prisoner’s Dilemma

By Joshua Steinman / April 9, 2004

Last column I detailed how there are greater incentives for players in the singles game between men and women to show or feign disinterest when it comes to their feelings about one another, based on the Prisoner’s Dilemma. What’s the solution to the “Dating Dilemma”? The answer is simple: create a system of repeat players...