Citizens need self-defense

By J.H. Huebert / July 11, 2002

Weighing in at 24 ounces, the Taurus .357 magnum felt just right in my hand. I aimed point blank at my target and fired. Before that March day, I’d never touched a handgun. They’d always seemed foreign and made me uneasy. But after six hours of training at the Stonewall Pistol Range in Cleveland, I...

The cowboy surgeon general

By Jena Barchas Lichtenstein / July 11, 2002

Dr. Richard Carmona is a trauma surgeon who took eight years to gain board certification after failing the exam twice. Dr. Carmona is also President Bush’s nominee for Surgeon General. One might imagine that, when he was a four-year-old, Richard Carmona had a bad day and his well-meaning preschool teacher told a tearful Mrs. Carmona...

Horoscopes for summer fun

By Tim Miller / July 11, 2002

Welcome adepts of the abnormal and experts in the extraordinary to Master Tim’s Psychic House o’ Laughs, where we give lifestyle advice to such distinguished clients as Michael Jackson, and . . . oh wait, it’s probably best not to get into that disaster. Suffice it to say that before that little imbroglio, “Bubbles the...

Shakespeare for everyone

By Pamela Koszut / July 11, 2002

I have realized that here at the University of Chicago, it is quite popular and yet almost cliché to begin a conversation with someone by inquiring about their year, concentration, and interests. However, herein lies the entranceway to my endless annoyance. These benign and (some may also say) friendly first conversations cause me to be...

Don’t knock philosophy’s value

By Andrew Moesel / July 7, 2002

When I tell someone I am majoring in English and philosophy, they almost always get a sarcastic twinkle in their eye, a friendly curl to one side of their lips, and inevitably say, “That’s cool, I really like philosophy. But don’t you think it just goes around in circles?” Through their thinly veiled politeness, I...

Parking users need bus service

By Pamela Koszut / July 7, 2002

The temperature this week reached nearly 100 degrees, and it felt like the sun had burst open and flames had engulfed the campus streets. When I walk to or from the Ellis parking structure where I usually leave my car, I often feel that hell could be cooler. I also must rush to class down...

Staff Editorial

By The Maroon Staff / July 7, 2002

The University of Chicago has recently purchased the former site of the Meridian Hyde Park theater on 53rd and Harper, which closed this past spring. We at the Maroon were sad to see the Meridian go, but out of its ashes a new opportunity arises to liven up the Hyde Park commercial establishment. We hope...

Staff Editorial

By The Maroon Staff / June 27, 2002

The passing of former U of C football star Jay Berwanger on Wednesday night will hardly go unmarked. His death was front page news—both in the Maroon and in national sports media outlets. But it would be a shame to remember Berwanger as merely a great football player, which is not to take away from...

No smoking leads to insanity

By Kyle Holtan / June 27, 2002

They say that immigrants to this country arrive with hardly any mental illness, but that their children show an alarming increase, and by the third generation there is as much lunacy as the general population. A 1998 study by William A. Vega of the University of Texas, San Antonio, “finds much higher rates of major...

Don’t lose faith because of scandals

By Pamela Koszut / June 27, 2002

The recent sex scandals have made being a member of the Catholic Church more and more difficult. And yet I cannot help but be pulled closer to my Catholic faith as a result. To be sure, many of the allegations and investigations have indicated that sex abuse did occur and that many of those in...

Larger Issues, by Tim Miller

By Tim Miller / June 27, 2002

Yesterday the College Board voted on whether to make major modifications to the SAT test. One of the proposed modifications was adding a written essay to the exam like the one in the current SAT II writing exam. Also proposed were more reading comprehension questions and more difficult math questions, up to what is considered...

American civilization triumphs

By Online Editor / May 9, 2002

When one wonders what makes a civilization superior to another, one can compare the material successes of the civic and social life of competing civilizations. Wealth, technology, art, and literature are clearly some of the standards through which a civilization can boast of its prowess. However, one needs to dig deeper and understand why such...