The other Chicago

By Marshall Knudson / April 11, 2008

Reading history is like playing video games: The past is filled with colorful figures, graphic violence, and at the end of the day, you can put the book down without much of a stain on your conscience or a damper on your spirits. It’s only when you come to realize you’re living your own unique...

Absolut nonsense

By Tim Murphy / April 7, 2008

[img id=”80451″ align=”alignleft”] When then–World Bank President Ismail Serageldin forecast a future in which societies fight over water rights, he may have had the wrong liquid in mind. If recent events are any indication, the wars of the future will be fought not over water, but vodka. Taking a break from its usual ad campaign...

He’s no messiah

By Nathan Bloom / April 7, 2008

[img id=”80443″ align=”alignleft”] David Cardero was prophetic when, in early 2007, he put his life-sized sculpture of Barack Obama depicted as Jesus on display at the Art Institute of Chicago. The messianic overtones of Senator Obama’s campaign have since led some to see Obama as a modern-day Jesus, who, in Cardero’s words, “is sort of...

The housing crunch

By Alec Brandon / April 7, 2008

High-school seniors are trying to figure out where to go to school next year. College seniors are furiously trying to finish their B.A. papers—not to mention scrambling to figure out what to do with the rest of our lives. First-, second-, and third-years, meanwhile, are attempting to make productive plans for the summer. They are...

Rotten to the Core

By Matt Barnum / April 3, 2008

It’s easy to make an argument against the Core. I could talk about the importance of a self-directed education. I could point out how any curriculum overemphasizes the value systems of those who created it. I could claim that the Core wastes time that could be better spent studying one’s major or choosing one’s own...

Spitzer’s steamroller blues

By Ethan Stanislawski / April 3, 2008

When the Eliot Spitzer scandal broke last month, most Americans seemed to have the same reactions: “How could he be so stupid?” “What was he thinking?” “What an idiot.” The cover of New York Magazine featured a photo of the governor with an arrow labeled “brain” pointing at his crotch. A New York Times editorial...

After Goolsbee-gate, should we invade Canada? Hold off, for now

By Zack Hill / March 10, 2008

[img id=”80438″ align=”alignleft”] Oh Canada, say it isn’t so! All of North America is in turmoil over the revelation that a Canadian bureaucrat told the press that Barack Obama is a politician who sometimes says things he doesn’t mean. The controversy began when Barack Obama sent his senior economic adviser to explain to the Canadians...

After Goolsbee-gate, should we invade Canda? Yes, we can

By Alec Brandon / March 10, 2008

[img id=”80438″ align=”alignleft”] Last week there was a fundamental shift in the world’s international order. I’m not talking about Colombia’s air strike against FARC rebels in Ecuador. Nor am I referring to Saudi Arabia being stood up by the Arab council, or the turmoil in Israel. All that stuff is to be expected. No, this...

Hagee the horrible

By Tim Murphy / March 10, 2008

As a televangelist, CEO, author, lobbyist, Death Eater, and now, quite possibly, a presidential king-maker, John Hagee has spent his adult life sowing the seeds of religious intolerance within a large and devoted community. He blamed Hurricane Katrina on a gay pride parade, called Catholicism “a gutter religion,” and denounced Harry Potter as an introduction...

Rise of the machines

By Claire McNear / March 10, 2008

The machine wars are on. I would not say this if I had no evidence. I like to think that I’m a forgiving person, and I would love to be able to trust—or at least not wage war with—the machines that make my life so much easier. But recent events have made peace a truly...

Dollars and sense

By Ethan Stanislawski / March 7, 2008

[img id=”80432″ align=”alignleft”] One of my lasting impressions from this summer occurred when I attended a sneak preview of Michael Moore’s Sicko in New York City. This was the first time the movie had been screened, and Moore himself was in the audience. (One attendee got him to sign a pill bottle.) The lasting image,...

Playing fair with admissions

By Ryan McCarl / March 7, 2008

[img id=”80430″ align=”alignleft”] In his Tuesday column (“More Than a Game,” 3/4/08), Matt Barnum takes issue with the process that U of C athletic coaches follow when recruiting student-athletes. Specifically, Barnum does not believe that coaches should be allowed to lobby the admissions office on behalf of prospective students who they believe would be a...