Smile Design Every Other Week
The University of Chicago’s Independent Student Newspaper since 1892

Chicago Maroon
The University of Chicago’s Independent Student Newspaper since 1892

Chicago Maroon
Smile Design Every Other Week
The University of Chicago’s Independent Student Newspaper since 1892

Chicago Maroon
Stories and content by Alec Brandon

Empty shelves, empty promises

By Alec Brandon / November 13, 2007
If ever there were a place that a cooperative could thrive in, Hyde Park is it. Our community is composed of long-time residents still bitter about Walter Mondale losing in ’84, liberal professors, and a few thousand college students. We’re like Berkeley, except without the good weather or the wealth. All the ideological sympathies in...

Fenway

By Alec Brandon / November 9, 2007
So I was in Boston for the past 24 hours and both times I drove past Fenway Park (to and from the air

Quick hits1

By Alec Brandon / November 7, 2007
1) Chuck Schumer folks. A big round of applause. He's not only the most annoying member of Congress,

56th and Cornell

By Alec Brandon / November 5, 2007
The 26 story apartment building that is planned for the corner of 56th and Cornell looks...interestin

Congress should keep out of colleges’ business

By Alec Brandon / October 29, 2007
Oxford and Cambridge used to be the pinnacle of higher education. They had the most money, the best professors, and the top students in the world. But ever since the British government decided to keep tuition rates artificially low, the two have fallen on hard times. They still have top-notch faculties and their students tend...

Niels Bohr

By Alec Brandon / October 22, 2007

I'm studying for a midterm and there is some material on Niels Bohr.Every time I see his name I can't help but laugh at this Simpson's joke:Man on TV: Tonight, on FOX: 'When Dinosaurs Get Drunk'...Homer:...

The end of Poland’s twin-tag-team

By Alec Brandon / October 22, 2007

The Polish government has conceded defeat in parliamentary elections today.The only reason I'm blogging about this, though, is that it is the end of Jaroslaw Kaczynski's rule as Prime Minister. And, the...

Stop taking Ann Coulter seriously.

By Alec Brandon / October 16, 2007
By now everyone under the sun has been subjected to commentary and analysis of Ann Coulter’s latest faux pas. Cable news channels have been devoting hours to her. The Anti-Defamation League has released numerous press statements. Traditional media outlets have joined the maelstrom too: The Los Angeles Times attempted to rouse its readers to action...

YDN on Goolsbee

By Alec Brandon / October 12, 2007
Alright, so this obviously seems like it might be turning into an obsession, but I swear that I found

Quick hits

By Alec Brandon / October 2, 2007
It's a busy day, so I'm going to keep this quick.1) TNR, which I usually adore, has a des

Hyde Park activism misses the Point

By Alec Brandon / October 2, 2007
If you look around Hyde Park, you can still see vestiges of the last big push by its community activists. “Save the Point” read torn bumper stickers and sun-worn signs adorning residential windows around town. This movement dates back to 2001, when the Chicago Park District proposed replacing the structurally unstable limestone steps that go...

The new guy

By Alec Brandon / September 26, 2007
There is a new sheriff in town, and his name is Tim Murphy. Yes, the super-Maroon-editor,

That guy2

By Alec Brandon / September 24, 2007
It's the start of a new school year at the U of C which means a whole new batch of students who will

Dissecting the “that guy” species

By Alec Brandon / September 19, 2007
While you enjoy the happiness and splendor of O-Week at the U of C, it is worthwhile to take a moment and consider the choices you’ll have to make in the not so distant future. In just seven days, O-Week will be over and you’ll realize that you not only have to live with these...

Zimmer, thus far

By Alec Brandon / September 18, 2007
For many students at the U of C, Robert Zimmer's tenure as president has been shaky. He has changed t

D.C. to get a seat at the table?

By Alec Brandon / June 6, 2007

The House passed a bill today that would give D.C. a voting member in Congress and would add a second member that would give an extra member to the next state in line (which would be the heavily Republican...

ROTC bans counterproductive to their cause

By Alec Brandon / June 1, 2007
It is graduation season again and at ceremonies all over the country, graduation speakers are offering up life lessons. One theme sure to make more than a few appearances is the importance of public service. Particularly after 9/11, it has become something of a fad for speakers to extol the virtues of giving back, conjuring...

It’s not the economics, stupid!

By Alec Brandon / May 25, 2007

Here is a column I wrote a couple weeks ago. It is, more or less, the reason that I vote Democrat despite have rather libertarian economic feelings. I feel that this really sums it up:Of course, candidates...

“War on Terror” only a good name for pols

By Alec Brandon / May 18, 2007
About a year ago, The Atlantic Monthly published a provocative essay by James Fallows about the War on Terror. Fallows argued, quite convincingly, that U.S. interests would be best served by declaring the War on Terror over; Fallows also pointed out that terrorist networks had for the most part lost their ability to coordinate large-scale...

Facebook11

By Alec Brandon / May 6, 2007
In case you were wondering how far the Facebook has permeated into society, you can now conveniently

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...

Don’t turn back the clock on abortion

By Alec Brandon / April 20, 2007
Wednesday, Justices Kennedy, Thomas, Scalia, Alito, and Roberts affirmed their places in history as the biggest tools ever when they redefined the extent to which women should be able to make decisions about their own health. Countering decades of precedent and reaffirmations of a woman’s right to choose, the Supreme Court ruled that there are...

Hyde Parkers need to realize the benefits of capitalism

By Alec Brandon / April 17, 2007
This weekend I made my way to the North Side to catch a ball game at Wrigley Field. I rarely leave Hyde Park, so it’s always a shock for me to see what a vibrant Chicago neighborhood looks like. But, in many ways, the North Side is the same as Hyde Park—both have people with...

Global warming3

By Alec Brandon / April 4, 2007

Here is what Bush had to say in response to the Supreme Court's EPA decision:President Bush, acknowledging that humans are at least partly responsible for global warming, said Tuesday that he took "very...

Censoring Holocaust denial is hypocritical

By Alec Brandon / April 3, 2007
One of my favorite rumors to emerge out of this summer’s World Cup had very little to do with soccer. The talk was that if Iran advanced past the opening round, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would make a visit to Germany to watch the team. If Germany had even allowed him into the country, they could...
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