Immigration bill defies core American values

By Liz Egan / June 1, 2007

Illegal immigration into this country has gotten out of hand, and smothering the problem with a bill hundreds of pages in length, as congressmen are currently attempting to do, is not going to bring us any closer to finding a solution. Appalling as it was that this immigration bill went up for a vote before...

Debate over facts must not stifle quest for policy solutions

By Liz Egan / May 15, 2007

I’ve written on this before, but it can’t be overemphasized that more and more these days, it’s not ideas that politicians are debating, it’s facts. The “he said, she said” war that characterizes the debate over most of today’s hot issues has replaced conventional discussions of method, ideology, and the search for new ideas and...

Debate over facts must not stifle quest for policy solutions

By Liz Egan / May 11, 2007

I’ve written on this before, but it can’t be overemphasized that more and more these days, it’s not ideas that politicians are debating, it’s facts. The “he said, she said” war that characterizes the debate over most of today’s hot issues has replaced conventional discussions of method, ideology, and the search for new ideas and...

Let’s give the surge a fighting chance

By Liz Egan / April 27, 2007

In January, General David Petraeus was unanimously confirmed by the Senate to command U.S. forces in Iraq. Since then, the progress his leadership has made in Iraq is astoundingly and therefore astoundingly underreported by the media. When Petraeus was being considered for confirmation, he made it explicit to Congress that he would not be able...

Politics can’t simply be a game of Monopoly

By Liz Egan / April 13, 2007

I realize the adage “money talks” is just basic economics, but this is getting ridiculous. It’s become a knee-jerk reaction to write a big government check for problems that need a lot more than money to be resolved. A sum of money is only useful with a degree of seriousness and commitment to addressing infrastructural...

Facts should not differ based on ideology

By Liz Egan / March 30, 2007

Instant gratification media culture has seeped into the pores of the political arena, and the result is some very creative reporting and selective listening on the part of most media outlets—particularly major ones. These days, nearly anyone can pick up the political rag of his choice and find exactly what he wants to hear, backed...

Getting HPV vaccine may be costly, but not getting it is even more so

By Liz Egan / February 27, 2007

Gardasil became the first, and so far only, preventative cancer vaccine when it was released by Merck this past June. The vaccine’s release was accompanied by an ad campaign encouraging women to become “one less”: one less statistic, one less family turned upside down, one less cervical cancer patient. While women who are not yet...

American Idol vs. American Elections

By Liz Egan / February 20, 2007

America is gearing up for the 2008 presidential election, and pundits are already chomping at the bit. Among the many pre-election guessing games that have yet to heat up is the speculation of voter turnout. Participation rates in American presidential elections and the TV show American Idol have sometimes been compared. In two hours’ time,...

Reclaiming the American identity

By Liz Egan / November 7, 2006

At the University of Chicago, we have a lot invested in the studies of people other than ourselves. The classics of Greece and Rome are embraced in the Core, and our Committee on Social Thought is renowned. We have a Center for East Asian Studies, a Center for Latin American Studies, the Katz Center for...

Flogging Molly takes no prisoners, but also leaves no man behind

By Liz Egan / October 31, 2006

Flogging Molly filled the Riviera with a sea of green-clad, Guinness-drinking, jig-dancing Irish last Friday night. Or at least in spirit, everyone was Irish; when the entire crowd responded with affirmative enthusiasm to lead singer Dave King’s poll of the audience for Irish blood in the house, he replied in his hearty Irish drawl, “I’d...