What Does It Mean To Be A Liberal Today?
When Howard Dean proclaims that he represents the “Democratic wing of the Democratic party,” what does he mean? When asked to declare a party affiliation or a political
viewpoint, what do I mean when I call myself a “Democrat” or a “liberal”? Complete article...
Web Exclusive: State Governments Respond to Global Warning Threat
Even as President Bush stalls on taking a proactive stance against global warming,
individual states are searching for ways to fill the policy-making void and coax the
administration into action. Fourteen states, including Bush’s Texas, have recently enacted
laws to limit emissions of greenhouse gases, which eat away at the ozone layer and help
cause global warming. Ten states are now poised to file a lawsuit against the EPA,
trying to force it to take a stronger stand against climate change. Although the states
have already developed innovative approaches to tackling this problem, even in several
states with Republican governors, like New York, no immediate change can take place
without federal assistance. Complete article...
Student Influence Declines as University Wealth Balloons
Since the early 1990s, many of today’s best privateuniversities have acquired a degree of financial independence and wealth that allows them to expand facilities and faculty at an extremely high rate. So-called “corporate universities,” however, have also shown an increasing propensity to neglect student and faculty concerns when making decisions, a trend that has been well exhibited both here at Princeton and at Yale. The dramatic conclusion of Yale’s labor dispute last month, which held striking similarities to the Princeton workers’ movement in 2001, shows that the price students must pay to influence their
university administrations is at an all-time high. Complete article...
Flirting With International Democracy
Sitting down to lunch with my French grandmother over Fall Break, I came to realize an Old European conception of America. That conception, a complicated mix of fear and admiration, currently causes European nations to chafe at U.S. decision making. Discord among NATO countries has perhaps never been more dangerous – and introspection on the part of the U.S. never more vital– than today. Complete article...
The New Anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism is a disproportionate and irrational hatred of the Jewish people. This irrational loathing can manifest itself in many ways. Here is an example: If John were to step on Bill’s toes and Bill were to threaten to kill John, this would indicate Bill’s irrational and disproportionate hatred of John. If both John and Moshe (a Jew) step on Bill’s toes, but Bill picks on Moshe and threatens to kill him, while saying that Bill’s transgression is negligible, this shows that Bill holds Moshe to a different standard simply because he is Jewish. A bigot would consider Moshe’s action as typical of the Jews. This is anti-Semitism. Complete article...
General Clark for President
As America prepares for the 2004 Presidential election, we find ourselves being transformed from an idealistic nation into a fearful and belligerent one. How we vote in 2004 will determine whether this transformation is carried through, and it will therefore count among the most important decisions the American people have ever made. But for Democrats, in many ways the real decision is now. With a deeply ambivalent electorate, simultaneously riskaverse
and dissatisfied with the status quo, the outcome of the election may ultimately hinge on the perceived strengths and weaknesses of the candidate we choose now. If the Democrats nominate a loser, this century could get a lot uglier. Complete article...
Gay Rights on Campus
During these past few weeks, as the jet stream brought Indian summer to campus and the discourse of the Prince’s Op-Ed page turned to the debate on sexuality, I thought back to this summer’s momentous Lawrence decision, in which the Supreme Court overturned Bowers v. Hardwick
and declared Texas’ anti-sodomy laws unconstitutional. It seemed at that moment that the prediction (hope?) that the issue of homosexual marriage would go the way of interracial couples was on its way to becoming history, and that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation would soon be as taboo as racial discrimination. Complete article...
Don't Drink Coors
As you continue to read, close your eyes and imagine a typical night at the street. After flashing your prox and walking through the front door, you and your friends scan the dance floor and quickly head downstairs to the taproom. Squeezing through the crowds and being groped by random people, you finally make your way to the bar and check what’s on tap. Beast or Coors? Your salivary glands begin to excrete beer drinking saliva because, on the surface, this may appear to be an easy decision. Beast isn’t very good and any break from it is usually universally praised. However, as the devil and the angel on your shoulders reach for beers, you pause and begin to think more deeply about the choice. Complete article...