Some will rejoice, hopefully some will not, but this is my last column for the Forum pages of Student Life. For the past week, I’ve debated on what to write: another column on gay rights? Done that. Some gripe about campus? Hard to choose. Something about President Bush’s news conference? As American Idol fan Sarah Brown said in Wednesday’s USA Today, “On the one hand, I’d like to think that the American president speaking is more important than a singing contest. On the other hand, I can’t think of anything that President Bush could say right now that would make me want to tune in.”
In a recent letter to the editor, Matt Traverso rails against women’s-only scholarships, proclaiming that “[Women] don’t need the scholarships anymore!” after politely asking feminists to “shut the hell up.” He also invites females to burn their bras, then tastefully ends his letter by declaring “I damned well expect to be paid for it”-it being his penis.
Today, we will know if the Washington University student body endorsed using part of the student activities fee to endorse Student Union’s executive officers. The idea of paying the executives is not revolutionary. As Student Union points out, executive officers of other student governments are paid for their work.
America’s military loves to talk about leadership. As the military construes it, leadership is less about leading successful meetings and more about duty, honor, and doing the right thing. But, lately, the United States’ military has shown a complete lack of leadership, honor and principle when it comes to the service of women in the military.
In 1990 remarks to the National Academy of Science, the first President Bush said, “Science…relies on freedom of inquiry; one of the hallmarks of that freedom is objectivity. Now more than ever, on issues ranging from climate change to AIDS research to genetic engineering to food additives, government relies on the impartial perspective of science for guidance.
Tuesday, President Bush assumed his “President” face (you know the one) to announce his endorsement of a Constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. Protecting marriage is just that important, the President, er, ‘reasoned.’ Not surprisingly, the TV pundits had a heyday.
Those who faithfully read my columns know that I typically write on serious issues. But, as a second-semester senior, I think some less weighty issues deserve a few column inches. After four years, I’m wondering a few things. Some are old questions, some are new…
Tuesday, the Humane Society of Missouri rescued 28 dogs from a woman’s property in Lincoln County. For months-maybe even years-the dogs, ages 6 to 9, had been living in deplorable conditions. Each was kept in a cage lined with hay soaked with urine and feces.
In the world of celebrity news, where “15 minutes” of publicity of any sort is considered “fame,” Britney Spears must be fuming at the attention her ex-boyfriend, Justin Timberlake, is receiving along with Janet Jackson over their, er, “performance” in the Super Bowl halftime show.
The old Olin Library had its charms: an almost museum-like quality to the mismatched Sixties furniture, generations of bathroom graffiti, a lack of study spaces that made one revel in claiming one. This semester has brought the premiere of the new Olin Library, and-even though some of the paradoxical joys of the old Olin are long gone-the University Libraries deserve praise for the redesign.
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