|
Bush's Thanksgiving Turkey Under-cooked
By Laurel McFadden
Staff Writer
The most publicized Thanksgiving dinner
this year occurred in a small airplane hanger in Baghdad,
Iraq. President Bush, in a top secret trip into the
war zone, ate Thanksgiving dinner and spoke to 600 military
personnel in an attempt to make a personalized show
of dedication to the war.
Frankly, I found it embarrassing. It
is certainly true that holding a turkey in the middle
of a cheering throng makes a far better photo-op than
sitting behind a desk, signing papers. In this situation,
the government seems to have gone for flair. Instead
of using our extensive monetary and military resources
to address any number of issues that might bring the
war to a earlier close, improve conditions for either
troops or Iraqis, increase education or simply address
any other issue that activists across America fight
for, America proves that it can keep a secret for about
24 hours, and send the President on a James Bond-esque
spin to Iraq.
U.S.
Aid Vital to Columbia's Growth
By Mario Velez
Contributing Writer
We must be wary of the tendency towards
a simplistic, one-sided analysis when examining foreign
aid to Colombia. True, Colombia has the highest proportion
of murders and kidnappings in the general population
of any country. True, Colombia is the world’s
leading cocaine producer and exporter. And true, it
is hard to effectively run Latin America’s oldest
democracy while the nation undergoes a 39-year-long
civil war that has claimed over 200,000 lives.
| Rant
Farm
A
weekly screaming ground for biased, uninformed,
short-winded rage. Now with exclusive
web headlines! |
|
Sternbach
Balks Independent
By Rebecca Sternbach
Contributing Writer
A few weeks ago, I came across
a copy of the Claremont Independent in Frary and
made the mistake of picking it up. I always do
this to myself, like the times I go to see a horror
movie and then immediately regret it because I’ve
freaked myself out. But the CI was like a car
crash—I could not look away. The front page
article lamented the fact that liberal professors
overrun the Claremont Colleges, (a particularly
irritating quote in this article defined African
Americans as “the most highly sought-after
and most liberal racial group”). In another
article, a Pomona student expressed his dismay
at the fact that Pomona College professors dared
to express political opinions during class, (A
professor? Expressing opinions? Heavens, no!).
Okay, I’ll meet them halfway on this one.
I suppose it would be difficult to be a conservative
and have only liberal professors. However, I found
little sympathy for the gentle-spirited conservatives
struggling against repressive liberals here at
the Claremont Colleges. Perhaps this is because
the conservatives control, wait now, let me make
sure to get this right... oh yes, the rest of
the country.
|
Workers
Deserve Licenses
By Kim Brettschneider
Contributing Writer
The California State Driver’s
License bill, SB-60, would have provided immigrant workers
with the right to drive with a license and to obtain
car insurance in California. It was passed under Governor
Gray Davis right before the recall election, but was
recently repealed by now Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.
SB-60 would have allowed immigrants to obtain a license
and insurance, with the qualification that they provide
tax reports, foreign driver’s licenses, birth
certificates, and tax certificates. Since there was
no strict background check on citizen status, this constituted
an admission from the U.S. that we need these immigrant
workers here and a commitment to offer the workers rights
to a driver’s license.
George
W. Bush: Not Actually the Devil
By Peter Douglas
Staff Writer
I used to be a big time Bush-basher.
I loved the websites that made George W. Bush look like
a monkey, the books full of garbled speeches and interviews,
and the jokes about the President’s IQ. I would
begin every article I wrote for this newspaper by describing
how idiotic, greedy, fascist, and evil the President
was and how once again he was going to screw up all
of our lives. Lately, however, the pervasive Bush-bashing
is beginning to bother me. It is not that my opinion
of the President has changed; it is as low as ever.
Nor do I think the President deserves a higher level
of respect; we should be able to treat our presidents
with the same lack of respect we show everyone else.
The problem with Bush bashing is that it is a sign of
desperation, a sign that we feel so powerless to stop
the country from heading in a direction that many of
us feel is terrible that all we can do to make ourselves
feel better is call the President stupid. This is a
bad sign, because when you start calling people names,
it means they have already won.
Choices Tricky During and After College
By Emily Steele
Contributing Writer
It is our responsibility as citizens
of the United States and the global community to do
all that we can to make sure our government works to
fight the Global AIDS crisis. The Free Trade Area of
the Americas agreement (FTAA) is a step in the wrong
direction, in terms of placing profit before human lives.
It will limit both Latin America and the Caribbean in
the production and marketing of affordable anti-retroviral
drugs (ARVs) and will benefit wealthy pharmaceutical
companies.
Freshman Retrospective
By Brandon Routman
Staff Writer
As the semester winds down to winter
break, I thought that it might be an appropriate time
to reminisce. It was just a few months ago that we freshmen
chirped down College Avenue under the watchful gaze
of upperclassmen. But we are not incoming freshmen anymore.
With at least a few credits of academia under our collective
belt, we can now condescend to high-school seniors on
their college hunts. Yes, we too were once there, a
long time ago. The few months in age that separate us
college students from those eager-eyed seniors belie
the large gap in our psyches. They still have worries
and hopes that we would find naive, and perhaps they
would consider our worries petty. Consider this: before
entering college, one of my biggest ambitions was to
fully immerse myself in all the offerings of a liberal
arts education: science, literature, philosophy, history.
Now, my biggest ambition is to wake up before class
early enough to help myself to some omelets with tomatoes,
black olives, cheese, and mushrooms. My point is that,
to some extent, we have lost our idea of the “big
picture” of college.
|
