It is no secret that the financial crisis has affected a wide segment of the population. Yet while the worst of the crisis seems to have abated for many, its most recent victims aren't even old enough to vote.
Lawmakers in Arizona, and several other states, are considering legislation that would permit faculty and students to carry concealed firearms on public university campuses. This means that students and professors who already have a firearm license would be allowed to bring guns on campus if the weapons were hidden from view. Currently, Utah is the only state to allow firearms at all public universities.
This morning I read a hilarious article in The New York Times from Feb. 1 entitled "Rewards for Rebellion: Tiny Nation and Crown for Life," and it has inspired this week's column to be slightly unorthodox. I'm going to write about leaders of countries that do not actually exist. Huh?
Let's just take a step back and look at the times we live in for a second. First of all, some of you are reading this op−ed on a device that also takes phone calls, plays music, keeps a calendar, has a calculator and has an abundance of games and "apps" meant to entertain. This same device can hook up wirelessly to a larger system through which it can access satellite photos of where to get the best fresh duck in rural Japan. It can then send those photos to the viewing portals of friends, family or strangers. Our food no longer has to be grown on farms, as most of it is produced in a manufacturing process requiring very few (if any) natural ingredients.
"I think the reality is that India and Pakistan cannot afford to turn their backs to each other, that they must engage in dialogue, which is as I said serious and sustainable and comprehensive," Foreign Secretary of India Nirupama Rao, who is "cautiously optimistic" about the restart of the peace talks, said. Earlier this month, the foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan shook hands to finally resolve their bitter standoff and resume the wide−ranging harmonious talks that have been on hold since the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. When asked about the nature and form of the discussions, Ms. Rao has said that they are only meant to be comprehensive and refused to classify them as "composite dialogue," the official nomenclature used to describe previous India−Pakistan negotiations.
As a result of new legislation, college students in the United Kingdom will be required to pay higher tuition fees starting in the fall of 2012. While 2011 tuition rates for universities will cost students up to £3,375 (approximately $5,500) annually, the new policies will nearly double most tuition to £6,000 per year and allow some universities to charge £9,000 per year in exceptional cases.
President Barack Obama yesterday ordered the Justice Department to stop defending Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which was passed in 1996 and defines marriage as only between a man and a woman. Sparked by a pair of lawsuits that challenged Section 3, both of which originated in districts that require the administration's legal team to defend its constitutionality, Obama concluded that Section 3 is, indeed, unconstitutional. In a letter to Congress following the president's order, Attorney General Eric Holder said that while the administration will continue to enforce the act, the burden of defending its constitutionality will now be placed on Congress. If Congress so chooses, it can become involved in DOMA cases with its own lawyers.
Foreign Policy published a Jan. 3 article boldly titled "Think Again: American Decline" by Gideon Rachman. The last time I checked the website, 2,380 people "liked" it.
Under what circumstances can democracy survive? Political scientist Robert Dahl argues in his book "Polyarchy" (1971) that the citizens of a democratic state must be allowed to "formulate preferences" and "signify their preferences" by means of "individual and collective action." This action can come in the form of speech and other forms of public expression. Based on Dahl's assertions, it may be prudent to ask the following question: What is democracy without freedom of speech? In more specific terms, at what point does political correctness infringe upon our inherent right to free expression?
Earlier this month, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) proposed a new regulation that would bring student health insurance plans up to the standards of the Affordable Care Act, which passed last year. The new rule would affect insurance plans offered at colleges and universities, including the plan at Tufts offered through Aetna, and is a sensible step toward assuring quality care for college students.
The focus of this year's Education for Public Inquiry and International Citizenship (EPIIC) course is "Our Nuclear Age: Promise and Peril." Although my friends have enjoyed teasing me about giving up my social life in exchange for learning about "nukes," I've found great relevancy to our lives in this experience.
Last November, Kevin Troughton, in a piece for the Guardian, said that "the ‘straight−acting' are in the ascendency." Easily gleaned from the term itself, straight−acting refers to gay men (femme−butch in the context of lesbians will not be discussed) who do not fit the gay stereotype and conform to gender expectations. Often, the word appears in personals and online dating profiles as a trait and/or preference, valorizing normative gender behavior and interests. And if the word itself isn't used, other formulations (e.g. no femmes, masculine, butch) can imply the same meaning. In effect, the term essentializes sexuality, suggesting that gay men act in one manner and straight men act in another. It creates another binary that divides and discriminates and perhaps speaks to the self−image of gay men and their desires.
Countless people added their names to an open letter to Congress in response to the House of Representatives' decision to withhold federal funding to Planned Parenthood, an organization that provides cancer screening, HIV testing and birth control, among other forms of care. In it, I, and the many others who signed their names, demanded answers to the following questions:
In green culture today there is much talk of ‘sustainability.' Essentially, if a product requires few resources, is efficiently made, is biodegradable and has a picture of the world on it with a cute slogan like "let's work together," then it's probably sustainable. The opposite of sustainability is wastefulness.
Last week, thousands of protestors gathered in Wisconsin's Capitol Square to protest newly elected Gov. Scott Walker's new budget plan, which proposes cuts to the pay and benefits of many government employees and severely limits the collective bargaining abilities of labor unions. A week later, the protestors are still there — an Internet movement has even led hundreds of supporters across the country to order pizzas for the Wisconsin demonstrators.
In Tuesday's edition of the Daily, the editorial "FIRE is wrong in naming Tufts in its ‘12 worst'" and the op-ed "More speech, not less, and certainly not hate speech" respond to Tufts being placed on the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education's (FIRE) "12 Worst Schools for Free Speech" list in The Huffington Post. These two opinion pieces level fairly common criticisms of FIRE and our methods. I write today, as the Justice Robert H. Jackson Legal Fellow at FIRE and a proud alum of Tufts, to address these criticisms and explain further why Tufts deserves its place.
The House of Representatives yesterday voted to cancel federal funding for a jet engine that has been widely opposed by both the Bush and Obama administrations, as well as Defense Secretary Robert Gates. The removal of the F−35 Joint Strike Fighter's alternative engine from the federal spending bill that will fund the government through the end of the year will cut an additional $450 million and save up to $3 billion over the next few years. While funding for the engine has met strong opposition, its continuation has also been adamantly defended by representatives in whose districts its construction has created manufacturing and supply jobs.
One of the great things about Tufts is how worldly the students are, so I apologize if I'm preaching to the choir about this, but I think it bears mention. To set the scene, I've spent the last month traveling all over New Zealand on the supercheap. That means I've been splitting my nights between hostels and campgrounds. While backpacking like this certainly has its thorns, it has allowed me to meet tons of interesting (mostly savory) people. Two things in particular struck me about the travelers that I have met: first, the relatively small number of Americans — especially those my age — and second, the duration of my bunkmates' travels.
Op-ed submissions are an integral part of our connection with you, our readers. As such, we would like to clarify our guidelines for submitting op-eds and what you can expect from the process.
Read More
