Ugghhhh

23 Nov 2008, Posted by Danny Lewin in Backpages, Backtalk, 3 Comments

Politics turn people into idiots.

I wanted to make a quiet critique of blind liberalism that pervades our campus, but it turned into this. I stand behind the original argument, that most of us are so narrowly left-leaning that it becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy (Republicans dare not enter the Democratic gauntlet, we don’t learn about the Republicans, we become more liberal, and so on). The problem with my article is that given limited space, I had to engage in intellectual triage and attack the larger of several problems. Since there are more liberals on campus, I figured the correct route was to critique the liberals for their lack of knowledge beyond the presidential race. There’s much more that merits criticism. Here they are, in no particular order:

1) College Republicans. They are libertarians pretending to be Republicans for political expediency. The GOP is a big-tent party and has been for a long time. That was a good strategy and certainly one that garnered a lot of votes for Reagan and George W. Bush. A party that can simultaneously uphold the tenets of small government for taxes, big government for national defense, and huge government for social issues is sure to pull broad coalitions together. Here are some key baggage that College Republicans won’t remind you come with their party:

a) The Christian right, a core demographic of the big tent. This means the GOP is often in favor of the government stepping on your toes if you’re gay, a woman having an abortion, or a teacher who believes in evolution.

b) Massive defense projects. This, children, is called government spending. You normally don’t like that. Obviously, neither side can or will cut the defense budget substantially, but at least the Democrats pay for it (don’t fight it: the last three “fiscal conservatives” ran up massive debt, whereas the last “tax-and-spend” Democrat balanced the budget).

c) The GOP has been the vanguard of political scandal, rather than political integrity which they claim. Actions speak louder than words, and the party of Scooter Libby, Ted Stevens, Tom DeLay, Mark Foley, and Larry Craig should walk the walk if it’s going to talk the talk. (more…)

Duke in The Onion?

20 Nov 2008, Posted by Jeff Ditzler in Backpages, Backtalk, 0 Comments

I found this article on The Onion.  It doesn’t specifically mention Duke, but it involves a fraternity and the dateline is Durham.  (The fraternity brothers are all white, which probably rules out NCCU).

It appears that their plan will cost less than $700 billion, which gives it a distinct advantage over the Congressional bailout.

JuicyCulture

19 Nov 2008, Posted by Danny Lewin in Backpages, Backtalk, Recruitment, 0 Comments

If you haven’t guessed the topic of this post from its title, odds are you’re not a member of Duke’s class of 2012.

JuicyCampus.com is an online forum where college students can anonymously gossip about their peers (or, in the case of fraternities, about themselves). Students from universities across the country can start a topic for discussion, respond to emerginc topics, and rate whether the thread of discussion is “Juicy” or not. Up and running since Aug. 2007, the site has been a hotbed of ultra-democratic discussion, ranging from the mundane (Which Gay Guy Has the Biggest Penis?—0% Juicy) to the profound (Which Gay Guy Has the Smallest Penis?—100% Juicy).

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Rhee’s attitude stalls reform (unabridged)

18 Nov 2008, Posted by Lisa Ma in Backpages, Exclusive guest commentary, 2 Comments

The following is the unabridged version of the guest commentary that ran in today’s print edition:

As you may have heard, District of Columbia Public Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee is out to make it easier to fire teachers who are ineffective. It’s not currently impossible, but it involves putting the offending teacher on a cumbersome “90-day plan” with numerous loop holes. Having an effective teacher is the single best indicator of a child’s success in school. The Chancellor wants D.C. teachers to sign a new contract that rewards effective teachers with drastically higher salaries and makes it easier to fire ineffective teachers. Sounds simple, right? (more…)

Obama pool follow-up

17 Nov 2008, Posted by Jeff Ditzler in Backpages, Backtalk, 0 Comments

The answers to a couple of the questions I posed in my most recent column are becoming a bit clearer:

—I’ve noticed a lot of fist-bumping lately (for example, the players at the Duke-Presbyterian game fist-bumped the refs after their introductions). President-elect Barack Obama hasn’t even been inaugurated yet, and he already has a legacy.  I’m impressed.

—Prof. Peter Feaver (who served in the Bush administration and was one of my potential GOP challengers for 2012) seems to be the faculty point man on the underloading proposal.  This might be his way of cutting into Obama’s advantage with the youth vote.