Bright Hall

Supreme Court Explores High School Searches, Personal Drama

Sam Guzik — 2009-04-24T10:06:00+00:00

Filed under: National News, Washington University, News

Sam Guzik is now a contributor for The Cram, a student news arm of the newly launched PoliticsDaily.com. To follow his future work, click here.

The Supreme Court is one of the United States's most venerable institutions, packed with nine of the nation's best legal minds, so it makes sense that they might be a little too busy to keep up with popular culture. Comments during the oral arguments in a case earlier this week, though, take out of touch to a new level.

Safford Unified School District v. Redding, heard by the court on Tuesday, asks the justices to weigh in on the constitutionality of strip searching students in schools when administrators have received a tip about hidden contraband but no location-specific information. While sorting through the complex fourth amendment issues, Justices found themselves transported back to their own time in school.

Take Justice Breyer, who wondered how the strip search was any different than what he had to endure while being forced to change for gym class and, less relevantly, while being teased by fellow students.

"In my experience when I was 8 or 10 or 12 years old, you know, we did take our clothes off once a day, we changed for gym, OK? And in my experience, too, people did sometimes stick things in my underwear," said Breyer while trying to point out that it might not be unusual for children to hide things from teachers in their underwear. As the court broke out into laughter, Breyer quickly added, "Or not my underwear. Whatever. Whatever."
Putting aside the troublesome assumption that forcing students to change for gym is analogous with forcing a 13-year-old girl to expose her breasts and pelvic region to school administrators, Justice Breyer's anecdote should be enough to start shaking your head at the Court.

Justice Scalia was surprised to learn that students sometimes sniff markers to get high when he asked why the school was attempting to confiscate them from students. "They sniff them?" Scalia said. "That's what kids do, your honor, unfortunately," said Matthew Wright, the representative for the petitioners. "Really?" Scalia responded.

The Court is expected to find against Savana Redding, now 19 (pictured at right), when it rules on the case in June based on the precedent of several other cases that establish a lower standard for administration searches of schools.

During the oral arguments, only Justice Ginsberg--coincidentally the only woman on the court--seemed shocked by the situation, observing the differences between Justice Breyer's experience in the men's locker room and Redding's search.

"It wasn't just that they were stripped to their underwear! They were asked to shake their bra out, to stretch the top of their pants and shake that out!" she said.

According to USA Today, The National Association of Social Workers - joined by the National Education Association, the National Association of School Psychologists, the American Society for Adolescent Psychiatry and the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children - sides with Redding in a court filing. "Social science research demonstrates that strip searches can traumatize children and adolescents and result in serious emotional damage," they say, citing studies in educational and legal journals.

After the strip search, Savana never returned to Safford Middle School. She transferred to other schools but never obtained her high school degree. She is currently taking classes at a community college and working to prepare for her GED.

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It's Not a Pagan Ritual, I Swear

Sam Guzik — 2009-04-08T17:33:00+00:00

Filed under: Religion, Washington University

So a large group of Jews gets together early in the morning and they start to pray toward the sun -- no, it's not the start of a really bad joke, it's a description of the rarest event in Jewish practice occurring only once every 28 years.

More specifically, the ritual, known as Birkat Hachama, is a blessing recited in appreciation of the sun, timed to occur when -- based on Talmudic calculations -- the sun is at the place in which it was created.

The observation of the ritual consists of reciting of the blessing "Blessed art thou, Lord our God, Author of Creation" and several scriptural passages. From start to finish, it can be completed in several minutes, but has brought together Jews around the world of varying degrees of observance.

So far, by all accounts this year's commemoration of Birkat Hachama has been more successful than the observance in 1897 when, according to The New York Times, one rabbi fled and another was arrested after failing to obtain a permit for an assemblage of hundreds of "orthodox Hebrews" in Tompkins Square. The rabbis' explanations in limited English to the Irish-American police officer didn't help, the article said, and tensions mounted.

The blessing will next be recited in 2037.

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Higher Tuition Means Students Pay More for Less, Report Says

Sam Guzik — 2009-01-18T12:08:00+00:00

Filed under: On Campus, Washington University, The Economy

For students and parents already groaning under the weight of paying for higher education, the news that tuition at colleges and universities across the country will almost inevitably be higher has been sending shock waves through public and private institutions alike.

Even before the final budgets for most state institutions are set by the legislature, a painful trend has been emerging: according to The Associated Press, California's proposed budget would raise state university fees by about 10 percent; Florida's governor is looking to increase each individual school's power to raise tuition; and the State University of New York has already announced an unusual midyear 14-percent increase.

The panic over higher than expected tuition increases compounded with the release of a report this week saying that most college students are paying more for their education, even as their schools spend less on teaching them.

"The public's got it exactly right," Jane Wellman, head of the Delta Project, told Inside HigherEd. "They are jacking up tuition, and they're not re-investing it in quality."

The Delta Project's trends held true mostly for public universities, but also found that private university educations--and the higher spending on instruction that goes along with it--is clustered in the hands of a much smaller number of students.

Though many private universities have not yet announced their tuition figures for next year, those schools that have announced show no indication of letting up on the trend of raising tuition. On Thursday, Washington University in St. Louis announced a 4.4 percent increase and last week saw the announcement of a 6 percent increase at Southern Methodist University.

The Delta Project report contains several telling pieces of information about how colleges and universities allocate the budgets afforded to them. Increases in spending were driven mostly by higher administration, maintenance, and student services costs and were financed largely by student contributions through tuition.

"The data tell us that the spending patterns are not changing, we're just shifting revenue sources," Wellman said. "So what this tells us is we're not dealing with our cost structures, we're just shifting revenues."

Based on the report's calculations, public universities spent almost $4,000 per student per year on administration, support, and maintenance in 2006, up more than 13 percent, in real terms over 1995. And they spent another $1,200 a year on services such as counseling, which was up 23 percent. Meanwhile, they spent about $8,700 a year on classroom instruction for each student, up about 9 percent.

Bright Hall explores the far-reaching effects of the financial crisis on the youth and campuses of America. Click here for the full series.

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Joe The Journalist to Report on Gaza

Sam Guzik — 2009-01-09T10:21:00+00:00

Filed under: International News, Washington University, Media

Fresh off the success of his recent memoir, Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher-better known as Joe the Plumber-is off to the Middle East to try his hand at war reporting. The former plumber will travel to Israel looking to tell the story of average Israelis for the conservative website pjtv.com, a division of Pajamas Media.

"I get to go over there and let their 'Average Joes' share their story, what they think, how they feel, especially with world opinion -- maybe get a real story out there," Wurzelbacher said late Wednesday on Ohio television station, WNWO.

According to a blog post by Roger Simon, chief executive and founder of Pajamas Media, on the company's web site, Joe the Reporter will focus on covering "the West Bank, Bethlehem (to investigate conditions for Christians there), southern Israel where the missiles are falling and, of course, as close as he can get to the Gaza border."

Simon also bristled at the "pretty snotty" response that the mainstream media has had to an average Joe joining their ranks.

During his ten day trip, Joe hopes to cover the underlying reasons for Israel's assault on Gaza which has led to more than 700 Palestinian deaths and 9 Israeli casualties in the most recent flare up by speaking with average Israelis. According to The Guardian, when he joined John McCain on the campaign trail, he agreed with a Republican supporter that a vote for Obama was a vote for the death of Israel.

"It's tragic, I mean it really is. I don't say that in any little way. It's very tragic, but at the same time what are the Israeli people suppose to do," Wurzelbacher told WNWO about the conflict.

Despite the danger of reporting live from a war zone, Wurzelbacher told WNWO that he feels himself called to do something bigger: "Being a Christian I'm pretty well protected by God I believe. That's not saying he's going to stop a mortar for me, but you gotta take the chance."

Wurzelbacher rose to fame during the presidential election campaign for questioning Barack Obama on his small business tax policy and plummeted to infamy when it was revealed that he was not a licensed plumber and he owed taxes.

To follow Joe the War Correspondent as he reports, visit PJTV.com.

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With New Semester Underway, Bad News for Student Newspapers

Sam Guzik — 2009-01-07T09:44:00+00:00

Filed under: Featured Stories, Washington University, Media, The Economy, Recession on Campus

Continuing a trend of dour news for media outlets around the country, a growing number of student papers are cutting issues, cutting staff salaries and pushing more content online.

This week alone, the Georgia Southern University student paper, the George-Anne, and the University of Minnesota student newspaper, the Minnesota Daily, announced plans for serious changes moving into second semester. At Georgia Southern University, the cuts are primarily being attributed to a desire to restructure the paper; The George Anne, which has seen dropping grades and staff counts, eventually plans to resume publication five days a week when that is again sustainable.

The Minnesota Daily, however, attributes its cuts directly to the economy and the fact that the paper's revenues were headed 30 to 35 percent below budget for the year if no changes were made.

Cutting Fridays--the least-read and least-advertised day--will save about $10,000 a month in printing costs, co-publisher John Scholz told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. "This was our way of thinking for the future and the sustainability of the Daily as a news organization, moving it online," the paper's editor in chief Vadim Lavrusik told the Star-Tribune.

The Minnesota Daily, like many of the papers facing difficulties, will continue to publish its Friday issue online reflecting an awareness that the future of journalism is on the internet.

Earlier this year, the Daily Californian at the University of California at Berkeley and the Daily Orange at Syracuse University each announced a similar decision to cut publication from five to four days.

Despite the depressing news, students seem no less likely to express a desire to go into journalism. According to the Albany Times-Union, a record number of undergraduates are studying journalism at the national level right now--nearly 200,000 undergraduates as of 2007, up from 130,000 in 1995.

"I go to meetings and all I hear is, 'Oh my God, they just keep coming and coming,' " Judy VanSlyke Turk, president of the Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication, told the Times-Union. She added, "I'm really not sure they understand how competitive the job market is."

Bright Hall explores the far-reaching effects of the financial crisis on the youth and campuses of America. Click here for the full series.

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New York Times Succumbs to Economic Hardship

Sam Guzik — 2009-01-05T11:01:00+00:00

Filed under: Washington University, Media, The Economy

Faced with rapidly dropping ad revenues and an increasingly dire financial situation, the staid Grey Lady has announced that it will begin selling display advertising on its front page-an unprecedented move for The New York Times, but one that has become increasingly common among newspapers around the country.

The announcement, which appeared in Monday's paper, was buried deep behind the front cover which contained a colorful two-and-a-half inch high ad for CBS running across the bottom of the page. In a statement, the paper said such ads would be placed "below the fold" - that is, on the lower half of the page, below teasers for other stories in the paper (pictured at right).

The really bad news for lovers of The Times comes not from the decision to run the ad, but from The Times news desk's own assessment of the decision in print: "Ordinarily, such space would be coveted by advertisers for its prominence, but it remains to be seen how well it will sell in the current climate, in which ad spending is plummeting."

The Times did not disclose the rates for which the front page would be sold.

Several weeks ago, the paper announced that it is planning to sell or mortgage its newly constructed offices to raise $225m to ease cashflow in the tighter credit market. At the times, Times executives suggested that 2009 would be one of the paper's "most challenging years"ever.

According to The Times, advertising revenue at The New York Times Media Group, consisting of The New York Times, The International Herald Tribune, the radio station WQXR-FM and Baseline StudioSystems, an online database, declined 21.2 percent in November from the same month in 2007.

The New York Times came to be know as "t he Grey Lady" because of its tradition of presenting many words and few pictures.

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Postal Service Teams Up With the Grinch

Sam Guzik — 2008-12-19T13:58:00+00:00

Filed under: Culture, Weird News, Washington University

To the dismay of lovers of Christmas around the nation, postal service has made it official: they are against Santa.

More specifically, the postal service has put an end to a nearly 100-year-old program that allows postal workers and citizens to answer children's letters to Santa. The program, called Operation Santa, was shut down on Wednesday after the postal service acknowledged a "privacy breach" in which a known sex offender had "adopted" one of the letters.

"This is a program that we have promoted for 100 years that is very near and dear to the Postal Service," said Sue Brennan, a spokeswoman for the program told The New York Times. "Everyone wants to believe in Santa. For us to stop this, we feel we are doing the right thing."

Hundreds of thousands of children write to Santa each year, with the postal station at the North Pole receiving nearly 150,000 letters according to the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner; the New York City postal service receives nearly 500,000 letters a year (letter pictures at left).

The Operation Santa program allowed a handful of those children to receive the gifts they requested from generous strangers. Prior to Wednesday, those wishing to participate--nearly 3,000 people a day in New York--could check out a letter from any post office participating in the program. Based on the wish list contained in the letter they were able to shop for the young letter writer and personally deliver their gifts according to the return address listed.

Now, only the New York operation is functioning, leaving children in Newark, Washington, Los Angeles, Dallas and other cities hung out to dry. The program now functions anonymously and the postal service delivers the gifts in an attempt to protect the contact information of children.

According to The Times, the century-old concept began because the post office was receiving a tide of letters addressed to Santa. Postal workers began voluntarily writing back and eventually began inviting the public to do so, too. Charities and businesses were also drawn in. New York's program was the first, beginning in 1912, strictly with postal worker involvement. In the 1940s, the public got to answer letters. Many respondents began sending not only letters but also gifts.

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What's going on here? Debate Caption Contest

Sam Guzik — 2008-10-16T00:31:00+00:00

Filed under: US Elections, Politics, Washington University

US Republican presidential candidate John McCain (R) and Democrat Barack Obama leave the table after the final presidential debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York, on October 15, 2008.

You decide: What was going through John McCain's mind when he made that face? Leave your opinion below the fold.

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Life Got You Down? Go Skinny Dipping

Sam Guzik — 2008-10-07T19:22:00+00:00

Filed under: International News, Weird News, Washington University, Odd News

It's good to know that people can still have fun, even when the global economy is taking a major beating.

While some people are taking refuge in the realm of politics, others have found more unconventional forms of entertainment, like swimming naked in the moat of Japan's Imperial Palace.

"He spent nearly two hours skinny dipping in the moat and climbing the walls as the police gave chase," Reuters reported in a video. "Every time an officer tried to approach, he either splashed them or pelted them with rocks."

For nearly two hours, the unidentified man-who claimed at first to be British and then to be a Spaniard living in Britain-splashed around and entertained tourists who looked on.

"I've never heard of anyone doing such a thing," an unidentified man at the scene told TV Tokyo, Reuters reported. "He must be a bit crazy."

The palace, which is surrounded by nearly 12 miles of moat, is the home of Japan's emperor and empress, though it is unclear whether they were on the place ground at the time of the incident. In general, tourists can walk around the periphery of the palace and go inside on a tour, but in general are not allowed to step on the premises.

The moats surrounding the palace are considered sacred.

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Students Get Ready to Tune In, Tune Out 2nd Debate

Sam Guzik — 2008-10-07T18:20:00+00:00

Filed under: US Elections, Politics, Washington University

ST. LOUIS, MO - As the nation's eye turns to Belmont University, the site of the second presidential debate, students at Washington University in St. Louis are getting ready to tune in for the next installment of presidential drama.

"I didn't get a chance to watch the first presidential debate-though I did watch the vice presidential debate-so I want to see Barack Obama and John McCain give both of their views on important issues," Brianne Davis, a sophomore from Kansas City, MO, said. "I just hope McCain represents himself better than Palin managed to do in the vice presidential debate."

Despite tests, projects and exams, students are working ahead to clear their schedules for tonight's clash. Most students will be watching the debate in small groups with their friends, but the College Democrats have set up debate watch parties in large common spaces around campus.

Tonight's debate is the second of three scheduled meetings between the two candidates and the only in which candidates will address the audience directly in a town-hall style.

"It seems that everything is ramping up," Allison Schafer, a campus minister, said. "There's a lot of stuff on the edge-like the war. There's a lot of stuff that people are starting to care about more than they have in the past."

"It will probably bring out which candidate can respond quickly and is more prepared, but I'm not sure that it will say anything more about either candidate," Frank Bruno, a junior from Chicago, IL, said. "It will probably be more important just because the bail-out was passed and markets are not responding as people were wanting them to. There's going to be a lot of that coming out."

Today, stock markets took nearly a 5% hit for the second consecutive day, compounding two weeks of financial turmoil. Because the audience will pose questions directly to the candidates tonight, it is likely that the economy will be one of the primary points of debate.

Even among students, the economy has become a central concern as instability percolates into the job market and credit for student loans dries up.

Some students, however, feel that this debate will only rehash the issues that voters have heard throughout the campaign-and especially since the first debate. The combination of previous commitments, fatigue with the election and prior familiarity with the candidates positions is giving some students a reason to avoid the debate.

"The novelty is gone because a lot of people have realized that the candidates are only repeating what they've already said," Jennifer Gross, a senior, said. "The economy has become more of an issue since the last debate because the bail-out plan has passed, but I think the number of people watching are going to stay the same or decrease."

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In Their Own Words: Reactions From Spin Alley

Sam Guzik — 2008-10-03T03:56:00+00:00

Filed under: US Elections, Politics, On Campus, Washington University

After Thursday night's vice presidential debate journalists from around the world scrambled around the Athletic Complex at Washington University to get each campaign's interpretation of the debate. I was on the scene to get reactions to the debate in their own words.

David Plouffe, Obama-Biden campaign manager
"This is an election about change. John McCain abandoned his message about experience a couple of weeks ago. Although he's been so erratic, maybe he'll go back to it. Now it's about change and we are highly confident that the questions between who do you trust to bring about change is it McCain and Palin who want to continue all the Bush economic policies or is it Obama and Biden who want in every fundamental way to change the priorities in Washington to put the middle class first."

"John McCain has no separation from George Bush on the economy because there is none. It's an important thing for us to say: if you like the Bush policies, both economy, Iraq and Afghanistan, then McCain is your choice because that's largely what he's offering."

Senator Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut
"I thought she was very aggressive and again forward looking on education, public school education. And, she said that while she supported No Child Left Behind it needed more funding-very interesting-and needed more flexibility for educators at the local level."

"Here you got someone who was a governor, who never operated on the national level until six weeks ago standing toe-to-toe with a very capable man, Joe Biden, who's been a Senator for 35 years. And she was every bit and informed and confident-this was a very good debate. I'm not here to criticize Joe, I'm hear to say that the stunning success of tonight was Sara Palin-she far exceeded any reasonable threshold of credibility. She's ready to lead, she's ready to be John McCain's partner."

Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico
"The issue is not who relates well, the issue is who has more experience and more knowledge and it was clear tonight that Senator Biden has it."

"I think that Senator Biden showed that he has the experience, the competence, the facts to assume the presidency. I believe Governor Palin, she was effective, she was OK, she was positive, but she lacks experience in foreign policy and national security-she couldn't go beyond her talking points."

Governor Linda Lingle of Hawaii
"I think Sara did a great job tonight. She showed the difference between a successful governor and a lifetime Washington politician. She was solution oriented, she talked about the future, she talked about things she has done to make life better in her state, while Senator Biden tried to find other people to blame for the inaction of the United States Senate on so many issue through the years."

"She actually has much more experience than either Obama or Biden. She's had to balance a budget, she's had to push an agenda through the legislature, she has to make decisions every day-she can't hide behind her caucus or her committee chairman the way you can when you're in the Senate. I think anyone who has been a governor is a proven leader."

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Campus Watch: WU Debate Day Happenings

Sam Guzik — 2008-10-02T15:32:00+00:00

Filed under: US Elections, Politics, Environment, Small Campus, Big Story, On Campus, Washington University, News

As the nation's eye turns to Washington University, students, campaign supporters and the media are rubbing shoulders and sending sparks flying. Among the highlights from the day, in coordination with Student Life:

Outside a live MSNBC broadcast at Washington University middle-aged volunteers from the McCain campaign edged out students showing support for Obama. Members of the group said they were volunteers from Illinois, but would not give details about how they gained access to campus. Earlier in the week, the McCain campaign had solicited local fraternities with offers of cash for support.
A man wearing a green shirt and green pants quoted Mark Twain, giving a speech from a tree branch near the MSNBC booth against imperialism and war-mongering. The student did not come from an organization, nor did he seek to advance any specific cause, or provoke a reaction.
Major national and international media outlets have claimed that their reporters, who were assured credentials weeks ago, are not being let into the media filing room. The Commission on Presidential Debates has said that those reporters who have shown up today may not get credentialed.

For photos from the day, check below the fold.
Chao Yang, a graduate student in chemistry, made a button for herself at the CNN first time voter table.

Alex Fine, a sophomore at Washington University, carries a nine-foot windmill to advocate for sustainable energy. She represents the Washington University chapter of power vote, a national organization looking to encourage voters to consider the environment.

Check back throughout the day for more updates and profiles of protesters.

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Campus Gears Up For VP Debate

Sam Guzik — 2008-10-02T03:29:00+00:00

Filed under: US Elections, Politics, Small Campus, Big Story, Washington University, News

ST. LOUIS - The population of Washington University in St. Louis has nearly doubled this week as more than 3,000 members of the global media converge on the campus to cover tonight's vice presidential debate between Senator Joe Biden and Governor Sarah Palin.

Despite her broken ankle and controversial new book, moderator Gwen Ifill is on campus (albeit in a wheelchair) and preparing for the debate. Both candidates are expected to arrive on campus this afternoon.

WU students have spent the week preparing protests, learning about the issues and showing their political stripes. Both Democratic and Republican student groups-along with a wide array of national political organizations-plan to speak out in the public viewing area prior to the debate tonight, looking to sway fellow students and members of the community.

Throughout the day and late into the night, I will be in the debate site and around campus keeping tabs on the latest news with the Vice Presidential debate; check back throughout the day for frequent updates and multimedia content.

This will be the fourth debate hosted by Washington University-the most of any institution in American history. Nearly eight miles of cable and 5,000 feet of chain link fence were laid out in preparation for the debate.

In addition to providing over 200 student volunteers, the University has found a way to support the Vice Presidency in a tasty way: campus dinning services are selling stylized cookies representing the Democratic and Republican tickets with donkeys and elephants, respectively.

Although the cookie purchases accurately predicted the outcome of the election in 2004, some have been ambivalent about the relevance of the sales:

"There's been a big jump in donkey cookies, especially the last two days," Lisa Green, a supervisor in one dinning location, told Student Life Newspaper. When asked by a reporter if the cookies held any taste advantage, she tested the two and shrugged. "They taste the same to me."

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An (In)convenient Hurricane

Sam Guzik — 2008-08-31T12:14:00+00:00

Filed under: US Elections, Politics, Washington University

Both President Bush and Vice President Cheney will not attend the Republican National Convention this week, The Associated Press reported earlier today.

According to the White House, the pair will be busy working to coordinate the nation's response to Hurricane Gustav which is currently bearing down on New Orleans. Cheney will be leaving the country on Tuesday, but it remains possible that Bush will address the convention later in the week.

With the McCain-Palin campaign in a statistical dead heat with the Obama-Biden ticket, it's almost as if McCain's handlers were looking for a way to prevent the sitting president with an approval rating hovering around 30% from making an appearance.

The move to exclude President Bush has many upsides: he gets the chance to learn from previous mistakes by pre-emptively declaring states of emergency for Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, and Alabama, and the GOP gets the ability to distance itself from a very unpopular administration.

Saying that Gustav is ''going to be, in some ways, more challenging than Katrina,'' Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and others warned of the danger of the approaching hurricane as the evacuation of the region was ordered.

Although there is a chance that FEMA has learned how to deal with a disaster since Katrina, The Associated Press reported on Sunday that Louisiana was short 750 buses needed for evacuation. A repeat of Katrina would not only be catastrophic in human terms; it would signal another blow to President Bush's sinking reputation and, by association, to McCain's.

To reduce the possibility of being pulled down with the President, McCain has suggested that the convention schedule will be revised in order to reduce the appearance that Republicans were celebrating while the nation was suffering. "It just wouldn't be appropriate to have a festive occasion while a near tragedy or a terrible challenge is presented in the form of a natural disaster," Mr. McCain told Fox News, The Caucus reported.

McCain and Palin are visiting Jackson, Mississippi today and will be briefed by the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.

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Obama and Biden: BFFs for Life

Sam Guzik — 2008-08-24T10:23:00+00:00

Filed under: US Elections, Politics, Washington University, Advise & Dissent, Veepstakes

On the same steps where Senator Barack Obama declared his candidacy 19 months ago, Obama introduced Delaware Senator Joseph Biden as his running mate on Saturday.

Biden - the former contender for the Democratic presidential nomination - was chosen 10 days ago while Obama was vacationing in Hawaii, according to The New York Times and was first made public through a text message to Obama supporters early Saturday morning.

Naysayers of the Biden choice were quick to highlight what they call a history of "insensitive, stupid, and counter-productive comments," his politics which are "more of the same," and a reputation that risks "alienating the working-class voters Obama so badly needs" (and those were just Bright Hall's own).

At the end of the day, though, Biden is the right choice to do what a vice president needs to do: bolster his running mate on policy issues without upstaging him and drawing away the spotlight.

Specifically, Biden has the foreign policy experience that Obama's detractors say he lacks - the experience to help with that 3:00 a.m. phone call. As the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee he has become a respected voice about everything from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan the Balkans conflict and the Global AIDS crisis.

Biden has an innovative plan, based on historical experiences, for dividing Iraq into three semi-autonomous regions, one for Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds, the so-called Biden Plan, which has been praised by Obama and other leading democrats.

If the ticket is elected in November, Biden - who has served six-terms as a senator - will have the skills and relationships to work with the Senate to ensure that Obama's legislative agenda is carried through just as Lyndon Johnson did for President Kennedy.

Biden also showed yesterday that he is willing to stand up to Senator McCain - to get his hands dirty in a way that Obama has been more reserved about doing - saying bluntly and forcefully: "And during those 18 months, I must tell you, frankly, I have been disappointed in my friend John McCain, who gave in to the right wing of his party and gave in to the Swift boat politics he once so deplored."

Whatever he has said in the past about Obama, Biden is now clear on one point: he is and will be a vocal supporter for the rest of the race.

Biden is a political survivor - he has made it through one botched presidential run in 1987, the charged 1991 Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings and his trademark off-the-cuff remarks that have raised flags in his past. This trait should help him coach Obama through a tougher than expected race.

For all those skills, Biden does not have the same looks or youth to take the public's eye off Obama (the way a candidate like Evan Bayh might have done). Biden will be the traditional vice presidential candidate, getting occasional moments to shine, but mostly slaving away at stump speeches around the nation.

Regardless of Biden's skills, though, the Obama campaign (now the Obama-Biden campaign, really) has its work cut out: Obama is floundering in some polls and falling behind in others; despite the lack of a clear message, McCain is undercutting Obama's talking points successfully.

At the end of the day, we won't know the true wisdom - or lack thereof - in Biden's selection until the results come in on election night. But, hopefully, at the very least, the selection will help to ensure that there is a dynamic and powerful race on both sides of the aisle.

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Student Journalists Stand Up Against Censorship

Sam Guzik — 2008-08-21T01:11:00+00:00

Filed under: Small Campus, Big Story, Washington University, Media

In protest of administrative bureaucracy, policy changes verging on censorship and the appointment of a Publications Coordinator the former editorial staff of Macon State College's official student newspaper began publishing a new, independent newspaper earlier this week.

The editorial staff of The Matrix left to form the Student Free Press as classes started this week, striving to provide an unrestrained source of information to the College's student body.

"The necessity of an independent student press became apparent when MSC administration postponed printing of the school-sponsored student publication, Matrix," the new paper writes on its website. "While administration claims that motivation for the postponement is to ensure student rights, students believe this is yet another attempt to control the student press, thus violating our First Amendment rights."
On its website, The Student Free Press boldly proclaims that it is not affiliated with Macon State College and articles from current and former staff highlight the importance of the first amendment.

"The lifeblood of University is the free and open exchange of ideas. Indeed, it cannot exist without it," James Fraley, Former Managing Editor of the Matrix says on the site. "Thus, the suppression of the student press is in fact suppression of the student body itself, and is therefore toxic to the institution."

The new paper will operate without the $24,000 budget from Macon State College's office Student Life. Free Press staffers will provide operating costs until advertising revenue can be raised.

The paper's first issues were printed in the editor's homes on normal printers, but, according to the Student Press Law Center, "Judd Printing, the paper's printer, has agreed to print The Student Free Press in black and white for $155 for a four-page paper or $170 for an eight-page paper."

Because their staff is limited, the paper has shifted to printing bi-weekly, but it will continue to be distributed on the college's second campus, Warner Robins, which is 30 miles away.

According to Macon State College, the decision to postpone the paper's publication - the decision that gave rise to the staff exodus - was meant to give the paper time to adjust to new media bylaws and to give a new editor in chief time to assemble a staff.

"This college respects the rights of students to run a free newspaper," Lynn McCraney, dean of students, told the Student Press Law Center. "What we do want to do is provide them a document and a structure and a format that clearly lays out their rights as members of the press and their corollary responsibilities."

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Colleges Reconsider Drinking Age

Sam Guzik — 2008-08-19T04:15:00+00:00

Filed under: Politics, On Campus, Washington University

Nearly 100 college presidents from institutions of higher education around the country have joined together, looking to lobby congress to lower the drinking age from 21- to 18-years-old.

The presidents represent many of the nation's most well-known universities including Duke, Dartmouth and Ohio State. The movement is known as the Amethyst Initiative and had been working to gain support for nearly a year.

"This is a law that is routinely evaded," John McCardell, former president of Middlebury College in Vermont who started the organization, told the Associated Press. "It is a law that the people at whom it is directed believe is unjust and unfair and discriminatory."
According to the initiative's web site, the organization calls upon lawmakers to "support an informed and dispassionate public debate over the effects of the 21 year-old drinking age" and to "invite new ideas about the best ways to prepare young adults to make responsible decisions about alcohol."

The presidents say that they are looking to curtail the culture of binge drinking that has grown on college campuses and to encourage students to make healthier choices about alcohol.

According to the Associated Press, "research has found more than 40 percent of college students reported at least one symptom of alcohol abuse or dependence. One study has estimated more than 500,000 full-time students at four-year colleges suffer injuries each year related in some way to drinking, and about 1,700 die in such accidents."

The group takes its name from ancient Greece, where the purple gemstone amethyst was widely believed to ward off drunkenness if used in drinking vessels and jewelry.

Critics of this initiative include Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), which says lowering the drinking age would lead to more fatal car crashes and accuses the college presidents of trying to find a convenient solution to the problem of enforcing drinking laws on campus.

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Penguin Joins the Ranks of Great Military Leaders

Sam Guzik — 2008-08-18T22:57:00+00:00

Filed under: Weird News, Washington University, Odd News

As of a ceremony last Friday, Penguin Nils Olav has become the most decorated penguin in any branch of the military around the world.

Olav is a Colonel-in-Chief of the Norwegian Army and, as of last week, a knight. The most recent honor was bestowed by King Harald the Fifth of Norway. Olav has been an honorary member of the kings guard since 1972 and in that time has risen in the ranks to his current position.

During the ceremony at the Edinburgh Zoo, King Harald described Olav as a Penguin "in every way qualified to receive the honor and dignity of knighthood."

During the ceremony, Olav inspected a troop of 130 members of the Norwegian Royal Guard and received a ceremonial tap on each side of his head (penguins lack shoulders).

Olav's role is largely ceremonial and serves to strengthen the relationships between Scotland and Norway. The Norwegian Royal Guard generally visits the penguin every few years while they visit Scotland.

The ceremony went off nearly without a hitch, but, according to the BBC, "shortly before the ritual was concluded and possibly suffering a bout of nerves he was seen to deposit a discreet white puddle on the ground."

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Can't Handle Vegetarianism? Try Kangaroo

Sam Guzik — 2008-08-14T11:21:00+00:00

Filed under: Environment, International News, Washington University, Odd News

Looking for a way to run an eco-friendly barbecue this summer? Try serving up kangaroo meat to your guests instead of more traditional summer fare like hot dogs and hamburgers.

The BBC reports that Dr George Wilson, of the Australian Wildlife Services, has begun to advocate for raising the Australian mammal as a substitute for more traditional meat sources.

Raising livestock like cows and sheep produces significant quantities of methane gas, a greenhouse gas contributing to the global climate emergency. Because kangaroos have a different set of microorganisms in their gut they produce nearly no methane, thereby putting less strain on the environment.

Methane's warming potential over a 100-year time frame is 21 times higher than that of carbon dioxide, but because it lasts in the atmosphere for a shorter time cutting its production could have a noticeable impact in the short-term.

Removing seven million cattle and 36 million sheep by 2020 and replacing them with 175 million kangaroos, to produce the same amount of meat, could lower Australia's greenhouse gases by 3 percent a year, said a study conducted at the University of New South Wales according to Reuters.

Australia already produces 30 million kangaroos farmed by landholders in the outback, but that number would need to increase significantly to account for the meat eaten around the world. Nevertheless, Dr. Wilson thinks that the world could adjust: "It tastes excellent, not unlike venison - only a different flavor," he told the BBC.

Like the United States, Australia is currently trying to find ways to reduce it's carbon footprint because it emits 28.1 metric tons of carbon per person, the highest per capita in the developed world and five times more per person than China, due to use of coal for electricity.

Despite having a high per capita rate of emission, Australia's overall emissions are relatively low, accounting for 1.5% of the global total. By way of comparison, the United States accounts for 22% of global carbon emissions, the highest rate worldwide.

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Scientists Rap to the Sounds of Particles Accelerating

Sam Guzik — 2008-08-07T17:10:00+00:00

Filed under: Weird News, Washington University, Science

With the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) fully built and due to start firing its proton beams in just over a month, it seems that the researchers on site in Geneva have been looking for new ways to fill their time - rapping the details of their experiment.

CERN Rap from Will Barras on Vimeo.

The LHC is the world's most powerful particle accelerator, producing beams seven times more energetic than any previous machine, and around 30 times more intense when it reaches design performance, probably by 2010. It spans two countries and is 27-kilometers long.

The collider is designed to create tiny black holes that will be in existence for fractions of a second in hopes of recreating the conditions present just before the big bang. Protesters say that the experiment is likely to end the world, though the coordinators of the experiment, the European Center for Nuclear Research (CERN), say that is not going to happen.

Evidently, the rap is a product of the CERN press office and it is filmed with real, live scientists.

For the next several weeks - including this weekend - CERN will be preforming tests of the LHC's various components and will be working to ensure that each part is synchronized and up to the task of making tiny particles collide at just below the speed of light. Timing between the two parts of the accelerator must be accurate to within a fraction of a nanosecond.

Scientists hope that the scale of the LHC will help them to discover some of the secrets of the universe and help them to prove the existence of "dark matter" and other particles that scientists believe exist but have never observed.

If you're interested in a more, well, serious look at the LHC, check out these pictures from the Boston Globe.

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