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(01/19/09 5:51pm)
There's no room for subtlety in foreign language education. If instructors delved into the nuances of actual discussion and debate, they'd fall short of the goal of effectively conveying the vocabulary and grammatical structures. The end result is classes filled with sentences that, as they increase in grammatical and syntactic difficulty, commensurately increase in simplicity of subject. In short, because saying "The gendering of labor in the modern era is a complex issue" is a poor mechanism for conveying a grammatical structure, you're much more likely to hear "Men are stronger than women, therefore they make more money."
(11/25/08 12:58pm)
Please note: Title intentionally inflammatory to increase readership. In fact, the point of this is to try to provide a more well-reasoned attack on Proposition 8 than we usually see. Liberals, myself included, have expressed a generally unintelligible ire over Prop 8 while conservatives generally sound reasoned and principled on the subject. I think a proper analogy is asking the man who's just been stabbed in the gut to perform an oratory on the evils of assault. We're just too angry and wounded to do it, and it looks like the rationale should be obvious. Let me try to parse it out in a bit more methodical way than just "YOU CAN'T DO THAT!".
(11/24/08 6:39am)
Politics turn people into idiots.
(11/19/08 3:28pm)
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.
(04/09/09 7:00am)
Over the past month, prospective freshmen invaded and inspected the Duke campus to decide where they want to spend the next four years. But a select group of them were separated from the rest because of their intelligence. While their peers intermingled and witnessed the diversity of Duke University in all its vibrancy, really really smart prospective freshmen attended recruitment invitationals like scholarship finalists' weekends.
(03/19/09 7:00am)
I know you're wondering who Robert Wood is. He's the acting spokesperson for the State Department. Hillary Clinton's mouthpiece started his first day on the job with this fun little gaffe: "Czechoslovakia holds the EU presidency, as I think most of you know."
(03/05/09 9:00am)
So there I was, sitting in my office, slits of light emanating through the slats of my Venetian blinds, penetrating the smoky haze that filled the room. I had no reason to suspect this day would be unlike any other day, until she came in.
(02/19/09 9:00am)
Flash back to a week ago last Monday, when I first crack open E.L. Doctorow's "The Book of Daniel." The first sentence of the novel announces, "On Memorial Day in 1967 Daniel Lewin thumbed his way from New York to Worcester, Mass., in just under five hours." So here I am, reading a novel about myself, struggling to come to terms with the American system that condemned my Communist parents to death.
(02/12/09 9:00am)
It's true. Six days ago, Sports Illustrated reported that Alex "You Don't Have To Worry About A Juiced-Up Barry Bonds Holding The Home Run Record For Too Long" Rodriguez tested positive for steroids in a blind survey test in 2003. Rodriguez confirmed these allegations Monday, admitting he used performance-enhancing drugs during his sojourn in Texas in an interview with ESPN's Peter Gammons.
(02/05/09 9:00am)
In a recent e-mail to students living on campus, Dean of Residence Life Eddie Hull wrote, "As you know, there has been an increase in burglaries in campus residences this month. There are likely several reasons for this, including the state of the economy, but the reality is that without an opportunity, thefts are very rare... Please make a special effort to keep your door locked when you are not going to be in your room/apartment, and when you are sleeping. Doing so will help turn this situation around and send the message that Duke is not 'easy pickings.'"
(01/29/09 9:00am)
I guess I'm taking this space to officially declare myself in favor of war.
(01/22/09 9:00am)
What a historic moment we have all just borne witness to. Our first African-American president. How far we have come in the last half-century. But I think there is more presidential history in Tuesday's inauguration than we realize.
(01/15/09 9:00am)
It's once again that time of year where nine groups of 30-odd girls are declared the "best damn pledge class ever." This Sunday was officially Bidet (pronounced "Bid-Day"). Named for the French bathroom fixture, Bidet is the annual event when we cleanse our collective derri
(12/03/08 5:00am)
It's official. We're in a recession. But don't tell that to anyone who sought out retail therapy last Friday. Here are the stats: 172 million people went to shops, either in person or online. That's good for a 17 percent increase over last year's Black Friday weekend. These shoppers spent an average of $372 over three days, up 7.2 percent from last year.
(11/19/08 5:00am)
As registration draws to a close, I have a lot to look forward to next semester. My favorite class is POLSCI 187ES: Fantasy Transition Teams. Leapfrogging off the mega-success of the Munger gubernatorial campaign and the ensuing "Save Time: I.M. a Libertarian" program, the political science department is rolling out its inaugural fantasy transition team league in the form of a junior seminar. It will be taught by commissioner Peter Feaver, and it is giving game theory a whole new meaning!
(11/05/08 5:00am)
The priest stood somberly over the grave of Election, the dead horse. "We are gathered here today not only to mourn this horse, who passed away during the earliest stages of the presidential primaries, but also to lament the incessant beatings bestowed upon him after his untimely death. Is there anyone who would like to say a few words on this beaten, dead horse's behalf?"
(10/22/08 4:00am)
I want to take this space to talk about a relatively unknown political character. His name is John McCain. You may have heard of him, although I don't blame you if you haven't. He's running for president of the United States of America. Politically, he's slightly between Bob Barr and Barack Obama, though probably a bit closer to Obama. I'm going to make a point to explain some things about him now, because you may not hear anything like this again before you vote (if you haven't already).
(10/08/08 4:00am)
Duke has a relationship problem. There are so many people at Duke stuck in the hookup culture that they're never monogamous. There's no dating scene. It's a deep-rooted problem to which I have a solution. The solution? Get rid of effortless perfection. Seriously, women at Duke are bound by a double-standard that's really tough to break. On the one hand, they want to be in a relationship, but on the other hand, they want to be socially accepted in our hookup culture. On the other hand, they want to randomly hook up with as many guys as possible. On the other hand, they have to work really hard and balance work and play. But on yet another hand, uh... effortless perfection.
(09/24/08 4:00am)
A friend of mine let me know that my column from two weeks ago made a brief appearance at an Interfraternity Council meeting. I hope I'm not overstating my influence in guessing that it involved a burning effigy of myself and The Chronicle editors who allowed such an anti-IFC opinion to find its way onto the "Tower of Campus Thought and Action." Despite whatever colorful language uttered on my behalf, I'm glad to know people read my column.
(09/10/08 4:00am)
I read this summer that Duke sponsored a program in an area of the world with insufficent protection against assault and even murder. A student on this University-backed program was accosted by natives, robbed and stabbed in the back of the neck with a box-cutter for good measure. In response, our administration has graciously offered to phase out the program... over the next half-century. Why is our university still letting students spend several months of the year in such an unsafe environment? I implore you to sign this petition calling for the immediate withdrawal of Duke funding to a program in so unsafe an area. That area, of course, is Central Campus.
