by Chloe Rockow

Tyler Clementi, a student at Rutgers University, took his own life when pressure from cyberbullying overwhelmed him in September. Megan Meier, a teenager from Missouri, committed suicide after being cyberbullied by a friend’s mother through a fake MySpace account. Duke’s Karen Owen thought her satirical “senior thesis” would be safe in the inboxes of her friends.
Even Rui Dai, a sophomore at Duke University, was ridiculed when she wrote a Chronicle opinion article on the “Engineered Happiness” of Pratt students.
Technological advances like the Internet are usually viewed as …

By Trent Serwetz
The latest nationwide hullabaloo over the alcoholic drink “Four Loko” provides a poignant reminder of how quick America is to point the finger. Four Loko, for those who are unfamiliar with the beverage, is a 12% ABV drink sold in 23.5 ounce cans which also packs a hefty dose of caffeine. It’s like super-concentrated Smirnoff Ice mixed with Red Bull. The drink is sold at grocery stores and 7-11’s and comes in a variety of fruity flavors.
Last week, New York called for a voluntary ban on Four Loko …

By Trent Serwetz
Edit: As of 12/18/2010, both the House and the Senate have officially voted to repeal the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. Congratulations to the LGBT community on this resounding victory!
The U.S. military’s longstanding ban on gay servicemen (and women) is over — for the moment. On Sep. 9, U.S. District Court Justice Virginia Phillips called for a “permanent injunction” barring the enforcement of the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy.[i]
DADT, crafted by the Clinton Administration in 1993, is the most lenient treatment of homosexuality in the military …

By Vikram Srinivasan
For all the controversy over University of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow’s decision to feature in a pro-life ad aired during the Super Bowl, there was at least one positive outcome.
It made the radically pro-choice left look indisputably silly. The hyperbolic nature of the episode revealed the deep frustration of the pro-choice lobby at the direction of the nation’s abortion debate.
What was noteworthy about the ad, which was made by conservative group Focus on the Family and showed Tebow playfully tackling his mother as she spoke vaguely about the …

By Chalette Lambert
I want a lot of things – a good career, happy family, nice house, health care, limited government, etc. I expect that I will have to work and sacrifice to attain those ideals. However, it seems that on a larger scale, Americans have forgotten this simple principle. We expect government to achieve our interests without any sacrifices – we want health care but don’t want to pay higher taxes, climate change as long as the change doesn’t involve us, and action on unemployment without increasing the deficit.
We expect …

By Vikram Srinivasan
There is something about youth that is uniquely susceptible to hubris.
The phenomenon may help to explain why so many young people have an uncanny affinity both for utopian ideology and for the elitist snobbery, sometimes masquerading as self-anointed intellectualism,which accompanies it. Students today seem increasingly elitist in their political views, as they dismiss the reactions and arguments of those who they deem less educated than they are.
Not only is this supreme self-confidence hysterically unwarranted, it hinders a great deal of actual learning. It dovetails with an obnoxious belief …

By Joey Lauer
I believe in America. America is the leader of the free world, the strongest military power, and a beacon of freedom for the world. America is great, and I’m not afraid to admit it.
There is no need to apologize for our greatness. We set the bar high to be an example for other nations to follow. We are a protector of world order, and we value freedom above all else. America strives to do what is right.
America makes mistakes, and we are certainly not perfect. There are always …

By Joey Lauer
Here is an interesting article from Fox News that details a poll about what Americas are fed up with.
Not surprisingly, 81% Americans are tired of the growing federal debt. 73% claim “they are fed up with Uncle Sam’s spending spree.” And on a side note, 53% of Americans are sick of “people having loud cell phone conversations.”
It’s clear that Americans in general are not happy with what’s going on in Washington. It doesn’t matter if you are a Republican or Democrat. What needs to change at the capital? I want to …

By Lingfeng Li
Happy New Year’s everyone!  Now that it’s another year and another decade, take some time to recap on the biggest events in recent history.

10 Biggest Political Scandals of the Past Decade (NY Post)
Biggest Political Winners and Losers of 2009 (USA Today)
Biggest Political Disappointments of 2009 (Huffington Post) … talk about the liberal media slant…
Top 5 Outrageous Political Videos of 2009 (Politics Daily)
Most Read Stories of 2009 (Wall Street Journal)
Top 9 Political Flubs of 2009 (ABC News)
Top 40 Political Quotes of 2009 (Fox4kc)
TIME’s Person of the Year: Ben Bernanke
Frank …

By Lingfeng Li
A grad student at Duke recently published a story on Salon.com documenting his experience living in a van to better afford tuition.  An interesting read for anyone that needs a break from studying during finals week!
http://www.salon.com/life/pinched/2009/12/06/living_in_a_van/index.html