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

By Amanda Auerbach
When Ada Gregory, the director of the Duke University Women’s Center claimed in the Chronicle article on the new rape policy that the Duke sex offenders are the “crème of the crop” due the high intelligence of Duke students and their consequent “cunning” and “manipulative” powers, she assumes that the female victims of sexual offenses have been out-smarted by their male offenders.  She has since apologized for the implications of her claim, but she did offer statistics to back her claim up in the same article.  For this …

By Matt Straus
“If we teach today as we taught yesterday, we rob our children of tomorrow.” – John Dewey
It was a normal Tuesday night for Kevin Zhu. After finishing his differential equations homework and hanging with his hallmates, he opened up his laptop and checked his email. Nearing 1 am, he finally decided it was time for class. That’s right; at 12:48 am, Kevin Zhu sat down for his physics lecture.
Across the campus Tuesday night, Kevin was probably not the only one streaming a lecture. In fact, with DukeCapture’s availability …