The 2007-2008 school year has come to a close and it's time for the good times to roll. Congrats to new Vanderbilt grads and Torch-ers Kevin McNish, Meredith Trezise, George Jiang, and Nick Rueter! Though we're closing down shop here at the main Torch site (like the new design?), we will be blogging all summer long at Right-Wing Vitriol. See you over there!
This year, Rites of Spring, held on April 18 and 19, will host headliners Spoon and Lil’ Jon. A little over a month ago, the Hustler carried the announcement. In the weeks that followed, various publications praised the Music Group, a subsidiary of the Vanderbilt Programming Board for their choices.
On Thursday, March 20, the Middle Eastern Student Association (MESA) hosted “Middle Eastern Night” in the Board of Trust Room and Ballroom of the Student Life Center, sharing their culture and heritage with a wide cross-section of the Vanderbilt Community. The undergraduates, graduate students, staff, and faculty in attendance were treated to a delicious meal donated by Athens family restaurant, belly dancing from professionals and students alike, and the comedic act “Axis of Evil.” All of these events celebrated Middle Eastern culture and educated attendants through inclusion. However, one aspect of the evening ironically did just the opposite, and is indicative of a larger problem in American society.
Continue reading "Making Minority an Issue: America and the Victim" »
As another school year comes to an end, and as my time as an undergraduate approaches its conclusion, I would like to reflect upon my experience at Vanderbilt and share some thoughts about both its past and future.
“See if the law takes from some persons what belongs to them, and gives it to other persons to whom it does not belong. See if the law benefits one citizen at the expense of another by doing what the citizen himself cannot do without committing a crime. Then abolish this law without delay, for it is not only an evil itself, but also it is a fertile source for further evils because it invites reprisals.” Frédéric Bastiat, The Law
It’s that time of year again, when your hard-earned AcFee-payer dollars head to the coffers of nearly every sort of organization you can imagine. That Vanderbilt currently funds special interest groups through mandatory activity fees will come as a surprise to nobody. Many of these groups bring worthwhile diversity to the cultural, political, and extracurricular scenes here at Vanderbilt. When groups representing a particular political agenda or ideological viewpoint receive funding, opposite and complementary groups are likewise funded to ensure that a viable marketplace of ideas exists. Consider, for example, that AcFee both funds the Torch, our conservative and libertarian commentary magazine, as well as Orbis, our progressive counterpart. Likewise, the Advocacy Council, which includes College Libertarians, College Republicans, and College Democrats among other groups, receives AcFee funding for the promotion of the marketplace of ideas.
A couple of weeks ago, several news organizations released the story
that the Catholic Church had updated the Seven Deadly Sins by adding
seven more. Organizations such as Fox News, the London Telegraph, and
BBC News reported that damaging the environment, genetic manipulation,
abortion, excessive wealth, contributing to socioeconomic gaps,
pedophilia, and drug dealing were the seven “new” deadly sins. These
new sins were based on an interview with Archbishop Gianfranco Girotti
in L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, where he stated that
because the world is becoming increasingly global, sin takes on a new
global dimension. News organizations jumped at this information and
reported that the Vatican had altered its well known list and added
these seven new more global sins.
On February 27, conservatives lost an icon – arguably, the founder of the modern conservative movement, and the “scourge of liberalism.” More importantly, however, America lost, in William F. Buckley, was a great American thinker, who, from an age not more advanced than our own, began to shape the intellectual, cultural, and political dialogue of this country.
General John Abizaid, perhaps IMPACT’s most distinguished guest for
2008, had a surprise for listeners during his speech. Most listeners
expected to hear a long talk justifying the war in Iraq. Indeed, a
group from the Middle Tennessee Veterans Association handed out copies
of a formal letter to the General asking him to address the war and
condemn it along with them. But Abizaid had a different goal in mind.
In keeping with the theme of IMPACT this year (Middle East Meets West),
he barely mentioned the war at all. Rather, he discussed military
organization in the Middle East, and he pinpointed what he believes to
be the four primary “problems” of the region.
Continue reading "General Advocates Realism in Middle East" »
Last month’s IMPACT Symposium brought a relatively unknown but highly
influential contemporary figure to campus. Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a
Somalian-born former Dutch MP, spoke on the first night of the annual
series, which had the theme this year of “Middle East vs. West.” This
theme could very well have been designed with Hirsi Ali specifically in
mind; the former Muslim speaks and writes about the incompatibility
that exists between Western liberal society and the restrictive culture
of Islam, particularly in areas that implement or attempt to implement
sharia law.
Continue reading "Ayaan Hirsi Ali Speaks Bravely and Freely about Islam" »
I am not one for superstition usually, but the fear of Friday the 13th
may have some merit. To be clear, I am speaking of Friday, July 13th
2001, when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) met in Moscow to
decide the host city of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. For those of you
who have been living under a rock for the past seven years, in the
second round of voting the games were awarded to Bejing, the capital of
China. Yes, Beijing, the capital of the biggest communist nation in the
world and the city that is known for its orange, polluted skies.
If I were to look up the word “hypocrite” in the dictionary, I would open up to a picture of Eliot Spitzer—possibly wearing nothing but long, black socks. Spitzer, or Client Number Nine, now joins the rest of the nation in watching his shameful career go down the drain. I, for one, am satisfied. Not that I subscribe to a belief in karma, but that does appear to be what’s going on here, and I am delighted to see it. Spitzer made a career out of attacking legal activity with illegitimate reasoning in order to further his own political career. In the process, he ruined the lives of those involved, many of whom lost everything they had worked for—everything that is deserved by a successful, lawful, hard-working American. Now, with the revelation of Eliot Spitzer’s prostitution scandal, his life is essentially over. Justice is being served.
Democratic candidate Barack Obama made a speech last week that apparently holds historical potential for some Americans. This is one of those speeches that people say will be analyzed by our children in classrooms across the country for years to come. It was thought that Obama would be making this speech in order to distance himself from the radical viewpoints of his pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, but he also used this opportunity to discuss race as an issue in the United States and its relation to his campaign.
The recent flurry of activity by the Federal Reserve is bold, daring, and unprecedented – but is it good? After years of gradually increasing the federal funds rate, the Fed has responded to recent recessionary economic indicators by slashing the federal funds rate, lowering the discount rate, and financially backing the purchase of one private financial institution by another. These actions have stymied markets and kept the “recession” from getting much worse, but we have to ask what effect these expansionary monetary policies will have on future inflation. Sure, it may help us out now, but what happens when ailing banks expect the fed to bail them out in the future? What happens if people’s long-term inflation expectations are raised by the Fed’s lending rampage?
