The Vanderbilt Torch

House Arrest

Think about the most important decisions you have to make in your college career. Picking your classes can affect how much free time you have, your GPA, and your standing with future employers. Traveling abroad will give you the opportunity to see the world, but spending another semester at Vanderbilt will allow you more academic freedom and time with your friends. Making a decision on where you want to live each year, and with whom you want to share your living space will inevitably lead to harmonious living or tension-filled strife. Given recent changes to housing at Vanderbilt, this latter decision has become increasingly more confusing. The administration has made much of the improvements that have been made to current dorms, the sparkling new Commons, and the College Halls Initiative, but what do these changes mean for both current and future students of Vanderbilt?

AXLE's Un-American Component

The College of Arts and Sciences has no doubt heard plenty of criticism in the past two years of its Achieving Excellence in Liberal Education (AXLE) program. Whenever the argument arises, it usually consists of complaining that too little or too much emphasis is put on the program’s various requirements. In its 2006-2007 manual, AXLE defines the liberal education it purports to supply as one encompassing “all areas of human knowledge: the sciences, mathematics, foreign languages and cultures, the arts, and the humanities.” Indeed, no one wishing to study the liberal arts should neglect to recognize the importance of every single one of those general disciplines. 

Lower Rates to Raise 'Vanderbill'

How much do you actually pay to attend Vanderbilt? Partial-tuition? Nothing? The entire bill? If you don’t pay out of pocket, how do you fund your education? If the new Congress has anything to say about it, it will be through federal student loans, with a far lower interest rate than ever before. Congress has made it clear that more affordable schooling is a priority, and lower interest rates are the way to get there.

Affirmative Animosity

On Jan. 10^th, the University of Michigan began reviewing applications for admission under a new system that excludes all considerations of race.  This new method of review is the result of Proposal 2—a ballot initiative passed by 58 percent of Michigan’s voters on Nov. 7^th, which outlaws the use affirmative action in all decisions regarding state hiring and public institutions of higher education.

It should not be remarkable that a state-funded institution is complying with the mandate of a clear majority of the voters of a state.  However, given University President Mary Sue Coleman’s initial reaction, such compliance does come as somewhat of a surprise.  Only one day after Proposal 2 passed, a defiant Coleman addressed a group of Michigan students, faculty, and community members announcing that she was, “deeply disappointed” about the passage of the proposal. “We will find ways to overcome the handcuffs that Proposal 2 attempts to place on our reach for greater diversity,” she proclaimed, making it clear that she was willing to use taxpayer dollars in attempt to subvert the will of a majority of the state’s taxpayers. And Coleman even seemed confident about her ability to do so; quoting Susan B. Anthony she assured the crowd that, “failure is impossible.”

Dobbs, Gingrich: Not-So-Deep IMPACT

Last month, the organizers of IMPACT Symposium announced the two keynote speakers for this year’s event. Since its inception in 1964, the student-run symposium has brought speakers like Martin Luther King, Jr., Jimmy Carter, and Margaret Thatcher, among others. Last year John Edwards and Peter Brimelow spoke.

Another War of Peace?

History never repeats itself.

Causes and results at one moment are never identical to those of another. This does not imply, however, that history does not present patterns of similarity with modern events. Evaluations of the current conflict in Iraq have led many pundits and casual observers alike to parallel the war with the conflict in Vietnam a generation ago. However, few have realized, that a conflict between another Western power and an underdeveloped Islamic territory may show a closer resemblance. 

 

Better Doctors, Less Litigation

While watching an episode of Aqua Teens dealing with the horrors of cheap Mexican plastic surgery, I felt thankful for the superiority of the quality of medical care in America. There should be no reason for me to worry about doctors excising pounds of flesh from my body during a surgery… right?

As it turns out, it is true that I don’t have to worry about that most of the time. However, it’s no secret that medical malpractice in the United States is a big problem. According to HealthGrades, roughly 195,000 people die every year due to preventable hospital errors and many other are injured. 

Infant Euthanasia Sets Dangerous Precedent

“Killing a defective infant is not morally equivalent to killing a person.  Sometimes it is not wrong at all.”  When Peter Singer, a bioethics professor at Princeton University, stated this chilling phrase a few years ago in his book Practical Ethics, people here in the United States were momentarily outraged and then promptly forgot about it. His words have come back with a vengeance, however, as proceedings overseas begin the slippery slope to an ethical nightmare where “mercy killing” is a common phrase with a dark and cloudy definition.

24 Keeps Freedom on the Edge of Its Seat

Few television programs in recent history have captivated their audience like 24, the hit action-drama from the Fox network that, for five seasons and counting, has followed federal agent Jack Bauer’s ongoing fight against terrorism on U.S. soil.

24 keeps fans on  the edge of their seats wondering what plot twists and shocking cliffhangers the show’s remarkable writing staff will throw at them. Despite the appeal of its unique presentation and storytelling, though, the biggest draw to the show is its conflicted lead character, played brilliantly by Keifer Sutherland. Every week, we wait anxiously to see the lengths Jack Bauer will go to accomplish his mission. This is what sets 24 apart from the rest: its willingness to engage viewers not only with non-stop action, but also with its depiction of the social and ethical issues involved in the increasingly difficult battle for homeland security.

Marriage in the US: There Goes the Bride

For the first time in American history, more women over the age of fifteen are unmarried than married. This monumental piece of information—that I’ve apparently lost four of my marrying years to learning—is perplexing, nay, alarming. What’s even more perplexing, alarming, and hilarious, however, is the way in which our current political world views this information. I’m either a blossoming flower of womanhood basking in the wonders of my newfound freedom, or I’m the coalminer’s daughter who’s just pining away for the good ol’ boy I’m destined to marry and then outlive. Regardless, the question of marriage is obviously my top priority. After all, I’m nineteen years old and I have no children…that I know of.