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I must begin by admitting to some apprehension in writing this article. When approached with the idea, I had many concerns. The debate over Greek life is a surprisingly multi-faceted one. It is also one that has caused unwarranted tension and division on our campus. I feared that there was nothing to say on the matter that had not already been said. Most of all, I wondered if the Torch was really an appropriate place for such a topic.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past year and a half or so, you are at least somewhat familiar with the now infamous Duke lacrosse scandal. You are likely aware that former Durham DA Mike Nifong has been disbarred for, in the words of the North Carolina State Bar, “dishonesty, fraud, deceit and misrepresentation.” In April of this year, North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper not only dismissed all charges against Colin Finnerty, Reade Seligmann, and David Evans, but took the further and unusual step of declaring that “We believe these three individuals are innocent of these charges.”
The theatre requirement for Vanderbilt Visions is no stranger to controversy. Last year, freshmen were required to attend Vanderbilt University Theatre’s (VUT) rendition of "The Shape of Things," which tackled such “college” issues as personal identity, sex, manipulation, honesty, self-worth, and also included some censor-worthy language and a naught-but-bra-and-panty scene.
If you were surprised by "The Shape of Things," however, hold on to your chair. This year’s Vanderbilt Visions play, called "Keely and Du" rivals Knocked Up in content—except for the whole “funny” part.
Why do we hate? This question, the main theme of this year’s Project Dialogue, was posed on September 11th to Gore Vidal, “one of America’s foremost essayists, authors, social, and political critics.”
Of course, this question implies that we do in fact hate someone, or something. Do you know precisely what you hate, or why? Do you feel comfortable disclosing and analyzing your hatred? Is hatred always a negative trait, or can it be healthy and cathartic? No matter what you answer to these questions, it remains that hatred is a uniquely human trait that is often too frightening to address head-on.
Watch as Ronald Reagan! takes on La Madame, Tits Magee, an anime John Edwards and fights the DNC Hall of Doom's plan to make us all drive Priuses. Yes, Priuses. It's a full length comic and it is prepared to do things that few comics have done before.
See it here.
Every Vanderbilt University student living on campus is being watched. No, this writer hasn’t become a crazed conspiracy theorist over the summer. The fact is that somewhere in your resident hall, a little black dome with a conspicuously embedded security camera protrudes from a ceiling or wall, and it is watching you.
According to The Tennessean, “Less than a month from now, on October 1, smoking will be banned in all public places in the state, including restaurants, hotels, sports arenas and other workplaces. There are a few exceptions. But this will be the biggest public safety change in the Volunteer State since the advent of child seats and mandatory vaccines.”
On June 7, 2007, Governor Phil Bredesen signed the Tennessee Non-Smoking Protection Act. This law, which will take effect on October 1, prohibits smoking in “all enclosed public places within the State of Tennessee.” The only exceptions are venues in which no one under twenty-one is admitted at any time, smoking rooms at hotels (although no more than 25% of a hotel’s rooms may be designated smoking rooms), and tobacco manufacturers and wholesalers. Obviously, the law is meant to guarantee a healthy environment for non-smokers. While the motivations behind it are noble, the law represents a gross disregard for citizens’ ability and responsibility to manage their own health as well as the rights of business owners to decide what legal activities will be allowed to take place on their property.
Quickly bring me a beaker of wine, so that I may whet my mind and say something clever. –Aristophanes
The millennia-old tradition of making and tasting wine is experiencing a comeback across the United States, and Tennessee has recently seen a large amount of growth in consumption of the beverage. However, limitations on both production and direct shipment are limiting Tennessee vineyard growth and hampering consumers from fully enjoying their hobby.
John Edwards recently called for mandatory preventive care checkups. According to the AP, Edwards told a crowd about his plan. "It requires that everybody be covered. It requires that everybody get preventive care. If you are going to be in the system, you can't choose not to go to the doctor for 20 years. You have to go in and be checked and make sure that you are OK." This means there must be a paper trail detailing that each citizen went to a doctor every year. Consequently, we would need a massive new federal bureaucracy to track each individual American’s health history and document said paper trail. To pay for this, the government would take more tax money out of my wallet...wait, how does this solve the problem? Edwards' plan would likely also induce some sort of penalties to punish those who skip their checkups, or as Democrats are calling it now, to "encourage" citizens to attend these mandatory doctors appointments.
