Greed for Green?
“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.
“Those people who would argue that the Commons is intended to somehow or another to eviscerate ‘Old Vanderbilt’ are entirely missing the point,” [Dean of Commons Frank] Wcislo said. “The Commons actually is designed to leverage the very best strengths and traditions of ‘Old Vanderbilt’ and, in fact, intensify and enhance those strengths.”
For the 2007 fiscal year, the federal government covered 78.1% of the $411.1 million that Vanderbilt University received for its research. Of that, most of the money came from the Department of Health and Human Services and particularly the National Institutes of Health, according to Vanderbilt’s 2007 Financial Report, available online. The report describes the full breadth and depth of the research that Vanderbilt pursues: in the medical field alone, progress is being made in fields ranging from early cancer detection to AIDS treatment to malaria prevention. Federal monies also fund research on any variety of subjects, such as nanoscale engineering or school choice.
After the recount debacle in Florida eight years ago, one would hope that election irregularities would be a thing of the past. With the media circus that ensued, it seemed reasonable to expect that election officials would keep a close on future elections out of the fear of potential national embarrassment, if for no other reason. Unfortunately, elections have become even more susceptible to corruption as the democratic process goes digital. While old-fashioned voter fraud still persists, newer, even more dangerous forms of election tampering have emerged across the nation.
Facebook, the social networking site that quickly became a favorite pastime of college students the world over, recently found itself on the wrong side of the law—Syrian law. (That whooshing sound you’re hearing is sighs of relief from your fellow Torch readers outside of Syria at the moment.) Reuters reports Syrian Facebook users have concluded that the Syrian government, under the direction of President Bashar Assad, shut down access to Facebook within Syria. The regime has been silent since the ban apparently came into effect.
Art historian Michael Baxendall has argued that the pleasure of ownership drove the consumption of visual art in fifteenth century Europe, but his conclusion certainly applies to the ownership of art today. However, this pleasure of possession stems directly from displaying the artwork in question. A painting relegated to the storage closet is merely colored goop on canvas, to borrow a favorite phrase of my thesis advisor, and is of no use to anybody except as a store of value for the artist’s labor and talent.
“We’re not a profit-driven group; we’re a break-even group.” –Cliff Joyner, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Real Estate