Saturday, June 07, 2008 

Grey City

The folks at Hyde Park Progress were kind enough to (kind of) link to the newest member of the Chicago Maroon family: our quarterly supplement, Grey City. If you haven't already, pick up a copy RIGHT NOW and let us know what you think.

In the first usse, we take a look at crime in Hyde Park, the Washington Park Olympic proposal, students working for Obama, and the University's endowment. There's also a spread on the alumni and faculty who made the Democratic primary campaign so exhilirating/excruciating. The race may be over, but it's certainly worth your time.

You can read everything online as well at the new and improved Chicagomaroon.com (now with ads!), along with special bonus content. I highly recommend reading the J.Z. Smith interview in full, along with the audio slideshow. There's just something about that voice. And face. And cane...

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Posted by Tim Murphy at 12:17 PM | | 2 Comments

Friday, May 23, 2008 

David Brooks spurns alma mater...again!

In today's New York Times, former Maroon columnist David Brooks takes on a particularly relevant issue to this campus: geeks. It's worth reading, I guess, because he reveals that the word "nerd" first appeared in Dr. Seuss, which I did not know, and also because he compares Barack Obama to Prince Caspian, which I've been arguing for years*.

Still, it raises an important question: How can a U of C alum not mention the U of C in an 800-word column about geeks and nerds? Mr. Brooks, in the words of Gob Bluth, "Come on!"

In other news, 90 more hits to 100,000!!! Keep on hitting refresh, folks.


*not true.

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Posted by Tim Murphy at 12:35 PM | | 0 Comments

Wednesday, April 30, 2008 

The Blanche Lincoln—Buster Douglas debates

Wonkette has the find of the week today with this screengrab from Fox and Friends. Look, even the Chicago Maroon makes mistakes every once in a while, but there's a difference between, say, misspelling "public" as "pubic," and thinking that Frederick Douglass debated Abraham Lincoln. (Not that I wouldn't have paid to watch that debate).

On an unrelated note, I've been meaning to clarify my earlier post on Jeremiah Wright. My point is not that Jeremiah Wright is an entirely rational, sane individual—I think he's got crazy streak, as his press conference Monday displayed. It's just that in order for that to actually be exploited politically it needs to be distorted to an extent that's unfair to the Pastor, Trinity, Obama, and just about everyone else within six degrees of seperation. If you take issue with his sermons, by all means, take issue with his sermons. But just don't assume that it's at all relevant to Barack Obama.

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Posted by Tim Murphy at 10:35 AM | | 0 Comments

Monday, April 28, 2008 

Black by association

After watching the actual footage of Jeremiah Wright delivering his post 9/11 sermon, I can't help but wonder how people can possibly be so flat-out wrong in their interpretation of his remarks. As I wrote before, if you can get past his rhetorical style (it does take some getting used to, especially if you're used to the Catholic mass), what he's saying is very straightforward, and pretty fundamental to Christianity: "Violence begets violence, hatred begets hatred."

That's it. He's cautioning against anger in response to tragedy. That's what reverends do. Can you imagine if he stood at the pulpit and started singing "Bomb Iran"? It would be a little out of character, no? So how anyone can sincerely interpret his remarks on a tragedy as some sort of doctrine of international relations is a mystery.

I've said all if this before, though, and it would seem like old news except that for some reason Wright is still an issue in the campaign. The latest instance comes in this ad in Mississippi, which is running ahead of a special election for a House seat:



It may seem nitpicky, but it's actually an important question: Why didn't Mississippi Democrat Travis Childers say anything when Wright talked about 9/11?

It's an important question because the answer is s0 obvious: Wright's quote is six-and-a-half years old. No one knew who Jeremiah Wright was in 2001 outside of Chicago. No one knows who Travis Childers is now outside of Mississippi. The two have no personal connection whatsoever.

The point is that Jeremiah Wright's sermons are only politically salient so long as the original context is distorted beyond recognition. So unless the Mississippi GOP really does have the listening-comprehension skills of a five-year-old, which is unlikely although not out of the question, we're left with the type of race-baiting that would make Jesse Helms jealous.

Rant over.

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Posted by Tim Murphy at 12:43 PM | | 0 Comments

 

Voter ID

Big, big news concerning the Indiana primary: The Supreme Court just upheld the state's controversial new voter ID law today, in a 6–3 decision. The margin is noteworthy here because it was expected to split along partisan lines, but Justice Stevens ended up writing the ruling opinion.

The main argument against this law is that it's targeted against two heavily Democratic blocs: minorities, and really old minorities. Interestingly enough, Stevens actually conceded this point in his opinion:
"If a nondiscriminatory law is supported by valid neutral justifications, those justifications should not be disregarded simply because partisan interests may have provided one motivation for the votes of individual legislators..."
In arguing the case before the court, the state was unable to cite a single prosecuted case of voter impersonation fraud in an Indiana election. Ever. The defense, for its part, was unable to cite sufficient examples of disenfranchisement in the two-plus years since the law went into place. Personally, I think if the state of Indiana wants to prevent dead people from voting (which is a worthy goal), they should start by making some effort to clear the voting rolls of dead people. Laws like this that put the strain on the voters only distract from the fact that the state's voting bureaucracy leaves a lot to be desired.

Anyway, regardless of the merits, this is one more thing both Obama and Clinton will have to worry about next Tuesday...

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Posted by Tim Murphy at 11:26 AM | | 0 Comments

Friday, March 28, 2008 

Protecting our turf

Of all the charges leveled against Barack Obama over the last two months, few have been more absurd than the claims that he embellished his position at The Law School by referring to himself as a "professor," when his official title was actually "lecturer." Slate's excellent "Trailhead" blog, among others, latched onto the accusation and accepted the Clinton camp's argument.

While there are a few minor administrative distinctions between professors and lecturers, for all intents and purposes, they are the same thing and students wouldn't differentiate between the two. So perhaps tired of hearing its name cluelessly tossed around, The Law School stepped in today and issued a statement essentially telling everyone to please stop talking about this:

The Law School has received many media requests about Barack Obama, especially about his status as "Senior Lecturer."

From 1992 until his election to the U.S. Senate in 2004, Barack Obama served as a professor in the Law School. He was a Lecturer from 1992 to 1996. He was a Senior Lecturer from 1996 to 2004, during which time he taught three courses per year. Senior Lecturers are considered to be members of the Law School faculty and are regarded as professors, although not full-time or tenure-track...

Good enough for me. Not content to simply leave our favorite Senior Lecturer in Constitutional Law in peace, however, Time's "Swampland" blog mistakenly referred to Obama's institution as the "University of Illinois" in its post on the matter. This is, of course, a real sore spot for U of C students. Coming to her co-blogger's defense, U of C alum Ana Marie Cox had this to say in the comments:

In JNS's defense, I'd like to note that people screw up UC/UIC all the time. I think somewhere I have a regrettably snobbish t-shirt from my time in Hyde Park, referring to the misconception: "University of Chicago: Not a State School."

I was younger then.

Phil Singer, btw, would not have gotten this wrong -- and maybe he shouldn't have miffed the lecturer thing. Both he and Howard Wolfson are fellow Maroon alums.

It's kind of a strange place.
Just a little bit.

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Posted by Tim Murphy at 12:53 PM | | 0 Comments

Wednesday, January 02, 2008 

My interview with David Brooks


Matt and I disagreed on the merits of David Brooks' case for Barack Obama, but that shouldn't take away from the significance of Brooks' unofficial endorsement of the Illinois Senator. And unrelatedly, the column also reminded me of my very brief conversation with the Maroon alum in Nashua, NH four years ago.

In January 2004, I went up to New Hampshire for a day to see John Edwards and John Kerry speak at seperate events after the Iowa Caucuses. I caught up with Brooks at the Edwards rally and had a chance to ask him a few quick questions. Here's what he said, as taken from a subsequent article I wrote for the Medfield Press:
David Brooks, a columnist for The New York Times, enjoys semi-celebrity status at this political festival and is at the event covering Edwards as well. I take the opportunity to speak with him about the senator's delivery.

"He's the best," Brooks said. "Not only is he the best candidate this year, but of the last 20 years."

Brooks, who has been following this campaign closely, explains that this is "differentation" month for the Edwards camp, and that the goal is to show how different he is from all of the other candidates. Brooks also expresses his views on New Hampshire and the early primaries.

"I like them. Not so much now, but two months ago when there were ten people in a room. I think it changed the candidates."
What a difference four years makes. Granted, John Edwards in 2004 was a sight behold. He had an outstanding stump speech and an even better delivery. Compared with John Kerry, he might as well have been William Jennings Bryan. Brooks' praise almost certainly had nothing to do with his economic plan. But I can't imagine him saying anything like that about the current Edwards campaign.

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Posted by Tim Murphy at 5:55 PM | | 1 Comments

Friday, October 19, 2007 

In Today's Maroon: James Watson unable to locate marbles

Most people Jame's Watson's age are content to just sit in a lawn chair and yell at cars. Maybe this is part of the reason why.

I'm not going to attempt to argue with his logic because at this point I think it's just a well accepted fact that some Nobel laureates are inherently more intelligent (and less senile) than others.

...also in the Maroon, I have a column calling on Americans to move beyond Wahoo and address the real issues facing American Indians. I've spoken at length about that issue before in this space, but I think is a much more concise argument.

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Posted by Tim Murphy at 4:04 PM | | 0 Comments

Friday, October 12, 2007 

Just win, baby

With three down and just two left to be awarded, the U of C is on the verge of being shut out of this year's Nobel prizes for the third straight year. Philip Roth (pictured at right looking pensive), who earned his M.A. in English here, was as good a bet as any to take the award for Literature this year, but the committee instead opted to honor the British writer Doris Lessing. Reached for comment while grocery shopping (seriously), Lessing offered these immortal words. From the Washington Post:

"Oh Christ!" she said, when told about the monumental honor. "I couldn't care less."

She expands on her thoughts later with this gem:

"I'm 88 years old and they can't give the Nobel to someone who's dead, so I think they were probably thinking they'd probably better give it to me now before I've popped off."

Word.

I'll admit, I've never read any of Lessing's work, and while I'm sure she is deserving of the award--her name has been on the short list for years, now--my first impression is that she seems like the kooky old lady down the street who always bakes cookies and smells like cats, and calls you by a different name every time she sees you.

As for the rest of the Nobels, barring an unprecedented upset (Paul Wolfowitz, anyone?) the Peace Prize seems out of the question as usual, leaving Economics as the last chance. Marginal Revolution points to Eugene Fama, a GSB alum and finance professor as a contender. The winner will be announced October 15.

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Posted by Tim Murphy at 1:05 AM | | 0 Comments

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  • George L. Anesi is a medical student and bioethics graduate student at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH. He graduated from the University of Chicago in 2006 with a B.S. in biological chemistry and a B.A. in chemistry. He is currently the Medicine and Bioethics Columnist for The Observer at Case Western. At the University of Chicago, George served as Editor in Chief of the Chicago Maroon and Acting President of Chicago Friends of Israel. Before beginning medical school, George served as an Analyst in Middle Eastern and International Affairs for the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). Contacct George at at george.anesi@case.edu.
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