April 30th, 2009
Do you ever notice how the weather always just begins to get nice during exam week? Up here in the northeast, winter has suddenly thawed with 75 degree weather and cloudless skies. This presents an enormous temptation to students looking to go to class, study for finals, and finish the semester strong. Plenty of students begin their track towards class with perfectly good intentions only to get sidetracked by a game of ultimate frisbee or football. Despite the promises of fly fishing that a late May in upstate New York (my home) ultimately holds for me, the need for sunny relaxation rears its ugly head every time I cross the academic quad.
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April 28th, 2009
Father Jenkins, C.S.C. was given a rude surprise yesterday when Mary Ann Glendon turned down the prestigous Laetare Medal, which was to be given during the commencement exercises. The Laetare Medal, which commemorates outstanding service to the Roman Catholic Church and society is widely considered the oldest and most prestigous award for a Catholic layperson to receive. In doing so, Glendon has significantly upped the pressure on Jenkins and Notre Dame.
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April 23rd, 2009
Professors at Boston College continue to come out of the woodwork to support “free speech” concerning the canceled Bill Ayers event. Despite the fact that 1968 occurred over 40 years ago, some of the more liberal professors at Boston College never got the memo. Asserting that students and professors are somehow being “suppressed” by not being allowed to have an unrepentant terrorist on campus, some tenured professors are indignantly demanding that the university “answer” for its unacceptable actions. While some professors are making their complaints known in a highly professional, logical manner, others are way too extreme in their views and are exposing themselves as utter hypocrites.
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April 21st, 2009
The Clough Center for Constitutional Democracy was recently created at Boston College for the purposes of developing constitutional thought through undergraduate events, internships, and conferences. For the purposes of full disclosure, I will tell you that I was recently received as one of the first junior fellows by the center, but will strive to remain as objective as possible in relating the following controversial events to you. The center, which has come under fire for attempting to cosponsor an event featuring Bill Ayers, recently cosponsored an event on the Establishment Clause at Princeton, which was most definitely on the opposite side of the political spectrum.
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April 14th, 2009
One of the growing fads in academia, particularly in American history, is the idea of revisionist history. Revisionist history is an attempt to take an objective view of widely accepted historical norms, review the evidence upon which they are based, and draw a different conclusion. Almost every presidency of modern times has seen some sort of revisionist movement in the historical community as new documents become declassified and as new information becomes available. The problem with revisionist history is that it creates a tendency to advocate change in historical norms for the mere sake of challenging the status quo.
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April 2nd, 2009
As resistance to President Obama’s commencement address at Notre Dame becomes more defined, it seems clear that the resolve of the university’s administration has stiffened. University President Father Jenkins, C.S.C. has reiterated his invitation to the President, claiming that under no circumstances will the invite be revoked. Some Catholic bishops have condemned the invitation because of Obama’s pro-life policies. It is significant to note that the claim of the bishops and alumni is not without standing as the university failed to invite President Clinton because of similar concerns. The alumni and student body have formed a petition to convince Jenkins of the widespread dissatisfaction resulting from a pro-life politician speaking at the most critical moment of the academic year. This petition has receiving stunning support, and implicates a dark future for Jenkins’ job security.
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March 30th, 2009
Boston College’s administration was caught off guard on Friday when the Boston Globe called seeking comment about a Bill Ayers event to be held on campus. The event, which was co-sponsored by the College Democrats and the Lynch School of Education, was entitled The State of Democracy in America, and was to take place in one of the school’s dining halls. Calling back the Boston Globe later that day, University Spokesman Jack Dunn informed the press that the event had been canceled due to “safety concerns.” Some residents of the Boston area have implicated Ayers as at least partially responsible for the killing of an Allston police officer during his days with Weather Underground.
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March 19th, 2009
A recent Observer editorial called for BC theology-related events to be reviewed by a panel of Jesuits in order to review their adherence to the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The editorial suggested that if this panel found an event to be contrary to the views of the Catholic Church, it should send an accredited professor to define and explain the Catholic position before or after the event. This editorial has met with stiff resistance among the university’s professors, some going so far as to call the idea “censorship.”
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March 12th, 2009
As the economy continues to spiral downwards, colleges are beginning to face the realities of the situation. Responding to a 25 percent drop in the endowment, Boston College is looking for ways to cut wasteful spending in order to keep tuition reasonable. The President’s Office announced this morning that these efforts have proven successful as students will suffer the lowest increase in tuition in 35 years, financial aid will grow at over twice the rate of tuition, and no personnel layoffs are imminent.
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March 10th, 2009
A student movement at Boston College has formed and passed a petition calling for the free distribution of condoms on campus, affordable and available STD testing, and a renewed commitment on the part of the university to provide information on sexual health to students. The Sexual Health Initiative (nick-named S.H.I.T. by its detractors) was passed by a student vote, garnering well over 80 percent of those polled. There are two fundamental problems with this petition. First, it seeks to ask a Jesuit university to violate its code of ethics. Second, it essentially asks all students to help pay for STD testing, providing an incentive for risky behavior.
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