Opinion

Opinion

Vouchers needed to revamp U.S. education

By Erin Wildermuth | October 12

Educational policy should not be about ideology. Once the vast majority of the population has come to the conclusion that the state should be involved in education, there is only be one question left to ask: What is best for the children? Unfortunately, this is a difficult question to answer, not because no one has an answer, but rather because everyone has a different answer and everyone is sure that they are right.

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Opinion

Killing us not-so-softly

By Paul Perry | October 12

A 15-year-old boy in Wisconsin shoots and kills his principal. A deranged gunman steps into a one-room Amish schoolhouse in Pennsylvania and kills six young girls (handcuffed, execution style) and himself, critically wounding a number of others. A 13-year-old boy in Missouri brings an AK-47 to school and fires one shot before the gun jams as he takes aim at his classmates.

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Opinion

All thumbs

October 12

Thumbs up... Plan B info session... Students can never have too much information about their sexual and reproductive health. Record turnout for SG elections... The Class of 2010 has answered its call of civic duty. New offerings in the Marketplace... Sweet-potato chips and low prices at Panini Express make our life complete.

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Opinion

Staff editorial: Religion classes would benefit all students

October 12

Six Harvard University professors have recently come out in favor of mandatory religion classes for college students. Classes like the ones suggested by the Harvard faculty are classes in religion rather than theology, that would focus on the history and beliefs of a certain religion rather than why one should believe in a particular religion.

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Opinion

Students, faculty reflect on aftermath

October 9

"I think it brought to light problems we've had with the whole administrative authority, and it shows we need to change the executive structure of the university." -Arielle Murth, sophomore in SPA "The biggest impact is the distrust I think the students and faculty and staff have of the leadership and also the mismanaging of funds.

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Opinion

Staff editorial: Arts at AU blossom with Katzen, new season

October 5

Arts at AU have taken off astronomically this year. The quality of on-campus theater and number of shows, provided by the Department of Performing Arts, Rude Mechanicals and AU Players, have increased noticeably. The DPA's production of "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" is so good that it will travel to Russia in December.

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Opinion

The Liberal Nation...Grover Cleveland and the character of our government

By Matt Rozsa | October 5

When Grover Cleveland defeated Benjamin Harrison in the presidential election of 1892, he became the first former president in American history to be placed back into office. Technically, the people had never actually voted him out - President Grover Cleveland received more popular votes than Benjamin Harrison in 1888, but was struck with the misfortune of having lost several of the larger states by very slight margins, thus pushing Harrison over the edge with an Electoral College victory.

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Opinion

Progressive Point...A respite from illusion

By Jacob Shelly | October 5

Few actions of government are ever as serious as the waging of war. But in spite of its solemn importance - or perhaps because of it - the national debate tends toward partisan positioning with demagogic rhetoric and empty slogans substituted for a sober analysis of real world facts.

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Opinion

Staff editorial: Turnitin.com pilot raises questions about integrity

October 5

At the beginning of the semester, AU launched a pilot program with TurnItIn.com. About 20 professors and their 1,000 students are in the pilot program. Along with peer review and an online grading system, the site allows professors to submit papers to the site's database to be checked for plagiarism.

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Opinion

Out of context

October 5

"This has Bakke all over it!" -An AU civil liberties professor discussing school desegregation cases in the Supreme Court During the Honors Program's annual Brain Bowl, one of the questions posed to the panel was, "What disease did the Egyptians think could be cured by swallowing a mouse?" After several wrong guesses, one especially excited audience member shouted out "syphilis" at the top of his lungs.

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Opinion

The FDA: killer or savior?

By Erin Wildermuth | October 2

If you've been reading the news lately, you may have come across some talk of the Food and Drug Administration's latest approval. Vectibix is a drug used to treat colorectal cancer, the third leading cause of death in the United States. The drug has been shown to slow tumor growth and, in some cases, reduce the size of tumors.

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Opinion

Staff editorial: Put your pennies where your mouth is

October 2

The AU library is consistently ranked one of the worst in the nation (it earned a spot at number 16 on Princeton Review's "This is a Library?" ranking last year), and someone is finally trying to do something about it. The Friends of the American University Library is sponsoring the "Change Your Library: A Mile of Pennies" campaign.

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Opinion

Letter to the editor

October 2

SOA brothers same as other frats Hello, I just wanted to comment on all that has been going on with the two "hazardous" fraternities SOA and EI. I know many members of SOA personally, and if it means anything, I think that the public should know that they are not some creepy gang members but rather really great guys.

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Opinion

Staff editorial: UNH students want

October 2

A group of students at the University of New Hampshire is circulating a petition calling for the removal of a psychology professor who told his students that he is a member of the group Scholars for 9/11 Truth, a group that believes the federal government had prior knowledge of the Sept.

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Opinion

Corrections from Sept. 28

October 2

In an article titled "IFC wants two fraternities out," it was stated that Epsilon Iota "does not follow any sort of bylaws." An elected officer of EI told The Eagle that EI does in fact follow a set of by-laws. In an article about the Rude Mechanicals, Katie Molski's name was misspelled.

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Opinion

Letters to the editor

September 28

Celebrities aren't the only ones who should check their opinions at the door In his column "Attention celebrities: Please, shut up!" (The Eagle, 9/25/06), Caleb Enerson writes a diatribe against celebrities voicing their opinions on political and current events.

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Opinion

Staff editorial: BoT takes much-needed, yet cryptic, Darfur action

September 28

Last week, the board of trustees took an important step and adopted a formal policy that AU will divest from companies that do business in the Sudan. Specifically, the university will remove investments from companies that do business in Sudan's oil and gas business by the end of the year and will report back to the university community.

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