Deckhead:

Brutal Honesty

Body:

Some argue that the Estados Unidos and the U.K. overthrew Saddam Hussein because his regime sat on top of one of the world’s largest reserves of petroleum. Looking at Nigeria’s experience with guns and gas can help us understand the idea of going to war for oil.

Deckhead:

Paint the Town Red

Body:

In the partisan world of higher education, free speech is fast becoming less a right and more a memory for political and religious groups on campus. In a world dedicated to the education of its students, how can any one view be silenced? Without the give and take of intelligent debate, there is no real learning experience, just the regurgitation of politically correct campus fodder.

Deckhead:

Letters

Body:

Re: “Skorton Announces Sudan Policy,” News, Aug. 23

To the Editor:

On behalf of STARS and the Jewish Student Union, we would like to personally thank President Skorton and the Cornell University administration for addressing the genocide in Darfur. To date, the Sudanese government has been responsible for over 400,000 deaths and millions of displaced refugees in the Darfur region. Cornell has a moral duty not to provide financial support for companies that directly fund the Sudanese government’s actions. We appreciate that the administration has recognized the extent of the human rights violations under Omar Al Bashir’s regime and that it has responded appropriately to them.

Deckhead:

Letters

Body:

Columnist makes erroneous claims

Re: “The Media’s Military,” Opinion, Aug. 22

To the Editor:

“The Media’s Military,” by Billy McMorris, was filled with so much incorrect information and so many ridiculous accusations that it both shocked and enraged me. Firstly, Mr. McMorris attacks the public for entrusting “its information to The New York Times and CNN.” Perhaps he would prefer us to instead watch the far-right Fox News so that we could watch Ann Coulter go about her air-headed publicity stunt tirades or be brain-washed into thinking the Al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein are the same thing. Secondly, Mr. McMorris suggests that the American media did not do enough to glorify the American soldiers in Iraq. He may, however, remember the story of Jessica Lynch, who became an American heroine by the American press to only later discover that it was an Iraqi doctor who was in fact the hero. Finally, and most notably, Mr. McMorris claims that “doctored photos of seemingly brutal scenes” from the war in Lebanon were omnipresent in the United States. His statement is so outrageous that I don’t know whether to be infuriated or to laugh. Doctored photos? There was no reason to doctor photos in a war that killed over 1,000 Lebanese people — the overwhelmingly majority of whom were innocent civilians, displaced a quarter of the population, and cost several billion dollars to a nation that was already billions of dollars in debt. In fact, most news-aware Americans do not know these facts, nor do they know that the Lebanese coastline was ruined and marine life killed when Israeli jets hit a power plant spilling around 15,000 tons of heavy fuel oil into the Mediterranean Sea, nor that Israelis killed dozens of Lebanese soldiers who were not involved in Israel’s fight with Hezbollah. Mr. McMorris is most certainly right when he says, “We know who the press is rooting for in this war.”

Deckhead:

Heroes and Villains

Body:

Class, take your seats. The bell has rung; school is in session. Our first lesson of the year will be on Heroes and Villains. A hero is someone who does something good, like help people fix their mistakes after they’ve had unprotected sex. A villain is someone who does something bad, like rape or murder.

Deckhead:

Cosmology on the Rocks

Body:

As a Cornell government major who likes to have fun, sleep and do other civilian things, I often find that the biggest obstacle I face is spontaneous political debates. Let’s face it, they suck. No one’s happy, no one’s convinced, and in the case of this past Tuesday night, I lost an hour of sleep. But when I got back to my room at 3:30 a.m., I felt strangely satisfied. The argument had been about everyone’s favorite topic these days, the Israel-Hezbollah war, and my friend had called me to join the conversation. I ended up discussing practically the entire history of the modern Middle East (also known as NES something or other) for an hour. I was arguing, as I tend to, for Israel’s right to exist, America’s positive relationship with it, I’m Jewish, we say these things, blah blah, etc.

Deckhead:

Tequila Sunrise

Body:

Recently, the tiny Mexican port of San Blas received fairly joyous news. Three fishermen, lost at sea nine months prior, had been picked up by a ship near the Marshall Islands. After almost a year at sea, these modern-day castaways were found, and much jubilation understandably ensued.

Deckhead:

Between the Lines

Body:

The role of a political columnist for a student paper is a curious one. The folks on The Sun opinion page have no news sources that you, the reader, do not. We are unlikely to be more insightful than all the political correspondents and public-minded citizens whose work is available via the internet. What advantage, then, does a student columnist have over any of a large number of capable bloggers and professional opinion journalists?

Deckhead:

Don't Miss Out!

Body:

After a full semester and summer away from this place, it’s great to be back here and writing for The Sun again. This past spring I studied abroad in Seville, a city in southern Spain, and I did a good deal of traveling through Europe while I was there. It was an incredible time, to say the least, but don’t worry. I’m not about to use my first column to unveil some profound insights that I acquired overseas. Nor am I going to showcase the details about my wild escapades with Belgian beer and a fine-looking Italian stallion …

Deckhead:

If You Can Keep It

Body:

Every language has its fighting words. I, for all intents and purposes, had two Spanish classes every day in high school: one with Mrs. McRight during fifth period, the other with my friends Orlando and Victor — whose families had come to Texas from Mexico and Honduras, respectively — in the cafeteria during lunch break. What I learned in the first helped me in situations where I needed to find the library or had to order food at a Mexican restaurant. What I learned in the second led to many a flintlock duel to the death with the proprietors of just such restaurants, Orlando and Victor howling approvingly from their ringside seats.