Recent Contributions from Tim Krueger

In Which the Term “Scramble” Receives More Liberal Definition than the AEM Department

Tim Krueger — Thu, 01 May 2008 00:00:00 -0400

I’ll admit that I didn’t really start reading the Sun until the end of last year, after I knew I’d be writing for it in a few months. I’ve since determined that there’s no model for a good column; if anyone came close this year, it was Shannon with her flow chart. The only consistency I can see is that the ones I’ve written in Libe Café are better than the ones I’ve written on my back porch. Since it’s nice out, I’m obviously writing on my back porch instead of in Libe. The point is I’m not promising anything here. In lieu of any insightful commentary on Cornell and undergraduate life then, let me conclude the column with some obvious remarks on the twin pillars of the American collegiate tradition: the liberal arts education and the senior scramble.

Cognitive Frames and the Mexican Contra-Emo Violence (Causality is Not Assumed)

Tim Krueger — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0400

I have a lot of conversations on stairways. It’s a thing. Most are political, most of them fairly banal as well. Recently they’ve tended to involve the phrase “institutional legitimacy in Latin America” due to the invasive influence of my thesis, which is also why I haven’t written a column in a month. In that month a wave of anti-emo kid violence has erupted in Mexico and Chile, gripping shopping malls from Tijuana to Santiago. Causality between this and my hiatus is suspect yet plausible. But for the record I fully endorse anti-emo kid violence in any part of the developing world.

Courtship Rituals of Cornellians: An Ethnography

Tim Krueger — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500

There was, I imagine, a moment in history when courtship rituals among the young men and women far above Cayuga’s waters were fairly homogenous. That moment having been summarily executed in a parking lot, our current dating repertoires are sorely in need of documentation. It was the practice of pre-1990s anthropologists to write ethnographies that trampled all hopes of agency and otherized with grace rarely seen in today’s literature. It is my intent to follow in that tradition with this column.

Centrism and Flyover Country

Tim Krueger — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Anyone who tried to talk to me about politics in the past two weeks probably got some response along the lines of “I don’t know I’m not really paying attention anymore; I’m trying to emotionally disengage so I can get some work done.”

Right so that policy is going into effect tomorrow. First I need to comment on some incredibly important and AHISTORICAL characteristics of Tuesday’s primary results. (Read: if you hail from a state that hasn’t voted yet, I implore you to take note of what just happened, and send in for an absentee ballot like stat). And how can I abstain? I mean, we were the only Ivy mentioned in the New York Times’ election coverage.

On Fatherhood

Tim Krueger — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0500

I have The Lion King soundtrack on my iPod, and I know more about good witches and bad witches than anyone at Cornell. Although it’s tempting to say that’s just how I roll, where the witches and Simba are concerned, I have to give credit to my son Luke. He’s three-and-a-half, and also knows more about good witches and bad witches than anyone at Cornell. And after those three-and-a-half years, subtle manifestations of my identity as a father point to the conclusion that I’m becoming increasingly dad-like. They’re not just things I’ve picked up from Luke either. Sometimes I play classical music at high volume when my housemates are out of the apartment. And I’ve developed this weird affinity for sweaters without hoods … like ones that should have paint on them.

Take My Vegetarianism

Tim Krueger — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0500

Vegetarianism, for me, has been a lot like the Iraq War in that it has lasted a long time but the rationales have kept changing. Sadly, I have a hunch that my affair with vegetarianism is soon to collapse. When contemplating a return to omnivorocity though, I feel guilty about the environmental implications. I know I should compensate with some other means of reducing my ecological footprint (which, for the record, is 3.6 — Google it if you don’t know yours). Then, in a stroke of brilliance (or something), I realized that convincing someone else to take the baton would have the same effect. Thus, I have but one goal with this column: to produce one newly branded vegetarian from Cornell’s ether.

Federalist Duels

Tim Krueger — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 09:40:18 -0500

Injustice—especially racial injustice—is written into our nation’s drug sentencing laws. It is embodied especially in laws that attach mandatory minimum sentences to certain categories of drug-related crimes. Thankfully, all three branches of the federal government seem to be awakening to this racial incoherence, and are critically assessing the issue in a more serious manner than they have in my lifetime (1986 marking the inception of both mandatory minimums and yours truly, I will proudly point out that I am two months the senior of Congress’ fear-induced brainchild). According to a December 17th New York Times article, however, a power struggle between legislative and judicial branches may bar concerted progress on the matter.

Your Mom Votes Democrat

Tim Krueger — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0500

Statistically it’s true. Your mom is, on average, an upper-middle class white 51- year-old registered Democrat. Statistically, she’ll vote for Hillary.

Your dad, however, is statistically a 54-year-old registered Republican (also white, in case there was doubt) who will vote for Giuliani.

And you, a WASPy-but-could-almost-be-Asian-or-Jewish (statistically) Ivy League student, will vote for Barack.

Domestic tensions will fester over winter break as you and your parents bicker about your irreconcilable political differences.

You, Too, Can Author a Conservative Column

Tim Krueger — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0500

Writing a conservative column is an art, and like any art, it takes talent. Despite what you may assume, however, the ability to write a conservative column is not a genetic trait that one simply does or doesn’t possess; you too can learn to write a conservative column. In fact, consider it your civic duty. Just follow the pointers below.

This Is The Most Important Thing in the World Right Now

Tim Krueger — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 00:00:00 -0400

Once upon a time, war was thought to result from an escalation of conflict. Threats were usually identifiable as whole nations. People could tell when a war was looming, for the buildup was visible and violent.

Then somewhere between when you and I were born and when you and I started high school, a global transition long in the making came full circle, and international conflict became significantly more difficult to understand. Threats to security no longer came only from states, and the precursors to war were often a series of politically charged armaments and disarmaments, accords and disagreements, power configurations and reconfigurations — instead of violent escalation. Pre-emption became legitimate. The world’s publics were at times confused by these changes, but did their best to reconceptualize the new causes of war and understand that the precursors to war in the modern world had changed.

Selling People, Selling Pollution

Tim Krueger — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 00:00:00 -0400

Today, I’m doing something that’s rare in the 21st century: I’m selling people. And despite whatever rumors you may have heard, I’m not involved in any sort of transpacific child trafficking. Rather, the Cornell Democrats are having a date auction to raise money for (and by “for” I mean “not for”) global warming. It’s a great idea, and it’ll likely raise a ton of money, as did the one we held two years ago. Still, part of me is slightly uncomfortable with the notion that I’ll be selling people. The reason I’m doing this, however, and the reason I’m OK with it, is the same reason why I’m a Democrat.

Libe Cafe. And Sex.

Tim Krueger — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 00:00:00 -0400

Seeing as you’re reading The Sun right now, there’s a good chance you’re in Libe Café. If you’re in Libe Café, there’s a good chance you’ve brought readings to do for class. Since you’re reading my column, there’s a very good chance you’re not doing your readings.

Look around though — I’ll bet a full 65 percent of Libe Café is also not reading.

(I’m waiting while you look around.)

Asian: The New White

Tim Krueger — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0400

Look at the two people nearest to you. Is one of them Asian? If not, then it’s you!

I mean, it’s not a foolproof experiment, but the point is that there are a lot of Asians at Cornell. So many, in fact, that we can safely label them an overrepresented demographic. So many, in fact, that it just makes sense to rein in the number of Asians we admit.

Sorry, does that reasoning make you uncomfortable? I feel like that argument has been used before somewhere … oh right, it’s the justification that Harvard once used for imposing a ceiling on Jewish applicants. I’ll try to be more original this time.

On Black Hipsters

Tim Krueger — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 00:00:00 -0400

Fact of life: white kids don’t talk about race in a public forum. Sure, we spill our guts on the subject when we’re among friends, even friends of other races. On the rare occasion that white kids do opt to engage the issue in a newspaper column or among strangers, they tend to guard against criticism by taking a radical stance, concluding that white racism is the root of everything from the Iraq war to erectile dysfunction. But generally we have an absolute lack of sustained, interracial discourse on a subject that is as complex as it is unavoidable.

On Homelessness

Tim Krueger — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 01:00:00 -0400

Bigger Than Hip-Hop ... By Far

Tim Krueger — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 23:11:21 -0400

Deckhead:

Guest Room

Body:

The speech by political activist and hip-hop artist Mutulu Olugbala, otherwise known as M-1, drew upwards of 300 people to Goldwin Smith on Friday night, far exceeding the carrying capacity of the auditorium. The event lasted about three hours, which is rather impressive considering that it was Friday night and that M-1 wasn’t there to perform hip-hop. He talked about his early days of political activism in Tallahassee and Chicago, and in the end he didn’t even get to his time as a member of the unabashedly political hip-hop group Dead Prez. He spent some time speaking on issues like America’s neglect for its urban centers and the extent to which real peace and freedom are possible in light of political marginalization. The questions he raised were ones of cultural identity and the politics of exclusion, many of which had highly theoretical substance about framing, discourse, and the English language, and might have seemed more endemic to a class taught by Diane Rubenstein or Sherry Martin. But after about 45 minutes it became clear that the massive group had come not only to hear M-1, but because we too had things to say. The conversation focused on political organization and the frequent self-doubt that arises out of trying to make sure what we study here is actually helping what goes on in the rest of the world, not just reinforcing existing inequalities. This is an issue that I often find myself grappling with, because although I’m fairly confidant in my ability to create some positive change with the material I’m studying, the mere symbolism of the geographic seclusion of Ithaca, or my own disproportionate consumption of resources, can raise doubts about the net impact I’m having on the world right now. Contrasting this to M-1’s recollection of his political involvement in Chicago’s InPDUM movement at the age of 20, it’s understandable that much of the crowd seemed humbled solely by the fact that he had lived in the thick of the nationwide Rodney King riots and could look back on his life without any such doubt about being on the right track. This level of respect, and the entire discussion, was underlined by the general feeling that political activism on college campuses has become stagnant, at least to the degree that is used to be. The “undergraduate activist” interest is no longer a player in the American political sphere, on par in vocality with interests such as gun control or even the religious right, as it once was. It is this silence, in a time that all economic markers, prison demographics and statistics about higher education point to increasing inequalities, that drove so many people to come voice their concerns Friday night.