The weekend before finals, a murder/suicide occurred on the campus of Virginia Tech that left a campus police officer dead. Campus officials hunted for the killer while the school remained in lock-down for nearly four hours before determining the second body was that of the shooter, a student at a nearby university. While the police…
Category: Editorials
Savor the season
Whether it’s Christmas carols, well-known advertisements, or time-honored grumblings about losing the “reason for the season,” December is a time of refrains. Here’s just one to think about: “It’s a busy time of year.” In almost every corner of Western society, December tends to wind up as the time when everyone scrambles to finish pent-up…
Remembering rights
On Tuesday Iceland announced that it voted to recognize Palestine as an independent state, making it the first Western European country to do so. If you follow international politics at all, it should come as no surprise to you that this is a major development. The issue of Palestinian statehood is obviously a divisive one…
The weight of words, the weight of history
Probably just by reading the title of this editorial, most people will already be able to guess what it will be about (“Oh, not another lecture about the importance of using our words carefully!”)—which is, in itself, a testament to the power that language has over people. We can dream, build, and destroy profoundly with…
Perry’s mistake
No doubt you’ve all seen it by now. Rick Perry’s debate gaffe was comedic gold: a state governor hemming and hawing his way through a bullet point that was obviously supposed to be a campaign touchstone but became a punch-line. Yet surprisingly little attention seems to have been directed at what he said just before…
The Advantages of Civil Conversation
This week, Concordia had the privelege of hosting two well-known political minds, Mary Matelin and James Carville, for an evening of debate and discussion. Of course, any “political awareness” event at Concordia tends to come with its share of opinions from a variety of third-party sources, and this event was no exception. But regardless of…
Take a Break – It Will Be OK.
I typically try to refrain from writing editorials in first person, but this week I was reminded of some sage advice I received earlier this year and it seemed most appropriate to impart it personally. More on that in a second. If you’re like me, mid-sem is one of at least two (let’s…
A Look Back, A Look Forward…
Sometimes it’s amazing how looking back at an old newspaper can change the way we read a new one. In the homecoming edition of the 1945 Concordian, the editorial was not about homecoming festivities, or even about daily cobber life. Rather, on the heels of World War II, the opinion of the publication…
Coming to Terms with Twitter
About a year ago, I wrote an article on Twitter. More specifically, how much I hated the service. A year later, I’ve changed my mind. I’ll tell people that I started my Twitter account for the newspaper, but this is a half-truth at best. I was interested in Twitter’s real function, something that I couldn’t…
This Ring Thing
This week, I had the good fortune to order my Cobber ring. For the next six to eight weeks due to shipping and handling, I will anxiously await a small, gold delivery. Being male and a bit of a classicist, it’s the first ring I’ve ever worn, and the only one I plan on wearing…