March 2008

Sean B. Quigley
William F. Buckley, Jr., as I trust you know, passed away on February 27. He was a man who injected class into conservatism, teeth into traditionalism, and vocabulary into even the most verbose. He was a man truly grounded by conservative first principles - so much so that his life story, which evidenced a truly conservative willingness to apply ancient truths to modern realities, was an inspiration to the present writer. Having been raised in a state, Rhode Island, which nowadays deifies big government (though my hometown, East Greenwich, was a traditional Yankee Republican oasis), and having attended a parochial high school where equality trumped liberty, reading WFB provided a refreshing escape from the statist influences in my life. For some reason, however, I still find myself more grateful for his inculcation in me of refined tastes - in particular, a fat cigar and a strong brandy. Slainte, my fellow (part) Irishman.

Anish K. Mitra
Warren Buffet has recently been crowned as the world’s richest man, with an estimated net worth of $62 billion dollars. As an aspiring investment banker and billionaire myself, I can’t help but admire the man. As a matter of fact, I’ve sent him a few e-mails asking for some start-up capital for a venture that I’m currently pursuing. He hasn’t responded yet, but I’ve remained hopeful. At the very least, he might give me a few bucks. Does he even know what a dollar looks like?

Christina Cozzetto
The list of events for Women’s History Month (according to the calendar that we received in our campus boxes) include both a Planned Parenthood rally at the State House, and a speaking engagement by Reverend John Shelby Spong, who will be speaking about choice and religion. Can you not be pro-life and also pro-woman? Looking at history from a woman’s point of view, celebrating our accomplishments and helping to ensure our safety are not bad ideas. I like those ideas so much that I want to make sure pre-born women are safe in the womb, and to give them a chance to actually have accomplishments. Think about it: Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton were pro-life, too.

Andrew J. Migneault
Super Tuesday, round two: and Hillary comes out on top. Instead of celebrating in true Republican form (expensive cigars and stuffy leather chairs), I found more amusement in the reactions of Obama supporters to the news. I have to admit that I was expecting, “Oh don’t worry, He’ll come back,” but instead, to
the delight of my skewed sense of humor, I was bombarded with sarcasm and cynicism. “I don’t even care about Obama anymore; I just don’t want her to win.” Sour grapes at its finest. It just goes to show that no matter how many tears are shed while listening to his speeches, how many hours are spent at the State House campaigning, how many stickers are canvassed across campus, Obama just may not be the heaven-sent candidate that everyone says he is. The people have spoken.

Kristina Kelleher
Last fall Sen. Chuck Grassley, of Iowa, called for universities to spend down more of their endowments instead of raising tuition. Universities should spend a substantial portion of their endowments down on capital improvements and improving educational quality because these investments will reap even greater donator rewards. But instead, universities from MIT to Standard to our very own Brown have responded by promising to engage more price discrimination than they already do by reducing tutition for some students not all students, or in our case, reducing the loan burden on students based on their parents income. The same education, the exact same services and opportunities, has 2, 3, or 4 different price tags. Does that seem equitable? Two students come out of Brown and become investment bankers and one was born to more well off? parents so he has to pay back student loans but the other was born to less fortunate parents so even though he got the same education and now gets the same paycheck he doesn’t have to. Instead institutions like Brown should make student loans about students income and not their parents and instead of capping loan burdens they should forgive student loans for students with lower incomes after graduation. This is what Harvard law does to promote public service law practice of its graduates and heavens knows we love to copy Harvard. Why should we punish the student for his or her parents’ good fortune? That seems like discrimination to me.

Andrew E. Kurtzman
All speculation is now on McCain’s choice for Vice President, and, frankly, the selection needs almost entirely to be about compensating for McCain’s many weaknesses. (I promise, there is no animosity here.) McCain is old, not particularly attractive, admittedly not knowledgeable about economics and business, and willing to embrace awkward big government solutions to problems. Cap-and-trade for “global warming” anyone? (Yep. Slowing down the economy will help technology advance in energy effciency.) And McCain-Feingold is nothing if not an affront to the First Amendment. So, the ideal VP would be younger, damn good-looking, a business genius, and a strong economic conservative with a good record for intelligent policy-crafting. We’ve placed a hint on the back cover.