Sean B.Quigley ‘10
Sincere congratulations go to the players on the Brown football squad, which was voted third in the Ivy League pre-season media poll, as advertised on Brown University’s website. The crimson and blue Congregationalists to our North and West were tied for first place, with a ranking of 124 points each, but the industrious Baptists garnered a respectable 99 points, far ahead of the pacific Quakers, who pulled in 85 points. In a school now unfortunately enamored of perverse gender-neutral accommodations and deviant behavior generally, it is rather inspiring that we still excel at the traditional hallmarks of an Ivy League, northeastern University. I recommend a celebration involving quail-hunting and drunken revelry at a dockside bar. After all, as the isolated Spectator pilgrims will always corroborate, In crapula speramus.
Christina Cozzetto ‘10
After Alain Bernard of the French 4×100m freestyle relay team said that he and his team would “smash” the Americans, it must have been embarrassing to lose to us, especially considering that Jason Lezak, who swam the final leg with Bernard, was a full body length behind him as they made the final turn. Bernard also lost his world record in the 100m freestyle to Australian swimmer Eamon Sullivan on the same day. Two things, Bernard. One, don’t get cocky, since anything can happen in the Olympics. Two, did you honestly think that Americans would be intimidated by French trash-talking?
Kristina Kelleher ‘09
Obama on the Russian invasion of Georgia:”Now is the time for Georgia and Russia to show restraint.” Reagan on his Cold War strategy: “We win, they lose.”
I, for one, am with Reagan.
Bryan Smith ‘10
I spent most of the summer working in a Congressman from Florida’s Congressional office. While I will not bore you with the details of my filing and answering phones, I was able to see first-hand the partisan divide that has paralyzed Washington and disenchanted countless American voters. This issue manifested itself this summer over the hot-button issue of gas prices. I had the task of speaking with many people who were calling our office to demand ac-tion on gas prices because their families simply could not afford to pay the high prices any longer. The Democrats’ response? “We are going to have a slam dunk victory in November, so let’s not rock the boat, regardless of how much it hurts America.” That does not sound like good politics to me.
Susannah Kroeber ‘11
Twenty-one means a lot to many Americans.Twenty-one is the age at which we can legally drink. But it’s absurd to think that many Americans started drinking long before they were al-lowed to. By the time we are aloud to drink, we’ve driven for 5 years, served in the military for 4 years, served on juries and voted for 3 years.We can open our own bank accounts,sign contracts,and begin to establish a credit report.With all that responsibility,it seems absurd that we can’t have a beer.But I know for the most part, I’m preaching to the choir.
The Amethyst Initiative is an organization entirely comprised for college and university presidents and chancellors dedicated to beginning a free public debate over the issue in order to decide what the most responsible decision is for this country to make.So far,119 college presidents have signed on.With Brown’s tradition of free debate,responsible action,and being ahead of the curve on public policy,President Simmons should honor that tradition and become part of that groundbreaking group of college presidents who are fighting for responsible lawmaking and discussion.
