Lee column on School of the Americas lacking in research

The Wildcat has taken to printing so many columns with ridiculous and uniformed content that I, and most readers like me, have apparently become used to it. Nevertheless, when I read, "Time to topple the ÎSchool of the Assasins'," (Thursday) I couldn't help but think that Ms. Lee is even less informed than most of the columnists. [Read article]

As if Arizona's apathy toward higher education wasn't embarrassing enough, last week's announcement that ex-UA professor Vernon Smith was named a Nobel Prize winner in economics should be the academic equivalent of a 2x4 to the head for every lawmaker in the state.

Smith left the UA in the summer of 2001 for more money and better research opportunities at Virginia's George Mason University. He has become the poster child for the UA's "brain drain," the loss of high-profile faculty to higher-paying institutions. [Read article]

As is usual in war, the imminent one with Iraq has produced quite a bit of self-righteous soapbox preaching from both the chicken-hawks and the peaceniks, who both spout catch phrases but don't objectively say why.

As they control the media, the ones with their fingers on the trigger tend to win out. So, in the interest of fair play, let's toss around a few pro-war arguments in a historical context, shall we? [Read article]

Arizona's Constitution violates the central tenet of American governance that protects the citizenry from mob rule.

That fundamental protection is the republican form of government. It is guaranteed by the supreme law of the land as a protection against short-sighted, destabilizing swings in the moods of the populus.

The republican government embodied by representational democracy is as much a buffer against tyranny as the separation of powers among the various branches of government. The framers intended the separation of powers as a check to surges in political sentiment. By dividing power and creating a system of contention and conflict, the framers assured that individual liberties would be protected. [Read article]