Region

Prince of Persia

By Tristan Reitz · Wednesday, Sept. 26,2007 10:13 p.m.

If (Hitler) were willing to engage in a debate and a discussion, to be challenged by Columbia students and faculty, we would certainly run it.” – John Coatsworth, dean of Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. While Hitler may not be available for any speaking engagements, the university did decide to allow Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak, angering many who say it legitimizes or appeases the Islamic republic’s president.

The Living Dead

By Amanda Lowry · Wednesday, Sept. 26,2007 10:11 p.m.

Being the language addict I am, an Associated Press article caught my eye this past week about how thousands of languages around the world are dying out as speakers turn to more commercially-useful or national languages. According to the article, the world has about 7,000 living languages, as many as half of which have never been written down. Languages are dying out at a rate of about one every other week. For some languages, this is because researchers have not yet gained cultural access to them. For others, it is because we do not yet even know they exist.

In deep in my inbox

By Matt Peyton · Wednesday, Sept. 26,2007 10:10 p.m.

I get a ton of e-mail. This isn’t necessarily because I’m popular (even though I am) or because I’m very important (although, again, that’s not untrue). No, I get a ton of e-mail because everyone gets a ton of e-mail, and instead of just dealing with their own problems, they feel the need to bring me down with them. Lately, it’s really reached staggering proportions. I’ll leave for a 50-minute class and when I get home I have eight new e-mails.

All bets on Betty

By Jonathan P. Rossing and Jonathon P. Rossing · Wednesday, Sept. 26,2007 10:07 p.m.

Today, this gay man’s version of the Holy Virgin Mary returns to primetime television with braces, thick glasses and a poncho from Guadalajara. “Ugly Betty” – alternately known as Queer Betty in my world – is back. It is a show that brings laughter, tears, serious life lessons and, most importantly, stories to which we can ALL relate every single week. Betty’s made me a believer – ugly is the new beautiful. It’s often hard for me to identify with characters in popular entertainment. I can appreciate the broader experiences and sagas about love, friendship, isolation and belonging.

Judging Jena

Wednesday, Sept. 26,2007 10:03 p.m.

The nation saw an eruption of protest last week in support of the six black students now being charged with second degree battery after beating up a white student. T-shirts and chants of “Free the Jena Six” were prominent on college campuses across the nation, including IU, and in Jena, La., where civil rights leaders Reverend Al Sharpton and Martin Luther King III led a march on the local courthouse.