Week in ReviewBishop Challenges Davis on Abortion Speaking at a Mass commemorating the 30th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, Bishop William Weigand called for California Governor Gray Davis to cease participating in the sacrament of Holy Communion unless he renounces his support of abortion. Weigand, the Bishop of Sacramento and leader of northern California Catholics, told his congregation, 'As your Bishop, I have to say clearly that anyone who thinks it is acceptable for a Catholic to be pro-abortion is in very great error, puts his or her soul at risk, and is not in good standing with the Church.' In his homily, Weigand quoted from a papal doctrine which states that 'those who are directly involved in lawmaking bodies have a grave and clear obligation to oppose any law that attacks human life.' Russ Lopez, a Davis spokesman, criticized the bishop for what he called 'telling the faithful how to practice their faith.'He affirmed Davis's strong commitment to giving women the right to choose and went on to say that Weigand's comments could potentially alienate pro-choice Catholics. Lopez indicated that no one would be left in the Church if all Catholics who supported abortion rights were refused communion. The following evening, Weigand stated that his speech was motivated by a Pope John Paul II statement that criticizes politicians who claim to be good Catholics but continue to support abortion rights and by an exchange between Davis and Washington priest Monsignor Edward Kavanagh. Last month, Kavanagh told Davis that he would not be allowed to deliver gifts to children at St. Patrick's Orphanage unless he renounced his pro-choice views before visiting. 'I'm unapologetically pro-choice and I'm not changing my position,' Davis said. This exchange forced Weigand to confront Davis because people have begun to question how one can be a Catholic in good standing while supporting abortion rights. Davis, an active Catholic, has claimed credit that California is 'the most pro-choice state in America.' He has signed legislation that will allow women to continue to have abortions even if the US Supreme Court strikes down Roe vs. Wade.
On February 9, twenty-two year-old Benjamin Curtis, known by most as 'Steven,' the Dell Guy, in the company's television commercials, was arrested on a marijuana possession charge. Curtis was apprehended after police saw him buying a bag of marijuana from a Manhattan dealer. The dealer, nineteen year-old Omar Mendez, was also arrested and now faces drug sale and possession charges. Dragos Chitu, the police officer who filed a misdemeanor complaint against the two, stated, 'The defendants knowingly and unlawfully possessed marijuana in a public place and such was burning and open to public view. The defendant Benjamin Curtis knowingly and unlawfully possessed marijuana; and the defendant Omar Mendez knowingly and unlawfully sold marijuana for consideration.' Chitu said that he observed Mendez giving Curtis what appeared to be a bag of marijuana in exchange for U.S. currency. The baggie was later recovered and found to contain about twenty-five grams of marijuana. The arrests occurred at Ludlow and Rivington Streets on Manhattan's Lower East Side.
Six Congressmen, several US soldiers, and families of servicemen recently filed suit in Federal court to prevent the Bush administration from prosecuting a war in Iraq. Citing Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution which reads that 'Congress shall have power... (to) declare war,' the lawsuit claims that a war would be both 'illegal and unconstitutional' since it was not explicitly approved by Congress. Notwithstanding the passage of a resolution by both the House and the Senate last October authorizing the President to use force in Iraq, the filers of the suit maintain that 'if [Bush] wants to launch a military invasion against Iraq, he must first seek a declaration of war from the United States Congress. Our Constitution demands nothing less.' The six Congressman bringing the suit, all Democrats, include the slavery reparations crusader John Conyers of Michigan, as well as Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas, Jesse Jackson, Jr. of Illinois, and possible Presidential hopeful Dennis Kucinich of Ohio. Conyers, who represents a heavily black inner-city Detroit district, railed that 'the Founding Fathers did not establish an imperial Presidency with war-making power, the Constitution clearly reserves that for Congress.' Nancy Lessin, the mother of a US Marine currently stationed in the Gulf and one of those bringing suit to stop a potential war, cited as her motivation that 'we worry about Joe, we don't want him to be wounded or die. We don't want him to be forced to wound or kill innocent Iraqi civilians. That would kill part of him and part of us.'
Dartmouth seniors Heidi Williams of Williston, North Dakota, and Kate Szilagyi of Pittsford, New York, were recently selected to USA Today's All-USA College Academic Team over other 500 applicants. Williams, a first-team selection, is also a Rhodes and Truman scholar. A mathematics major, she will be attending the Oxford next year to begin her studies for a D. Phil. in mathematics with the eventual goal of becoming a professor. She has further been published for her research on the German Enigma code in the journal Cryptologia and is active in encouraging women in mathematics. Szilagyi, selected to be on the third team, is a psychology major and a member of Phi Beta Kappa as well as a sister at Delta Delta Delta sorority. She has co-authored a paper on faith and forgiveness in Bosnian adolescents with Professor Garrod of the Education department and Nicki Leiser '02. The two were roommates freshman year. Congratulations are in order to these two outstanding women for their remarkable achievements.
Professors Victor Ambros and Rosalind Lee of the Dartmouth Medical School were one of three research teams to share the 2002 Newcomb Cleveland Prize from the American Association for the Advancement of Science for their discovery of micro-sized RNA molecules, the 'biological equivalent of dark matter.' In what is being hailed by the journal Science as the 'the breakthrough of the year,' research teams from Dartmouth Medical School, the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Germany's Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry discovered the abundance of tiny RNA molecules that serve to 'affect gene regulation involved in the development of many types of cells and tissues.' The knowledge of these new molecules may help to unravel the mysteries surrounding how DNA is transferred to messenger RNA and then translated into proteins, a progression key to many biological processes. The award was conferred upon the research teams at the AAAS conference in Denver, Colorado and carries with it a $10,000 prize.
The National Park Service is currently planning to erect a statue of Abraham Lincoln on the grounds of the arsenal at Tredegar Iron Works, in Richmond, Virginia, where more than half of the cannons used by the Confederate forces were produced. Confederate heritage groups, such as the Sons of Confederate Veterans, are outraged, claiming that the installation is an unnecessary reminder that the Union won the Civil War. The magnitude of the opposition was not anticipated by the National Park Service, nor the United States Historical Society, the nonprofit group funding the statue. The Park Service asserts that they did not intend to offend anyone by installing the statue, and chose the Tredegar Iron Works because it is the largest Park Service site in the downtown Richmond area. Robert Kline, president of the United States Historical Society, expressed the clear good intentions of the statue, saying of the protest, 'It's been so vicious and untrue. We had no thoughts in mind of being insulting to anyone. We were trying to do something good.' Incensed residents of the Richmond area continue to protest, but United States Historical Society says that the statue will be installed. One citizen said in a letter to the Richmond Times-Dispatch that installing a statue of Abraham Lincoln in the heart of the former capital of the Confederacy is comparable to erecting a statue of Osama bin Laden in downtown New York City. Citizens have indicated that protests will continue even if the statue is eventually erected.
On Tuesday, February 11, Peter King, a Republican Congressman from New York's third Congressional district, gave his opinion on the international impasse regarding military action against Iraq. Pointing to the current situation, as well as the efforts of the French to delay military intervention in Kosovo and Bosnia, he referred to France as a 'second rate country' and indicated that it should be excluded from any future military alliances. King accused the French of hypocrisy, claiming that while they are taking the moral high road now, in World War II they surrendered faster than any other world power in history. He also expressed indignation, as he points out that France owes its very survival to the United States. The United States saved the French in both World Wars, in addition to defending them during the Cold War. Now, says King, the French have not only turned their backs on the United States, they have gone out of their way to obstruct U.S. military action. In a BBC radio interview the previous night, King said that the French should go to Iraq to 'instruct the Iraqis in how to surrender,' a comment which he says earned him numerous phone calls from irate French people. The Congressman has expressed no regret for any comments he made which may have offended French citizens. 'We may have to restructure the alliance, form a new alliance which the French will not be a part of,' he said. 'We can not allow a second rate country to have a veto power or obstructionist power over American foreign policy.'
Dartmouth's own Steven Menashi '01, a former Editor-in-Chief of The Dartmouth Review, has his own weblog at http://www.theamericanscene.com. Menashi, currently Associate Editor of Policy Review, runs the site along with Ross Douthat, an editorial analyst at the Atlantic Monthly. National Review's The Corner and Andrew Sullivan have recently publicized the site. The political weblog world is one of the fastest growing mediums for political debate and lobbying. Blogs were the first to draw attention to remarks that had been ignored by the mainstream press by Trent Lott, which eventually forced him to resign as Senate Majority Leader.
The Indian icers swept the North Country teams for the first time since the current travel partner schedule started in the mid-80s. The 3-1 win tonight over Clarkson, combined with last night's 5-3 win over St. Lawrence, gave Dartmouth its first four-point weekend against the duo. The closest Dartmouth had come previously was in January of 1988, when they tied Clarkson 4-4 before beating SLU 5-4 in an OT period that featured a bench-clearing brawl at the end. The Clarkson game was ugly, with the only scoring in the first fifty-five minutes coming off a 190-footer from behind Clarkson's own goal line that dipped as it was nearing Boucher and snuck between his pads and into the net to give them the 1-0 lead. Dartmouth rallied late in the 3rd and finally broke through as Jarrett Sampson knocked home a Pete Summerfelt rebound. Dartmouth would take the lead while on a delayed penalty situation when Mike Oullette deflected a Sean Offers shot from the point into the net. Mike Murray would add an empty-netter to ice it for the team. Both teams were scoreless with the man advantage, as Dartmouth went 0-5 while Clarkson went 0-3 on the power play. The previous night Dartmouth marched out to a 4-0 lead after one period and held a 5-1 advantage after 2 periods before finishing with a 5-3 win over St. Lawrence tonight at Thompson Arena. PJ Martin lead the way with 3 assists and added a skirmish near the end of the game, though no punches were thrown. Hugh Jessiman had a pair of goals including the eventual game winner as he continues to pull away in the race for ECAC Freshman of the Year. Chris Snizek, Jarrett Sampson, and Mike Murray also netted one apiece in the victory, while Mike Oullette added a pair of assists. Nick Boucher made 25 saves in net. Dartmouth went 1-3 on the power play, while SLU went 1-5. Dartmouth improves to 14-10-1 (10-8-0) with just four games remaining in the regular season. They remain in a tie for fourth place in the conference with Brown and Union, and trail Yale by 4 points for 3rd place. The team concludes its home schedule this coming weekend with Harvard on Friday and Brown on Saturday. Dartmouth is currently 11-2-0 at Thompson arena this season, with two wins next weekend assuring them home ice in the playoffs and keeping them in contention for that all-important four seed and the accompanying 1st round bye. The team finishes its home schedule next weekend when it takes on Harvard Friday night and closes with Brown on Senior Night. They finish the regular season on the road at Union and RPI in two weeks.
About twenty Dartmouth students recently travelled to New York City to participate in an anti-war rally. Several American cities staged demonstrations. By all accounts, it did not take long for the rally to descend into the tired clichés. Homemade cardboard signs—generally recognized as the highest form of intellectual dissertation—were an integral part of the protest, as the activists couched their carefully considered opinions in cute snippets. Many activists linked the war with oil. 'No Blood for Oil' was a standard cry. Some, though, were more imaginative. 'Look, I'll Pay More for Gas!' offered one protestor. Another plaintively asked 'How Did Our Oil Get Under Their Sand?' A running theme was ad hominem attacks against the President. 'Drunken Frat Boy Runs Country into a Ditch' screamed one poster. Another simply declared, 'He is a Moron and a Bully.' Other signs were a little more bizarre. For example, 'Iraq Did Not Bomb the U.S.' or, conversely, 'Bomb Florida.' One enthusiastically asked, 'Who Would Jesus Bomb?' Another sassily emphasized that 'War Is So Twentieth Century!' One activist put forward the assertion that 'If It Weren't For France, We'd All Be Speaking Texan Right Now,' while ignoring the obvious fact that if it weren't for America, the French would all be speaking German right now. And though the inspired protestors were not above sexual innuendo, sometimes their creativity conflicted. One activist's racy sign broadcast 'My Bush Makes Love, Not War.' But her face must have been red when another fellow protestor insinuated that 'Bushes are for Pissing On.' One thing is for certain, though: the activist group 'Queer Resistance for Palestine,' out in full force at the rally (in more ways than one), would certainly disapprove of such indiscretion. The Dartmouth contingent was incensed about the level of law enforcement present at the gathering. As Alex Kirigin '06 complained to the Daily Dartmouth, 'From what I saw, it was amazing that there were only so few arrests, because we were being provoked left and right.' Around three-hundred people were arrested for disorderly conduct over the course of the demonstration. Kirigin was one of the organizers of a controversial trip to Washington, D.C. to participate in a different protest. The jaunt was chartered by the activist group 'Why War? Think About It' and partially funded by the Sociology and Spanish and Portuguese departments. As this issue was going to press, a complete list of the students who attended the rally was not available. But according the campus insiders, they enjoy singer-songwriters, going to the Collis center, and earnestness. Everyone should be satisfied that the activists finally got a chance to let their voices be heard. |
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