Academic Freedom

-By Nancy Salvato

An article published in the Chronicle of Higher Education reflects the notion that academic freedom means being allowed to advocate a personal point of view in the classroom.

Outspoken scholars fared much better than one would have expected in the aftermath of September 11, 2001. Richard Berthold, at the University of New Mexico, incurred only a reprimand for telling his freshman history class that “anyone who bombs the Pentagon gets an A in my book.” At Columbia University, Nicholas DeGenova got essentially a pass when he called for “a million Mogadishus.” Arthur Butz remained a professor in good standing at Northwestern University after he lauded Iran’s president for Holocaust denial. The moderate and deliberative response to such incidents and others suggests that academic freedom is in excellent health.

Others would define the above examples of academic freedom as proselytizing in the classroom or using the classroom as a “Bully Pulpit.”

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Direct Election v. Electoral College

-By Nancy Salvato

The constitutional amendment process is a complicated and lengthy affair. This is because we cannot be certain what consequences might arise from a seemingly minor alteration of the Constitution. To be sure, exchanging the electoral-vote system for direct election would adversely impact the entire constitutional and political structure of the United States.

To begin, our Constitution is dedicated to securing everybody’s rights. This requires that we be concerned not only with size, but with the character of the majorities voting our president to office. There are many ways in which our Constitution is configured to prevent simple majorities.

  • The federal system prevents less populous States from being engulfed by more populous States.
  • A bicameral legislature divides responsibilities between House and Senate on grounds other than those of population.
  • Power is invested in a non-elective judiciary.
  • Each State has a minimum of three electoral votes in the Electoral College.

One way the Electoral College creates moderately characterized numerical majorities includes assuring that each state’s vote actually represents the state’s interests in the selection and election of Presidents. By requiring a majority of electoral votes to win the presidency, a political party must campaign in all or most of the States -expanding its base of support beyond a narrow geographical region.
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A More Perfect Union Rests on a Balance of Ideas

-By Nancy Salvato

“In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself.” – James Madison, Federalist #51

Classical Philosophy

By reading the Greek historians Herodotus (484BC-425BC), Thucydides (460BC-395BC), known as the father of scientific history and political realism, Polybius (203BC-120BC), who wrote about political balance, and Plutarch (46AD-120AD) who emphasized the importance of virtue, and philosophers Plato (428BC-348BC), known for his theory of forms and Aristotle (384BC-322BC), who created a system of philosophy, and the Roman philosophers Cicero (106BC-43BC), the famous orator and historians such as Livy (59 BC – AD 17), the framers became well acquainted with the greatest thinkers of Greek and Roman civilizations.
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The Confluence of Religion & Freedom

-By Nancy Salvato

“Textbooks today are trapped in an ideological straitjacket that, in contrast to the surrounding popular culture, restricts content and sterilizes social realities.” – The Mad, Mad World of Textbook Adoption

I’ve always enjoyed learning about history. When I look back on my history classes, it wasn’t because I was interested in reading the textbooks, it was the teacher who made history come alive, by inserting anecdotes that made it “real,” showing footage of actual events, or by connecting what happened in the past to the present. As a matter of fact, most of the textbooks I used put me to sleep. I loved to read and often wondered why we couldn’t just read books instead of textbooks to learn about people, places, and events.

During my senior year of high school, learning was a little more fun because we read news magazines and newspapers for Current Events class and because we read works of fiction and non fiction in Language Arts. In college, history classes as an upper classman were the most compelling because there were no textbooks, just books on a particular aspect of history. All things considered, it is somewhat surprising that I majored in history without reaching the conclusion of many of my peers who believed history to be completely boring. I have to credit the teachers who made it a subject worthwhile.

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Promoting Alternative Energy for the Right Reasons

-By Nancy Salvato

Nancy Pelosi and Newt Gingrich are featured together in a television commercial which focuses on how conservatives and liberals can come together to find solutions for problems caused by climate change. Mr. Gingrich’s explanation for joining this $300 million dollar advertising campaign is to force conservatives into debating liberals about the ways our country should best promote alternative energy sources. This in itself is a fine idea because I don’t know any person who wants our country to continue relying on oil for fuel. Most would agree that cleaner sources of energy are preferable.

While there should be robust debate about how best to pursue alternative energy, I believe this ad is misleading because it presents these two political adversaries as working together to find solutions to the problem of climate change in and of itself, as if there is a scientific consensus that climate change truly poses the problems outlined in Al Gore’s movie, An Inconvenient Truth. Speaking of Al Gore, he is the person who is funding this effort and hired the advertising agency known for their caveman and talking lizard/Geico ads to produce these commercials.

Certainly, Gore has become a master of hyperbole in order to draw attention to his cause. While becoming a great promoter, he has done a great disservice to true science. The global warming argument is based on two assumptions. The first is that it’s caused by man and that we can stop it. While we may contribute to global warming, it is difficult to conclude that our activities can substantially affect the changes in temperature. The second assumption is that global warming is inherently bad. We cannot ignore dramatic climate shifts that have occurred in the past and declare that all climate changes are due to human activity and bad.
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A Superhero Without Special Powers

-By Nancy Salvato

I missed the train today…again. The nitwit in front of our car let out her husband at the stop sign instead of making her way through the three-way stop and across the tracks. By the time they finished their goodbye, the brief window of opportunity to pass through the intersection had passed and the gates were down. This happens for a combination of reasons.

One reason this happens is because the train I ride is so long that the crossing gates are triggered well before it arrives. The second reason is that another train, heading in the opposite direction, always arrives 5 to 7 minutes before my train and triggers the gates. Traffic lines up, this train slowly backs up so the gates will be triggered to go up, they go up for about a minute to a minute and a half, and go back down when my train appears in the distance. Damn! Pedestrians pay a $250.00 fine for crossing the tracks when the gates are down. Is it any wonder, though, why so man try and make their way to the other side? I see my friends waving at me through the doors of the 3rd vestibule as the train moves past me.

I eventually make my way across the tracks and walk the platform for 20 minutes thinking about how much I have to do when I arrive to the office. I can’t even buy next months ticket; I have no checks with me. The train makes its way into the station. I climb the steps into the vestibule and there is already a woman standing in there, talking on her cell phone…loudly. The cars are full, this being the last stop. However, as a courtesy to other passengers, I hadn’t planned on taking a seat since I’m getting over a cold. I put down my briefcase and unzip my jacket, preparing for the ride into the city. Two other people join me in the vestibule. There is no way we’ll be having any conversation because this woman has no intention of ending her conversation and she is really LOUD.
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Play President For Me

-By Nancy Morgan

Form, not substance, will determine the Democrat nominee

The candidate enters the room. Applause, excited whispers. Candidate strides to the podium, scanning the crowd, making sure the cameras are on. Halfway to the podium the candidate pauses. Eyebrows go up, mouth opens, surprise registers and up comes the arm, pointing to someone in the audience. A dozen people start swivelling their heads to catch a glimpse of the anointed. Finding no-one, a full half will be amazed that the candidate actually remembered them from that meet and greet 5 years ago. Wow!

At the podium, candidate remembers to smile, sometimes pointing again and mouthing an imaginary conversation with another good friend they’re surprised, surprised to find in another area of the audience. Finally, hands up, palms out, a look of humility, before registering whatever emotions have been scripted for that particular venue. Now, down to business.

The script may vary but there are certain established rules that Democrat candidates must follow if they are to have a chance at the brass ring. Image is first and foremost. Apparel, accessories, makeup and hairdo determine that important first connection.
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While The Cat’s Away, The Terrorists Will Play

-By Nancy Salvato

Now that the present administration’s 150 billion dollar economic stimulus package has caused a substantial portion of the population worry about the economy taking a nosedive and an ensuing recession, there is less incentive to discuss the more immediate threat of securing our borders from those who mean to cause our country substantial harm. While growing the economy is extremely important to maintaining the many comforts to which we’ve become accustomed, an incredibly large amount of damage can come to our economic well being from one well planned terrorist attack aimed at harming our infrastructure.

I recently read a human interest story about a cat that climbed into a piece of luggage. This animal was not discovered while going through security. Worse still, this particular piece of luggage was picked up at the terminal by a person who mistakenly thought it was his own. Upon returning to his house, he opened the suitcase and out popped the cat. Discovering his mistake, he called the owner and returned both the cat and suitcase. While this is a wonderful story about the cat’s survival and the integrity of the person who made good, there was no mention of the bigger implications of an airport security system that clearly failed. Certainly, I am questioning the effectiveness of any and all the security measures we’ve willingly endured since 9/11.
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A Primary Caucus Primer

-By Nancy Salvato

While a great number of people do not see the value in the Electoral College (And “W” Takes the Series), it is possible an even greater number of people don’t fully comprehend how each political party selects their candidate for president. During the Iowa Caucus, after I heard several people draw a blank when asked to explain how a Caucus works, I decided it might be time to put together a primer on the nominating process.

The Republican and Democratic political parties < href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_primary>“officially nominate their candidate for President at their respective national conventions, usually held the summer before the election.” In order to win the nomination, a Democrat must win 2,025 delegates out of 4,049 possible and a Republican must win 1,191 delegates out of 2,381 possible. Leading up to the national conventions, there are a series of presidential caucuses and primary elections which take place across the nation. Traditionally, this begins with the Iowa caucus, held in early January of the presidential election year, and is quickly followed by the New Hampshire primary.

“Most [Emphasis mine] of the delegates in each party are awarded based upon election results in any given state.”

“Depending on state law and state party rules, when voters cast ballots for a candidate in a presidential caucus or primary, they may be actually voting to award delegates bound to vote for a candidate at the state or national convention or may simply be expressing an opinion that the state party is not bound to follow in selecting delegates to the national convention.” [Emphasis mine]
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Prime Time Primaries

-By Nancy Salvato

I’m enjoying the prime time primaries, carefully considering what each politician brings to the table as they all campaign to participate in what policy wonks might consider the political equivalent of the National League and American League playoffs in baseball.

It’s exciting and compelling observing the players moves; assessing “statistics” comprised of voting records and accomplishments; and listening to analysts determine the catalyst behind voter reactions, compare and contrast the candidates’ styles, analyze the spin, and comment on occasional heartfelt passion, as each contender competes to “go to the show,” our nation’s 2008 presidential election.

After the Democrats choose their candidate and the Republicans choose their candidate, each will compete to win the electoral votes in the 50 states. They do not win based on the popular vote; they win based on which states electoral votes they’ve earned. This is not unlike the World Series in baseball. The team that takes the series becomes the champion based on the best of seven games played, not on the number of runs cumulatively earned during the series.

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Congress Shall Make No Law Respecting an Establishment of an Education System

-By Nancy Salvato

As an education reformer, I read about education every day. I read about ways to hold institutions of higher learning accountable for their education curriculum, I read about how important it is to have highly qualified teachers, and I read how students not receiving an equitable education should be afforded the right to attend private schools or charter schools with the tax dollars set aside for public education. While all of these are noble ideas, none of them address the real problem with education.

The real problem is that nowhere is it written in the Constitution or the Bill of Rights that there is freedom of education. Unlike religion, which received protection from the faction of the majority by the Bill of Rights which states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” nowhere is education specifically addressed in the Constitution or the Bill of Rights. Yet, today, we have in place a Department of Education funded by the taxpayers’ money and a public education system funded by the taxpayers’ money.

I am convinced that James Madison, who fought tooth and nail against using public money for religion, would have felt the same way about education. How can I be so certain about this? No one, especially James Madison, wanted the state to support a single system of religious beliefs. Furthermore, against majority opinion, James Madison fought against a general assessment tax which would have given “individual citizen[s] the option of designating his taxes to any one of a number of denominations.”
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What Does the Progressive Left Stand For?

-By Nancy Salvato

I’ve come to the conclusion that the United States is having a midlife crisis, an identity crisis. And this is a huge problem because if we don’t know who we are, what we stand for, or how we arrived here, how can we know how to navigate the 21st century while maintaining the freedom and standard of living we’ve come to take for granted?

US detractors (and there are many living within the boundaries of this country), it would seem, do not possess a very thorough understanding of our founding documents, the thinking from which they’re derived, or the importance of these ideas in maintaining the system of government which has served us so well over the past 200+ years. Much of the thinking on the Progressive Left echoes Socialist and Communist ideology, which historical records have shown to be enemies of freedom and creativity, two rights which I imagine if the Progressive Left were to be queried, they would admit are extremely important to them. The breakdown is that these people don’t have the surplus of information necessary to understand the repercussions of what they are seeking. How does the Progressive Left stack up?

China
In the politically repressive society of China, where there is no freedom of religion, the CPC endorses Confucianism, which “emphasizes obedience to authority, submission of the individual to government, the family, and elders, and unquestioning acceptance of tradition…Lu Xun attacked Confucianism as an oppressive and hypocritical morality thinly concealing and encouraging exploitation, injustice, inequality, passivity, and conformity.”
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Beware of Greeks… or Chinese Bearing Gifts

-By Nancy Salvato

China makes the little voice inside my head nervous. China has surpassed India in having the largest population in the world with no other country coming remotely close to a billion in number. [1] As a matter of fact, the United States claims less than the number of China’s population. If forced into a war with China, we would be battling the largest military in the world. [2] It’s possible they are not as well trained as our forces and do not have as sophisticated weaponry, however there is no disputing they are currently “engaged in the most significant military buildup in the world.” [3] They’ve produced submarines and missiles that are serious threats to the United States. [4] Indeed, they are diplomatic and economic allies of Iran, a country which certainly cannot be trusted with nuclear weapons of mass destruction, and whose leader would like to decimate Israel and has made no secret of his animosity toward western ideas…wanting to unite the world under Islam. [5]

Of lesser, but still of considerable concern is China’s blatant disregard for how their industrial development is polluting the atmosphere. Although this has garnered the attention of the green movement, there is tacit acknowledgement that unless China chooses to address the issue, no one will mess with China. Because the media is preoccupied with an anti-Bush agenda for the past two terms our president has held office, sufficient attention has not been given to the true threat of Islamofascism, nor to how the one world movement (driven by the fictitious idea that by undermining the US economy global warming could be controlled) would actually impact the freedoms we take for granted.

Under the radar, China has catapulted into a position of power because of what Rowan Callick coins, “The China Model.” [6] Deng Xiaoping opened China’s economy “to foreign and domestic investment, allowing labor flexibility, keeping the tax and regulatory burden low, and creating a first-class infrastructure through a combination of private sector and state spending.” [7] The paradigm shift is that while he implemented these changes, he maintained the ruling party’s “firm grip on government, the courts, the army, the internal security apparatus, and the free flow of information. A shorthand way to describe the model is: economic freedom plus political repression.” [8] China continues to jail those who advocate democracy or religious tolerance. [9] Clearly, capitalism + a politically free society are no longer the only conduit to a free market economy.
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