If they get headlines about New York City and violent demonstrations against Bush and pictures of radical hippies and yippies, he wins and the scheduling of New York City looks like counterintuitive brilliance… George Bush would much rather run against a mob of demonstrators than John Kerry the Vietnam veteran. 
Jeremy Mayer, a public policy professor on the GOP convention protests
I was searching the web site of a Lexington, Ky. high school for a friend’s email address and stumbled onto an enlightening commentary about Communism by intrepid student journalist Travis Dula. The last two sentences are priceless. From the latest online issue of The Lamplighter…
CommunismCommunism. Just say that word to yourself. The words that come to mind are mostly likely somewhere along the lines of being very negative. Now ask yourself one more question: Just how was communism so bad? If you can?t seem to come up with any or even if you have, keep on reading and maybe I can change your mind about this amazing concept.
First of all is the formal definition of the word:
Communism
A system of government in which the state plans and controls the economy and a single, often authoritarian party holds power, claiming to make progress toward a higher social order in which all goods are equally shared by the people.
The meaning of this type of government is to basically have all goods and services divided equally among the people. Also, the government controls how the economy is going and plans on the future of the country. This government is made up of a single authoritative political party, having no president or king.
The ideal form of this was in the Soviet Union back during the times of World Wars I and II. The people of the Soviet Union were happy because there were no divisions of classes such as peasants and the nobles. Everyone would get the same share without any disputes. In this way, the Soviet Union was able to focus more on what was going on outside of their country instead of having to worry about any kind of revolution.
Communism also helps advance the country technologically. Under Stalinized communism in Russia, the country was able to go from being ten years inferior to everyone else to being a big competitor with such countries that are extremely advanced in technology.
“I believe capitalism is an ok system, but eventually it will collapse in on itself,” says sophomore Corey McClure.
It was in this way that made the Soviet Union such a powerful country to reckon with. With peace in the country, they could worry about eliminating the threats of any kind to their country.
“I embrace communism wholeheartedly as if it were my brother,” sophomore Venkat Ramakrishnan.
Now that you fully understand the concept of communism, you may have changed your mind. If that is not the case, then now you can make educated arguments since you have a better understanding of this great style of government.
It’s almost September. In many parts of the country you can comfortably make a statement like “Fall is just around the corner.” Not in Austin. It’s something that I have not yet come to grip with. Fall is a long way off. It’s probably my biggest gripe about living in Central Texas. In fact, I think I moved here the first week of a September. It was about ten years ago–back in 1999. Carefree, heady time. I was behind the wheel of the Red Rascal before the odometer pegged 200,000 miles. And while the Rascal could boast of an assortment of dents, dings, torn seats, ripped ceiling vinyl, and a missing dash console, air conditioning wasn’t happening. I remember my dad and I stuck in Dallas work traffic in some hellish, cavernous freeway tunnel. It was so miserable I swore I would never return to the city. That began my education about how seasons work around here. Nevertheless, my brain has been programmed since birth that it’s almost time to break out the Autumn sweater and I think this has effected my current playlist:
1. Now It’s Overhead: A Skeleton on Display
2. The Innocence Mission: Joan
3. Cocteau Twins: The Spangle Maker
4. The Smiths
5. Blonde Redhead: Anticipation
6. Death Cab For Cutie: Amputations
7. Peter Murphy: Cuts You Up
8. The Verve: Lucky Man
9. Pinback: Crutch
10. Superchunk: Her Royal Fisticuffs
Chicago. New York City. San Francisco. Columbus, Indiana?
When it comes to modern architecture, tiny Columbus (population 40,000) joins the ranks of major American cities, according to the American Institute of Architects. The city, located about halfway between Louisville and Indianapolis boasts over 60 buildings designed by some of the most renowned architects of the 20th Century, such as Eero Saarinen and Pritzker Prize (the Nobel of architecture) winners, Richard Meier and I.M. Pei. Meier is responsible for the design of the High Museum in Atlanta and the Getty Center in Los Angeles. Chinese born American Pei designed the East Building of the National Gallery in Washington D.C. and the pyramid entrance to the Louvre. Columbus contains six National Landmarks of modern architecture and approximately 50,000 people visit the city each year just to see its architectural gems.
This Midwestern town did not achieve international acclaim by accident. It is different by design. The transformation began in the early 1940’s under the guidance of a rare visionary, J. Irwin Miller, who died this past Monday at 95-years-old.
Miller’s interest in architecture began in the 1930’s while he was a student at Yale. He was swept up in the optimistic fervor of Modernism and carried this passion back home to Columbus. “Columbus, Ind., and J. Irwin Miller are almost holy words in architectural circles,” wrote a New York Times architecture critic in 1976. “There is no other place in which a single philanthropist has placed so much faith in architecture as a means to civic improvement.” Miller and his company, Cummins Engine, were instrumental in bringing these world famous architects to Columbus where they produced school buildings, churches, plazas, and important civic buildings. I love the Second Street Bridge, created to announce to visitors that Columbus is a “special place,” although the urbanist in me wonders why they left out the sidewalks.
To be sure, Miller was born into a family that had money. But after receiving his Master’s from Oxford, he is given credit for building Cummins into a Fortune 500 company. The company now employs more than 24,000 people and earns $6 billion in annual sales. The earlier success of the company afforded an opportunity to establish a foundation to subsidize the kind of projects Miller thought would be benefit the town. For example, frustrated by the generic schools produced in the 1950’s and 1960’s Miller agreed to pay the architectural fees for a new school, if he could select the designer. Chicago’s Harry Weese got the nod.
Miller wasn’t just interested in architecture, however. He was a progressive social reform advocate and helped launch the 1963 civil rights march on Washington. He advised both John F. Kennedy and Nelson Mandela. A few years ago he publicly supported (a 90 year-old man remember) Cummin’s stance on extending domestic partner benefits to its gay and lesbian employees. It is interesting that Miller’s unwavering faith in Modernism was easily reconciled with a faith in God–arguably two opposing worldviews. He was actively involved with the Disciples of Christ flavor of Christianity and was president of the National Council of Churches from 1960 to 1963. Cummins even had a faith-based corporate metric used in the 1970’s: The Irwin Miller Transparency Test. It’s pretty simple. “If an individual is willing to explain to the local minister what he or she was doing, then it passed the transparency test and could ’stand the light of day.’” It’s no surprise that churches are some of the highlights of Columbus’ architectural showcase.
I want to think that there was a time when people trusted and respected leaders even if they disagreed with some of his or her views on religion, the role of government in public life, progressive reforms, domestic and foreign policy, and so on. They recognized integrity and character and were willing to give the leader some breathing room on some issues. I feel like we’re exiting an era where leaders could be complicated human beings and not sign-off on a predetermined list of beliefs that happen to be in vogue for their party. Can you imagine George W. Bush addressing a large evangelical rally and saying, “While scientific progress must not come at any price, we’re not doing our kids favors by putting warning labels about evolution in high school textbooks. Just like global warming, evolution is the real deal. Let’s accept the facts and move on.” Or what about Kerry and his strange stance on abortion. At a Catholic mass in Iowa, he told reporters that life begins at conception. Really? If it does than how can abortion not be murder? If life begins at conception, then how can you possiblity not be unequivocally against abortion? Of course, like the evangelicals, large segments of Kerry’s base can’t accept this departure from orthodoxy. All or nothing.
J. Irwin Miller, we hardly knew ye.
Over 60,000 people are expected downtown tomorrow to experience the gangster of love, the space cowboy, Maurice–that’s right, Steve Miller (and his band). OK, some might also be interested in witnessing the homecoming of an American hero, Lance Armstrong. It should be an incredible night, with balmy weather and a parade starting at Congress Ave. bridge. Rumor has it that the president will also be in attendance. At least we know Austin is guaranteed a performance by one Joker. Huzzah!
More Lance news. Jo’s Coffee keeps the outdoor movie action going with “The Tour Baby! Behind the Scenes at the Tour De France.” Basically four years ago Scott Coady quit his job and left for a month long journey to follow the entire tour. Along the away he captured some amazing footage. Now he is attempting to raise $100,000 for the Lance Armstrong Foundation with the sale of his DVD. If you can’t make it to Jo’s next Wednesday (movie starts at 8:30) buy a copy here. Fan reviews…
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