Author Archives: Alexandra Schwartz

Election years make for the best Halloweens. I discovered this in 1996, when I was overcome by the irresistible urge to borrow a jacket and tie from my father and go trick-or-treating wearing an enormous rubber Bill Clinton mask. At the time I barely understood political affiliation. But I knew the ludicrous sight of the »

It is a truth universally acknowledged that the events of a particularly contentious campaign season leading up to a particularly important election warrant numerous comparisons to campaigns and elections past.For some people, 2008 has overtones of 1980, or 1960, or even 1932. But John McCain’s announcement of Sarah Palin as his running mate and her »

Considering the deadlock currently stalling the Democratic nomination process, it’s been something of a diversion to have sex play such a prominent role in politics over the last couple of weeks. Yes, I was shocked and furious to have the governor of my home state admit to being a long-term patron of an expensive prostitution »

It just keeps coming, doesn’t it? In the fall, racist and homophobic messages were scrawled on prominent campus buildings for every passerby to see. Last month, a fraternity flaunted a misogynistic message as part of its initiation ritual. And now, a swastika and an SS symbol have been artfully crafted in snow on two Old »

It’s been interesting, to say the least, to follow the fallout of last week’s “Yale sluts” incident. People have been infuriated, saddened, annoyed and indifferent that any of this should have happened in the first place, or that the Women’s Center chose to react so forcefully. Most members of this campus — not to mention »

A little while ago, I participated in an activity in which a group of Yalies were asked to imagine a modern university. Armed with a theoretical endowment equal to Yale’s, we first jotted down ideas and then discussed, argued and formed coalitions. There were certain standard criteria to consider: What kinds of classes would be »

“He broke laws, he violated the Constitution, he usurped arbitrary power, he trampled individual liberties,” President Bush said the other day, denouncing General Pervez Musharraf, who had just declared Pakistan to be in a state of emergency. Hold on a minute — I seem to have gotten my notes confused. Now, this is embarrassing. It »

“Being a spectator of calamities taking place in another country is a quintessential modern experience,” Susan Sontag wrote in her 2003 book, Regarding the Pain of Others, “the cumulative offering by more than a century and a half’s worth of those professional, specialized tourists known as journalists.” Kenji Nagai, who was killed a month ago »

Compare and contrast the following statement— “Mr. President, it is my pleasure to extend a warm welcome to you and Mrs. Liu on behalf of our entire community. We are honored that you have chosen to visit Yale. Your country has an ancient tradition of reverence for education, and your actions affirm this tradition.” —with »

I’ve never begun a column before by quoting old English poetry, and I may never do it again, so stay with me for a moment: “Before their eyes in sudden view appear/ The secrets of the hoary deep, a dark/ Illimitable ocean without bound,/ Without dimension, where length, breadth, and height,/ And time and place »

Two weeks ago, Don Imus achieved national notoriety by calling the women of the Rutgers basketball team “nappy-headed hos.” The comment sent the media into a frenzy, lost Imus his job and opened a much-needed national discussion on freedom of speech versus the responsibility that popular entertainers have to the public. Next week, Yale will »

In a televised statement over the weekend, radio personality Don Imus had this to say: “There’s a difference between pre-meditated murder, and the gun going off accidentally. I mean, someone still gets shot, but the charges are dramatically different.” The murderer in this case was Imus himself, who was drawing an analogy between shooting a »