Author Archives: Alissa Stollwerk

Last month, the members of the Yale College Democrats voted overwhelmingly to endorse Rebecca Livengood for Ward 1 alderwoman. After interviewing each of the candidates for the office and hosting a public debate about the issues most important to our members, it became apparent that only one candidate has the vision and experience to represent »

Today at noon, George W. Bush will take the Presidential Oath of Office, officially beginning his second term in the White House. Republicans will gather in Washington to celebrate their presidential victory and to prepare for another four years in charge. Democrats, for their part, will applaud grudgingly but graciously and begin planning anew for »

This year, the construction crews of the world seem to have descended upon New Haven. Davenport, the area in front of the Fence Club, the new building on Trumbull Street, the big hole in front of the Kline Geology Lab and the seemingly never-ending construction at Yale University Art Gallery are some of the most »

At midnight tonight, the Federal Assault Weapons Ban will expire. The 10-year ban was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1994 after a series of violent shootings shocked the country. As gun manufacturers get ready to sell these weapons of mass murder on the streets, police chiefs across the »

It’s March, and as anyone who watches slightly too much television can easily tell you, it’s the season of melodrama. Cinderella teams will upset the favorites in March Madness, and television shows will pull out all the stops for higher ratings during March Sweeps. Yet this week, some of the most exciting television has not »

For the last few days, I have been debating whether I need to redecorate my room. The walls of my snug single are covered with Howard Dean paraphernalia — the poster, the bumper sticker, the campaign literature, the buttons, and even my intern badge from my adventures in New Hampshire. The room seems to exude »

On Jan. 20, Yalies of all political persuasions were glued to their television sets, either heckling or cheering — well, mainly heckling — Bush as he delivered his State of the Union address. Two weeks later, a similar speech was given just a coin’s toss from main campus. But this time, no one seemed to »

For the last two weeks of winter break, I left my television and my warm bed and headed to New Hampshire. I worked 14-hour days without pay, stayed in a stranger’s home, and walked door to door in the cold. And I loved every minute of it. On Dec. 26, I made the journey up »

Yale is embroiled in yet another set of legal battles as lawsuits on behalf of poor patients at Yale-New Haven Hospital are pending in courts. The lawsuits, brought by state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and a group of Yale Law School students, respectively, are meant to highlight the abusive debt collection process employed by Yale-New »

What happened to the Democratic South? For much of American history, it was the “Solid South” that put Democrats into national office, while the Republican Party ruled the Northern states. These political battle lines were drawn during the Civil War, but they lasted well into the latter half of the 20th century. But recently, and »

In 1954, the Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. Central High School in Little Rock, Ark. was forcibly integrated three years later, and by the 1960s, the era popularly known as the Civil Rights movement was in full steam. The famous Brown decision did »

An official in the Bush administration allegedly leaked the name of an undercover CIA agent, endangering her life and effectively ruining her career. In his State of the Union address, President Bush justified starting the war in Iraq with the now-controversial claim that Iraq had bought uranium, an ingredient it needed to create its still-conspicuously »