Caleb Weingarten

If you happened to walk by campus Tuesday, you may have noticed the exuberant and bigoted display by Christian folks who, for presumably some “divinely inspired” reason, were compelled to gather on our university campus solely to spew hate and disseminate fear. A question I received after this theater display was one regarding the role of free speech in and is what led me to write this article and explain my reasoning of why I firmly believe that free speech is necessary in any healthy and functioning society.

I guess I write for a multitude of reasons, many of which are unconscious and indescribable to me, or, in other words, internal motivations that arise in an unknown location inside of my mind. I know that much. You often hear writers say they can’t present a bullet-pointed description of what compels them to write, that writing comes about when you feel like it is something you must do against all else. My experience speaks to me in this same tone. It tells me not to question the writer’s impulse, but only to investigate it.

You may have seen an article about a student-made election model and prediction in the Daily a couple of weeks ago: this model was created by us, the students in POL S 4600, in an attempt to predict who will win the U.S. presidential election Tuesday. We have released an updated prediction based on election...

Kamala Harris speaks at a town hall Oct. 6, 2019, at Iowa State.

A scathing review of last Tuesday’s presidential election was articulated by none other than the twice-tried, twice-denied presidential candidate from northern Vermont. Sen. Bernie Sanders, who, unsurprisingly, extended his tenured position in the U.S. Senate, took to the Boston Globe and tattered the already devastated, heartbroken and largely ineffective liberal and progressive left Sanders writes:...

A review of Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt’s groundbreaking book.

One can only hope that by the time President Joe Biden departs office, there still exists an office to depart. This is not hyperbole or fear mongering. Biden’s decision to authorize the use of ATACMS missiles against Russia by Ukraine is startling and highly irresponsible. It also marks the latest escalation between NATO and Russia.

Syria is often forgotten in the modern discussions of international politics. Years ago, the Syrian civil war bombarded global news headlines and attracted the eyes of the world to the destructive and horrifying images of dead civilians, women and children terrorized and ancient cities and villages reduced to ruin. Then it faded away from mainstream media, cast aside for apparently more crucial matters that deserved our attention. This was a mistake. Syria and their people need international support and awareness. The civil war never ended, and Syrians are facing unimaginable circumstances.

As the fall semester comes to a sudden end, I thought it would be a good opportunity to hear from our community on how the opinion section is performing and listen to any feedback all of you might have for this section.

Vladimir Nabokov offers in his “Lectures on Literature” a scrupulous definition of what it feels like to read good works of literature. The experience is at once both mental and physical. “Although we read with our minds,” Nabokov stated, “the seat of artistic delight is between the shoulder blades.”