Ronald G. Shaiko, associate director of the Rockefeller Center, gave a lecture entitled "Electing the President in 2008: A Constitutional Perspective" on Monday, in honor of Constitution Day. Shaiko spent the majority of the lecture explaining the origin of the electoral college, what it is, the role it plays in electing the president of the United States and the amendments made to it over the years. He went on to discuss the pros and cons of the system and possible reforms to it, including the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. The compact would be a proposed agreement between U.S. states on how they allocate their electoral votes -- which would essentially mean a conversion to a national popular vote system. Shaiko will hold a debate focus group with Dartmouth students during, before and after the Democratic debate on campus Wednesday.
Questioning the veracity of the Holocaust and confidently stating that there are no homosexuals in Iran, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, made his presence known on Columbia University's campus on Monday. Lee C. Bollinger, the president of Columbia who invited the controversial figure to the campus, remains under fire for his bold decision. Bollinger explained that Columbia's decision to bring Ahmadinejad to the campus showed its strong belief in free speech. Nevertheless, he spent almost his entire introduction berating the Iranian president. "Mr. President, you exhibit all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator," he said. "You are either brazenly provocative or astonishingly uneducated." Ahmadinejad spoke before the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday.
An arrest has been made following the Sept. 21 shooting of two students at Delaware State University. Loyer Braden is charged with attempted murder, assault and reckless endangerment, and gun violations, The New York Times reported. The shooting allegedly stems from an argument among students in the university's cafeteria that was continued later in the street. Both victims are still hospitalized, according to the university's Sept. 24 press release. Delaware State resumed its normal schedule on Monday. "I have spoken with the parents of both the injured students, and expressed the pain that we feel over the reality that this has taken place at the University," Allen Sessoms, the president of the university, said in a statement. "Their pain is our pain, we are standing beside them and support them in the endeavor to be the strength and support for their loved ones."
