Opinion

Poet and philosopher George Santayana once said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
Looking back at the election of 1912, a rare four-way contest, President William Howard Taft was renominated by the Republican Party with the support of its conservative wing.

After former President Theodore Roosevelt failed to receive the Republican nomination, he called his own convention and created the Progressive Party (nicknamed the “Bull Moose Party”).

When the student government association proposed a study days resolution last spring, some students applauded the effort to alleviate the stress of finals week.

University administrators granted SGA’s resolution by declaring no mandatory academic events would be held on the Friday and Monday immediately preceding final exams.

However, as the implementation of the policy has become  clear in what administrators called an experimental trial of the idea, the study days formula appears inherently flawed.

Well, you made it. For a lot of you, this was the successful completion of your first semester away at college.

Along the way, I’m sure that you discovered new ways books can torture and doubtlessly discovered some professor who seemed to conspire to make your life miserable, but none of that matters. In a few days, you’ll be whisked away to your real homes and the family you gleefully left to come to college. Wonderful, right?

Some college students may be too young to remember when it was considered nerdy to love Batman and discuss him daily.

With the recent surge in comic-book films during the past decade, it seems almost like a faint memory that once they were confined to printed pages.

It’s almost five in the morning and I have contorted my body into an unnatural position so that I can be comfortable on this small University-issued dorm bed, as I wait to go to work in 45 minutes.

If you are wondering if I slept last night, don’t bother, because I didn’t.

The sad part is what kept me up: a pepperoni hot pocket. It is all that I have wanted for the past five hours.

With the Republican primary debates heating up and the presidential election of 2012 nearing, it is easy to see how Gov. Rick Perry is slipping in the polls.

According to a survey conducted by the Associated Press on Oct.13, Perry has slipped to third place, falling behind businessman Herman Cain.

His unfavorable ratings have soared to 44 percent, almost double what they were when he first joined the presidential race.

Congress finally repealed Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, a bill restricting the rights of homosexual soldiers, 18 years after then-President Bill Clinton signed it into law.

At the time of its implementation, the bill was believed to be a movement towards equality. However, strict enforcement often seemed like a witch-hunt for homosexuals in the military.

Since the policy was introduced, there have been thousands of discharges on the assumption of soldiers’ sexual orientation.

By America’s standards, I have horrible taste in television.

The nation’s top five favorite TV shows are “Dancing with the Stars,” “Modern family,” “X Factor,” “Grey’s Anatomy” and “New Girl,” according to this week’s TV Guide’s Most Popular TV Shows.

It wasn’t until the 30s on TV Guide’s list that my favorite show popped up. While I understand the addictiveness of “X Factor” (despite being almost exactly the same as “American Idol”), I think there are a few shows on TV right now that America is neglecting.

The streets of Lower Manhattan have been filled with brave Americans voicing their dissatisfaction with corporations for the past three weeks.

The catchphrase they have adopted is quite simple: “We are the 99 percent. We are occupying Wall Street. We will not be moved.”

These simply formed, point-blank statements expressing an unmovable vigor captured my heart as I sifted through the numerous photos, videos, and brief, heart-felt paragraphs adorning occupywallst.org, the official website for the Occupy Wall Street protest.