Daniel Burnham

"Hospitality which includes the whole human race is not desirable."
-The Devil in the White City

A lazy haze saturates the time between Christmas and New Year's Eve. An abundance of sleep does little to wipe away the year's accumulated weariness, as Christmas leftovers and festive treats sustain you against a tide of black coffee and hot tea. The snow deserts outside and the decrescendo of the collective social calender provide a perfect escape for the readers among us to take shelter in a thick and challenging book that would be too cumbersome a read during the grind of everyday life. But what to read? My initial response to book freedom was to finish a book I had put on standby at the start of the Fall semester. The Devil in the White City proved to be a delightful and informative walk into the climate of late 19th Century America. Erik Larson cleverly intersects the challenges posed to the men behind the magnificence of the Chicago's World Fair with the madness of the country's first serial killer. Larson builds a wonderful infrastructure of understanding that will propel readers to further investigate aspects of the time that reflect their own personal interests. In my case, I was intrigued by the fair's architectural superstars and the ramifications of their decisions on the American mindset. In the book, architectural egos such as Daniel Burnham, Frederick Law Olmsted and Louis Sullivan come to life as their ideas come into conflict with one another. I could not help but wonder what came of the situation in the decades that followed. This book would be well received by readers of nonfiction and fiction alike. The completion of this book still demands an answer to the earlier question presented to the readers among us in the wake of the December holidays: But what, dear readers, to read?

Election Eve!

Election Day Festivities!

    November 4, 2008 is here. As we broach the eve of a new presidency, it is easy to forget the long winding road that brought us to this moment. I know some of the ladies out there were very sad over Romney's decision to end his run for the White House. (He did win Michigan.) However, the resulting nepotism that would have been shown to his mini army of sons would have created a scandal equal to the whole Halliburton fiasco; even Carl Rove would not have been able to talk Mitt out of that! And let us not forget about the whole Huckabee debacle- what was that all about? Yikes! I won't harp too much on the Republicans for the Democrats have not fared much better. Don't even get me started on the freefall of John Edwards. What about Hillary Clinton knocking back shots at a bar? Or the shocking Kennedy endorsement? Better yet, let us all take a moment to thank the intellectual conservatives who have bravely endorsed Obama. (The Obamicans.) Ok enough political recapping for now…let's have some fun!

 

Swing States

 

Directions: For each state, circle the candidate that you think will come out on top.

At the end of the night, add up the electoral votes you have won if your predication was right!

 

State	Red?	Blue?	Electoral Votes
North Dakota   Montana   Indiana   Missouri   Virginia   North Carolina   Ohio   Florida	McCain   McCain   McCain   McCain   McCain   McCain   McCain   McCain	Obama   Obama   Obama   Obama   Obama   Obama   Obama   Obama	3   3   11   11   13   15   20   27

 

Which swing state will have the smallest margin of victory by a candidate as expressed by percentage points? (10 points)
        
Which swing state will have the largest margin of victory by a candidate as expressed by percentage points? (10 points)

 
Will someone in the immediate family of the presidential winner cry? (This includes the new president!)
(5 points for correct answer)

 

 
Will you cry?
(5 points for correct answer)

 

 
Supposedly 122,295,345 people voted in 2004. If you were one of them, give yourself 5 points. (If you were too young to vote but wish you could have played a participatory role, you too can give yourself 5 points.)
(Check out the 2004 voter results yourself: http://www.fec.gov/pubrec/fe2004/federalelections2004.pdf)

 

 
When looking at the results of the popular vote, what do you think the margin of victory will be as expressed by percentage points?

 

 
    If you are within:
        1%: Give yourself 15 points.
        2%: Give yourself 10 points.
        3%: Give yourself 5 points.
        Everything else: Nada.
    

According to a US Census Bureau Report, in 2004 the voter turnout rate was higher for women (65%) than for men (62%). Do you think this will be true again? (5 points for correct answer)

 

 

If you think Kucinich would have made a better president than both current candidates, give yourself 1 point.

Anne Shirley

"As for the things I want, they're so numerous that it would take a great deal of time to name them all, so I will only mention the two most important.
Please let me stay at Green Gables;
and please let me be good-looking when I grow up."
-Anne of Green Gables

I was told once that I was like a character from an epic novel. I loved this comment, for it came from a ridiculously intelligent and successful man, albeit thirty years my junior. Nonetheless, the comment afforded me a sense of grandeur and pride in the direction my life has taken. Rather than feeling different I felt important.

When you unite this comment with the strong connections I feel for great characters of the past, both real and fictional alike, my life starts to take on a sense of importance and value that might not be felt in the day to day reality of making sense of it all. These characters that populate my internal world will be given the pomp and circumstance they deserve here. Thank you ladies.