Column: News in Brief

In honor of having too much going on in the macrocosm of the world, the mediumcosm of Duke, and the microcosm of my life, "The F Word" presents Week 14 Shorts. Skim until a topic catches your eye, and have a lovely break.

  1. First, let's go for the gusto. The Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled last week that a ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional, and that the state has six months to do something about it. However you feel about gay marriage, this is pretty huge, raising questions from the definition of marriage to its very value. What makes a marriage different from a civil union, or a wedding so separate from a commitment ceremony? It goes beyond linguistics--or maybe it's the language that defines them: "husband" or "wife" has a bit more gravitas than "partner." But is this inherent, or an effect of social conditioning? Tricky, tricky. I'm skirting the Big Issues with gay marriage--what is "natural;" what is "right;" what is "sacred." I believe that if a society is to value its citizens, and is to value an institution such as marriage, which implies a value in love and fidelity, that that institution should be available to all.

  Some believe that expanding the definition beyond a union between a male and a female (a definition that some 36 states explicitly hold) will weaken marriate as an entity, striking at its very core. But half our country's marriages end in divorce already--maybe we should look for the destructive forces already at play before blaming same-sex couples. Maybe a new population of married couples, keenly aware of the union's significance and having worked to attain it, would take the idea of marriage as an embodiment of commitment and affection a bit more seriously.

  2. Robertson Scholars were hot properties this weekend, as UNC IDs got you in to see the Duke football team bring back the Victory Bell, gratis. Yes, it's cool to see the team win. Beating UNC = Big Deal. But let us put the pigskin aside for a moment and devote a few belated inner cheers for the field hockey team, showing strong at the NCAA Final Four this past weekend. Second in the country is not at all bad! I write about this relatively obscure sport for its inspiration factor: girls with guns like Wonder Woman going from underdogs to potential champions with only talent and force of will to recommend them. It's like "The Mighty Ducks" on land. That was a bad comparison. You go, girls.

  3. Some political implications of gay marriage (I like to keep them separate from the moral ones, although I do not share this preference with many politicians--hence the separate number) to ponder. The Massachusetts ruling could result in a leap for gay rights (sorry if the term "rights" makes you cringe, but homosexual people are people too), or it could spark severe backlash--note how the Democratic presidential candidates took pains to mention their opposition to gay marriage. Like Bush, they stop short of supporting a constitutional ban--lesson? To remain a viable presidential candidate, take a wishy-washy view on everything. Congress has kicked around their views on marriage using words like "sacrament," apparently ignorant of America's separation between church and state--would it be so difficult to find a secular simile?

  4. Jacko, it seems, has been served with molestation charges. This is my surprised face. His lawyer defended Winona Ryder on her shoplifting charges and currently also defends Scott Peterson, accused of murdering his pregnant wife, Laci. The case is built for a media circus, with one ring in the courtroom and the other in the Neverland Ranch, but it troubles me that Jackson's fame, in all its gruesome and fascinating weirdness, overshadows the charge. Who are these kids? How'd they get there? On a more general level: why?

  5. Dear Chanticleer: If your yearbook were a paper, its lack of content (note: there is such a thing as too much white space) and citation (read: nothing to read. Novel idea: captions!), would garner it an F. However, the full frontal of the Cameron streaker, properly labelled Waffle House Crew photo and Bill English/Faran picture have raised your grade to an F-plus. Disturbing question--what if English and Krentcil reproduced? What kind of shoes would s/he wear? Would s/he be bipartisan? This section co-authored by Tom and Jeanne. Also, bring back the wolf cartoon. It was no Blazing Sea Nuggets, but we're replacing it with Campus Beat?

  6. And finally, a bipartisan--hell, nonpartisan--issue that gripped Congress last week: spam. The House passed a bill, 392-5, imposing limits on mass e-mail technology.