Newsflash: Over our winter break, the Guardian newspaper of the United Kingdom reported that Chinese workers in Israel were forced to sign a contract that stipulated they would not have sex with Israelis. The workers are also banned from any religious or political activity while they work in Israel. There are over 250,000 foreign workers in Israel, most of whom began replacing Palestinian workers in the 1990s, as the Israelis became increasingly fearful of relying upon them as a source of cheap labor. The apartheid-like no-sex policy for the thousands of Chinese workers forced to sign a contract should throw up red flags around the world for those who choose to do business with Israel. Meanwhile, upon our return from winter break on Jan. 7, Dukies were greeted with a heavy dose of intellectual analysis on the editorial page of The Chronicle in a piece about little black books and bras.
Newsflash: In Iraq this month, the American body count surpassed 500. The heaviest loss was on Jan. 8--our second day back in learning mode--when nine American soldiers were killed when their helicopter went down near the town of Fallujah. Witnesses said the chopper was hit by a surface to air missile before crashing. Either these resistance fighters are really stupid, and believe Saddam Hussein is going to escape from the hands of thousands of American guards, or they actually have legitimate grievances with the American occupation of their country that have nothing to do with a supposed loyalty to the ousted Hussein. I guess us Dukies wouldn't know too much about that, though.
In the most popular source of opinion on campus, The Chronicle followed up the passing of the 500 mark in Iraq with its own attack of useless information on how to snatch up the right Duke guy for you. I'm not quite sure what makes these writers think they actually have enough substantial information to publish entire pieces on how to find out if the guy they have a crush on has bitchy female friends or any other annoying traits before they get into his pajamas at the next ingeniously themed off-campus frat party.
Newsflash: As if passing the 500 mark wasn't enough, those of us who find extra time to read BBC News online after devouring the pages of The Chronicle heard that the American head of the team searching for all those alleged weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, David Kay, had resigned. Mr. Kay said that he did not believe Iraq had engaged in a mass production of chemical or biological weapons since 1991. With regards to the alleged massive stockpiles of WMDs cited by the Bush administration as justification for attacking Iraq, Kay said, "I don't think they existed." The new head of the weapons search, Charles Duelfer, said in early January that the chances of finding chemical or biological weapons in Iraq are now "close to nil." But hey, we columnists here at The Chronicle won't let that bit of information keep us from addressing the more pressing issues of the day, such as our relationships, and yet another round of Duke's very own version of a well-known HBO special. After all, regarding the whole Iraq thing, Bush has only wasted around $97 billion so far searching for those WMDs, and if that's nowhere near what our daddies earns in a month, then why should we care?!
Newsflash: Mumbai, India was the site of this year's World Social Forum, where NGOs and social justice workers from all corners of the world converge to discuss strategies for combating the oppressive policies of Western governments, their Southern Hemisphere colluders, and the multinational organizations such as the IMF and the WTO that seek nothing but profit from Third World peoples.
Almost 100,000 people representing 2,660 organizations from 132 countries attended this year's gathering in Mumbai from Jan. 16 to Jan. 21. Speakers at this year's Forum included such notables as 2003 Nobel Peace Prize recipient Shirin Ebadi, American economist and Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz, renowned author and Booker Prize winner Arundhati Roy and former American Attorney General Ramsey Clark. Never heard of the World Social Forum? No worries. There are way more people at Duke concerned with dating patterns and hook-ups.
Newsflash: Renowned international journalist Naomi Klein, author of the bestselling book No Logo, will be speaking at Duke University on Wednesday, Jan. 28, at 8 p.m. in the Reynolds Theater of the Bryan Center. Her speech title will be "Bomb Before you Buy: The Economics of War," and will address the current conflict in Iraq and the question of why, if not for the ever-more mysteriously illusive WMDs, the richest country on the face of the earth would consider invading and occupying Iraq.
What would you like to see in The Chronicle in the days following the speech? More sex columns, or real debate about the ideas of Klein and other people like her around the world who engage with a range of issues on a daily basis? It is your paper, and it represents you, whether you like it or not. Is the intellectual capacity of the student body at the nation's fifth-ranked university really this shallow? I think not.
Yousuf Al-Bulushi is a Trinity senior. His column appears every other Tuesday.
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