Essays
25 to Life: Do violent video games incite riots?
Published on Jul 21st, 2005
0 comments "It's the worst in a series of violent and gruesome games that lower the common denominator of decency," thundered Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) the other day. Schumer is apoplectic over the new...
Killer instincts: Why suicide bombers do it
Published on Jul 14th, 2005
0 comments Four years ago, the late Susan Sontag was excoriated for arguing, in a brief New Yorker piece, that the attacks that brought down the World Trade Center were inspired not by hatred of ''civilization...
Bright idea: A brain spa near you
Published on Jul 7th, 2005
0 comments At a recent Dana Foundation conference on neuroethics at the Library of Congress, University of Pennsylvania neurologist Anjan Chatterjee declared that we are already well advanced in the enhancement...
Koran abuse: Who really trashed that book?
Published on Jun 30th, 2005
0 comments All the headlines about "Abuse of the Koran at Gitmo" are absolutely accurate. Brigadier General Jay Hood's internal investigation has uncovered some shocking incidents. On at least six occasions,...
Kudos, kiddos: Walk, for mom's sake
Published on Jun 23rd, 2005
0 comments No. I'm not going to walk on graduation day. It's just not important." That's what my son said two years ago. His fiancée, Amber, and I looked at each other, silently communicating that no way in...
Weighty matters: Ice cream's soft, and so am I
Published on Jun 16th, 2005
0 comments There once was a time that keeping weight off was effortless. For most of us, we could eat whatever we wanted because the act of finding food was enough to burn it off. As a child, I had no control...
Retribution: Death penalty argument redux
Published on Jun 9th, 2005
0 comments Traditionally progressive New England Governor Mitt Romney is pushing to reinstate the death penalty in Massachusetts where it has not been used since 1947. Connecticut recently executed serial...
House shopping? Better polish your résumé
Published on Jun 2nd, 2005
0 comments A headshot and bio are standard protocol to get an audition for a TV show or a play. But are they really necessary to buy a house? They are in some neighborhoods of Los Angeles. There, in addition to...
Summer: Feeling fine being free
Published on May 25th, 2005
0 comments Even now, when I hear the word "classroom" I feel a little claustrophobic. I want to open a window and take a deep breath. School was always a drag, but third grade was the worst. From September till...
Looking back: 61 years later, Pvt. Hatcher's last day
Published on May 19th, 2005
0 comments Private Kenneth Hatcher was killed in action in Normandy, France. He was one of 7,920 casualties of the 83rd infantry division during July of 1944. Private Hatcher was buried in Coleville Cemetery...
God and Lucas: The Force is with us
Published on May 11th, 2005
0 comments 252"> The HooK: ESSAY- God and Lucas: The Force is with us // >> classifieds  >> personals  >> advertise  >> contacts  >> faq...
For lovers? In Virginia, some exceptions apply
Published on May 5th, 2005
0 comments 252"> The HooK: ESSAY- For lovers? In Virginia, some exceptions apply // >> classifieds  >> personals  >> advertise  >> contacts ...
Wheelie expensive: The high cost of 'free' parking
Published on Apr 21st, 2005
0 comments   "Free parking." A lovely phrase, no? Since so many of the things we do are not free, it's great that at least we can stow our vehicles at no cost, right? Well, actually, we're paying dearly...
Helter shelter: A whole-house checkup checklist
Published on Apr 14th, 2005
0 comments   Just like your family, houses are full of things that need annual (and sometimes more frequent) checkups. Gutters crack, septic tanks leak, and furnaces stop working. Keep the following list...
Trojan train: Keep D.C. a car commute away
Published on Apr 7th, 2005
0 comments   I used to fantasize about hopping on a train in Charlottesville on a Saturday morning, spending the day in Washington, and catching the train back to Charlottesville in the evening. Wouldn't...
Bad rap: What if TV's <I>good</I> for you?
Published on Mar 31st, 2005
0 comments   "Watching TV is a lot like smoking. People know all the crummy side-effects and continue to do it anyway," declares one typical anti-TV rant. "Most smokers are aware that their habit can cause...
Rejection reflection: Who wants to watch a loser?
Published on Mar 24th, 2005
0 comments   I'd be without entertainment if I lived in Ancient Rome. Watching gladiators duel to the death or lions devour Christians is too gruesome. But now my television is offering similar fare. I can...
The Whine: Calls from readers who need to get a life
Published on Mar 17th, 2005
0 comments 252"> The HooK: ESSAY- The Whine: Calls from readers who need to get a life // >> classifieds  >> personals  >> advertise  >> contacts...
When we marched for Selma -- and freedom
Published on Mar 10th, 2005
0 comments Forty years ago this month it was Wednesday, March 17, 1965 UVA students, staff, faculty, and spouses walked up the sides of the Lawn, under the arcades, to the north side of the Rotunda where they...
Forget birds: We could all die from this flu
Published on Mar 3rd, 2005
0 comments At the risk of sounding like a crazed Chicken Little, I would like to call your attention to the possibility of a pandemic of killer influenza. I know: You don't want to hear about it. Isn't it...
All about you: It could already be on file
Published on Feb 24th, 2005
0 comments As confirmed addicts of the various Crime Scene Investigation television police procedurals well know, people are constantly shedding DNA as they go through life. Microscopic amounts of skin, hair,...
Doping athletes: Unlocking the gene-ie advantage
Published on Feb 17th, 2005
0 comments I am not a sports fan. I barely know that baseball is the game that's played with a stick. (Oh, they call it a "bat?" Never mind.) I was the tallest kid in my high school, but when the basketball...
Know-nothing party: First Amendment a mystery to students
Published on Feb 10th, 2005
0 comments "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people...
Trash talkin': How Virginia gets dumped by New York
Published on Feb 3rd, 2005
0 comments Let's talk trash. Or commerce, if you're the courts. Or politics, if you're slamming your opponent. Or looming disaster, if you're a Virginian. The courts call garbage a "product in interstate and...
All for Dave: Behind the pack-n-ship scenes
Published on Jan 27th, 2005
0 comments     Dec. 16: Call me a behind-the-scenes worker for the Dave Matthews Band. Call me a roadie for Madonna. All right, I've got a temp job at a big company that ships fan material for the...
Fornication 86ed: Virginia enters the Twentieth Century
Published on Jan 20th, 2005
0 comments   When the Virginia Supreme Court ruled in the otherwise obscure case of Martin v. Ziherl on January 14, it belatedly brought the Commonwealth into the 20th century. How so? The court overturned...
Button, button: Kilgore's pushing our fears
Published on Jan 13th, 2005
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Grave situation: Don't landfill the Tsunami bodies
Published on Jan 6th, 2005
0 comments   In the calculus of human misery it is impossible to grasp the cost of the tsunami that hit Southern Asia. At some point our ability to respond emotionally is overwhelmed by the numbers of dead...
Get it over with: Abolish our rights sooner, not later
Published on Dec 16th, 2004
0 comments Go ahead– overturn Roe v. Wade, take away emergency contraception, take away our birth control pills. Do it now, because I can't stand it anymore– can't stand this chipping away at every...
They hunt, we chase: Why American foxhunting survives
Published on Dec 9th, 2004
0 comments America's culture is a mix of borrowed traditions. Along with tea and textiles, early ex-patriots imported foxhunting and transformed it into a legitimate part of American history. Although it has...