Op Ed

An op-ed by Vanderbilt sociologist Dan Cornfield criticizing recent actions involving immigrants in Middle Tennessee. Read More

An op-ed by political scientist John Geer on the role of the super delegates in the Democratic presidential nomination process. Read More

Read this op-ed by Vanderbilt Professor of Law and Political Science Carol Swain on the complexities involved in the case of a teacher being jailed in the Sudan because the name her students chose for a teddy bear offended many Sudanese Muslims. Read More

An op-ed by Carol Swain, professor of law and political science, on the implications of the recent spate of noose hangings around the country and the factors that reinforce white prejudice and discrimination against blacks. Read More

An op-ed by James Guthrie, professor of public policy and education, on public expectation of student performance and the harm done when this expectation is too low, as Guthrie argues it currently is in Tennessee. Read More

Governor Bredesen has received both praise and criticism for his recent trade mission to China. China is certainly not without its problems, including its human rights record, questionable trade practices and one-party government. But as governor, Bredesen must do what is best for Tennessee. Read More

Carol Swain, professor of political science and law, comments on the recent endorsement of Republican presidential candidate Rudy Guiliani by televangelist Pat Robertson. Read More

Is the Bush administration‘s recent announcement of tough sanctions against Iran‘s Quds Force and Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps as supporters of terrorism and proliferators of weapons of mass destruction an effort to avoid military action or a step toward it? Read More

In this day and age, being successful in business and being "green" can often go hand-in-hand. Young business professionals continue to set an example in breadth of understanding and zeal in addressing the world environmental and social entrepreneurship and justice issues. Read More

Last week the Federal Reserve surprised the markets with a 50-basis point cut in the Federal Funds rate target, which is somewhat larger than the market anticipated. The Fed cited, "the tightening of credit conditions" and the potential for these conditions "to intensify the housing correction and to restrain economic growth more generally"as justifications for their move. Read More

Like most people who have followed the saga of the Jena Six, I am dismayed by the series of events preceding and following last Thursday's civil rights protest over the disparate treatment of six black teens charged with attempted murder for attacking a white teenager. Read More

A famous party leader from the 19th century, "Boss" Tweed, once said, "I do not care who does the electing, just so as I can do the nominating." Boss Tweed knew that real power arose from controlling the nomination process. Because nominations matter so much, there's been a quadrennial battle over how "best" to select presidential contenders. Read More

The recent two-day strike of 73,000 UAW members at General Motors and the resulting labor accord are nothing short of monumental. But it's still a short-run solution for retaining cradle-to-grave benefits and restoring U.S. manufacturing power. Read More

The Supreme Court's recent decision in Parents v. Seattle nudges the nation further along the path of race-neutral decision-making in the educational arena. Unlike the 2003 Michigan cases that dealt with racial preferences in higher education, the latest case strikes down the use of race in pupil assignment to K-12 schools in Louisville, Ky. and Seattle, Wash. By doing so the Court agreed with the parents that the diversity plans being challenged violated the equal protection rights of the white students to attend the schools of their choice. Read More

Another Supreme Court term has come to a close, and, while many things changed in the law, one thing stayed the same: The justices spent much of their time reversing the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Read More

Nearly 50 years ago, Karsten Solheim, working from his garage, developed the first PING 1-A Putter. PING's innovative products and services, among them custom fitting and perimeter weighting, have since changed the industry. Read More

The recent school desegregation decisions handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court drive home three important lessons. Read More

An Op-ed by Claire Smrekar, associate professor of education and public policy, on the recent U. S. Supreme Court ruling regarding race-based assignment plans for the school districts of Louisville, Ky. and Seattle, Wash. Read More

An op-ed by Carol M. Swain, Vanderbilt professor of political science and law, on the impact of illegal immigration on African Americans. Read More

In this op-ed, Michael Newton, special adviser to the Iraqi Tribunal and acting associate professor of law at Vanderbilt University, argues for Congressional action to provide funding for the U.S. troops stationed in Iraq. The op-ed orignially ran in the Washington Post on May 3, 2007. Read More