The Columbia Chronicle

What a candidate does on Election Day

By Tyler Davis

November 6, 2012

Today is going to be a busy day for the presidential candidates. Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama will be making their final push to voters, attending their campaign’s election day events and, except for Obama, voting.Obama’s stopped by the gym before his campaign event at McCormick Place to play some basketball, according to a tweet from CBS correspondent Mark Knoller. Because Obama came to town on Oct. 25 to vote ea...

Fact checking trending in 2012

By Kaley Fowler

October 29, 2012

By Kaley Fowler and Charles Jefferson, Metro Editor and Contributing WriterFact checkers abound in the 2012 presidential election, and they are casting new light on polls and political statements in an effort to properly inform the public.According to Bill Adair, editor of the fact-checking website PolitiFact.org, verifying facts has become crucial in this year’s election because of the vast amount of available information....

Obama opportunity, Romney retreat

By Editorial Board

October 22, 2012

With the presidential election rapidly approaching, it is important for college students to understand how each candidate will handle higher education policy, particularly in the area of student financial aid.President Barack Obama and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney have two very different views on the matter, and while the situation for college students during Obama’s first term hasn’t been ideal, his po...

Minority voters could impact 2012 election

By Kaley Fowler

October 15, 2012

The minority population could have a majority impact in determining the winner of the 2012 presidential election.According to Sarah Massey, spokeswoman for the nonpartisan voter advocacy website ProjectVote.org, the vote of minority citizens in swing states could potentially turn the tide of the popular vote despite the electorate’s predominately white make up.“In certain states like Ohio or New Mexico, which are considered ...

Romney, Big Bird not of same feather

By Trevor Ballanger

October 15, 2012

Mitt Romney caused a media uproar with his statement during the Oct. 3 presidential debate about cutting funding for the Public Broadcasting System. Needless to say, a rather large yellow bird, whose address happens to be 123 Sesame Street, was really pissed.During the debate, Big Bird did what most creatures of the sky do best—he tweeted.“Yo Mitt Romney, Sesame Street is brought to you today by the letters F & U!” @B...

Election times call for scrutiny

By Heather Scroering

October 9, 2012

As I scrolled through my Twitter feed following last week’s presidential debate, I began to hyperventilate. Upon seeing tweet after tweet of praise for Gov. Mitt Romney’s performance, I just couldn’t bear to read on. One tweet by BBC News reporter Katty Kay, whom I highly respect, stated that Romney seemed like a “perfectly acceptable” candidate after the debate. I looked to the floor and saw my hope for society shamefully ...

Designer egos stifle fashion’s voices

By Sophia Coleman

October 8, 2012

Quote approval has been a hot debate in journalism lately, and it’s no surprise that divas in the fashion world are included on the list of culprits who have little faith in journalists.Several brands have made headlines for pressuring publications and reporters to take pieces off the Internet or run corrections. The PR rep for Yves Saint Laurent wrote to online fashion publication Business of Fashion in mid-September aski...

Journalists bowing to sources, betraying readers

By Tyler Davis

October 8, 2012

“Journalists should be free of obligation to any interest other than the public’s right to know,” states the code of ethics of the Society of Professional Journalists. Yet some reporters have been allowing their sources to comb through transcripts and decide what they do and do not want published.Traditionally, politicians have spoken carefully in the company of journalists because the press has the power to expose th...

Wicker Park ranked No. 4 hipster neighborhood in U.S.

By Dannis Valera

October 1, 2012

Chicago’s usual sea of beards, plaid, Buddy Holly glasses and skinny jeans are paired with solemn faces this week—the eclectic neighborhood of Wicker Park, home to many Columbia students, was recently crowned fourth in Forbes’ and Nextdoor.com’s inaugural list of “America’s Hippest Hipster Neighborhoods.”Read the full story by our Assistant Arts & Culture Editor, Emily Ornberg, here on our website!http:/...

Emanuel quits second job to focus on governing city

By Tyler Davis

September 24, 2012

The Chicago Teachers strike was both talk of the town and the nation. What was a local dispute between union leaders and city government became a national debate about education.In response to the Chicago teachers strike, one prominent politician had this to say: “I am disappointed by the decision of the Chicago Teachers Union to turn its back on not only a city negotiating in good faith but also the hundreds of thousands...

Iraq is crumbling to pieces

By The Columbia Chronicle

September 17, 2012

When Tariq al-Hashimi, fugitive Iraqi vice president and senior Sunni official, was convicted and sentenced to death on Sept. 9, it became clear that U.S. influence on the country has quickly faded since our troops withdrew in December 2011, leaving a foreign policy disaster in their wake.The Iraqi government, led by Shiite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, issued a warrant for al-Hashimi’s arrest Dec. 19, 2011, the day after...

Governments escalate cyber warfare capabilities

By Tyler Davis

September 10, 2012

Stuxnet, a malicious computer program now believed to be a collaboration between the U.S. and Israeli governments, accidentally leaked into systems outside its original target, an Iranian nuclear facility, in March 2010. Along with another malware program believed to be part of the same joint government operation, Stuxnet disabled approximately 1,000 Iranian nuclear centrifuges. An analysis released by the security firm Kaspersky La...