Miami Student

During the past several days, President George W. Bush's visit to Europe in an attempt to mend damaged relations has been the highlight of every European media outlet. While the excitement associated with his visit last week has gradually ceased, it seems that the Europeans are absorbing what has been reported as a positive visit. I'm not sure how much the average American knows about the President's trip here - if they know much at all. If I were in Oxford, my effort would probably be limited to flipping through Headline News, skimming a New York Times article, and taking in whatever one-sided view the journalists in the White House Press Corps report. In the United States, trans-Atlantic relations are far away and far from the average person's concerns. It's easy to overlook and easy to remain detached from the captivating realm of international politics. In Europe, things are a little different. There are meetings and conferences, literally, in Luxembourg's backyard. Every other person on my seven-hour train ride this weekend had his or her face buried in some sort of "Bush in Europe" article. In Luxembourg, every class brings up dialogue regarding relations between the EU and United States. I won't claim to be an expert in foreign affairs. However, two months in Europe has offered tremendous insight into how reliant on each other the two continents are. …

The 2004-05 school year has the possibility of being the best sports year for Miami athletics since I came to campus three years ago. Before you go screaming about Ben leaving and tell all your friends that I'm a raving lunatic, hear me out. Ben did leave and the football team missed him... a lot. In spite of Ben's departure, however, the football team still made the MAC Championship game. They were then selected to participate in the Liberty Bowl, earning the MAC's highest-ever bowl payout and competing against the Big XII North co-champion Iowa State Cyclones. Granted, this isn't quite number 10 in the AP Poll, but it's still been a strong season for Miami football. However, in judging all of Miami athletics, we can't just look at the football team. The reason that this year may be a better year for Miami athletics lies in the fact that almost all of our sports teams have improved over last year (with ice hockey and women's basketball being the disappointing exceptions). …

World AIDS day came and went last December, but to the surprise of health officials across the globe, for roughly the 34th straight year, people continue to contract AIDS. There is, however, a very simple explanation for this: You are an idiot. Why are you an idiot? Because a) most likely you have been sexually active in your lifetime (physics majors and College Republicans not included) and b) you've never had an HIV test. So let me say, congratulations, you damn moron. …