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January 27, 2003
The new Torch is online, along with a newly designed and much improved website. I've got an editorial on human cloning. Also, this week's Hustler included this bizarre letter about the benefits of sleeping on a slant. The actual story behind this is posted here.
I've added a book reviews section, as I am now writing those for the new "Frontiers" section of The Hustler.
January 10, 2003
My New Year's Resolution? "I resolve to be less like Niles Crane and more like Frasier Crane." Well, not really. Read the rest of the Slant staff resolutions here.
I get back to Vanderbilt and check the websites, and what is the number one search keyword that brings visitors to this site in the month of December? "Condom." How gratifying!
The Torch website has be redesigned by Luke Menser and looks great. Also, the December issue is now online. My editorial is a parody based on Vanderbilt Professor Jonathan Farley's recent comments.
December 16, 2002
Added a new "Photos" section to the website.
December 13, 2002
Another new Slant today, this time featuring Ben Stark and collaborating on "The Don Juans of Vanderbilt." New Torch online soon.
November 20, 2002
New issue of the Slant today, including my parody of Rand Dining Hall's stunning 69 on its health inspection. Rumor has it I may have also been a contributor to the Top Ten Most Wanted Women's Studies Classes For Next Semester list, but confirming that would surely end my chances of dating at Vanderbilt.
Also, here's Hustler coverage of the Declaration of Independence Road Trip, whose poetry performance premiered here at Vanderbilt.
November 18, 2002
The November issue of The Torch was posted online today. My monthly editorial is on the Libertarian Party and how I'd really like to vote for them, but some of their candidates are just too goofy.
We've also introduced The Torch online store. Items include t-shirts, mugs, frisbees, even a thong. Show the world you read The Torch! (Unless you buy the thong, in which case you should only show a select few). A part of every purchase supports the magazine.
November 5, 2002
It's never been a better time for people who want to discuss philosophy in Nashville, with two discussion groups very active and, now, both on the web. Two weeks ago cafe-philo launched a blog, and David Prince (organizer of the Borders group) is now actively working on his own site, www.askaphilosopher.org.
November 2, 2002
Now writing opinion outside of The Torch, on October 29 The Hustler published an editorial of mine on Vanderbilt CPLE reform. In it I advocate the inclusion of interdisciplinary options as a means of fulfilling requirements in liberal education.
Also, this site has finally been picked up by the Google search engine. The first query to call it up? "condom sense dallas tx" (a brief reference in Strangers in a Strange Land, the tale of my night in Deep Ellum with my friend Eric Fast). You never know who will find you on the Internet.
October 24, 2002
The new distribution racks for The Torch came in a day late, but I'm not angry, because the October issue came in a day late, too. Other than an inexcusable typo that I deny all responsibility for (even if it is in the "Editor's Note"), this looks to be a good issue. My own editorial is about jury nullification, specifically in capital cases. To my great delight, there is at least one person out there who read it to completion!
In other news, cafe-philo now has its own blog, the links section has been updated, I feel like I've gained new insight into Nietzsche, and am feeling re-enervated.
October 12, 2002
The Hustler printed an article about cafe-philo today, our philosophy discussion group that just happens to have the editor of their Lifestyles section as one of the participants. What a coincidence. Thanks, Darian!
October 9, 2002
At today's meeting of Vanderbilt Student Communications the fate of The Torch as a division was decided. After the requisite year of probationary status in which we exceeded our publication goals, the Board voted to grant full division status. This comes with several perks, including the right to say "Meet me at my office!"
October 6, 2002
The Torch is now hosting it's own blog (short for web-log). Blogging is a new way to rapidly spread and comment on information using the Internet. Feel free to log in and contribute, even if you're not a part of the The Torch staff. The next print edition will be out October 23.
September 28, 2002
Today we have website additions, but not particularly interesting ones. I've added a brief biography and updated the links section. As a follow-up to the last post, I'm glad to report that Sarratt Cinema remains intact after Andrew Bernstein's lecture on Iraq!
September 18, 2002
On Wednesday, September 25, the Vanderbilt Objectivist Club is hosting speaker Andrew Bernstein of the Ayn Rand Institute. His topic? "America at War: The Moral Imperative to Self-Defense." It'll be in Sarratt Cinema at 7:00 pm. Hopefully, angry audiences won't burn down the building.
The Slant now has my bio up on their website, listed as "Staff Writer, Magician."
September 16, 2002
The first Torch of the year is now online; check it out at www.vutorch.org. My own editorial looks back on the fun we had this summer with the Pledge controversy. Plus, be sure to read Vanderbilt philosophy professor Robert Ehman's observations on the victim market, which has been on a steadily bullish trend.
September 12, 2002
Any chance I might have had at winning political office is now officially over. Today, I published an article in The Slant. And I signed it. And it makes Jewish jokes.
Gee proposes mandatory circumcision for incoming freshmen
August 29, 2002
Finally! Nearly a year after reserving this domain name, I've finally designed a respectable looking website (at least it's acceptable to me). Do I really need a website? Was the world asking for it? Nope. But it's here anyway, so maybe you'll find something of interest. In the mean time, I at least have a permanent domain for my e-mail address, and in the end that's what really counts.
Links to the different sections of the site are above; updates will come on no particular schedule, but will be noted here on the main page.