Posts by James Haynes

This is my last issue as Publisher of the Tory, so I’m going to take this opportunity to say thank you to all of our loyal readers and to introduce our next Publisher – Zach Horton ’15. Zach has done a great job as Editor-in-Chief for the last year, and I’m looking forward to seeing where he takes the magazine in the next year.

One of the joys of studying abroad in Budapest is discovering the small, strange differences between Hungary and the US. Hungarians will use the English word “hello” to mean “goodbye,” public displays of affection are much more accepted, and belching is perfectly acceptable whenever animals are present. Hungarians are also curiously proud of the Rubik’s Cube; the famous toy was invented by a Hungarian.

In recent years, red light cameras (RLCs) and automated speed cameras have flooded our roadways, prompting citizens groups dedicated to the cameras’ eradication to form across the country. But these groups, the National Motorists Association foremost among them, aren’t taking the right approach in their camera critique. They most commonly claim that cities install cameras simply to raise revenue; they don’t actually improve driver safety because they encourage drivers to dangerously slam the brakes or step on the gas in an effort to escape intersections before lights change.

On April 4, 2011, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights released what became known as the “Dear Colleague” letter, urging colleges and universities to review their policies regarding the investigation and punishment of sexual violence. An environment made unsafe by sexual violence, the letter states, impairs students’ ability to learn, and constitutes an illegal violation of their right to an education free from discrimination.

When I was four months old, my parents took me to the doctor because they noticed that I had unusual eye movements. Doctors informed them that I had Optic Nerve Hypoplasia, a condition in which the optic nerve does not develop properly and does not make the appropriate connection to the brain. The condition is not genetic, and causes are currently unknown.

Is it chivalric in the twenty-first century for a boy to push the handicapped button on the wall to open the door for me, or, perhaps more accurately, to have the door open itself for me? Something gets lost in translation when chivalry is transmitted through electronics.

What do migratory birds, Halloween chocolate, chemical weapons, and love triangles have in common? Until recently, absolutely nothing. However, the strange case of Bond v. United States unites these seemingly random objects in a scenario that threatens to undermine American federalism and, consequently, our basic rights and liberties.