Free Republic

The nation's largest freshman class in history is moving into college dorms, hanging posters, meeting roommates and learning fight songs. In Indiana University's Assembly Hall last Friday, a remarkably large chorus hailing from private high schools in the Northeast was singing the school's ode to the "Cream and Crimson" in a pronounced New York accent. Freshman Jess Berne, from New York's Westchester County, crosses the Indiana University campus. It's a striking byproduct of one of the most competitive college admissions sessions ever -- an influx of East Coast prep-school students in Indiana. Indiana University welcomed about 260 students from the...

Andy Ross couldn't quite swallow it. The computer system at Cody's Books on Telegraph Avenue, a few blocks from the UC Berkeley campus, told him to ship back Emmanuel Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason." The thing had sat too long on the shelf. "When one of the greatest works of Western philosophy, if not the greatest, wasn't selling at Cody's, there's something wrong," said Ross, who announced last month that the store, a legendary locus for Berkeley's free-speech spirit, would close July 10 after a half-century. "I haven't figured out all the implications. If I do, I'll probably get more...

British Columbia residents express bewilderment -- and not a little concern -- at the re-election of President Bush. VANCOUVER, B.C. -- Jamal Saad is gay. And Middle Eastern. And disappointed in his U.S. neighbors. "We hate Bush. We despise Bush," said the 17-year-old film student with hair bleached sunny yellow and thoughts of someday having a same-sex spouse. He hails from Lebanon and has roots in Russia. "People there hate Bush, too." How, he asked, could Americans have been so politically unaware on Election Day '04? What's up with the U.S. of A., eh? It's a question making the rounds...

...as body search arrives in cultural minefield of Afghan frontier.I idly mention to my translator in Peshawar how a war photo published in all the Pakistani dailies has outraged everyone who has seen it....(snip) "Look a little closer," I said. "That is a woman soldier who is patting the Afghan lady down." "Impossible," all the Muslim men in the room say in unison. The masculine ambience of this frontier city near the Khyber Pass is so pervasive that, at least in the warlord's antechamber, a female soldier is utterly inconceivable....(snip) For Complete Article, Please Click Here.

"Adam Sandler invites you to share some holiday cheer in the new, no-holds-barred musical comedy Adam Sandler's 8 Crazy Nights.. MPAA Rating: G-13 for frequent crude and sexual humor, drinking and brief drug references "