Cara Boekeloo's Blog

Cleaners Shuts Down Due to Pants Case

Cara Boekeloo — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 16:51:37 EDT

It was a summer filled with intern events, scavenging for free food, and seeing what snarky headline (case in point: "Kick in the Pants") the Washington Post could come up with next to describe the absurd $67 million lawsuit that administrative law judge Roy Pearson had launched against Soo and Jin Chung, owners of Custom Cleaners, over a $10 alteration. Pearson, whose own career hangs in the balance after the lawsuit, suceeded in one aspect--today it was announced that the Chungs had been forced to close their shop on Bladensburg Road NE.

Moving Back to Segregation

Cara Boekeloo — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 11:29:22 EDT

Today the New York Times highlights a disturbing case of rezoning in Alabama. In a move that is the first of its kind, parents of children which have been shifted into low-performing schools are using the No Child Left Behind law (which has been harshly critiqued, even in my home city of Kalamazoo) to argue that such practices are illegal.

Going Green through Contraception

Cara Boekeloo — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 16:56:06 EDT

While those in Russia are celebrating Procreation Day, the wonderful folks at Slate have offered up a powerful opportunity for discussion on cutting back kids this week with Daniel Engber’s article titled “Global Swarming.”

Freedom Through Surge

Cara Boekeloo — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 21:29:09 EDT

I've been surrounded by people talking about "pop," adding "eh" to every sentence, and crying after last weekend's football game. My vacation in Michigan placed me far up north away from an internet connection. But even with just the few channels that our television received at Crystal Lake, I was still bombarded with ads in which grieving family members and double amputees begged the audience through their tears to not give up on a task they had given so much for.

Christ Was a Capitalist

Cara Boekeloo — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 17:27:59 EDT

Or so says former U.S. Senator William Armstrong (R-CO), now president of Colorado Christian University."I don’t think there is another system [free enterprise] that is more consistent with the teachings of Jesus Christ,” he said. “What the University stands for is free markets.”

Don’t get in the way of those free market teachings either. If you cause students to think outside the box you will get fired, as did professor Andrew Paquin, who ironically was named “faculty member of the year” shortly before he was let go last spring.

When in Rome, Your School is Profiting

Cara Boekeloo — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 16:58:13 EDT

The next time you consider studying abroad, make sure that you check where your fees are going, especially if you attend a private institution.

Ever wondered why the number of study abroad programs approved by your school is so small? Certain travel organizations give schools exclusive perks per student for their participation in the program. Rather than allow students to deal directly with the foreign institutions (which are sometimes more affordable than domestic tuition) schools instead direct them through third party agencies in an effort to turn a profit.

Frat Rapist to Get Early Release

Cara Boekeloo — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 15:13:20 EDT

William Beebe made headlines last year when he was convicted of raping Liz Seccuro at a University of Virginia frat party. What was unique about the case was that the rape happened in 1984. The case was opened in 2005 after Beebe sent Seccuro a letter of apology for the rape over two decades after it occurred as part of his Alcoholics Anonymous program. This week it was announced that Beebe will be released after only six months in jail.

82 Pastors Come Out

Cara Boekeloo — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 17:33:14 EDT

On the night of the “Visible Vote 08” debate hosted by the LOGO network, it is appropriate to note the recent actions by a group of gay clergy. This week at the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America’s churchwide assembly meeting in Chicago, 82 ministers bravely put their careers on the line by announcing that they were gay or lesbian in committed relationships. Many of them also told their stories in a publication titled “A Place Within My Walls.”

Banning the “b-word”

Cara Boekeloo — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 15:44:25 EDT

The New York Times reports this week that the New York City Council, which gained attention earlier this year when it symbolically banned the use of the “n-word,” has now turned its focus to the slur “bitch.”

Disputing Diaries from Baghdad

Cara Boekeloo — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 17:56:44 EDT

You read a story that offers a stark depiction of reality. It disturbs you. So you decide that rather than confront that reality it is easier to cry out that it is false. In order to justify your position you get others to take your side and effectively halt an investigation that could debunk the rumors that you have been spreading.

This Giuliani's for Obama

Cara Boekeloo — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 16:19:37 EDT

So I link to Slate a lot. I’ll admit it: I’m obsessed. But I can’t help but share an article today about the continuation of the family troubles of Giuliani. There’s one Obama Girl here that he didn’t count on: his daughter Caroline.

190,000 AK-47s Missing

Cara Boekeloo — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 10:01:42 EDT

As if we needed more evidence that things in Iraq are in shambles … but just in case, today the Post describes the new government report which reveals that the Pentagon has lost track of 190,000 AK-47 assault rifles and pistols given to Iraqi security forces in 2004 and 2005.

"A War We Just Might Win"

Cara Boekeloo — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 16:43:57 EDT

It seems like everyone is talking about Micahel E. O’Hanlon and Kenneth M. Pollack’s Op-ed in the Times on Monday in which they argue that progress in Iraq suggests it is “a war we just might win.” Yesterday the CAP interns talked about the article in the context of the Iraqi refugee crisis with Dr. Bill Schulz, a Senior Fellow here at the Center for American Progress and the former Executive Director of Amnesty International. He confirmed the horrors that we have been reading about, that so many are without water, food, and adequate care or shelter.

Do-it-yourself delivery

Cara Boekeloo — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 16:16:28 EDT

Is it a cause we should celebrate or urge caution about? Today the Post features an article about women who are choosing to give home birth without any medical assistance, even from a midwife, despite risks that range from fetal distress to hemorrhage.

The Question Obama Fell Flat On

Cara Boekeloo — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 11:05:09 EDT

Now I see where Jesse was coming from yesterday, yet there were a few questions last night that I felt were different than what we had heard before. In fact, the debate was much more engaging than I anticipated (You can view a complete transcript of the debate here.)

Court Too Slow: 7-year-old's rape goes untried

Cara Boekeloo — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 17:41:16 EDT

Last week a man accused of raping and repeatedly molesting a 7-year old girl in Rockville, Maryland got the charges against him dropped. Did he get a top-notch defense attorney who made an incredible argument? No. The court simply took too long to find an interpreter in his native West African language.

Unpaid Internships Deny Poorer Kids

Cara Boekeloo — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 15:15:08 EDT

It’s the title of a recent opinion piece and the subject of many conversations we’ve had amongst interns this summer at the Center for American Progress. If you’re interested in working in Washington some day, an internship is on par with your required courses to graduate. And more and more students are recognizing this. As Julianne Malveaux, president of Bennett College for women states in her piece, “this year, nearly one in three will work in corporations, non-profit organizations, government, or elsewhere as interns.”

Forget Spielberg, Obama's Got Oprah!

Cara Boekeloo — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 16:12:19 EDT

She's singlehandedly turned around the publishing industry. Can she do the same for politics? The Harpo Productions maven (I remember how proud I was when I realized her company was her name backwards) announced yesterday that she was opening her Santa Barbara-area estate to host a four-star fundraiser for Obama on September 8, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Food for Charity

Cara Boekeloo — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 11:18:29 EDT

Our Free-Food-a-thon has led to a preoccupation with thoughts of dining in this office. Therefore I was interested in this article in Slate which discusses how a NY law firm is turning its lavish lunches into charity. Read Daniel Gross' discussion of its implications here.

No Reason Here

Cara Boekeloo — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 17:38:44 EDT

“Will China ever be a 'normal' country, a country not ruled by a Leninist party and the mythology of Marxism-Leninism?” asked the Heritage Foundation website. “One scenario of peaceful change is the infiltration of society by an ever-growing number of adherents of a different worldview: Christianity.”