By Greg Ellis
“It seems to me we can never give up longing and wishing while we are thoroughly alive. There are certain things we see to be beautiful and we must hunger after them.”-George Eliot (1819-1880), British Writer It was an awkward tale as CNN presented the meat of the headline news: a missing teen in Aruba,… Continue reading Nothing sells soap like a good tragedy
By Greg Ellis
“Only the educated are free.”– Epictetus Our campus reverberates with the energy of an educational institution–an environment that fosters self-improvement through learning. The aphorism that the truth will set you free seems to sit comfortably in the realm of education. If the truth is attained via learning or at least endeavored towards then an education… Continue reading The freedom of truth
By Greg Ellis
“I’ve noticed that everybody that is for abortion has already been born.”-Ronald Reagan I was aghast as anyone by our Campus Pro-Life group’s vigorous attack by comparing abortion to the Holocaust. Nevertheless, I was moved by the potency of their argument. In the same fashion as pro-choice proponents justify abortion with no moral compunctions, the Nazis… Continue reading Potential personhood
By Greg Ellis
As the heavily fortified walls of the U.S. Republican theocracy are attacked by those overseeing Terry Schiavo, it is very difficult to examine such a volatile moral issue. When only 36 per cent of Americans have living wills and over 15,000 are currently in persistent vegetative states it is surprising that cases such as Schiavo’s… Continue reading The right to die in peace
By Greg Ellis
“I must follow the people. Am I not their leader?” -Benjamin Disraeli, British politician After many columns of mincing the lofty ideas regularly found in our university newspaper, I thought it would be important to speak of a subject more surmountable than the grand ideas of democracy, special interest or world affairs. As readers accuse… Continue reading The natural hierarchy
By Greg Ellis
“And remember, where you have a concentration of power in a few hands, all too frequently men with the mentality of gangsters get control. History has proven that. All power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.”– Lord Acton The period of convalescence from the realization that the Bush administration will be in power for another four… Continue reading On for the next four: a legitimized legacy
By Greg Ellis
Entering the front doors of a casino in Calgary is a rare experience reserved for moments of boredom and feelings of risk. The lingering smoke, dreary faces, a dismal atmosphere underscored by an apparent quiet desperation. After completing three trips to Las Vegas last year, I incorrectly assumed my impression of gambling was accurate. Nothing… Continue reading Sinking into the casino abyss
By Greg Ellis
“One of the chief obstacles to intelligence is credulity, and credulity could be enormously diminished by instructions as to the prevalent forms of mendacity. Credulity is a greater evil in the present day than it ever was before, because, owing to the growth of education, it is much easier than it used to be to… Continue reading The power structure textbooks forgot
By Greg Ellis
“We do not quite say that the new is more valuable because it fits in; but it’s fitting in a test of its value–a test, it is true, which can only be slowly and cautiously applied, for we are none of us infallible judges of conformity.”– T.S. Elliot, American-born British poet, Nobel Prize for Literature… Continue reading The new cell phone world
By Greg Ellis
“A university is not a service station. Neither is it a political society, nor a meeting place for political societies. With all its limitations and failures, and they are invariably many, it is the best and most benign side of our society insofar as that society aims to cherish the human mind.”-Richard Hofstader (1916-1970) Professor… Continue reading Reflections on Maclean’s and money