GARY W. BLOOM There is no loneliness like agray park in autumn when you’re young,in high school, with a history paper due Mondayand tests and SAT’s and girlswho won’t talk to you, girlsyou want nothing morethan to hold in your arms. A cold front has just arrived in Minnesotaand blown the trees bare.Your friends are…
JACOB WORRELL It was raining. People are often surprised to hear that it rains in Iraq. When people imagine the daily discomforts of soldiers deployed in Iraq, they think about facing imminent death, frying in the desert sun, and the dull monotony of daily routine. Anything but rain. But in northern Iraq in 2005, for…
The pursuit of great wealth and the burden it bequeathed.
MUGAMBI JOUET In times of doubt and discord, a country often turns to its national ideals in hope that they will provide guidance and common ground. The lingering economic problems, concerns about American decline, and bitter polarization that have marked the Obama presidency have therefore led Americans to focus on one of the United States’…
TOM CONWAY Education is without question one of the most complicated topics in America. Once glorified for production of some of the globe’s finest minds, our public school system has been slipping in world rankings for some time and faces constant criticism. Many people blame teachers, or least the few bad apples within this noble…
JEFF HENSLEY It’s no secret that many combat veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan have struggled when returning to civilian life. With combat operations in Iraq over and those in Afghanistan winding down, even more American servicemen and women will be coming home to face problems ranging from high unemployment to a suicide epidemic plaguing the…
CHUCK FINDER From Broncos to bounties, from Tebowing toward Gotham to Manning the mountains, from handing out forced retirements to forced hands creating retirement accounts, the National Football League offseason was considerably landscape-altering this winter and spring. Far more than the usual coaching shuffle and concussion controversies. PEYTON’S NEW PLACEEach preceding Denver quarterback since that…
ANDREW TAGLIANETTI Major conference shakeups, the new playoff system, the Heisman race, coaching changes, the players who will take the field this fall, the occasional major upset, and program turmoil are all things that fans of college football have become accustomed to. In my case, I have had some first-hand experience with some of those.…
DR. VONDA WRIGHT Greater than 1.5 million young men participate in American football across all levels in the United States. They will sustain more than 1.2 million football-related injuries this year. Injury is an inherent part of football, a product of the game’s brutal nature and the alternate side of the coin that is American…
NANCY BROOK My fascination with France began long ago with my French uncle, Clarence. As a teenager, I’d travel to visit Aunt Evelyn and Uncle Clarence during my summer vacations. I remember the discreet half-shots of whiskey my uncle gave me more than I remember him talking about his family’s home country. But I loved…