CPU Newsletter

April 24, 2005

Dear Columbia Political Union,

Thank you so much for attending our events and reading our
publications this past year. With your help, we have furthered the
CPU’s mission of raising political awareness and dialogue on campus.

Thanks also to the outgoing 2004-2005 Executive Board, and
especially graduating seniors Mariya Konovalova and Katharine
Harlow, who have committed so much time and energy to the CPU over
the past years.

With the continued guidance and support of Lerner Hall Event
Management, Columbia Security, the CPU Governing Board, and the
Student Governing Board, I know that the 2005-2006 Executive Board
will ensure the continued growth and success of the Columbia
Political Union.

best wishes,

Alexia Koritz
2004-2005 General Manager
2005-2006 General Manager Ex-Officio

CPU EVENTS/ANNOUNCEMENTS:

1. 2005-2006 CPU Executive Committee Announced

2. 2005-2006 CPR Editorial Board Announced

3. Cosponsored Event: Dinesh D'Souza and Robert Jervis: "Evaluating
the Merits of American Empire" (TUESDAY, 4/26)

4. CPU Event: Robert Boorstin, Senior Vice President for National
Security and International Policy, Center for American Progress
(WEDNESDAY, 4/27)

5. Cosponsored Event: David Horowitz, Author, Editor, and President
of the Center for the Study of Popular Culture (FRIDAY, 4/29)

OTHER EVENTS

6. Columbia Taiwanese Student Association: Dr. Peng Ming-Min and
“the Case of Taiwanese” (5/1)

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CPU EVENTS/ANNOUNCEMENTS:

1. Introducing the 2005-2006 Columbia Political Union Executive
Committee:

David Kim, General Manager
Wei Wei Hsing, Events Coordinator
Geoff Aung, Communications Director
Melody Malekan, Treasurer
Jason Bello, Publisher
Matthew Christiansen, Editor-in-Chief, Columbia Political Review
Alastair Shearman, Webmaster
Alexia Koritz, General Manager Ex-Officio

The 2004-2005 Executive Committee congratulates you and wishes you
the best of luck!

Alexia Koritz, General Manager
David Kim, Events Coordinator
Katharine Harlow and Melody Malekan, Treasurers
Mariya Konovalova, Publisher
Benjamin Levitan, Editor-In-Chief, Columbia Political Review
Alastair Shearman, Webmaster

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2. Introducing the 2005-2006 Columbia Political Review Editorial
Board:

CPR's new editorial board is already working to make next year the
best in the magazine's history, and I have every expectation that
it will succeed. It's an honor to introduce you to the editors who
will be leading the magazine for the next twelve months. I've had
excellent experiences working with all of them and could not think
of anyone who could offer more diligence or innovation than the
following people.

Editor-in-Chief

Matthew Christiansen: Matt's dedication as a senior editor this past
year has been unmatched. Beyond his superb capacity to help writers
craft their pieces, he possesses a firm grasp of what makes CPR
successful holistically. Next year, look for a publication with
enough topical variation and ideological diversity to represent our
entire community.

Managing Editor

David Singerman: You'd be hard-pressed to find a writer who has
contributed more significantly to CPR in the past year than David.
He has been represented in some way in four of our five issues,
including two cover stories, and everything that he writes is
distinguished by lucidity, elegance, and humor. With David in this
position, articles should be increasingly informative and enjoyable
to read.

Senior Editors

Mark Krotov: Mark has been a prolific and enthusiastic contributor
to CPR this year. He has a mastery of a wide range of topics,
having covered both the executive and legislative branches of the
national government, as well as international concerns.

Diego Laserna: Diego has consistently covered Latin American issues
for the past year. A native of Colombia, he has a keen sense of
how to convey international topics to a largely American audience
and what global perspectives need more representation in our pages.

Elizabeth Long: A two-year veteran writer for CPR, Liz is our star
correspondent from the far-off land of SEAS. She commonly reports
on scientific and ecological matters but has also covered more
traditional political and governmental concerns.

Marc Tracy: Another two-year veteran writer, Marc's writing is
passionate and precise. Having served as a senior editor for the
last three issues, he brings continuity to the board. He wrote our
first cover story of this academic year and has since contributed
multiple book reviews.

I'd also like to thank those members of the editorial board who
served this year but will not be returning next year. As senior
editors, Al Prescott-Couch and Justin Slaughter were integral to
the success of the magazine, as was Avi Zenilman, who will probably
continue to work with CPR in some capacity. Alex Rolfe set a new
standard for managing editors everywhere. Good luck to Al, Justin,
and Alex after graduation. Also, thanks to Paul Sonne, our design
editor. Without Paul, CPR simply would not have existed, much less
flourished. And thanks to Caitlin Verrilli, our image editor for
two years, as well as to Clara Bryant, our art editor, and our
entire team of artists. Paul and Caitlin should also be
acknowledged for their superb articles. Thanks to Rakesh Kilaru,
without whom we would never have moved to a fancy-pants color,
glossy cover. Finally, thanks to Ady Barkan, our managing editor
for the first semester, whose dictatorial rule had its place at
times. If I've left you off, and you have reason to believe that
it was not a deliberate "oversight," consider yourself thanked,
too.

My extravagant, adjective-laden descriptions of next year's editors
may be noxious to the ears, but, I assure you, they do not
overstate the potential of the incoming editorial board. I'm
looking forward to enjoying next year's issues of CPR as a mere
avid reader, and you should be, too.

Benjamin Levitan
Former Editor-in-Chief
Columbia Political Review

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3. The CPU and the College Republicans Present:

Dinesh D'Souza and Robert Jervis: "Evaluating the Merits of American
Empire"
moderated by Prof. Robert Shapiro

Tuesday, April 26th at 8:00 pm
Room 104, Jerome Greene Hall, 116th and Amsterdam

Dinesh D'Souza is a former Reagan administration official, Hoover
Institution fellow and prominent conservative author and
commentator.

Robert Jervis is the Adlai E. Stevenson Professor of International
Politics at Columbia. He is the former President of the American
Political Science Association.

Robert Shapiro is a political science professor at Columbia. He
serves on the editorial boards of Political Science Quarterly,
Presidential Studies Quarterly and Public Opinion Quarterly.

RSVP, if possible, to americanempire@gmail.com

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4. The CPU Presents:

Robert Boorstin, Senior Vice President for National Security and
International Policy, Center for American Progress

Wednesday, April 27th at 7:00 pm
Room 569, Alfred Lerner Hall

Robert O. Boorstin is the Senior Vice President for National
Security and International Policy at the Center for American
Progress. Boorstin brings to American Progress more than twenty
years experience in national security, political communications,
research and journalism. Over seven years with the Clinton
Administration, he worked as the President's national security
speechwriter; communications and foreign policy adviser to Treasury
Secretary Robert Rubin; and adviser on the developing world to
Secretary of State Warren Christopher.

Boorstin has worked on four U.S. presidential campaigns and advised
political parties in Austria, Bulgaria, Israel and elsewhere. As
vice president of Greenberg, Quinlan, Rosner Research, he also
advised some of the nation's leading advocacy groups on
international issues. Earlier in his career, Boorstin was a
reporter for The New York Times. He received his B.A. from Harvard
College in 1981 and his M. Phil. in International Relations from
Cambridge University in 1983.

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5. The CPU and the College Republicans Present:

David Horowitz, Author, Editor, and President of the Center for the
Study of Popular Culture

Friday, April 29th at 12:00 pm
Room 555, Alfred Lerner Hall

David Horowitz is the President of the Center for the Study of
Popular Culture, and a best-selling author and editor.
Horowitz earned a Bachelor's degree from Columbia University in 1959
and a Master's degree from the University of California at Berkeley
in 1961. He quickly became a leader of the New Left. During the
Sixties, he edited Ramparts magazine, an influential left-wing
journal. In the 1970s, dissatisfied with the consequences of
radical policies in America and abroad, Horowitz withdrew from
politics.

In 1978 Horowitz was honored with a Guggenheim Fellowship, and in
1990 he received the Teach Freedom Award from former President
Ronald Reagan.

During the Eighties, Horowitz's second thoughts about politics
crystallized. In their 1989 book Destructive Generation: Second
Thoughts About the Sixties, Horowitz and Peter Collier chronicled
the legacy of the New Left and its effects on American politics and
culture.

Horowitz's political journey is recounted in his autobiography,
Radical Son, which was published by the Free Press in February
1997. Horowitz went on to publish The Politics of Bad Faith in
1998; Hating Whitey and Other Progressive Causes in 1999, and, in
2000, The Art of Political War, which Bush chief campaign
strategist Karl Rove called a "must read."

In 1988, Horowitz created the Center for the Study of Popular
Culture. The Center boasts 20,000-plus members and publishes four
magazines, including Frontpagemag.com and Heterodoxy, a monthly
focusing on "political correctness and other follies."

David Horowitz has spoken at over 100 colleges and universities. He
has appeared on Nightline, Crossfire, Today, Good Morning America,
C-SPAN, CNBC, FoxNews Channel and CBS This Morning, and gives
hundreds of interviews yearly on radio and television.

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OTHER EVENTS

6. Columbia Taiwanese Student Association: Dr. Peng Ming-Min and
“the Case of Taiwanese”

Sunday, May 1st at 3:00 pm
Low Library

On May 1, 2005 at 3pm, former Taiwanese presidential candidate,
current senior Taiwanese presidential advisor, and the “godfather
of the Taiwanese self-determination movement”, Dr. Peng Ming-Min
will be giving his speech, “the Case of Taiwanese” at Low Library.
A reception will follow. The speech will be conducted in English.

The current tense situation in Taiwan and the Taiwan Straits has
been labeled as a volatile hotspot that may have devastating
consequences for all countries in the Asia-Pacific region. Dr.
Peng’s speech will be an excellent opportunity to understand and
learn more about Taiwan.

Dr. Peng Ming-Min’s Biography:

As a former political prisoner, Dr. Peng has spent more than 40
years (22 years in exile) fighting for Taiwan’s right for
self-determination. While a professor at National Taiwan
University, Dr. Peng wrote the “Declaration of Formosan
Self-Determination” in 1964. He was subsequently arrested while
attempting to publish his manifesto, but it marked the beginning of
the democratic movement on Taiwan. In 1996, Dr. Peng was the
Taiwanese presidential candidate for the Democratic Progressive
Party.

Currently a senior Taiwanese presidential advisor, Dr. Peng
continues to speak and work for the right of self-determination for
the Taiwanese people. Dr. Peng received a BA in political science
from National Taiwan University, and graduate degrees in law from
Mcgill University in Montreal, and the University of Paris. He came
within months from a degree at Tokyo University but was prematurely
ended with the close of World War II. Dr. Peng was the chairman of
the political science department at National Taiwan University and
has taught at the University of Michigan.

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