" "To form a more perfect union" was the theme of this year's SF pride parade featuring a number of performers and speakers including Lt. Dan Choi. It truly felt like as much a celebration of Pride as it did a political protest against the state supreme court's support of ban on same-sex marriage.

Columbia received a "red light" rating (not good) for its free speech policy from FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights in Education). FIRE cited overly broad sexual harassment and e-mail policies as justification. Does this rating match the reality of free speech here? 

Summer break is finally here, and Cub Pub will be taking a vacation until the fall semester begins. But don't worry, the staff will return over the break to give its two-cents on whatever may develop in politics and around the world. Thanks for reading Cub Pub this year. Next year, we'll have more content, more opinions, and new features, so be sure to come back to the Pub.

In case you missed it, here are some highlights from Monday's event (sponsored by CU Republicans):

• "I think we've had enough of this experiment with women's suffrage"
• "I'll give up my right to vote if you give it up first!"
• "Now remember, in this scenario ... we're still the ones with the guns." (re: Women getting men to vote the way they want)
• "At least I got as warm a welcome as Ahmadinejad."
• Q: What's the one thing you regret most having said? A: Well, I said something nice about Hillary once.
• "Republicans get yelled at for chosing a VP with the middle name 'Danforth' because it sounds too elitist. And liberals choose a 'Hussein' to run for Preisdent."
• "You want unity? Come over to my side! Then we'll be unified."
• "If waterbording were torture, then people would stop electing to have it done to them to prove that it isn't. If we were talking about cutting off limbs, we wouldn't be having this conversation."
• "When I heard rumors -- that were later proved false -- that interrogators at Gitmo were flushing the Qur'an down the toilet, my first resposne was, 'They have flushing toilets at Gitmo?'"

This week CPU hosted long-time news correspondent Maggie Hickey who discussed the life a TV News Reporter. For an audience of aspiring journalists and politics fans, Hickey described the demands in one day of work at CBS 2 News and addressed some recent controversies over TV media.  

Here is the first part of Hickey's typical day. She wakes up at 2:25 AM. She listens to the news headlines on 880 at 2:30 AM. She calls in to CBS at 3:00 AM. She gets to the newsroom at 3:30 AM and receives her assignment. She has until 4:00 AM to research and write her coverage. At 4:00 AM, she turns in her story to the executive producer for copy editing. After that, she goes to the edit room and works with the video editor to find pictures  that will go with her voice-over. The finished story airs on the 5:00 AM newscast. And I thought 9 AM class was bad. 

RESIGNATION Justice David Souter expresses his intention to resign from the Supreme Court.

SOUND ADVICE Vice President Joe Biden doesn't want his family members to ride on subways or fly on airplanes because of swine flu.  You should heed his advice.

NYC COLLEGE EXPANSION Columbia isn't the only school in NYC that has plans for growing its campus.

Today, we present a guest column from Jacob Miller, CC '11 on smoking policy. Just to offer some brief background, it may be worth noting that the Spectator refused to run the piece, apparently because they disagreed with the author's opinion itself. But Cub Pub is dedicated to the voicing of all opinions, so here's the piece. Find the rest of it after the jump.

Smoking is bad––so says the United States government, so says the American Cancer Association, and––most importantly––so says television. Their information has so thoroughly saturated our society that I cannot imagine that there are many left who do not know that smoking is bad for them. Yet about 1 in 5 Americans are smokers (1).  Why, then, do they do it?

Because nicotine is a wonderful drug; it improves memory (2), alertness (3), and concentration (4), ––the literature on the cognitive benefits of nicotine is massive. And unlike some other drugs that similarly sharpen the mind, nicotine doesn’t have many unpleasant side effects.

The Strategic Triad under New Leaderships: Confidence Building Measures and Prospects for Cooperation Between Taipei, Beijing, and Washington

Shih Chun Liu, who used to be senior counselor to the President of Taiwan (2000- 2006) and vice chairperson of the research and planning committee in Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2006-2008), and Bonnie S. Glaser, who was a consultant for the United States government on East Asia and currently a writer of various topics on China’s relations among other positions, were the speakers. The moderator was Andrew Nathan, a professor of Political Science at Columbia who is an expert on East Asian relations.

BOMBING IN BAGHDAD 41 people were killed and 68 wounded as two car bombs drove through a busy market

CHAIRMAN OF BOA GONE Walter E. Massey succeeds Kenneth D. Lewis after shareholders voted him out of his position as chairman

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION After a toddler was found dead in Texas, the WHO raises swine flu alert level saying "A pandemic is imminent"

ECONOMY STILL SUCKS Schools in NY are eliminating trays in order to save money