URBAN JOURNAL: Real school reform? No ‘social promotion'

URBAN JOURNAL: Will politics plunge us into war with Iran?

Mary Anna Towler on February 14th, 2012 - 0 Comments

The foreboding sense that we're headed toward war in Iran keeps returning, like a bad case of the flu. The threat seemed to subside after George Bush left the White House, but now it's back. And the presidential election campaign is adding...

URBAN JOURNAL: Religion, politics, and women's health

Mary Anna Towler on February 7th, 2012 - 10 Comments

Let me say first that this is not a simple issue. I wish the Republican presidential candidates weren't pretending that it is. And let me say, too, that I admire a lot about the Catholic Church. It has been a leader in human rights in many,...

COMMENTARY: The school board's correct decision on condom policy

Tim Louis Macaluso on January 31st, 2012 - 1 Comment

For a school district, giving students access to condoms in school is a dramatic step. I get the controversy. Passions run high when the discussion turns to teens having sex. But let's be honest: many teens do have sex. As difficult...

URBAN JOURNAL: Lessons from Newt

Mary Anna Towler on January 24th, 2012 - 8 Comments

Newt Gingrich now stands a good chance of being the Republican presidential nominee. I'm not sure politics can get any weirder than this. Gingrich is a long way from sewing up the nomination, obviously. But last week was quite a week. And...

URBAN JOURNAL: The trouble(s) in Rochester

Mary Anna Towler on January 17th, 2012 - 2 Comments

Our little burg feels like a glass half empty, half full right now, and you can see that reflected in the national focus on us over the past few weeks. On the half-empty side: the threat of a Kodak bankruptcy is still in the air, and the...