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Hooray for Babel!
Here at the Mac Weekly, we love a little healthy competition. In fact, we invite it. When we found copies of Babel’s inaugural issue, we quaked with pleasure at the mere thought of a new rival. Then we realized, this stuff is way beyond us.

Thumbs up to Babel for finally giving voice to a chorus that has been waiting in the wings for much too long. Though we were just a tad confused by all the story jumps and the often whacky layout, the content of this international ‘zine made us remember why we came to Macalester. Here, and here alone, can we students find a forum to discuss our tumultuous relationships with nation, geography, expatriation, and the environment. We recognized among Babel’s extensive staff list several of our own contributors, and were pleased to see that it’s still true: kids at Mac have something important to say.

Say It Ain’t So, K-Fed
It took two years, but it’s time for us to give Britney Spears and Kevin Federline a thumbs down for finally accepting the inevitable and splitting up. Their marriage produced two children and provided temporary inspiration for millions of washed-up pop stars and down-on-their-luck gold diggers, far more than your typical “till death do us part” union. But reality struck, so our prayers are with Britney and K-Fed in this difficult time and the difficult times that are sure to follow. As if plotting her long-dreaded (attempt to) return to stardom wasn’t enough, Britney is going to be preoccupied for a while with Kevin’s suit for sole custody of her children. Which raises all sorts of ethical questions about whether celebrity couples should even be allowed to have kids, but that’s for another opinion column.

What’s at stake here isn’t just the happiness of vapid, self-absorbed couples across the country. What’s at stake here is the right that every single teenage girl (and, deep down, every single teenage guy too) has to believe that true love between two people can overcome their lust for money, power, and general media exposure. We need more couples like Britney and K-Fed—couples who can give us false hope about human nature and then ruthlessly crush it under the bootheel of an excruciating custody battle.