[Chief Engineer]

And from all I have read thus far, isn’t it amazing that “Newsweek” and “The Chicago Tribune” both quote a William Araiza as remembering him at Columbia? (ref post#5656) and this article in the Trib.

http://www.mcall.com/features/religion/chi-0703291042mar30,0,4687477.story

There is a slight discrepancy between the two articles though. The Trib has Araiza taking an International Politics class with Obama, while the Newsweek article has the two attending a political science seminar. There is quite a difference between a class and a seminar IMO.

[Fred Nerks]

Obama has portrayed most of his Occidental days as a haze of pseudoradical talk, parties, alcohol and illicit drugs -- not an uncommon experience for college students of that day.

Some took Obama's professed radicalism as posturing. "I was impressed by the sharpness of Barry's intellect and, like many, his effortless charm," said classmate Mark Dery, a journalism professor at New York University. But "I also harbored an instinctual suspicion of his ... suave demeanor."

So even before he transferred to Columbia, someone was a wake-up to him? Mark Dery had good instincts.

[Fred Nerks]

Credit where credit is due, texasdarlin doesn’t let any grass grow under their feet; lookie here:

http://texasdarlin.wordpress.com/2008/09/12/obamas-ties-to-ayers-back-to-high-school/

Obama’s Ties to Ayers: Back to High School?
September 12, 2008 by texasdarlin

“...How long has Barack Obama really known William Ayers, what is the true extent of their association, and what are the roots of Obama’s ties to the Weather Underground?

The answers are disturbing...