#verbatim
Herman Cain speaks at NU about goals, cultural sensitivity, protecting the environment
Last night, conservative politician, former pizza magnate, and Pokémon master Herman Cain was invited by Northwestern College Republicans and the Young America’s Foundation to speak to the Northwestern community. His topics included the importance of goals and dreams, growing up in a working-class household, his professional career, his political aspirations and his ignorance of early 2000′s popular culture. Also spotted in the entourage was Cain’s infamous smoking campaign manager Mark Block. Students responded well to Cain’s speech, often clapping at points and laughing at Cain’s jokes. A number of presumably liberal students also laughed at several more conservative statements Cain made, but overall the atmosphere was energetic and amicable. Check out some of Cain’s best quotes from the evening, after the jump. more 
Harvard’s Steven Pinker discusses the decrease in violence
In his lecture Monday night, Steven Pinker said that violence has been on the decline since World War II. Seemingly equal ratio of adults and students filled Ryan Auditorium to hear Pinker give his lecture, “A History of Violence,” the first in NU’s Contemporary Thought Speaker Series. Pinker is a psychology professor at Harvard University and a best-selling author of multiple books on the decline of violence in recent times. He spent much of the lecture explaining statistics that prove the amount of violence in the world has decreased in the last century. After his lecture, Pinker took questions from the audience, most of which implied a disbelief in the decline in violence. Check out the highlights after the jump. more
Andrew Breitbart talks liberal media machine, tea party, Occupy
A crowd of older Evanston residents and a few Northwestern students packed into Swift 107 Tuesday night to hear a talk entitled “Hollywood, the Media, and Obama: How Elites are Taking Away Your Freedoms,” from Andrew Breitbart. Breitbart is a political commentator who has spoken many times at national Tea Party conventions and on Fox News, and has launched numerous websites including Breitbart.com, BigGovernment.com, BigJournalism.com and BigHollywood.com. College Republicans and Young America’s Foundation brought the commentator to campus. While Breitbart may be a sensationalist speaker, he doesn’t stack up to top political consultants Mike Murphy and David Axelrod, brought to campus last week by College Dems. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that College Dems have a yearly budget nearly eight times that of College Republicans. Oh, Northwestern. more
Levy talks Judaism, “American Pie,” and masturbation at Hillel-sponsored event
Students crowded into Ryan Auditorium last night to hear “A Conversation with Eugene Levy,” an event sponsored by Hillel. Despite his comedic roles, Levy doesn’t consider himself a comedian. And this certainly wasn’t a stand-up routine. Levy spent much of the night discussing how his Judaic faith influences his acting. Still, he threw in enough references to “American Pie” and masturbation to appease his fans. After the jump, Levy’s most notable quotes. more
