These are the kind of unlikable, lovable protagonists we miss; these are the self-loathing, mediocre secret geniuses who can set our people free.

Lydia Millet's

But you'd be wrong. The Internet is very good at generating gossip, but lousy at the dogged work of transforming rumor into news. And the national press almost seems more uncertain about when and whether to probe into politicians' private lives

I believe that political parties should do penance for their mistakes and just losing power is not enough. Part of that involves understanding why those mistakes were made and how to prevent them from happening again. Republicans, however, have done no penance. They just pretend that they did nothing wrong. But until they do penance they don't deserve any credibility and should be ignored until they do. That's what my attacks on Bush are all about. I want Republicans to admit they were wrong about him, accept blame for his mistakes, and take some meaningful action to keep them from happening again. Bush should be treated as a pariah, as Richard Nixon was for many years until he rebuilt his credibility by more or less coming clean about Watergate with David Frost and writing a number of thoughtful books.

One reason this isn't happening is because the media don't treat Republicans as if they are discredited. On the contrary, they often seem to be treated as if they have more credibility than the administration. Just look at the silly issue of death panels. The media should have laughed it out the window, ridiculed it or at least ignored it once it was determined that there was no basis to the charge. Instead, those making the most outlandish charges are treated with deference and respect, while those that actually have credibility on the subject are treated as equals at best and often with deep skepticism, as if they are the ones with an ax to grind.

I am truly baffled by this situation, as I'm sure you are.

What if losing power was their mistake ?

The changes have been fortunate for Katie Rice, 21, a senior at Hendrix and long-time guide here, who does not even know when her school was founded -- "I just tell my groups it was a long time ago," she says -- and who never did get the hang of walking backward.

"Look at these shoes," she said the other day,...

Though some have done so on their own, others have been urged to turn their guides around by a private consulting firm called Target X. It charges colleges thousands of dollars to "audit" their tours and look at other aspects of how they present themselves to visitors, including visitor parking.

What did stick was her guide telling her group about a theme night in the cafeteria that commemorated the fall of the Berlin Wall.

"He told us how, on the east side of the room, the cooks removed all the salt and pepper shakers, took all the tablecloths away and served really bad food," she said. "On the west side, they gave nice German candy and decorated the place really well."

Hendrix has emerged as enough of a pace-setter for the modern campus tour that administrators from as far away as Bennington College in Vermont have traveled to Arkansas to see the program.