Campus should focus less on selectivity
Regarding ‘Tower Club sets record, 217 bicker,’ (Monday, Feb. 11, 2008):
The preoccupation with selectivity on this campus is disgusting. Even Nassau Hall constantly reminds us by hosing people from the Wilson School and Orange Key. Tower is a great members’ club and has enjoyed tremendous popularity because of our relaxed and friendly bicker process and club culture. To be fixated on the question of “selectivity” is foolhardy. Every club’s bicker pool and membership is self-selecting to a degree. Some students do participate in Bicker simply to have bickered a club rather than signed in. But to say that pejoratively discounts the many advantages of being a bicker club.
When we accepted 104 new members I knew something about each one of them and could refer to them by name, even if they had no clue who I was. Tower is a bigger club than some, so others might argue that there are more tight-knit communities on the Street; however, the bicker process does help bring us together as a club and create a feeling of inclusion for the new members. I think in such arguments we all lose sight of the fact that membership in any club, holistically speaking, is an amazing thing. There are 10 mansions for us to eat in, study in and party in, and anyone who judges someone based on which of these mansions they hang out in really loses sight of how lucky we are.
Jon Fernandez ’08
President emeritus, Tower Club
Column misunderstood nature of faith
Regarding ‘Fides quaerens intellectum,’ (Monday, Feb. 11, 2008):
While I appreciated the economic content of Prof. Reinhardt’s recent opinion article, I do not think his analogy between faith and economics can hold true, unless I have misunderstood his idea of economics, or he has misunderstood faith. I venture to guess the latter.
Prof. Reinhardt makes two errors, the first of which is to define faith (implicitly) as believing a proposition in spite of all evidence to the contrary, a definition which is simply incorrect. Faith is the acceptance of a proposition on the testimony of another and because of that testimony. If Christ says, “I am the Son of God,” and I believe him, then that is faith. If Christ says, “I am a walrus,” and I know that not to be true but believe it anyway, then I am simply stupid. Prof. Reinhardt seems to indicate that he thinks modern economics professors mostly fall in the latter camp, but if he therefore thinks they evince “faith” in the religious sense of the term, he is very far off the mark.
Prof. Reinhardt’s second error (besides assuming that a substantial number of Catholic priests think the virgin birth didn’t happen) is to characterize fides quaerens intellectum as the attempt to construct an artificial intellectual framework around a fundamentally false proposition. It is actually the rigorous philosophical project of understanding the implications behind accepting so monumental a proposition as Christ’s “Before Abraham was, I am.” For a better idea of what this entails, see the complete works of Thomas Aquinas. For a better understanding of what the noun “faith” means, Prof. Reinhardt (and all interested parties) could be referred, to begin with, to the late Prof. Josef Pieper’s excellent essay “Faith.”
Intellectus fidei Professori Reinhardto quaerendus est.
Brendan Carroll ’11
Setting the facts straight on Schwarzenegger's primary endorsement
Regarding ‘Just ask Oprah,’ (Thursday, Feb. 7, 2008):
Alexis Levinson ’10 erroneously stated in her Thursday column that California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger supports the presidential ambitions of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.).
In fact, the Gubernator announced his enthusiastic support for the campaign of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in a widely reported endorsement prior to the California primary. Schwarzenegger chose McCain in large part because of the senator’s outspoken commitment to the environment and to the spirit of bipartisanship.
Schwarzenegger’s endorsement of McCain is one of many from among the most respected names in modern American politics.
I would hope that Alexis would be more attentive to the facts next time she writes on the election, and shame on the ‘Prince’ for, as always, having such poor fact-checking!
Rob Bernstein ’08
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Why can’t lecturers win the President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching?
Jerry ZhuLet’s acknowledge those who make “boutique teaching” possible, those who work tirelessly to make our rigorous curricula more accessible, and those who dedicate their time to advising and guiding us through all the challenges we face at this University. Lecturers should be eligible for the President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching.
Let’s acknowledge those who make “boutique teaching” possible, those who work tirelessly to make our rigorous curricula more accessible, and those who dedicate their time to advising and guiding us through all the challenges we face at this University. Lecturers should be eligible for the President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching.
Princeton’s administration of justice is Trumpian
Frances BroganThe disparity between the University’s approach to Giberson and its approach to pro-Palestinian protestors reflects a concerning trend of appeasing an increasingly emboldened right rather than resisting the threat it poses to academic freedom and the wellbeing of Princeton students.
Secular Opening Exercises? Don’t throw out the baby with the bath water
Frank StrasburgerThe secular makes no room for the spiritual. What Opening Exercises are meant to convey is the spirit of the institution so that it may be kept alive from generation to generation.
The secular makes no room for the spiritual. What Opening Exercises are meant to convey is the spirit of the institution so that it may be kept alive from generation to generation.
