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Exclusive even before matriculation

Exclusive even before matriculation

Noa Wollstein

Instead of only explaining how great the myriad groups here are, playing into our cliquish reputation, we should assure the prefrosh that it’s alright to take time to adjust to college life before plunging into extracurricular activities and groups.

OPINION | 04/25/2018

Looking for Latin America in the history department

Looking for Latin America in the history department

Guest Contributor

In the fall of 2018, Princeton’s history department will offer sixty-four courses. Of those courses, none are cross-listed with the Program in Latin American Studies.

OPINION | 04/24/2018

Pooping in the shower is Princeton’s new normal: A letter to the heads of Princeton University

Pooping in the shower is Princeton’s new normal: A letter to the heads of Princeton University

Guest Contributor

Imagine a crowded living space with bad plumbing, old hallways, and exposed pipes, where toilets overflow and make an unsanitary disaster, where human feces are found in the shower, urine found in trash cans, shower curtains removed as pranks, and then people of color and people of unprivileged socioeconomic backgrounds have to clean it all up. You don’t have to imagine it to believe it. This place exists here at Princeton University, the number one school in the country.

OPINION | 04/24/2018

Forget money and study what you love

Forget money and study what you love

Samuel Aftel

Life is short. Why not spend it doing something that fulfills you?

OPINION | 04/24/2018

The compassionate university

The compassionate university

Guest Contributor

There is a university that exists where everyone says hi to each other. They greet one another with a warm embrace, arms outstretched and welcoming. Most of the time, the hugs aren’t hollow. Everyone eats together. They live together. Community is more than a euphemism. Apartness is elided. Where does this university exist? Not here, certainly. It is clear that our University is not this university. But it could be.

OPINION | 04/23/2018

Everything in its context: Waltzing in a big room

Everything in its context: Waltzing in a big room

Allison Huang

At least for this PPE concert, considering context has inevitably opened up the question of purpose: Why was I so resistant to adapting my piece? I hesitated because I had not anticipated these changes, and because they went against much of what I had learned as a soloist. But this is the Pianists Ensemble, and I do not walk onto the stage as a soloist.

OPINION | 04/23/2018

McCosh needs to increase access to sexual health services

Morgan Lucey

Although the clinic is open 24 hours a day, emergency contraception is only available during business hours, when a doctor or nurse trained in sexual healthcare is available. To obtain emergency contraception, one has to endure a conversation with a nurse or doctor about safe sex. When one is so vulnerable regarding their sexual activity, having to speak with a relative stranger at length about it only makes an already uncomfortable situation worse.

OPINION | 04/23/2018

Reunions are forever

Reunions are forever

Liam O'Connor

For the past two Mondays, gaggles of elated high school seniors have been wandering around campus with their bright-orange folders for Princeton Preview. Despite the myriad activities — ranging from a cappella shows to public lectures — Preview is missing a significant aspect of Princeton which no prospective student should leave without knowing about.

OPINION | 04/19/2018

The Review Committee should go back to the drawing board

Rachel Kennedy

The Princeton University Board Plan Review Committee has been reviewing dining hall options for the past two years, and this week released a memo detailing possible changes for both under and upperclassmen. Although well-intentioned, this proposal seems to place more limitations on students rather than facilitating student’s growth towards making healthy decisions for themselves.

OPINION | 04/18/2018

The label of an accent

The label of an accent

Sabrina Sequeira

Native English speaker or not, you have an accent. So does the girl sitting next you, and so do I. We all vocalize our thoughts with different rhythms, intonations, percussiveness, and inflections. Even within the United States, people speak English differently. Despite this natural tendency, we are keen to point out the “accents” of those who speak differently from how we do.

OPINION | 04/17/2018

The problem with room draw proxies

Hunter Campbell

As we enter room draw and draw times are released, many will find that their draw time(s) are at inconvenient hours, specifically from 9 a.m. through 7 p.m. on weekdays. During these hours, most students will either be in lecture, lab, precept, or another prior commitment, creating a high likelihood of conflict. Many students feel forced to get proxies to cover for them during their draw time, which can be inconvenient and stressful. This nuisance can be prevented through simple policy changes.

OPINION | 04/17/2018

The right way to increase accountability

Guest Contributor

I believe that the mere potential for this process to take place will encourage the Committee leadership to think more critically about its behavior and professionalism. This referendum would help remedy an Honor Committee in desperate need of transparency and accountability, so I strongly encourage you to vote YES.

OPINION | 04/17/2018

Discriminatory meal plan changes under the guise of ‘community engagement’

Discriminatory meal plan changes under the guise of ‘community engagement’

Zoe Zeitler

My phone-typed response soon had the length of an essay, and I’m sharing part of that here. As an engineering major focused on sustainable design, and a health-focused individual who treasures the interpersonal warmth of a great meal, I’ve long taken issue with the required meal plans at this university. The forced predetermination of one’s food and eating place is incomprehensible to my friends and family, in Germany and across the globe.

OPINION | 04/17/2018

The hidden costs of proposed dining plans

The hidden costs of proposed dining plans

Guest Contributor

If the Board Plan Review Committee is truly concerned about flexibility, they should not make any meal plan mandatory. Affordability can be addressed by simply increasing the annual stipend or granting more free meal swipes. Quality of life should not be sacrificed for supposed efficiency, which keeps costs down for the University while the most vulnerable student populations.

OPINION | 04/17/2018

Class conflict: Can we make course scheduling better?

Ryan Born

We’re all told to maximize our time here, and no one will argue that the classes you choose are going impact that time. Part of what you choose is the options you’re presented with, and course times are a big part of how we schedule our lives. Who knows how many people have left Princeton without experiencing that one life-changing class, that one class that made it all worth it, because Introduction to Spanish is at 1:30 p.m., and so is everything else.

OPINION | 04/15/2018

The wrong way to increase Honor Committee accountability

Connor Pfeiffer

This week, the USG election ballot includes yet another referendum to amend the Honor Constitution. Unlike the referenda from the fall, however, this proposal does not touch on the committee’s penalties or procedures. Instead, it focuses on the leadership of the committee itself. The referendum, if adopted, would create a procedure for a member of the Honor Committee to challenge the incumbent chair or clerk for their position. Regardless of your views on the Honor Committee and the fall referenda, this proposal should concern every student.

OPINION | 04/15/2018

The subtle uneasiness of being Chinese-American

Guest Contributor

Feeling ridiculed and disrespected is a universally shared experience that all types of people have felt on different scales.

OPINION | 04/15/2018

Let's be honest: The Panera shooting was a tragedy

Let's be honest: The Panera shooting was a tragedy

Nicholas Wu

So, what we’re left with is simply more questions, and it’s incumbent on good journalists to dig further, and for the State Attorney Generals’ office to release more information on the exact circumstances of the shooting on March 20. For our community’s part, Princeton seems to want to sweep the memory of the shooting away. A window was shot out in the Panera on the day of the shooting; it was replaced by evening the next day, as I walked by. And then a week later, Panera reopened, as if nothing had ever happened. “We remodeled,” read a cheery sign outside the storefront.

OPINION | 04/12/2018

[APPLY NOW!] Waste(Land) of Opportunity

Jinn Park

The University should have more consistent institutional guidance for underclassmen, who are still confused as to where they see themselves in the near future.

OPINION | 04/11/2018

Fighting fire with fire: Campus carry

Maya Eashwaran

It is imperative, in today’s environment, to seriously view campus carry as a burden in an intellectual sense, as Makalani writes, and in a physical safety sense.

OPINION | 04/11/2018

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