Columns

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

[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

Alliance of Jewish Progressives: Open letter to Eric Fingerhut

Guest Contributor

We join our peers on campuses across the country in imploring you to revoke your endorsement of Kenneth Marcus and ensure our safety and the safety of all students.

OPINION | 04/10/2018

The rigor that Princeton students take for granted

Jessica Nyquist

When course selection comes out right after the grind and frustration of midterms, it's tempting to seek out the classes whose course evaluations promise an “easy A.” Another semester of all-nighters in Sherrerd Hall sounds less appealing than two hours of lecture a week, one hour of reading, and an in-class midterm plus final. But, as we plan for our limited semesters here, we should keep in mind that it is this academic rigor — the constantly challenging material and ambitious curriculum — that drove us to Princeton in the first place.

OPINION | 04/10/2018

Never too Late

Guest Contributor

On April 12, 2011 — seven years ago today — a much-loved senior Spanish lecturer at the University killed himself. The University had suspended him without due process, and in seeming violation of its own procedures. In the time since, there has never been an independent investigation of what the University did. Whenever I think of my Princeton experience, the University’s actions around the death of a beloved community member is what I remember most of all.

OPINION | 04/10/2018

Finding flowers in a snowstorm

Leora Eisenberg

But more than anything, my professor’s ability to find beauty on that seemingly forsaken day left me speechless. I was prepared to let the afternoon go to waste, just as I was ready to declare my day earlier this week a total failure. But my beloved professor wasn’t. Instead of seeing the obvious ugliness that sometimes surrounds us, she chose, instead, to see something beautiful. She saw blossoms in the midst of a snowstorm.

OPINION | 04/10/2018

Modest and radical proposals

Modest and radical proposals

Sinan Ozbay

I disagree. While these people do hold severely and deeply incorrect views, I don’t think they are, for the most part, stupid, deranged, or vicious people. If the Republican thinks, for instance, that the U.S. government has a primary obligation to its citizens and that immigrants are bad for the country, then his conclusion about DACA would follow from his beliefs.

OPINION | 04/09/2018

In defense of architectural modernism: The School of Architecture

Gabe Lipkowitz

I hope to show that many of the qualities that some deride in fact possess tremendous value. When we critique other modernist buildings on campus like it, we should be careful not to overlook their perhaps subtle beauty.

OPINION | 04/09/2018

Friends, professors, students: How do we make lectures better?

Ryan Born

The unfortunate truth is, for most undergraduates, the majority of their time spent “learning” at Princeton is occupied by lectures. Last spring, I argued that professors should stop lecturing us; in other words, Princeton should get rid of lectures completely. Sadly, though unsurprisingly, the University has not ended lectures since the publication of my article.

OPINION | 04/08/2018

Mercy should be the guiding principle of Honor Code reform

Samuel Aftel

Compassion, reason, and mercy should be synthesized with a promotion of total academic integrity as core principles of the University’s Honor Code. In addition, faculty alone should not be the ones to establish the University’s principles — especially pertaining to the Honor Code, which has a direct and disproportionately substantial impact on student life.

OPINION | 04/08/2018

Straight Outta Asia

Dora Zhao

Asian Americans have a wide range of unique stories—stemming from their background, family, identity—that have been largely ignored by mass media. Instead, they are portrayed as one-dimensional tropes, creating the illusion that the Asian American experience is monolithic.

OPINION | 04/08/2018

Who holds the power?

Who holds the power?

Maya Eashwaran

Princeton students, between classes and clubs, must find time to educate themselves on what happens outside the Orange Bubble.

OPINION | 04/05/2018

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