Opinion

The Class of 2022 Pre-read, “Speak Freely: Why Universities Must Defend Free Speech,” is timely given the recent debate surrounding free speech on university campuses. President Eisgruber’s choice of Pre-read may help prevent events such as the disruptive and illiberal protests at The Evergreen State College from occurring at the University.

OPINION | 02/21/2018

Stop shootings: repeal the Second Amendment

Stop shootings: repeal the Second Amendment

Ryan Born

There’s no point in going for anything less than the absolute best outcome. Here’s my “modest” proposal: repeal the Second Amendment and ban firearms.

OPINION | 02/20/2018

Don't copy code

Guest Contributor

Plagiarism may occur on papers, problem sets, even JPs and theses — but by far the most common case, in my experience, has been computer code. A few particular COS classes account for a huge fraction of the academic cases I have heard in the past two years. I've gotten to know some COS assignments better from seeing them over and over again in plagiarism cases than I did from taking the class two years ago.

OPINION | 02/20/2018

Practical ways to improve Bicker

Liam O'Connor

Bicker is — and always will be — an imperfect system. It can, however, be improved so that students can compete on a level playing field. When Bicker returns again this fall, hopefully the eating clubs will make it fairer and more open for all students.

OPINION | 02/20/2018

Reject the misguided rhetoric of the Princeton Pro-Life “love” letter

Samuel Aftel

Providing love and other forms of emotional support to survivors of sexual violence is unambiguously important, but survivors need more than just that — they need unfettered access to health care services, which necessarily includes access to medically safe and legally protected abortions.

OPINION | 02/19/2018

What are we actually being graded on?

Thomas Clark

In order to differentiate the dozens of bright and hardworking students in a class, the grading system doesn’t measure how much a student learned, but how much he or she is willing to sacrifice for a class. For some students, this sacrifice will be sleep. For others, it will be extracurriculars. For yet others, mental health.

OPINION | 02/19/2018

Why I’ve Stopped Taking Life Too Seriously

Bhaamati Borkhetaria

Ultimately, my travels have taught me that Princeton is a stepping stool. It is not the end-all minting machine that stamps us with a completely certain and immovable identity

OPINION | 02/18/2018

Open Letter to Sophomores

Guest Contributor

Remember that eating clubs are only one potential aspect of your upperclassmen life. Decisions are scary, but they also lead to exciting changes!

OPINION | 02/17/2018

How three mass shootings became part of my story

Guest Contributor

Responsible gun safety legislation — or the lack thereof — is something that dominates my daily thoughts. Lately, I have even started having dreams in which I become a victim of someone armed with an assault rifle.

OPINION | 02/15/2018

Emptiness and consciousness: Still unseen limits of American politics

Louis René Beres

In the end, credulity remains America's worst enemy. Our still willing inclination to believe that personal and societal redemption can somehow lie in politics describes a potentially fatal disorder.

OPINION | 02/15/2018

Engaging with Science Culture

Engaging with Science Culture

Guest Contributor

At a time when so many scientists are eager to be civically engaged, it is critical for those in the technical fields to ask themselves — both as individuals and as a community — What does it mean to be an effective advocate? What does it mean to be socially involved? How does one act as a thoughtful ally?

OPINION | 02/15/2018

P/D/F-ing Happiness

Aparna Shankar

College students are unhappy, or at the very least, not living what they view as “the good life.” Cognizant of the fallacies in approaching happiness as academics, the new phenomenon of positive psychology in colleges must be approached cautiously.

OPINION | 02/14/2018

Not all noodles are ramen

Nicholas Wu

The way we think about unique cultural heritages in the United States needs to change. Differentiating culinary traditions across cultures — rather than conflating and generalizing these traditions — is vital to appreciating the qualitative uniqueness of cultures.

OPINION | 02/14/2018

Letter to the editor: a challenge to Rouse

Guest Contributor

Students who remained missed the opportunity to join their fellow students outside the classroom, to be curious about the histories and lived experiences that make this one word so intolerable.

OPINION | 02/14/2018

In defense of Ram Trucks’ MLK Super Bowl ad

In defense of Ram Trucks’ MLK Super Bowl ad

Rachel Kennedy

Super Bowl Sunday is essentially an American holiday. Rocky-Mathey dining hall featured a game day meal of wings, chili, and guacamole, and every TV on campus streamed in to the biggest day in sports. Some watch for the game, but some stick around just for the commercials. Companies are willing to pay NBC about 5 million dollars per every 30 seconds. Car company Ram Trucks invested heavily in a minute long slot for their ad featuring a recording of a sermon delivered by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., 50 years ago to the day. With his voice serving as the only audio, quick blips of a Ram truck trudging through mud spliced various scenes of service work.

OPINION | 02/14/2018

Letter from the Editor: Why I won't publish the word "n****r"

Marcia Brown

When we broke the story that night about the student’s reaction, we had to decide if we would print the word “n****r.” Because the story was explicitly about the word’s use, many expected that we would print it. In fact, some college newspapers have. We chose not to.

OPINION | 02/13/2018

Blood donation at Princeton: We're running low

Guest Contributor

We are lagging. Here at Princeton, a university devoted to serving the nation and all humanity, an institution with students committed to being change-agents in our world, we are falling behind. While our student body does its part in donating time, energy, winter coats, children’s books, and monetary support, Princeton is running low on blood donations. And with the February blood drive coming up just next week, it’s time for us to think about what that means for us as a community.

OPINION | 02/13/2018

Condemn or exonerate Rosen?

Ryan Born

Let’s settle this. Did Rosen do something wrong, or did the students overreact?

OPINION | 02/12/2018

It’s not you (and why you should accept that)

It’s not you (and why you should accept that)

Leora Eisenberg

When I look at myself on a good day, I don’t search for faults. I see an attractive, funny, smart young woman who enjoys life. But when I look at whatever goes wrong in my life, I see only faults. I see an ugly, stupid failure who ruins everything she touches — even when that’s just not true.

OPINION | 02/12/2018

Letter to the Editor: In defense of the students who walked out on Rosen

Guest Contributor

As an anthropologist teaching in the Princeton Writing Program whose courses regularly involve offensive material, I would like to weigh in on the recent controversy surrounding Lawrence Rosen’s use of the N-word in his class. In short, I write in support of the students who walked out on Rosen.

OPINION | 02/12/2018

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