Opinion

Whiteness as a construct, not a color

  The key distinction to be made is that the term whiteness refers to a construct, not a color. When saying that whiteness is the root of racism, it is not a castigation of all Caucasian people. Rather, it is the recognition and repudiation of a negative ideology founded in the imbalance of powers between races. Whiteness is far more about superiority than it is about color.

Challenge by choice

  At the beginning of each year, Outdoor Action encourages freshmen to, "choose to be challenged." It means that students should actively seek out difficult situations that push them outside of their comfort zone.  Now, I'm asking that all students choose to challenge themselves in the upcoming academic year. A liberal arts education is meant to expose students to bold new ideas. Take advantage of it. 

Incentives Gone Wrong

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A President's Job Is Never Done

Pumpkin Spice Punk

Precept

Speech is free: Sileo response

I am glad that you acknowledged that conservatives are ready and open to debate their opinions. I am also glad to hear that “conservative ideas are still valuable in moderation.” I wish that I could return the compliments.

What you don't want to hear

Without listening to and critically thinking about opinions – even when we know them to be fully, utterly wrong – we lose any reason to reexamine and reevaluate our own opinions. Without contemplation, we become complacent in our established beliefs, and eventually we simply accept them as truth.

Harvey came and Harvey went

Harvey hit every part of Houston. It didn’t discriminate based on race or class or political affiliation. In this way, the natural disaster eliminated the elements of our society that so often play a role in discussion and in our discourse. It equalized people, taking away semblances of difference and division. Everyone was hurt, and everyone is still hurting.  

Free Speech: A Response to Ryan Born

Ryan Born is within his First Amendment rights to express his appalling point of view, and in each of these possible interpretations of his intent, the rest of us have a moral obligation to condemn what he has said. Shame on him!  

The changing purpose of college

While a traditional liberal arts education is intellectually uplifting, another may ask: is it worthwhile considering the jobs required today? 

Princeton for Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico, home to over 3.4 million American citizens, just went through one of the most severe natural disasters in its history when Hurricane Maria unleashed a siege of flooding and winds upon it.

Open Letter: PGSU on divergent perspectives

PGSU: "There is no room in a civil, democratic society for these two positions to 'debate' on an even playing field. Allowing or encouraging such “debate” does not affirm 'free speech' but instead threatens many people whose safety and personhood has long been devalued." 

Why can't Spain and Catalonia just get along?

Last week, the Spanish police arrested 14 Catalan officials in Barcelona. The conflict between the Catalans and the Spanish government has escalated in recent weeks, ahead of a referendum scheduled for October 1, in which Catalans want to decide whether to remain in Spain or to become independent. 

Reconcile politics with principle

So you want to start a company?

Too much of a good thing

It was in that moment that I realized I had adopted an unpopular and possibly sacrilegious opinion among college students: I dislike free food.

Speech is free

A different kind of bubble

“Can I say Mandarin to describe the language that you are speaking?” “What do you mean your Chinese name isn’t Flora?” These sorts of questions were met with hilarity from Chinese people who had never been so brashly questioned by a foreigner. But the answers were kindly given, even if they were also condescending. I accepted it and took the time to understand that the answers were usually this one person’s opinion or explanation, not representative of the entire Chinese populace.

CAT 5 in the VI

The date was September 6. The news said that the force of Hurricane Irma would hit later that day. We were as prepared as we could be and braced for the storm. The wind gradually grew stronger as the day got longer and the night drew nearer. My Mom, Dad, and I stepped outside on our patio many times to see increasingly worsening conditions. Our last outside visit before Irma invaded was seeing one of our fondest trees enduring such high wind force bashing that it cracked in half, like an inflatable stick man used in car advertisements.