Opinion

The beauty of not knowing

One of the reasons we come to the University is to accumulate knowledge, but a more important aspect is the building of our capacity to understand how that knowledge is useful. Perhaps, since any factoid can be unearthed immediately, the new frontier of not knowing exists exclusively in the realm of sophisticated problem solving — Princeton teaching us how to think.

Editorial: Join the Editorial Board

Today, instead of taking a stance on an issue, we would like to explain the editorial process and invite interested freshmen, sophomores and juniors to apply to join the Board.

On TigerTracks

But every time I log into TigerTracks, it feels like a hassle. Will I find something useful, or won’t I? How often do I have to log in to find a relevant position — every day, week, month? Do I need to upload an updated resume? Was I automatically logged out again? For what it’s worth, I do find TigerTracks to be pretty good. Pretty, pretty, pretty … pretty good. However, I would suggest a few updates.

Cartoon: Beer goggles

Un-justifications for Bicker

It’s hard to deny that, at its core, Bicker is elitist, demeaning and sometimes shockingly cruel. Saying that Bicker is a necessary evil is one thing (though I disagree), but claiming that it’s not problematic is another.

The trouble with take-home exams

In a large body of students, a few will always be tempted to cheat if the opportunity presents itself, but if surreptitiously glancing at a fellow classmate’s test or your own notes is already considered blatant cheating, almost nobody thinks of doing what the Harvard students did. However, because the usual prohibited behaviors were allowed, the format acted as sort of gateway to more extreme methods of cheating.

On adulthood

It’s not really a groundbreaking assertion that college isn’t the real world. We live on our own, away from our parents and families, but we’re not really on our own.

Embracing my mother's tyranny

My hunch is that other women have something most women in Slaughter’s demographic don’t — a support network that reaches beyond the nuclear family to more distant relatives and friends. It seems that families with lower incomes on the whole tend to live closer to one another — if not together — and interact more frequently.

Cartoon: Grade inflation

In defense of (true) leadership

By creating a dichotomy of leaders and followers, you ignore the complexity of human ability. Every great leader has, at one point, had to follow. I would go so far as to say that true leaders understand the necessity of being able to take direction, to surrender notions of ultimate authority and to value more logical systems of checks and balances.

Dolce far niente

While I enjoy moving forward in this amazing crowd of future senators, Pulitzer Prize-winning authors, mol-bio researchers and the like, I must admit that sometimes I feel as if I’m walking while everyone is sprinting before the words “ready, set, go” have even been said.

Senior seminars

Here’s my pitch: Princeton should create a program modeled after the freshman seminars for second-semester seniors.

Cartoon: More Adventurous

Ethics of finance

There needs to be an undergraduate course at Princeton that addresses the ethics of finance. It’s a no-brainer, really, or at least it ought to be, especially in light of the recent fiscal crisis; the growing inequality our country faces; the Sandy Hook tragedy and the arms-manufacturing divestment responses of many Americans, including Princeton alumni and faculty and the fact that one-third of Princeton graduates go into the financial sector. By not offering such a course (or courses), Princeton falls short of its educational mission.

Cartoon: The Notebook

Leadership schmeadership

The more I work in groups and observe their dynamics, the more certain I am that the idea that everyone should be a leader is a misplaced ideal. In fact, I would go as far as to say that it is a person’s following potential, not their leadership potential, that maps more closely with academic and social success.

More than Bin Laden

Rarely does a different perspective on Pakistan make its way into the headlines of major newspapers. Most readers in the West are completely ignorant of the country’s contemporary society, rich cultural heritage, mystic traditions and great intellectuals.

Letter from the editor

In some ways, this is a departure from the past, when the printed version represented the core of our identity. Nevertheless, both online and in print, our mission remains the same: to inform the University community on key campus issues and to provide the analysis that our readers cannot get anywhere else.

On-campus social events

In recent years the University has attempted to improve campus-based social life, partly in an effort to reduce the influence of the eating clubs and increase school spirit. The Board believes the high attendance at events such as the Silent Disco and the dodgeball tournament is evidence of potential for sustained success in hosting University-based social events that attract a broad swath of campus.

The very model of a modern major major

Why is computer science so popular all of a sudden? Leaving aside its intrinsic interest, of which there is some, perhaps to concerned undergrads and their parents it seems like a path to a good job in uncertain economic times.