Opinion

Bottomless pit

If you had told me a year ago that I would be volunteering for Annual Giving ’12, I would have laughed at you, and told you to please stage an intervention. I am a senior, and let’s face it — between writing my thesis and writing Facebook statuses about my thesis, I am really busy. But when a close friend asked me to help out, I was in dire need of some good karma and happily obliged. So now I have a stack of materials on my desk, a list of names and every excuse in the book for why we should not donate.

Cartoon: Junior year in perspective

I'm not done yet

There is little reason to embattle the extremely limited terms we occupy in college organizations. Still, I challenge all Princeton students, whether in your first or final months on this campus, to take on an awareness of these limitations — an awareness that equips us to fight the urge to quit when we have only just begun.

The myth of campus apathy

Where does the label of ‘apathy’ come from? Most of my friends at Princeton care about politics; they follow the Republican primaries, watch The Daily Show and identify with certain political philosophies just as much as the next college student — which is to say, not obsessively, but not indifferently either.

Protecting internet creativity

The Internet is a valuable tool whose potential has not yet been fully discovered. PIPA/SOPA risked so many unintended consequences that their burial, even if only temporary, is a comfort. Something will be done about Internet media piracy, however, and I believe it will happen soon. The legislators that oversee this process ought to take great heed to devise a plan that minimizes any impact on the Internet. Understandably, this is hard for our elected officials given the tremendous lobbying pressure from large media corporations.

Making it better

The homophobic bullying that we see in places like Ridgefield High School is a witch-hunt. There is no response to the accusation of homosexuality, no hope for “conversion,” not even a fake one. These kids — both the bullies and their victims — view homosexuality as biological, genetic and irreversible. Lady Gaga says you were born this way and should embrace it. For young people, you were born this way, so you are irredeemably cursed. You are doomed long before you’ve even committed the sin of homosexual sex, often even before you know you want to commit that sin.

Princetonese

Thesis Research

Training for excellence

TFA is a contentious issue. The program maintains that it sends the best and brightest into the field to close the achievement gap, nurturing an interest in education and educational policy that turns corps members toward those fields later in life. TFA’s opponents argue that it places unprepared and under-qualified people in the very positions that require the most experienced, most dedicated teachers.

Shopping seminars

udents have spent the past two weeks shopping classes to determine their final schedules for the rest of the spring. This shopping process is an important one because it enables students to try many classes and ultimately enroll only in those that best suit their interests. This flexibility leads students to try courses in disciplines they might not otherwise explore with the assurance that, if they don’t enjoy the first few lectures, they can always revert to their more established academic interests. However, allowing students to shop classes yields a more interested and invested group of students. Furthermore, the University administration also acknowledges the importance of this period by lifting the fees for adding or dropping a course during these first two weeks.

Yellow ribbons and tiger stripes

I’m sure that any veteran who gains admission to Princeton will receive plenty of aid — enough to make it possible for him or her to study here. But that’s not the point. Establishing a Yellow Ribbon program at a top college means more than taking advantage of a government offer. It shows that the university actively encourages veterans to apply.

Cartoon: Triple 8

Editorial: Expanding Career Services

There are far more organizations doing interesting work in public service than Princeton Internships in Civic Service and the International Internship Program can support. As a result, Career Services and the University administration should expand these programs or create new programs like them. Otherwise, the opportunities available to Princeton students in public service provided by the University will fail to match the wide variety of opportunities that could be available to them in this field.

A modest proposal for Princeton

What better way to educate oneself about the harsh reality of life than by incorporating it into our sports?

Mindful eating

In the hectic world of Princeton, full of school work, extracurricular activities and parties, mindful eating could be the reflective moment we all need to feel restored and in tune with ourselves.

Letters to the Editor: Feb. 16, 2012

Brad Corrodi explains the IAS's planning application. Kip Cherry and Bill Spadea write about the historical importance of the battlefield. 

Cartoon: With and without you

The case of expanding gender-neutral housing

While we applaud the 2012-13 GNH expansions to additional double rooms in the upperclassmen dorms of Scully Hall, 1901-Laughlin Hall and Foulke Hall, we continue to advocate for the expansion of GNH options to all members of the undergraduate community.

Letters to the Editor: Feb. 15, 2012

As both a Princeton graduate and former elected member of Princeton Township Committee, I find it unfortunate that the relationship between the University and the community has become more strained than at any time in memory.

Money and sounds bites

Ninety-four percent of the time in American politics, the candidate who raises the most cash wins. Writing in Rolling Stone magazine, Matt Taibbi argues that the presidential race has become a ritualistic contest between “1 percent-approved,” corporate-funded candidates, who aren’t necessarily right for the job. And this time, he thinks the public might just not let it “fly.” I don’t share his optimism. Money is not the only problem. Partisanship and meaningless rhetoric plague the American political system. The crowds have been duped before. And they probably will be again.