Opinion

Hijacking 101

Although Princeton has in fact been spared, the New York Police Department has been conducting surveillance on Muslim student organizations at colleges like the University of Pennsylvania and Yale. Multiple articles and blog posts — including those of this newspaper — have already dealt in depth with the ethical issues raised by this surveillance. I agree wholeheartedly with them. Racial or religious profiling, and the violation of basic rights to privacy, is inexcusable. But in this article, I want to draw attention instead to the sheer uselessness of spying on a University student organization.

Cartoon: Seriously nature, make up your mind

Passing the banana

I was hoping the Girls would have more faith in their audience. I was hoping to hear a thorough and intelligent discussion of the intricacies of 21st-century feminism and its future after the heydays of second- and third-wave feminism. I wanted the Guerilla Girls, whose potent social commentary was so crucial for women’s rights in the 1980s, to investigate modern issues or at least describe their feminist experience with more than a stilted, self-congratulatory speech that glossed over the intellectualism at its center.

Editorial: Speaking responsibly

Because we have more influence than we think, we also have an obligation to know and understand what we are talking about when we comment on current events. Princeton teaches us to research thoroughly, evaluate both sides of the argument and use reliable sources. However, we neglect to apply these standards when commenting on current events. When we do this, we cloud the facts and contribute to the confusion surrounding certain issues. Given both the influence social media has on society and our ability to shape social media, we have to be cautious both about the sources we trust and what information we choose to disseminate.

A case against commitment

This column is not an argument for reneging on the many extracurricular commitments in your life. On the contrary, it is an attempt to persuade you to add one more. This one, however, should be solely and selfishly for you.

Cartoon: Best candidates: Just do it (already)

An unfinished essay

Meeting my professor after the paper was turned in and done helped me remember that my paper wasn’t and couldn’t be reduced to a grade, that the ideas with which I was engaging were real and didn’t just disappear at 5 p.m. that Tuesday in January.

The Pequod is still too damn high

Moving toward free, easily distributed readings is an opportunity for the University to become a leader in promoting free knowledge and information as far as possible.

College shopping made easy?

It would be prudent for the government to recommend to those who use the new information sheet that it is important for high school students to look at published College Board material as well as the websites of the universities themselves. 

Cartoon: Menagerie in the room

No prohibition against U.S. veterans

Imagine what can be contributed by someone with notions of honor, solidarity and selfless service rarely encountered in the civilian world.

Editorial: Make student jobs optional

We believe it is fundamentally unfair that some members of the Princeton population must either devote nine hours per week to often non-substantive campus jobs or take loans to cover the contribution that could endanger their future financial well-being.

Altered Paths: The story of life after Princeton

Welcome, Tigers, to the 99 percent. And that’s not a bad thing. Or at least it needn’t be. Learning how “the other half lives” — as we used to say — can be a vital part of a continuing education process that may seem ever so far from the ivory tower. Call it the graduate school of hard knocks.

Sweet Sorrow

Let's get practical

We, as engineers, scientists, etc., are specifically trained to think clearly and logically, and not just about our own subject. We are trained to solve real-world problems with clarity and process. We are creative; science requires creativity in its own way. And, often, we know how to articulate ourselves fairly well. Perhaps not all of us can write with as much style as an English major, and we may not be able to think as critically about Sir Francis Bacon. But we aren’t applying for jobs as columnists for the Fiction section of The New Yorker or for the New York Times Book Review and wondering why we didn’t get them.

Muslims under a microscope

It is human nature to prefer the familiar and reject what we perceive as “foreign”. Our understanding of who is an American is ever evolving. Much like how a child must balance assimilation and accommodation during development, America must evolve an understanding of what it is to be a citizen. The NYPD’s actions demonstrate a lack of understanding of American progress and disregard for contributions made by Muslim-American workers and students.

Regarding Jeremy Lin

Zigazig ah

One of the things I’ve always loved most about Princeton is the way in which conversations here can flow so smoothly from a discussion of presidential hopefuls and political climate to Paris Hilton’s foray into pop music. On the whole, I think we strike the balance nicely with friends at our dinner tables or over late meal. But throw us in front of our less intimate acquaintances, parents or a general public, and we lose that ease and comfort with our decisions. Through no fault of our own, we feel that we — as students or as adults — ought not to enjoy the less impressive examples of pop culture, television or movies.

Monitoring student groups

America is confronting a real challenge to its security in the form of terrorism carried out in the name of Islam. But to meet that challenge by indiscriminately monitoring Muslim students from across the nation is to contribute to the legitimization of the al-Qaeda narrative while failing to secure the safety of our country. 

Beyond Annual Giving

We all know that Princeton is not in dire need of cash. The endowment is making money, and there is no shortage of funding earmarked for causes such as international programs, student organizations, the creative and performing arts and financial aid. The University doesn’t really need a few dollars from graduating seniors. Instead, the strongest arguments in favor of Annual Giving are ideological. Like Brodie’s column, they suggest that it is morally good to donate to Princeton, and, furthermore, that spending four years here — and benefiting from its riches — entails an obligation to “give back.”