Opinion

Gross National Happiness

Economists’ continued stranglehold on political discourse is troublesome considering that the unanticipated rise of the Great Recession exposed deep-seated flaws in their theories. What we need is a way of empowering other disciplines and forms of knowledge within the political arena.

Cartoon: Indigenous Snow Species of Princeton

Editorial: A chance to speak out

From the (relative) comfort of our fourth-floor conference room, we engage in challenging, passionate and intellectually stimulating debates that lead us to examine and confront the full range of issues that affect our lives at Princeton.

Being open to new things

Despite our diversity in identity, Princeton students often choose their extracurricular activities and academic specialties for worryingly conventional reasons.

Not so major choices

The undecided social-science-inclined students can’t go wrong with their major choice — but you can, and people do, pick a major for the wrong reasons.

Cartoon: Forbesians

The fallacies of buying local

There is a problem unless there is strong evidence of benefits to local food beyond taste, freshness and being organic that would justify paying a higher price for them than for equally tasty, organic food from farther away.

Why Princeton students have a love affair with stress

Of course we college students are stressed — look at all the stressors we deal with on a daily basis! But then I began to wonder — if today’s college students are in general more stressed, how much more or less stressed are Princeton students than our counterparts at other colleges?

Cartoon: Kompetition

This Friday, one year ago

Though I recognized the clubs as an entrenched means of social stratification within the university community, part of me wanted to access and benefit from the system. As I slowly lost my ties to the world outside the Orange Bubble, that part of me grew.

A note from the 135th managing board

Today’s issue of The Daily Princetonian marks the beginning of the 135th Managing Board’s tenure, and a renewed emphasis on improving both our online and print operations. Over the next year, we will strain to push the newspaper and its dedicated staff to the forefront of collegiate reporting.

Cartoon: Whodunit

Antisocial networks

Social networking sites are useful, but their business model is to sell detailed information about their users. As a result, our personal data spreads far and wide, our privacy is eroded and our risks increase.

The advantages of languages

The editorial board’s suggestion that we eliminate the language requirement is ludicrous. Every Princeton student should reap the benefits of speaking a second language.

A message to assault surviors and their allies

Most victims of abuse do not go to SHARE. Thus, it is the responsibility of every person in our community to provide their friends with a safe space to discuss their trauma. It is the responsibility of every person in the community to be the “right person” to talk to — one who will not break confidentiality or exude pity. If someone discloses to you that he or she is a survivor, it is important to keep these few points in mind.

Where a Princeton Ph.D. will land you

For at least four decades, the Graduate School, with assistance from the registrar’s office, has compiled data on completion, time-to-degree and placement for all its Ph.D. programs and has used that information in discussing ways to improve the graduate programs on campus.

Looking back, looking ahead

Behind the pages of The Daily Princetonian, there are more than 150 students devoting thousands of hours to creating the paper you read every morning. Those people disappear behind the bylines and mastheads — and part of that’s our fault. As journalists, we aim to collect facts and personalities and to convey them as objectively as possible. Doing so necessitates that we remove ourselves from the equation, which is no easy feat when we’re writing about the same campus community to which we all belong. Even talking about this publication in its own pages is generally taboo, but each outgoing editor-in-chief gets one chance to break this rule.

Editorial: Make culture mandatory, language optional

While it certainly is important that some degree of exposure to foreign culture be a component of a Princeton education, that goal would be better served by replacing the foreign language requirement with an additional distribution requirement in cultural studies.

Cartoon: The pains of being irresponsible

PrinceCast #9: Semester Wrap-Up Edition

The incoming and outgoing executive editor for opinions sit down with host Michael Medeiros to discuss this semester's top columns and debates.