Opinion

Inside the head of a prefrosh

I was tricked by websites like College Confidential (admit it, you looked at it too) into believing that I would visit a school and suddenly feel a deep, undeniable connection to it while walking around campus. Alas, this love affair never happened. I liked all of the schools to which I was admitted just fine.

Broader lessons than Frodo

McGinley seems to press us, “Wow, wouldn’t it be great, and wouldn’t we be embracing some fundamental aspects of our humanity, if we paid far greater attention to and wrestled with the moral consequences of our actions?” But the answer to that is no. Not if it means a concern with “touchstone” moral values to the exclusion of other deeply-held and fundamental human values. Much of what is great about life is valuable in spite of the moral consequences.

Editorial: Time for a jury system

With little understanding of the inner workings and processes of the Honor Committee, students often feel concerned that the committee is not truly a group of their peers or representatives but is a body intent on convicting students. In considering these concerns and looking to make the process both more transparent and more representative, the creation of a jury system within the current honor system would address many student objections.

Cartoon: Toys

The culture of conversation

To win in the interview game — so I have seen over the years — candidates need not only the knowledge and skills that courses and officially sanctioned activities provide, but also a much wider sense of what matters in the world and a honed ability to carry on discussion. But Princeton, as I have known it for 35 years, doesn’t foster this kind of conversation as effectively as many of its sister institutions.

Rethinking diversity on the Supreme Court

It strikes me as probable that Kagan shares Obama’s constitutional vision, and her reputation among her fellow lawyers is high. But the question of whether she would add to the diversity of the court requires further interpretation.

Cartoon: All quiet on Prospect

PrinceCast #28: Meal plan troubles edition

Sophia LeMaire, Kelsey Zimmerman and Michael Medeiros discuss meal plan options.

The collegiate cultural time lag

The physical and time constraints of college force us to make use of tools like Hulu, but we lose out on some of the fun of popular culture.

Editorial: Welcome to the Orange Bubble

Welcome to the Orange Bubble, prefrosh. If all is going as expected, the Princeton Weather Machine is providing you with a few nice days of sunshine and the administration is wooing you with tours and brochures. The administration can’t tell you everything, though, so the Editorial Board would like to let you in on some lesser-known aspects of the Princeton experience.

Language and umbrage

Medical professionals have for the most part moved away from using “mental retardation” as a medical term because the term was never accurate. That term does not acknowledge the fact that some afflicted people simply think differently and may have savant abilities unattainable by the average person.

Letters to the Editor: April 15, 2010

Rivka Cohen '12 criticizes the labeling of Israel as an apartheid state and Gary Fox '13 defends Princeton's dining options.

Earbuds

Nov. 13, 9:30 a.m. I rolled out of bed and began my daily 30-minutes-before-first-lecture routine. Seventeen minutes later, I found myself with three minutes for my pre-lecture check-down: laptop in backpack, watch on left wrist, wallet in left pocket, phone in right pocket. I saw my headphones on my desk but set them aside. I was ready.

Cartoon: Dandelion Season

Editorial: Switching to Gmail

Google Apps has the potential to effect concrete improvements in the lives of Princeton students.

Do the math

We don’t need to get everyone to major in math, but we do stand to gain from giving everyone a better appreciation of math.

Cartoon: An illustrated memory

A fine line

Princeton’s progress would be hollow if we moved abruptly and without careful respect for the University’s history.

Cartoon: Unintended consequences

Lessons from Frodo

The ability to consider competing moral reasons for action or inaction is a unique aspect of our humanity, and therefore so is the torment that accompanies particularly difficult decisions and the regret that follows deciding wrongly.