Opinion Columns
Matt Mantica | Don't be a butt
Penn is in a position to influence more than the approximately 6,000 smokers on campus. Banning smoking would not only serve as an incentive for these individuals to lead a healthier lifestyle but may also have an effect on our peer institutions that are in need of change just as much as we are.
Jennifer Yu | Give sports a shot
The lifelike drama of it all is only amplified by its unpredictability. Sports take on grand storylines, featuring a landscape of conflicts and climaxes and heroes and villains to rival any fairy tale. It’s drama that is fundamentally human on one of the largest of stages.Yessenia Gutierrez | No speaky Spanish, my love
Just know that fulfilling a requirement is not the same as understanding a language or its accompanying culture. Learning the language means little without learning about its people.Jennifer Yu | A summer to remember
Summer is 12 weeks of limited responsibility and people who are just as willing to try new, potentially regrettable things as you are. Take advantage of this, and never be afraid to make some mistakes along the way.
Divya Ramesh | Accepting Partial Credit
Few blame banks and bank tellers who don’t realize their role as teachers. Their subject of expertise is the credit card system, but their problem is their method of instruction. It is not conducive to the learning style of the average American consumer.
Farewell Column by Anjali Tsui | Breathing room
I’ve always struggled to be in one place at a time. In 2009, I unpacked my global baggage into a 9-by-10-foot box in Hill College House. I had a British passport and an American accent. I spoke fluent Chinese, but I wasn’t really Chinese.
Farewell Column by Dan Nessenson | Learning to say yes
I had to hit rock bottom in order to see it. I hadn’t been accepting of my situation before then to understand that all I needed to do was say yes.
Farewell Column by Nadine Zylberberg | Name calling
“Something” has been tacked on to our beloved millennial moniker, so it’s well worth consideration.
Farewell Column by Liz Jacobs | To my little sister
These were the times when I was fully present, living Penn to its fullest in the most unassuming way possible. I was just there, in the moment, because where else would I want to be?
Farewell Column by Spencer Small | For what it’s worth
Schoolwork was secondary to adventures, from studying abroad to going across town to get a 4 a.m. cheesesteak. That’s where I learned the most — life lessons, not classroom lessons.
Farewell Column by Dana Tom | Walking directionless
Many of us spend our time in college with an end goal, but I can honestly say, I’m not sure what exactly I was chasing this whole time.
Christine Chen | Searching for BS
As much as I’d love to write my farewell column using only Wharton memes, none of these tidbits caught my eye as much as this gem: Write a piece of semi-autobiographical detective fiction.
Lauren Agresti | Dive in
Writing personal essays is more like diving into the crowd, grabbing people out of their seats and making them dance with you. This is where I feel at home.
Rachel del Valle | In defense of Facebook culture
I do keep a journal, sort of. I can look back on it with minimal discomfort, and I don’t have to search through memorabilia boxes to find it. It’s my Facebook profile.
Caroline Brand | Real Beauty, real problems
As part of its ongoing Real Beauty campaign, Dove posted a YouTube video last week that has over 19 million views. I find the overwhelmingly positive response to this video troubling — especially the praise from within the Penn community.
Anthony Liveris | Republi(can’t)
As vice president of College Republicans, students are quick to disagree with me. I heard tougher jests during the campaign season on campus than “working for the Devil” can encapsulate. But that is the beauty of being a member of the so-called opposition.
Divya Ramesh | Hello, my name is ‘Stranger’
As our world widens in our college years, the idea of “stranger danger” needs to modify its meaning as well. If we carry the idea unchanged into adulthood, we’ll miss out on getting to know interesting people.
Jeffrey Nadel | We all bleed
An innocent life is worth just as much as any other innocent life, whether it’s my own, an American’s, an Italian’s, a Saudi Arabian’s or a Pakistani’s.
Kurt Mitman | ‘Thank God’ for the NRA
If the legislation had passed the debate on gun control and gun violence would have been over. The momentum that had built up since Newtown would have diminished.