Opinion Columns
JY Lee | A plea for democracy
Penn should embrace its proud democratic tradition that began with Benjamin Franklin.
Max Scheiber | The numbers will set you free
You owe it to yourself and the world around you to learn some math.
Ernest Owens | The end of petty poster policies
This arbitrary rule distracts from the substance of elections and leads to petty violations.
Aya Saed | Making a house a home
With such a deep history and continued commitment to Afro-American history, what could stop me from living in the house?
Alexa Nicolas | Taking a poop at Penn
Let’s explore some fecal matters.
Lauren Agresti | Thank God it’s Parents’ Weekend
Even though my 22nd birthday is around the corner, I miss my parents and my brother and my mouse-free bedroom. I miss home.
Adam Silver | Wherever the wind blows
Come November, Romney will lose because a man who tries to stand for everything stands for nothing.
Divya Ramesh | The power of postponement
Procrastination is a good thing — as long as it’s the right kind.
Brian Collopy | Coursera and the competition
Competition is why online education is here to stay.
Yessenia Gutierrez | Like a song? Cover it
In truth, the musical world is a big old love fest, with artists referencing, sampling and covering each other all the time.
Wesley Vaughn | Just reveal yourself
I’d rather vote for someone that I trust as a person rather than someone I only trust to support my political beliefs.
Ernest Owens | Discovering our unsung leaders
Civic mentors may not be campus celebrities but they are the true unsung leaders on campus.
Lauren Agresti | Just a line on your resume
Our undergraduate degrees constitute one expensive but necessary line on our resumes that supports, but does not singlehandedly define, the parameters of our knowledge and skills.
Kurt Mitman | It’s not that hard to call
I often think about the one grandparent I have left — my 89-year-old grandmother in Indiana. Every time I call her she asks when I’m coming to visit. And I can always hear the disappointment in her voice when I say, “When I can find a weekend that I have free.”
Adam Silver | Connecting on common ground
Last weekend, my mom and I went to two Bruce Springsteen concerts in New Jersey. I still haven’t found the guts to ask her whether seeing me or Bruce was more of a priority.
Sindhuri Nandhakumar | Restoring justice in the injustice system
The crime Mumia Abu-Jamal was accused of happened in Philadelphia and there are hundreds like him who have gone through similarly complex and unfair legal processes.
JY Lee | Seeking: Attractive Asian male
Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee may be badass, but are they beautiful? They can only fight so many battles for Asian masculinity.
Yessenia Gutierrez | The secret life of a cultural Catholic
Religious conversations with family will always be tricky. I struggle to decide whether to explain my lack of faith or brush their questions away to save us from an upsetting conversation. Either way, a part of me will remain hidden from them.
Max Scheiber | Missing sleep in McClelland
Yeah, I destroyed my health on my birthday weekend — not by killing my liver, but by eating junk food, staring at a laptop screen and not sleeping.