Opinion Columns
JY Lee | Oh, the places you’ll go
Although we fear staying in college for more than four years and falling behind, I invite you to consider taking a gap year and time out for yourself.
Ernest Owens | 36 shades of Quaker life
This is my last column for The Daily Pennsylvanian. My goal for ‘The Ernest Opinion’ was to make you think and speak.
Aya Saed | The progressive believer
Religious organizations are fundamental to the fabric of American life, not because they establish “a moral compass” for the country, as many would attest to, but because they provide the country with a plethora of social services.
Lauren Agresti | Another side of Adderall
It’s concerning — but unfortunately not surprising — that Penn students are more concerned about how Adderall will affect the class curves rather than how prescription-grade cocaine is dispensed by health care professionals like candy.
Kurt Mitman | It’s time we tax God and altruists
If we want to get our fiscal house in order — and help avert the fiscal cliff — we should eliminate the deductions and start treating churches like the corporations they are.
Adam Silver | Looking over the cliff
Although a deal is all we hear about now, we didn’t talk about it during the election. While the deficit is scary, it isn’t what people or candidates care about.
Alexa Nicolas | A capitalist with conviction
As you meander through checkout lines everyday, just consider what you’re buying and whom you’re supporting.
Ernest Owens | Irreconcilable differences
I cannot say that my role as an elected representative on campus has been best used to advocate for students. Many campus issues that I encountered as a Quaker have not been addressed by the UA.
Yessenia Gutierrez | Affirmative action applicant
A focus on socioeconomic status without looking at race wouldn’t address the problems affirmative action seeks to remedy.
Max Scheiber | A reasonable Republican Party
I have a couple of proposals about how the Republican Party stance needs to change before 2016.
Robert Hsu | Stop lying to yourself
Here’s what I have to say to the 18-year-old future Dr. Robert Hsu.
Ernest Owens | The new leader
Time after time, I’ve noticed that the individuals who end up advocating for students are ordinary members of the Penn community with an extraordinary story to tell.
Emily Orrson | Filiflustered
The root of the problem in Senate is not the existence of the filibuster. It’s a refusal to listen to the sense of the meeting.
Divya Ramesh | Pens are mightier than pixels
Send one letter every month — to your grandmother or your best friend from high school who used to wish you Merry Christmas with a handmade card. Collect your letters, your responses, the envelopes and stamps. This project will bolster the postal system while brightening someone’s day.
Adam Silver | Sharing in success
Everyone wants to be associated with success. When they invest in something that blossoms, they take a share of it.
Brian Collopy | Be a better neighbor
There will always be some who spin stories to ask for money, but there are 4,000 Philadelphians who are homeless tonight. Many of these people are veterans or victims of the recession; some suffer from addiction or mental illness.
JY Lee | A season for thanks
So here’s a toast to all the people, places, institutions and cultures that have contributed to my metamorphosis over the last four years.
Yessenia Gutierrez | Legalize it — but don’t forget Latin America
It’s time the United States reviews its position on the war against drugs in Latin America.
Kyle Henson | A thesis to top it off
Penn isn’t the only one of its peers that doesn’t require senior theses. But schools that have made it a requirement view it as a cornerstone of the undergraduate educational experience.