Opinion Columns
Hayley Brooks & Ali Kokot | Blackout or get out
If college is supposed to be the best four years of our lives, then why are we so eager to forget it?
Brian Goldman | Countering Penn’s thesis culture
Too often, thesis writing is couched in the semantics of research, research and research. Instead, we should emphasize achievement, ambition, publication and true scholarship on a subject of your choice.
Aya Saed | Notes from an NYPD subject
Before this incident, I was pretty confident that I was in no way subjected to the scrutiny of American law enforcement, but I was naïve. The same might apply to you.
Sally Engelhart | Are you working out for nothing?
Q: I’ve really been kicking my ass at the gym since the beginning of the semester. Why aren’t I losing any weight? — Gym Fanatic*Arielle Pardes | From the bedroom to the classroom
Despite learning very dutifully how to wrap a condom onto a banana, I have yet to find a practical use for applying contraceptives to my fruit.
Samantha Sharf | A font for Philadelphia
In our text-heavy world, fonts are everywhere — from the page you are reading to the sign on the building you are reading it in to the cellphone that you will likely fish out of your pocket at least once during these 668 words.
Kyle Henson | Detangling Diversity
Penn’s efforts amount to little more than a band-aid on a gushing wound.
Hayley Brooks & Ali Kokot | Bring back the banter
While intellectual curiosity does live at Penn, it struggles to coexist in a habitat pervaded by a pre-professional culture with an Animal House mentality.
Brian Goldman | Preventing an unfree press
Newspapers are not going anywhere anytime soon. What I fear, however, is that the information within those papers, here in Philadelphia, will no longer tell the entire truth or even pretend to. Our view of the world will be narrowed, impaired and propagandized.
Rachel del Valle | A soundtrack for every task
Digital music hasn’t only changed the way we listen to our favorite songs. I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say that it has changed the way we live our lives.
Alice Lee | Why I did not drop out of Penn
What is the true value of a structured Penn education in comparison to the education that the rest of the world has to offer? This question is particularly relevant to students who wish to pursue nontraditional careers or have a pure thirst for learning.Arielle Pardes | Rethinking sexual consent
The “no means no” take on consent suggests, falsely, that if you’re not saying no you must mean yes. If you’re drunk at a party, you must mean yes. If you’re on a date, you must mean yes. The truth is that there is only one way to say yes (hint: it’s the word yes) and nothing else is permission for getting into your partner’s pants.
Joseph An | Not another column about Jeremy Lin
When I see mocking “kowtows” coming from the stands whenever Lin scores or spectators in Asian face masks with slit eyes, it makes me realize that Lin’s break into the world of NBA is but a small step towards dismantling stereotypes about Asian people.
Charles Gray | Moving toward a Valentine Life
I always thought that most great writing is short and sweet. But in only 81 words, President Reagan makes three pivotal points to consider in the context of Valentine’s Day, especially on a college campus.Peter McCarthy | Time to fight a racist, segregationist law
Black youth, no matter what their background, age or intentions now have to think twice about living in or visiting commercial white populated spaces in this city lest they be harassed and interrogated by a police force that thinks the worst of them.
Zachary Bell | Step up, step back
Sexism has not bled-out. It’s alive and pulses through our conversations and our body language.
Brian Goldman | Redistricting is ‘gerrymaddening’
Gerry-what? Gerrymandering. It’s a conventional nickname for the art of drawing state district lines in as ill-conceived a way as possible.
Rachel del Valle | More than just three little words
In college, with boys all around, the tendency to analyze hasn’t changed as much as I’d imagined it would.
Aya Saed | Should a point of view have a dollar value?
Don’t get me wrong. I have no qualms with free speech, since I am obviously utilizing that right as you read.