Opinion Columns
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.
Ernest Owens | Debunking 40 acres and a month
Who thought it was reasonable to dedicate the shortest month of the year to celebrating the history of blacks?
Sara Brenes-Akerman | Confessions of a cheater
I’ve been immensely happy during our time together. This American Life is always there for me, offering reliably stunning narratives as a symbol of its love.
Sally Engelhart | Is brown fat the secret to weight loss?
People trying to lose weight often think that body fat is the enemy. But get this: there’s one type of fat — brown fat — that might hold the key to being thin.
Robert Hsu | Why it's the 99.9%, not the 99%
Humans come in different shapes, sizes and colors, but any two share 99.9% of their DNA. Somehow, we still tend to see ourselves as separate living entities from other people.
Samantha Sharf | 'LOVE' beyond the statue
With Valentine’s Day less than a week away, campus is littered with references to the L-word. Just as confused about the expression as I was a decade ago, I decided to take a closer look at the way the word love figures into typical Penn life.
Kyle Henson | Letting the college houses grow up
While Penn claims on its housing website that college houses “stand at the center of the Penn undergraduate experience … to form shared communities,” the system fundamentally fails to achieve this mission due to a lack of political and financial commitment from the administration.