Opinion Columns
Isabella Simonetti | Addressing the anxieties of the transition to college
How is a freshman supposed to make sense of all the tragedy that has struck Penn? And how can they ensure that they will be immune to the mental health issues that plague its campus?
Jessica Li | Acknowledging culture in our mental health discussions
Mental health may be a general term, but in reality, it looks so different to so many different people, especially to various communities and cultural groups on campus.
Amy Chan | Woke is not enough
We are eager to do what is expected of us when the trend calls for it, but we don’t let that influence anything we do in real life.
Shilpa Saravanan | Burning your idols
We so often predicate our existence on someone else’s — their successes are your successes, and you avoid any information whatsoever that might point to their failings.
Lucy Hu | Happiness doesn’t come from your resume
What’s going to matter in the very end is how you appreciated the details of what you did have — how you lived every day.
Isabella Simonetti | What I want from the ‘Campus Conversation’
The administration can no longer blindly point to Counseling and Psychological Services and shut down parties in hopes that mental health issues and the consequences of binge drinking will vanish.
Sara Merican | Monumental conversations
The politics of presentation and representation are complex and therefore it is crucial that as many voices as possible are heard.
Spencer Swanson | In defense of Early Decision
Although the trend of admitting over 50 percent of each freshman class in Early Decision has its drawbacks, it is ultimately the best system for ensuring the most committed Penn class.
Cameron Dichter | The price of academic freedom
Clearly, the commercialization of American universities means that monetary concerns are starting to outweigh intellectual ones.
James Lee | The regressive nature of progressive stacking
Inclusion in discussion and class participation is obviously a noble goal, but the notion that race and gender are appropriate criteria to decide who gets a voice is at best a misguided one.
Group Think | Is Penn taking too many students through Early Decision?
Is Penn filling up too much of its classes through early decision? Should there be any changes to Penn's admissions policies with regards to early decision?
Jacquelyn Sussman | Put computer science in the core
How am I supposed to discern the world’s inner workings and capitalize on its needs when the education I am getting doesn’t require any understanding of computer science?
Carlos Arias Vivas | The truths we need from campus visits
If we only have conversations that make out Penn to be perfect, once these students come, they will feel deceived. Having these real conversations about Penn to prospective students gives them an in-depth background of what they are getting themselves into if they come here.
Isabella Simonetti | Our responsibility to a dangerous drinking culture
What the University fails to recognize is that, like so many of the issues students face, binge drinking demands immediate attention.
Alex Silberzweig | The dangers of seeing and being seen
As someone whose reflections are based on just under two months of circumstantial observations, I think that there is something perverse about the tendency to dress to impress on a college campus.
Jessica Li | Why are we doing the things we’re doing?
Figuring out the true value of our time and the things we do is essential in discovering what is truly important to us.
Toe the Line: College Republicans | Let's talk about guns
Even in these times, especially in these times, the ability we have to be both profoundly mournful and fundamentally rational is our most valuable asset.
Toe the Line: Penn Democrats | High time for common sense
It is high time for common sense gun control legislation. It’s been high time since Sandy Hook and Pulse Night Club, since Aurora and Tucson, since Columbine High School and Virginia Tech.
Group Think | Why do so many students want to transfer to Wharton?
Why do you think Wharton specifically receives the bulk of transfer requests and dual degree requests compared to the other schools?