34th Street Magazine's "Toast" is a semi-weekly newsletter with the latest on Penn's campus culture and arts scene. Delivered Monday-Wednesday-Friday.
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Secularism as understood today, although a great idea in the West, isn’t always exportable. The problem is that secularism is not a neutral concept but has positive associations with modernity and democracy.
With advertisements implying we, the United States’ constituents, possess the power to elect “leaders of the free world,” many were pulled in by the allure of such a glamorous opportunity. When it comes to student government on Penn’s campus, however, that same fervor is not shared by the masses, both in regard to applicant pool and voter turnout. But why?
Stepping away from our compulsive need for action to adopt a version of the NRK’s digitized natural world might be a healthy choice. After all, with Norway recently ranked first on Forbes’ list of the happiest world nations, the country might have something to show beyond its magnificent fjords.
It is unequivocal that Penn’s administration should be more diverse. However, less than two years ago, Penn launched its Faculty Diversity Action Plan, geared at increasing the diversity of Penn’s faculty.
It is absurd to suggest that we consent, by virtue of our participation in a professedly democratic society, to whatever abuse the government may dole out.
There is little evidence that disparity in spending has a big impact on outcomes. Research into the effect has found a modest positive link between disparity in spending and vote outcome. However, one of the confounding problems is that popular and well-organized candidates are probably more likely to win.
But what sounds good in a political ad doesn’t necessarily make good policy sense. If we allow ourselves to continue to pursue big vs. little, we might forget the more important fight: smarter vs. dumber.
To many students, Locust Walk is just a means to get from one class to another. This, unfortunately, reflects an attitude found beyond the cobbled blocks of Locust: to many students, Penn is just a stepping stone between high school and the “real world.”
Just as vocational school is more practical than a four-year undergraduate degree for many high schoolers, so is personal finance a more useful class than something less applicable to the real world.
If those arguing for their right to bear arms claim that it is within their constitutional right to hunt and own a gun for self-defense, the statistics surely demonstrate that this is rarely what guns are being used for.
Penn has a pre-professional aura that radiates outward from Huntsman, enveloping the rest of campus. This internal pressure, coupled with the external pressure from career-minded parents, can discourage students from seeking other opportunities, even if those opportunities might be a better fit than finance. There should be more support for students who want to spend their summer incorporating their play — or better put, their passions — into their work.
Two weeks ago, ACE recommended that Penn should give course credit for mathematics and engineering professor Robert Ghrist’s calculus course offered on Coursera. Our concern is that ACE is trying to leave the nest too soon, so to speak.
Today, instead of shifting education to match the new century, people point to the status quo as an argument to preserve it. But to suggest, for example, that there is a dearth of qualified minority candidates for administrative positions at Penn is evidence itself that the system is broken.
We all find it awkward when we mix up names, but it seems I’m the only person upset over rechristening Sam as Wesley and mistaking Mary Kate for Caroline.
We are only $550 billion away from reversing Tytler’s Cycle. More so, this is over a 10-year period. That makes it $55 billion a year in a $13 trillion economy.
I was disheartened to see so many fellow students in the crowd show support to someone who presented a case to ultimately break up a huge part of what contributes to Penn tradition based largely on their admiration of his personal status.
If these automatic budgets cuts occur, expect Penn’s ability as a science innovator to be hampered as the sequester would slash billions from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and Graduate Medical Education programs — all programs that fund science research at Penn.