Opinion
Editorial | Health care now and ahead
As the election season heats up, the Supreme Court has left it to the voters to decide whether the Affordable Care Act is good policy — or whether it unjustly punishes people for inactivity. While there are short-term benefits for students, the long-term consequences are yet to be seen.
Zachary Bell | Notes from Montreal
According to the Associated Press, 53.6 percent of Americans under 26 with a bachelors degree — 1.5 million — are jobless or underemployed. That could fill a lot of streets. So why are they empty?Editorial | Defining diversity
Penn has made significant strides in closing the achievement gap. Despite progress that has been reported, however, the University must not become complacent. There is still work to be done, and the University must constantly revise its programs to attract the best and brightest, regardless of background.Nina Wolpow | Saving summer
Summer in adult land is a season not unlike the other three. Sure, there are beaches and frozen cocktails in this universe. But gone are the unnumbered days: the Saturdays that feel like Wednesdays and the weekends you never knew had arrived.
Hayley Brooks & Ali Kokot | Girls, on GIRLS
Last Sunday night, we watched the first season of Dunham’s HBO darling come to a circuitous end: we started with Hannah eating, and we finish with Hannah eating.Editorial | Soda ban not too sweet
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposed ban on big sugary drinks would fail to have any significant impact. Reforms beyond the limited scope of this proposal are necessary to combat the ever-expanding waistlines of America’s cities.
Ernest Owens | Never O’Clock: using the N-word
Our societal mindset has shifted to thinking that racial slurs do not have the same impact as they did in the past. Many scholars and critics, arguing for the idea of a “post-racial society,” claim people see beyond race and more into individuality.Arielle Pardes | A week you won't forget
I realize this might be awkward, but we can make it easy for you. In fact, you won’t even have to do the talking. Let’s just bring in a few sex educators, maybe a porn star or two and spend a week celebrating and learning about sex. We’ll call it Sex Week.Your Voice | Summer storm
I’ve been repeatedly welcomed to the “neighborhood” by people from other schools and departments, even taken to lunch.
Kyle Henson | Change even Matisse could believe in
This failure seems to hint at a pervasive resistance to change that plagues our society. This problem proves most dangerous when our stubbornness to adapt allows obvious, and sometimes even easily solved, inefficiencies to persist.
Robert Hsu | Mice, pipettes and the unknown
I’ve realized so much of life is plain trial and error. As all of our moms used to tell us when we refused to try new food: if you never try it, how will you know that you don’t like it? The same applies to life.Editorial | Dangerous debit cards
The report indicates that over nine million students have bank-affiliated student debit cards. While such an arrangement is not necessarily unfair, conflicts of interest easily arise when schools have obligations to certain banks.
Zachary Bell | Preoccupied in protest
That weekend, I tried to pair my observations of the mass actions with personal conversations — on both sides. I spoke to police and protesters, removing the blue helmets and black masks, asking whether the police are part of the 99 percent or part of a police state in which violence is the closest one can get to “dialogue.”Michael Zhuang | My friend, the worst person in the world
All summer I observed him work on his jump shot as I practiced my Yao Ming impression on my lowered hoop. Finally, on the first day of school, I introduced myself to him. Dharun Ravi and I have been friends ever since.Josh Bolton | Will you accept the JRP Summertime Challenge?
But to be honest, “summer break” has never made much sense to me. Yeah, it’s a break from all the work and stress of the academic year — but sometimes all the work of the school year feels like a break from the “real work” we accomplish during the warm months.Editorial | Another stride to equality
As one of the first universities in the nation to adopt measures to reduce tax inequality based on sexual orientation, Penn once again has proven itself a leader in promoting LGBT equality.Arielle Pardes | Sex and the summertime
While there isn’t a scientific consensus on why people tend to find romance during the summer, lovers in pop culture (think: Danny and Sandy in “Grease,” Noah and Allie in “The Notebook,” Johnny and Baby in “Dirty Dancing”) combined with our own experiences confirm that summer is the season for getting frisky.Your Voice | A message from Lovin' Life Ministries
Please take a moment to consider what’s most important to you in life. If your answer contains family, friends, relatives or a significant other within it, then it may be worth asking: What are you doing to invest into your relationships with these people? Could you use some support?Cheers and Jeers | Spring 2012
The Daily Pennsylvanian decided the best and worst of Penn this semester
