Opinion
Christina Domenico | Because he got high
It was a week of endings - Izzy and Zoe's, Ruckus and Juicy Campus all said their quiet goodbyes, slipping off the college scene without too much commotion. That can't be said for the end of Michael Phelps' era as the All-American poster boy. The Olympic champ's national image took a big hit (ha! Get it?) after a British newspaper published a photo of him smoking marijuana from a bong at the University of South Carolina.Editorial | A Feb Club for all
Feb Club, like Hey Day and Spring Fling, is a Penn tradition that, while not clean fun, is a good, genuine way of bringing classes together. The premise is sweet and simple - build a sense of camaraderie and some old-fashioned school spirit toward Penn with friends as well as the students you've never met through a one-social-activity-per-night schedule in February.Colin Kavanaugh | Lessons from Mayor Rendell
Philadelphia is strapped with a massive fiscal deficit. Budget cuts are looming over its vast infrastructure, threatening city jobs and services. The city's "savior" is a fresh-faced mayor facing a laundry list of problems who will likely make more enemies than friends by year's end.Editorial | Monitoring the monitor
In response to the forced home invasion and sexual assaults of two Penn students in December, Penn's Division of Public Safety has begun to promote neighborhood and building safety via heightened landlord awareness and communication. This program, currently called "Vertical Town Watch," has the potential to be an effective tool.David Lei | Getting the public interested
Yale University Chief Investment Officer David Swensen and financial analyst Michael Schmidt wrote an op-ed in The New York Times late last month that caused quite a stir. No, their piece wasn't about university endowments or the state of the economy. They reached outside of their immediate comfort zone and made a case for dramatically changing the newspaper industry's business model.Opinion Art | Alicia Puglionesi
Alicia Puglionesi is an College senior from Havertown, Pa. Her e-mail address is puglionesi@dailypennsylvanian.com.Ryan Benjamin | A tough lesson in economics
It was Joni Mitchell and later Coldplay who sang, "You don't know what you have till it's gone." That couldn't be truer now as we enter the season of state-budget addresses. This year, in these economic times, a lot of people are understandably upset as jobs are lost and programs are cut.
Wiktoria Parysek | Requiring more depth
Over winter break, I spent hours and hours poring over the registrar's Web site to find that elusive double whammy: that course that fulfills multiple requirements and has an easy course rating and a high professor rating. I finally found the gem that is "Introduction to the Koran," which fills Cross Cultural Analysis and Sector IV, interdisciplinary humanities and social sciences - perfect.Opinion Art | Daniel Schwartz
Daniel Schwartz is an College sophomore from Decatur, Ga. His e-mail address is dschwartz@dailypennsylvanian.com.Your Voices | Letters to the Editor
To the Editor: David Lei ("Another Stitch in the Seam" 2/2/09) does not mention zoning laws in his paean to Penn's hotel project at 40th and Pine. Wharton, where he studies, does not teach zoning, but an aspiring journalist should learn on his own to document his allegations and seek a variety of sources.Editorial | Paying now for progress
Of the many provisions in the economic-stimulus plan recently passed by the House of Representatives and currently being deliberated in the Senate, a few in particular - increases in federal student-aid programs, extra assistance for researchers and funding for campus infrastructure - are designed to assist students and schools, and for those we should be grateful.Opinion Art | Amira Fawcett
Amira Fawcett is an Engineering senior from Houston. Her e-mail address is fawcett@dailypennsylvanian.com.Lisa Zhu | Better while separated
Recently, Georgia state Senator Seth Harp caused an uproar in the community of higher education by proposing that two of the state's historically black colleges be merged with predominantly white ones. Specifically, his resolution stipulates that Savannah State University and Albany State University (both historically black public schools) be merged with the predominantly white colleges, Armstrong Atlantic State University and Darton College, respectively.Brandon Moyse | Not a quick, superficial fix
Is a nose job medically necessary? Sometimes. What about a sex change? That has been the question raised recently by transgender individuals and their supporters. They contend that the University's lack of health care coverage for sexual-reassignment surgery violates Penn's non-discrimination policy.Opinion Art | Janice Dow
Janice Dow is a College sophomore from Los Angeles. Her e-mail address is dow@dailypennsylvanian.comEditorial | Expanding horizons
The Greek culture at Penn is one rich in history but replete with stereotypes. And one of those, unfortunately, is an image of intolerance. Whether substantiated or not, the belief that the Greek community is unwelcoming, specifically to gays, is a problem in and of itself.
