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Opinion

02/25/09 5:00am

Editorial | Finding solutions

For most Penn students, the homeless are accepted as a fact of life in West Philadelphia, one of the things seen but not quite registered on a daily basis. That's why it's gratifying to hear about Penn students' recent outreach efforts to homeless Philadelphia residents.
02/25/09 5:00am

Kaitlin Welborn | Majoring locally, too

Yesterday, 2,700 Africans died of malaria, 144 South African women were raped and 14,500 children under 15 were infected with AIDS. International development efforts need both more time and more money to help eliminate these tragedies. Thus the College Dean's Advisory Board announcement that it will be developing an international-development minor must be met with praise.
02/25/09 5:00am
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then this year's Penn Reading Project is certainly the shortest work to date. Rather than reading (or, in most cases, not) a book, as entering freshman have done for the past 10 years, the class of 2013 will be asked to "read" The Gross Clinic - a painting by Philadelphia artist Thomas Eakins.
02/25/09 5:00am

Opinion Art | Janice Dow

Janice Dow is a College sophomore from Los Angeles. Her e-mail address is dow@dailypennsylvanian.com
02/24/09 5:00am

Opinion Art | Ilana Millner

Ilana Millner is an College junior from Washington Crossing, Pa. Her e-mail address is millner@dailypennsylvanian.com.
02/24/09 5:00am

Charles Gray | Listening to students' needs

Say you're a DJ for Penn's student-run radio station, WQHS. Your show airs at 8:00 p.m. every Wednesday, which is a great time - most of your friends can listen as they do homework. But right now you're not worrying about listenership, it's getting to the Hollenbeck Center, a good 30-minute walk to the no man's land of Penn's campus.
02/24/09 5:00am

Guest Opinion | Patricia Rose

This month marked the bicentennial of Charles Darwin's birth, and he has been getting considerable attention. My subject here is not his work on evolution. No, as director of Career Services, I am interested in the beginnings of his career. How does one become a Charles Darwin? A doctor's son, Darwin was sent to the University of Edinburgh, where he studied medicine, but it did not sufficiently interest him.
02/24/09 5:00am

Editorial | When the presses stop

Two days ago, Philadelphia Newspapers LLC - publisher of Philadelphia's two dailies, The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Philadelphia Daily News, as well as the printer of The Daily Pennsylvanian - filed for bankruptcy protection preventatively. The announcement, unfortunately, was not unexpected.
02/23/09 5:00am

David Lei | Retrospective debate

This year marks the 20th anniversary of a famously controversial free speech incident involving Penn. No, I'm not speaking of how FBI agents observed club meetings during the 1970s or the theft of an entire run of The Daily Pennsylvanian in the early 1990s - it might be hard to imagine, but Penn was once a recurring backdrop for national debates about free speech.
02/23/09 5:00am

Editorial | Sticking to the books

For many freshmen, finishing (or starting) the Penn Reading Project's selected book is one of the least-enjoyable activities of New Student Orientation Week. But the Reading Project, for better or for worse, is a valuable way to connect on an intellectual level with the rest of the floor or parts of the House community, and it is frequently touted as an introduction to college-level reading and analysis.
02/23/09 5:00am

Opinion Art | Alicia Puglionesi

Alicia Puglionesi is an College senior from Havertown, Pa. Her e-mail address is puglionesi@dailypennsylvanian.com.
02/23/09 5:00am

Colin Kavanaugh | Keeping the conversation open

I love Pink Floyd. I'll shamelessly spend hours in my car on summer days listening to the British rock band. Give me a surround-sound system and the album Dark Side of the Moon, and I'll never complain about anything ever again. It's very easy for me to make connections between their lyrics and a number of situations, including the one between the district attorney's race in Philadelphia and the song Welcome to the Machine.
02/20/09 5:00am

Your Voices | Letters to the Editor

Questions about 'Don't ask, don't tell' To the Editor: Clearly the matter of the continued military presence at Penn is an unsettling situation for nearly everyone, one which would be easily resolved if the federal government discontinues preventing LGBT people from serving openly in the military, something President Obama has pledged will happen.
02/20/09 5:00am

Wiktoria Parysek |Not a major problem

As I walked to Fisher-Bennett last October, armed and ready to declare my major, I quickly mapped out my life. A B.A. from Penn, a semester abroad and a few extracurriculars should be enough for a decent start in life. But I slowed and thought to myself, "I can't just be an English major.
02/20/09 5:00am

Opinion Art | Daniel Schwartz

Daniel Schwartz is an College sophomore from Decatur, Ga. His e-mail address is dschwartz@dailypennsylvanian.com.
02/20/09 5:00am

Ryan Benjamin |Being OK with Big Brother

Forget the fine print. Anyone who's been paying attention to the latest Facebook "crisis" - in which the site's terms of service removed the users' right to their own content after deleting their accounts, and then reneged - must realize that no matter what the words say, Facebook will always have access to our content.
02/19/09 5:00am

Editorial | Letting information flow

Last Thursday, when the University received confirmation of the first student case of meningitis, officials had several tough decisions to make, and they knew that they had to be made as quickly as possible. Penn, as all students know by now, made many of the right decisions.
02/19/09 5:00am

Opinion Art | Amira Fawcett

Amira Fawcett is an Engineering senior from Houston. Her e-mail address is fawcett@dailypennsylvanian.com.
02/19/09 5:00am

Brandon Moyse | When we waiver on public-health issues

With meningitis, and now measles, on everyone's mind, many students are wondering: "How could this have been prevented? How can I keep myself safe?" If you don't believe me, just look at the 3,000-plus who went to Student Health to get prophylactic treatment last week.
02/19/09 5:00am

Lisa Zhu | Treating mental side effects as well

A week after Penn's outbreak of meningitis, things seem to have finally calmed down. Social gatherings have resumed as usual, the collective paranoia over sharing drinks and food has diminished and the three patients are well on their road to recovery. With the incident almost behind us, now may be a good time to review some of the major takeaways from this latest health scare.