Opinion

Editorial | Let them wear shirts

Election officials shouldn't be fashion police. Thanks to vaguely defined state laws banning "passive electioneering" in the polling booth, some counties in Pennsylvania plan to prevent voters from wearing campaign buttons or t-shirts when they cast their vote.

Mordechai Treiger | Treading water in The Big Easy

Spring Break 2008 saw 175 Penn students make the pilgrimage that care forgot. Their work was hardly a big easy: Students cleared wreckage, rebuilt houses and even helped out at an animal shelter. But the sad truth is that despite these students' best efforts, New Orleans will still succumb to the next major storm.

Dani Wexler | Paying attention to Iran

We get it. Our economy is collapsing around us. The bailout plan doesn't bail us out. Seniors are having a hard time getting jobs. While we shouldn't ignore the urgency and ripple effects of this economic crisis, we also can't allow it to overshadow preexisting global concerns that threaten our existence, especially ones that we can actually control.

Opinion Art | Jennifer Lesser

Jennifer Lesser is a College junior from Minneapolis, Minn. Her e-mail address is lesser@dailypennsylvanian.com.

Lisa Zhu | Better caring for rape victims

Hypothetical scenario: You wake up after a night of partying, naked in a stranger's bed. You gaze around the room with horror when you're hit with a flash of recollection - vaguely, you remember taking multiple shots, staggering away from the party, making out, struggling to say no, feeling too drunk to fight back.

Your Voice | Letters

Questionable funding To the Editor: The plan to help businesses along Baltimore Avenue improve their facades ("Residents weigh in on Baltimore Ave. makeover," 9/22/08) has a laudable goal but has been poorly executed. It is eye opening that only one-third of the funding is going to the improvements themselves, with two-thirds to the University City District's (UCD) overhead costs.

Harris Sokoloff | Working to build the next great city

The Penn Project for Civic Engagement (PPCE) is built on this premise: "We dream about what we value, then work to turn those dreams into reality." Put another way, the work of citizens in a democracy is to define the public interest and to build common ground for actions that will further the public interest.

Editorial | Last call for registration

Penn students have until next Monday to stand up and be counted. Oct. 6 is the last day to register to vote for the presidential elections. All Penn students who will be 18 before Election Day and are American citizens can register. For more instructions, see the box below this editorial.

Christina Domenico | Reforming the GRE

Applying to graduate school? Get ready to familiarize yourself with some alphabet soup: GRE, GMAT, LSAT, MCAT. The latter three concern those students applying to business, law and medical school. Students hoping to pursue the arts and sciences take the GRE, or the Graduate Record Examination.

David Kanter | Preserving an independent curriculum

Now that the firestorm surrounding the Logan Hall-Claudia Cohen Hall Fiasco has died down, we can put the whole episode in a little bit of context. Frankly, the name of the building won't compromise the quality of your Philosophy lecture in Logan/Cohen 17.

Opinion Art | Janice Dow

Janice Dow is a College sophomore from Rowland Heights, Calif. Her e-mail address is dow@dailypennsylvanian.com. Related StoriesMore turn to libraries in economic downturn - News

David Lei | Diversity and the DP

We recently published two articles about student government's collaboration with Penn's minority communities to improve undergraduate minority representation in major campus institutions. The Daily Pennsylvanian is an active supporter of and a participant in these efforts.

Emerson Brooking | Time to face the music

How much should an illegally shared song cost? According to a recent federal jury decision, $9,250. Last October, a district court ordered Minnesota native Jammie Thomas to pay the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) $222,000 for illegally sharing 24 music tracks.

Opinion Art | Amira Fawcett

Amira Fawcett is an Engineering senior from Houston, Texas. Her e-mail address is fawcett@dailypennsylvanian.com.

Meredith Aska McBride | Getting past don't ask, don't tell

uick, name an aspect of military policy that Obama and McCain agree on completely. It's not the war in Iraq or the best way to handle Iran. No, both candidates think Columbia University should bring back its ROTC program, as they both said earlier this month.

Editorial | Moving on up

Penn's getting greener. Officials from the Sustainable Endowments Institute recently gave Penn an A- for its sustainability efforts, in its 2009 report rating the environmental-friendliness of 300 colleges. Much of the credit goes to the administration.

Opinion Art | Alicia Puglionesi

Alicia Puglionesi is a College senior from Havertown, Pa. Her e-mail address is puglionesi@dailypennsylvanian.com.

Jacob Schutz | Finding some balance at Penn

It's always about this time of year that I start to lose the middle ground between working hard and playing hard. At this point in the semester, I actually have to produce grade-able work and complete time-intensive reading assignments. From Sunday through Thursday I'm a human dynamo of nervous energy - constantly churning out papers and practice exams.

Sarah Cantin | Nutcracker or Barbie?

It's been one month today since John McCain announced that Governor Sarah Palin would be his running mate. Does it seem like longer to you? We've already witnessed her rise, and it's safe to say that she's beginning to fall - or at least plateau. Palin's initial popularity had little to do with policy.

Opinion Art | Alex Jacobson

Alex Jacobson is a College junior from Los Angeles. His e-mail address is jacobson@dailypennsylvanian.com.