Opinion

Mordechai Treiger | No trays for you!

About 15 minutes before most students returned to Philadelphia, they were instructed to return their tray tables to the full upright and locked position. Better advice would have been to carry them off the plane: Trays on Penn's campus have begun to make themselves scarce.

Dani Wexler | Study abroad for all

'Donde esta la tortuga?" I would ask my friend. "La Tortuga esta en el agua," she would matter-of-factly reply. Such was the extent of my command of the Spanish language during the three-week trip I took to Spain last summer. For those of you who are similarly unfamiliar with the language, this question-answer phrase is translated as, "Where is the turtle?" "The turtle is in the water.

Opinion Art | Jennifer Lesser

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

Editorial | Flawed, but still valuable

With the start of a new academic year comes an annual tradition - the release of the U.S. News and World Report college rankings. And with that inevitably comes an angry response from higher-ed officials disgruntled with the rankings system. One particular component that seems to provoke outrage is the peer-assessment section, which comprises roughly 25 percent of the rankings.

Stephen Krewson | We're number (sixty) one!

If you're anything like me, you read Forbes for one reason and one reason only: the lists. And as anyone who knows anything will tell you, the best list ever compiled by the magazine is "World's Most Expensive Yachts." When at a loss for conversation with my more nautical peers, I have often saved face by holding forth on the relative merits of the Alysia ($116.

Opinion Art | Amira Fawcett

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

Lisa Zhu | Go abroad, young man

Oh, to be a senior - finished with course requirements; empowered by the ability to stride past bouncers, legal ID in hand; sitting pretty with the cool confidence of a full-time job offer. Alas, this year's seniors are considerably worse off than their predecessors, at least on the job-hunting front.

Amy Gutmann | It's time to explore

The 19th century British statesman Benjamin Disraeli described the ideal university as "a place of light, of liberty and of learning." For Penn students who want to make their mark on the 21st century, Penn is providing the most dynamic, lovely and liberating learning environment in our proud history by allowing students to stretch their minds, develop their leadership skills and learn from great professors and peers.

David Lei | New year, new paper

I spent a few hours at the Student Activities Fair yesterday talking to new students about Penn and The Daily Pennsylvanian. It was exciting to be back in the thick of things and to look forward to the new academic year. This semester, in particular, we'll be seeing a lot of changes.

Opinion Art | Alicia Puglionesi

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

Meet your Fall 2008 columnists!

Adam Goodman | Advice nobody tells you

There are two things wide-eyed freshmen can't seem to get enough of during NSO: drinking and advice. The former will be concentrated in periodic outbursts of debauchery, but the latter will be unforgivingly relentless, largely unhelpful and almost uniformly corny.

Opinion Art | Alicia Puglionesi

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

Editorial | Welcome home!

Students returning to Penn will probably notice some of the bigger changes - new faculty, more housing and even a building name change. Even with the new developments, Penn's still the same exciting place you've grown to love. As for the Class of 2012, welcome! With higher SAT scores and impressive leadership experiences, you're as talented as they come.

Arushi Sharma | Penn doesn't end at graduation

As a graduate of the Class of 2008, here's a toast (or several pieces of it) to my batch-mates and all our wondrous experiences at Penn. While most of us have left the University in body, many remain connected as mentors to our underclassman friends, assistants to our professors and participants in programs and causes that we have pursued from our NSO days.

Alicia Puglionesi | Opinion Art

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

Martin Seligman | Data that opens countless doors (Counterpoint)

I gave up animal research more than thirty years ago, and I have not done research with dogs for forty years. I have thought a great deal, however, about when scientific animal research is justified and when it is not. Here is my own history about the ethical dilemma I faced doing learned helplessness experiments in animals.

George Leslie | A need to examine goals (Point)

In a world where people strap bombs to their bodies and blow up other humans, is it too much to ask that we reconsider how we treat animals used in scientific research? Does the book of Genesis statement that man has "dominion over all animals" justify cruel and sadistic experiments committed in the name of understanding? As a scientist and an atheist, I don't think so.

Editorial | Moving ahead - and keeping promises

In April, The Daily Pennsylvanian Opinion Board encouraged the City to adopt the South Street Bridge Coalition's changes to the current proposal. Now, almost four months later, the bridge is still open - albeit with a 6-ton weight limit - and it is time to take some sort of action.

Editorial | Shouldering the burden

Penn should give students more opportunities to buy used textbooks.