Opinion

Editorial | Using technology

The worst part of winter break is waiting for final grades. But with the advent of e-learning programs like Blackboard and webCafe, students and professors have the option of constant communication. Curriculum changes or complicated questions move from one party to another with the click of a button, reducing confusion and simplifying professor-student interactions.

Opinion Art | Amira Fawcett

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

Opinion Art | Alicia Puglionesi

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

David Kanter | Defying The Daily Show

'We would like to return to work with our writers. If we cannot, we would like to express our ambivalence, but without our writers we are unable to express something as nuanced as ambivalence." With characteristic wit, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert announced their intentions to resume their respective Comedy Central shows last week without their striking writers.

Editorial | Increasing access

For many students, Christmas came early last month. In response to Harvard's sweeping financial aid initiative, which extends coverage to middle and upper-class families, Penn announced last month that it would work toward loan-free aid for all eligible students by Fall 2009.

Meet Your Columnists

Monday Jim Saksa You Sir, are an Idiot College Senior Jim Saksa is finally graduating, so this semester should be spent boozing heavily with his SigEp frat brothers. Instead, he'll spend countless nights writing inane drivel for the DP. Hopefully, you'll appreciate the sacrifices he's making.

Opinion Art | Daniel Schwartz

Daniel Schwartz is a College sophomore from Decatur, Ga. His e-mail address is schwartz@dailypennsylvanian.com.

Lawrence Sherman | Philadelphia's journey in the fight against crime

While this has not been a good year for crime in Philadelphia, better days may be coming soon. The election of Penn graduate Michael Nutter as our next Mayor, and Nutter's appointment of former Washington, DC police chief Charles Ramsey as the next police commissioner holds the promise of a far more systematic effort to fight crime than our city has ever seen.

Opinion Board | Cheers and Jeers

CHEERS • To the city of Philadelphia, for rejecting pay-to-play party politics by electing policy wonk and reformer Michael Nutter. • To Huntsman senior Joyce Meng and Penn alum Stephen Danley for winning the Rhodes and Marshall scholarships. • To athletic director Steve Bilsky, for ensuring that the eastward expansion plan improves Penn's athletic facilities through additional construction and building upgrades.

Nick McAvoy | Slavery in the city of liberty

Slavery. Not somewhere else. Right here. Earlier this semester I went to a presentation of the Not For Sale Campaign, a movement launched in February with the aim of abolishing worldwide slavery within our lifetime. Going in, I felt that while this was probably a worthy cause, it was more a global issue than a national one.

Jim Saksa | Avoiding mindless conversation

Whenever I go home, I find myself trapped in the same infuriating conversation. Lacking any topics we really want to talk about, old friends and distant relations fall into the same rut when we catch up on news. Where do I go to school? Penn. Mindless banter question? Mindless banter answer.

Your Voice | Letters to the Editor

An insensitive choice of words To the editor: While there is no shortage of derogatory language circulating on Penn's campus, I was shocked to see an example printed in the pages of Friday's DP. In his article "It's the network (or lack thereof)", Stephen Krewson nonchalantly uses the term "retard" to describe Sen.

Opinion Art | Avery Lawrence

Avery Lawrence is a College senior from Charlottesville, Va. His e-mail address is lawrence@dailypennsylvanian.com.

Jenny Zhan | Gambling with Philadelphia's voice

Penn's eastward expansion over the blighted postal lands has been greeted with mostly nods and applause. But what if the renewal project built casino resorts instead of nanotechnology centers or dorms? Whether you like it or not, two casinos are going to break grounds along the Delaware River waterfront in a few weeks.

Stephen Krewson | Not the right attitude

About a month ago, I wrote a column in response to the shootings outside Koko Bongo nightclub, in which dozens of shots were fired and one person was killed. My outrage was directed primarily at Penn's Division of Public Safety. I accused them of being misguided and failing to do enough to protect students.

Rina Thomas | Answering the call to action

There's a massive, non-violent protest going on in our very own backyard. Community leaders are calling for 10,000 men to flood the streets with peacekeeping patrols in an effort to stem the rampant violence. Philadelphia has organized town-watch movements and Father's Day rallies before, but the city has never hosted something of this scale.

Opinion Board | Navigating the storm

As this semester draws to a close, it's evident that Penn's administrators are trying hard to get through the "perfect storm" of crime. And while the semester did include the glamorous launch of an ambitious capital campaign, along with an exciting eastward expansion effort, those successes haven't been able to gloss over the disturbing assortment of incidents that have dented Penn's reputation and campus life.

Opinion Art | Amira Fawcett

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

Mara Gordon | Teaching, one meal at a time

It was the best chicken sandwich I'd had in a long time. I got it at a little cafe nestled along a nondescript block of Fairmount Avenue, kind of a hike for an ordinary weekday lunch after class this week. But what made this one chicken sandwich so good was the people who made it.

Opinion Art | Joanne Tong

Joanne Tong is a Wharton senior from Manila, Philippines. Her e-mail address is tong@dailypennsylvanian.com.