Stephen Krewson | Following the (steps to be the) leader

A pervasive idea in modern thought is that Western culture faces a pressing shortage of "leaders." Rare indeed is the organization which does not purport to "train up the leaders of tomorrow" or "equip people to lead." An entire industry has developed expressly for the manufacturing of leaders.

Stephen Krewson | What's the point of college?

On Tuesday, President Amy Gutmann and her husband donated $100,000 to fund undergraduate research. Surely this is more than a gesture in these troubled times, when even Harvard president Drew Faust issues ominous warnings that her school may "absorb unprecedented endowment losses" (30 percent!).

Stephen Krewson | Red and Blue fields of the mind

Eight days ago, on a chilly night in South Philly, Brad Lidge struck out Eric Hinske and the Phillies won the World Series. All but the soundest sleepers heard the city's exhalation of relief and triumph. It came in waves of lusty yells and incessant honking.

Stephen Krewson | Discovering Wallace

A few weeks ago, a man named David Foster Wallace took his own life at the age of 46, ending a protracted battle with depression. This fall will surely be remembered as when the financial sector began its collapse - or, assuming the rosiest scenario, survived a convulsive restructuring.

Stephen Krewson | Clearing the smoke around hookah

Awareness. It's being raised all around you, all the time, and seldom with your consent. Studies have shown that even simple acts such as waking up in the morning or walking down Locust may increase your awareness to near-toxic levels. So it's with a sincere apology that I attempt to raise awareness about everyone's favorite substance that is processed using a combination of heat and water and is subsequently smoked.

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.

Stephen Krewson | A dose of truthiness

Around 9 p.m. on Saturday, I left the raging Carnival and impossibly long lines on College Green to make a quick pit stop at the 34th Street food court. Literally 30 seconds after I had joined my friends in line, someone informed us that Stephen Colbert and his wife were checking out at CVS.

Stephen Krewson | A truly alternative spring break

With the coming of spring break began the part of my life you could call my life on the road. The afternoon of March 8, 2008 found two college sophomores in Penn T-shirts and bulging backpacks standing by the side of I-495 south of Washington D.C., their thumbs turned skyward in the sun-warmed air.

Stephen Krewson | An age of unreading?

Walking into the Penn Bookstore yesterday, I smiled to see the Campus Bestseller display. A prominent stripe of Stephen Colbert's I Am America (And So Can You!) ran across it, three books wide and ten books in length. Below them, I spotted several copies of Susan Jacoby's just-released The Age of American Unreason.

Stephen Krewson | An Evening with Irrelevance

Last Monday, Karl Rove addressed students at Connecticut preparatory school Choate Rosemary Hall, in a lecture setting. Rove had originally been penciled in as Choate's commencement speaker but accepted the less glamorous engagement after a swell of student and parental protest.

Stephen Krewson | Let the financial-aid battles begin

The median household income in the United States in 2006 was $48,201. The sticker price of Penn's tuition is $46,124, or almost 96 percent of what a typical family earns in a year. Of course, these figures misrepresent the situation at Penn, where there are very few typical families.

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.

Stephen Krewson | It's the network (or lack thereof)

There are certain things you will never read if you are a student here. These include: "Penn professor acquitted in murder trial," "Unidentified woman ambushed with flowers outside Wizzards," and "Security guard exposes his amazing personality." Trust me, you just won't.

Stephen Krewson | Why you should give a Fawke about Ron Paul

'If you see what I see, if you feel as I feel, and if you would seek as I seek," says the mysterious figure in the Guy Fawkes mask, "then I ask you to stand beside me one year from tonight, outside the gates of Parliament, and together we shall give them a fifth of November that shall never, ever be forgot.

Stephen Krewson | DPS needs to get their priorities straight

'Penn is an urban college campus, well-integrated into a vibrant University City community, which offers students, staff and faculty access to a wonderfully diverse cultural, arts and restaurant scene." Thus proclaims the Division of Public Safety's Web site.

Stephen Krewson | Warming up to Gore, almost

Who's honoring Al Gore now? These days it seems like just about everybody is. Last Friday, Gore - along with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - won the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts "to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change.

Stephen Krewson | Exit Music (for an era)

Imagine a world in which everything cost as much as you wanted to pay. Airline tickets for fall break? $50 sounds reasonable. That Porsche you've had your eye on? Yours for a grand. Dinner at Le Bec Fin? No more than the Dollar Menu. Such a state of affairs is both ludicrous and impossible.

Stephen Krewson | Just Tase me now, bro

You've probably seen the video by now - the one where that University of Florida douche bag gets Tasered at a John Kerry town hall meeting. It occupies a special place in viral-video chronology; right after Britney at the VMAs and just before the Swedish hostess who threw up on live TV.

Stephen Krewson | PC 101: Gender, Politics and Frat Theory

Fraternity. The word is derived from frater, Latin for brother. In broad terms, it means a collection of similar people joined together by a shared purpose. Most college students have a hazier definition that typically involves beer, chicks, bros and the occasional ho.

Stephen Krewson | Dispatches from a divided campus

"If you have somebody in your dorm who's a blowhard-and this is off-the-wall-carry one of those army-recruitment posters and tell them: 'Sign up-you can even use my pen.'"