Opinion Columns
Cornelius Range V | Giving the UA greater purpose
“Hi! My name is Bobby Frosh! Will you sign my petition for student government?” “Sure, Bobby, what exactly does student government do again?” “Uhh… we do whatever it takes to make your collegiate experience better!” “Really?
Samantha Sharf | Consequences of the press of a button
As Penn students, we like to believe we are immune to silly mistakes. You would, however, be hard pressed to find a Quaker who hasn’t accidentally replied-all to an email or booked a ticket on the wrong BoltBus.
Dan Bernick | The best university in the world
Penn is not the best university in the world. But we can be.
Brian Goldman | Penn's alcohol-induced missteps
Penn needs to reconfigure two of its alcohol-related policies.
Rachel del Valle | 'Playboy,' 'Pan Am' and misplaced nostalgia
This fall’s new television shows copy the style of Mad Men, but miss its substance.
Ernest Owens | Freshman candidates, save your sanity
I advise all future Penn leaders to not lose their minds this upcoming election.
Robert Hsu | Facebook: friendship poison
Our society has to confront a growing problem — people are beginning to see Facebook as an accurate representation of and effective alternative to reality.
Sara Brenes-Akerman | A place called Malpaís
Fidel Gamboa died on August 28th. It is hard for me to explain what this means to anyone who doesn’t find the sentence striking at first glance.
Mark Attiah | The fruits of forbidden knowledge
Are there really some things that ethics dictate we’ll just never know? Who decides what is on- and off-limits?
Samantha Sharf | A toast to well-dressed men
Fashion has long given preference to females, with general lack of male interest. By allowing talk about men’s fashion to be a taboo, we are shutting down opportunities for the man on the street to express himself.
Cornelius Range V | Why comedians shouldn’t apologize
Tracy Morgan shouldn’t have apologized for his offensive joke. Comedians only feed the audience what they want to hear — an exploration of the darkest machinations of the human mind.
Travis Cantrell | What about the Flashers?
Penn needs a center for Tea Partiers and Flashers alike, a la the LGBT Center.Charles Gray | Rethinking intellectualism
A tactic that has been used by the media and many elements of the Left when handling the Tea Party is to portray it as a group of anti-intellectuals who are unsophisticated.
Brian Goldman | Death, taxes and the Middle East
The Palestinian strategy for statehood has flipped in a matter of eight years. The strategy now seems to follow a new script: statehood first, negotiations later.
Rachel del Valle | Netflix calls it a wrap too soon
Netflix jumped the gun by convincing millions of its subscribers to choose between price and quality.
Ernest Owens | Penn’s redundant gay pride
Although Penn is making significant strides, the fact that in 2011 our campus still emphasizes how “gay-friendly” it is seems very redundant and counterproductive to the entire movement.
Taylor Hawes | No parking
Upon stepping into Penn Park, it becomes clear that the space is dedicated to serve a purpose — to provide a space for organized games, and not for simple lounging. It’s not so much a park as a collection of fields.
Alexey Komissarouk | Be cooler than Mark Zuckerberg
Like a faint electric buzz, excitement about new ways to use technology is permeating throughout campus. As your tech columnist, I’ll be doing my best to make you aware of some of the cooler stuff going on.Sally Engelhart | The skinny on calorie counting
I’ll tell you why we really get fat. You might not like it. You probably won’t believe me either. But after reading some outstanding work by science writer Gary Taubes, I’m a die-hard believer.