Opinion Columns
James Morrison | Joe Biden needs to earn his salary
If Biden is to return to campus at any time during these next few months, he should return fully prepared to put his talents to use for the good of the Penn community, or else the University should pay him a salary that more accurately reflects his contributions to this institution.
Alex Silberzweig | Penn students would benefit from reading for fun
We need to incorporate the act of reading into our daily routine. Even reading one or two full-length articles from a fairly reputable newspaper or reading a chapter of a book can make a difference.
Maeve Masterson | Penn faculty's 'Climate Risk Solutions' mobilizes wisdom for change
Within the Penn community, this summer effort intends to inspire richer discussion and learning among students and scholars across campus, as well as introduce researchers around campus to each others’ efforts.
James Morrison | Penn needs to make it easier for students to explore its four schools
By lowering the barriers that divide students across the undergraduate schools, the University could create a more united student body that is better able to both collaborate with itself and foster a sense of unity at this school that is sorely lacking.
Alex Silberzweig | Khan Academy highlights deficiencies in conventional teaching methods
The extent to which high school, college, and graduate students depend on Khan Academy tells us how lackluster some of their more conventional resources tend to be.
Bridget Yu | There’s nothing wrong with prioritizing our mental health
Let’s take the first step toward ending the stigma around mental health by prioritizing ourselves and our health.
Alexa Rybicki | Take advantage of Penn’s global seminars
Penn makes it possible for students to have the opportunity to travel abroad without missing out on an entire semester at Penn.
Maeve Masterson | Oil refinery explosion reveals long-standing environmental injustice
Despite being just a few miles away, the thick smoke that continues to billow from the PES refinery poses a prescient and necessary reminder to most Penn students that the harmful effects of the nation’s highly emissive oil industry are real and ominously close to home.
Ilyse Reisman | Students should take advantage of Penn Walk
Penn students should not hesitate to use Penn Walk for reasons as simple as it is late and dark, they are lost, or they would like company.
James Morrison | Reconnect with your high school teachers
While no one has the greatest relationship with all of their old teachers, I would like to believe that for everyone, there was at least one teacher who made a positive and enduring impact on their life. To go back and say thank you is something so simple, but to them, it could mean the world.
Alex Silberzweig | Don’t let your parents determine your career path
There's a balance you need to strike: don't completely dismiss what your loved ones have to say, but don't change simply to fit their needs.
Alexa Rybicki | Penn students spend too much time staring at screens
At Penn, technology is so difficult to escape and comes with many risks and long-term effects on the eyes.
Ilyse Reisman | Penn dining’s conversion policy scams its students
While it is clear that the administration is trying to incentivize students to purchase a dining plan, there ways to do so without scamming them into losing money.
Maeve Masterson | Why metal straws are not enough to fight climate change
How long the sustainability trend will last is open to discretion and debate, and it is reasonable to believe that green consumption, which tricks us into thinking that buying or acting green is the full extent to which we can “do our part,” is holding back the sociocultural transformation that we need to move the needle.
James Morrison | Penn students deserve a break this summer
Summer break is the time where we are liberated to pursue that project that has no clear payoff, but is something we are passionate about, to read that book we’ve been putting off for months, or even just to curl up in bed and binge Netflix all day.
Ilyse Reisman | Incoming freshmen, please stop worrying about requirements
Now, as a rising sophomore, I have more certainty and security than I would have had if I had just focused on fulfilling every requirement for the College.
Senior Column by Camille Rapay | Making peace with my unknown
Sure, I have been cracking unemployment jokes all year to hide how embarrassed I am and to hopefully divert people from feeling any ounce of pity.
Senior Column by Alex Graves | A balancing act
Although the DP helped me avoid my problems, it also provided me with the resources to start acknowledging them.
Senior Column by Ananya Chandra | Embracing the awkwardness
Replaying the images from the last four years in my mind, there are many moments at Penn I don’t think I’ll ever forget (and many that are already forgotten). And for the most part, these moments aren’t the planned ones.