Opinion Columns
Emily Hoeven | Don't follow the leader
Sometimes I feel like I’m living in an artificially created world, as if I’m part of some big social experiment I don’t quite understand.
Alec Ward | Romancing the Screen
As a kid growing up, my parents gave me a daily allowance of what we then called “screen time.” At first 30 minutes, later extended to an hour, this was the single portion of the day when I was allowed to watch TV or use our family’s single computer — my Dad’s office desktop.
Dani Blum | My sinusoidal freshman year
There are no neat conclusions to draw from a year at Penn. But if I had to assign a label to my freshman year, it would be “sinusoidal.” The past eight months have been a sequence of peaks and troughs, memories and mishaps.
Alec Ward | But for Wales?
It strikes me that, in calling for the punishment of images they find offensive, SOUL is calling for the destruction of the very rights which uphold and protect their ability to strive for the achievement of justice as they understand it.
Katiera Sordjan | A hypochondriac mind
When it comes to pharmaceuticals, the stakes are high as far as identifying proper treatment.
The Vision | Black women are the mule of the world
“No other group in America has so had their identity socialized out of existence as have black women... When black people are talked about the focus tends to be on black men; and when women are talked about the focus tends to be on white women.” ? bell hooks Quiet as it’s kept, the denial to protect the black woman in this country belongs to a long American tradition from which this University is not exempt.
Jason Tangson | "Risus ante res," Laughter before matters
The cost of any potentially offensive joke can be redeemed if they’re clever enough — so much so that the audience recognizes the intention and structure is to be funny, and not that its choice of topic matter is inherently funny. In the case of Trevor Noah, he comes off as reckless.
Dani Blum | Lessons from Fling
Over the past few days, I’ve tried to explain Fling to my friends back home. “It’s a carnival,” I tried to tell them. “It’s a few days to just relax.” In our work-hard, play-hard environment, Fling means the chance to take a break from Penn, but also to epitomize our dear University.
Ravi Jain | The double standard of culture
Thinking about cultural appropriation as it affects my life brings up more questions than I expected. It is a complex topic because of the way it has been handled and regarded over time, and how it has impacted the lives of marginalized minority communities.
Alec Ward | This isn't Jeopardy
I can’t help but think that the language of safety and unsafety just isn’t the right terminology for this conversation.
The Vision | The virality of black death
Those who are quick to declare that “all lives matter” cannot deny the verity of the fact that our nation consistently dehumanizes our lives.
Oscar A. Rudenstam | Think
In a piece in The New Republic, Bryce Covert anticipates that interim CEO of Reddit Ellen Pao’s judicially unsuccessful gender discrimination lawsuit — waged against her former employer Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers — may still constitute an opportunity to take a step forward in mitigating gender discrimination in the United States.
Sophia Wushanley | The real value of study abroad
Travel doesn’t necessarily broaden the mind. It’s possible to live in another country for a few months without learning much of anything. A group of American friends and a Eurotrip mentality is all it takes to extend the “Penn bubble” to a different continent.
Dani Blum | The cost of practicality
The high price of college sucks the meaning out of college itself. When we choose our fields of study based on the potential outcomes, we lose the central purpose of selecting a major at all: to narrow down a field we’re truly interested in, and then to push for excellence in that area.
Toe the Line: College Republicans | Personal freedoms, public conciliations and discrimination
What those who decry —(with religious zeal, I might add —) Indiana’s RFRA seem to ignore is that these issues involve a balancing of rights.
Toe the Line: Penn Democrats | Personal freedoms, public conciliations and discrimination
When the federal government passed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act in 1993, the LGBT rights movement had hardly begun.
Alec Ward | Not better together
In the age of instant mass media and ever-expanding tort liability, for Penn to adopt a “live and let live” approach to students’ risky behavior just isn’t a rational choice. To avoid the monetary losses which might result from parental lawsuits or bad press born of Greek antics, it is simply in Penn’s best interests as an institution not to be tolerant of violations of policies it couldn’t really change if it wanted to.
Katiera Sordjan | Working out and apart
Just as we have gendered expectations for ourselves, we also have gendered expectations for others. If we as women think we should be focusing on cardio, we expect men to focus on muscle training.
Jason Tangson | Mind the gap
A college education has become more attainable for those who seek it, but comparatively little has been done to make this education relevant to the newer, wider clientele.