Maybe we should just be more open. The fall 2013 courses are up on Penn In Touch, and as I scan over the hundreds of listings, I’m trying to temper my graduation requirements with my intellectual curiosity.

Secularism as understood today, although a great idea in the West, isn’t always exportable. The problem is that secularism is not a neutral concept but has positive associations with modernity and democracy.

Stepping away from our compulsive need for action to adopt a version of the NRK’s digitized natural world might be a healthy choice. After all, with Norway recently ranked first on Forbes’ list of the happiest world nations, the country might have something to show beyond its magnificent fjords.

It is absurd to suggest that we consent, by virtue of our participation in a professedly democratic society, to whatever abuse the government may dole out.

There is little evidence that disparity in spending has a big impact on outcomes. Research into the effect has found a modest positive link between disparity in spending and vote outcome. However, one of the confounding problems is that popular and well-organized candidates are probably more likely to win.

But what sounds good in a political ad doesn’t necessarily make good policy sense. If we allow ourselves to continue to pursue big vs. little, we might forget the more important fight: smarter vs. dumber.

To many students, Locust Walk is just a means to get from one class to another. This, unfortunately, reflects an attitude found beyond the cobbled blocks of Locust: to many students, Penn is just a stepping stone between high school and the “real world.”

Penn has a pre-professional aura that radiates outward from Huntsman, enveloping the rest of campus. This internal pressure, coupled with the external pressure from career-minded parents, can discourage students from seeking other opportunities, even if those opportunities might be a better fit than finance. There should be more support for students who want to spend their summer incorporating their play — or better put, their passions — into their work.

Today, instead of shifting education to match the new century, people point to the status quo as an argument to preserve it. But to suggest, for example, that there is a dearth of qualified minority candidates for administrative positions at Penn is evidence itself that the system is broken.

We all find it awkward when we mix up names, but it seems I’m the only person upset over rechristening Sam as Wesley and mistaking Mary Kate for Caroline.

We are only $550 billion away from reversing Tytler’s Cycle. More so, this is over a 10-year period. That makes it $55 billion a year in a $13 trillion economy.

The lifetime ban on males that have had any sexual contact with another male (MSM) since 1977 seemed a little extreme to me.

Maybe Valentine’s Day is a little bit like the rom-com itself. It’s trendy to hate, it’s a commercial institution for suckers like you and me and its celebration is slowly fading out.

However it happened, the baseball model has infiltrated both our collective consciousness and our corresponding bedroom behavior.

Defining yourself against something — “I don’t like chick flicks” — can be easier than finding something you do like. The only problem is that you often end up living up to those categorizations.

Roughly 2.7 mojitos into the evening, one member of our little party whipped out her phone with a wry smile and passed it around the table. She was messaging a boy on a dating app, and we were all reviewing their exchange.