No child, man or woman should be a political football — especially in a time of fragility and mourning — but there comes a point when a political conversation is necessary.

Although we fear staying in college for more than four years and falling behind, I invite you to consider taking a gap year and time out for yourself.

This is my last column for The Daily Pennsylvanian. My goal for ‘The Ernest Opinion’ was to make you think and speak.

Religious organizations are fundamental to the fabric of American life, not because they establish “a moral compass” for the country, as many would attest to, but because they provide the country with a plethora of social services.

It’s concerning — but unfortunately not surprising — that Penn students are more concerned about how Adderall will affect the class curves rather than how prescription-grade cocaine is dispensed by health care professionals like candy.

If we want to get our fiscal house in order — and help avert the fiscal cliff — we should eliminate the deductions and start treating churches like the corporations they are.

Although a deal is all we hear about now, we didn’t talk about it during the election. While the deficit is scary, it isn’t what people or candidates care about.

As you meander through checkout lines everyday, just consider what you’re buying and whom you’re supporting.

I cannot say that my role as an elected representative on campus has been best used to advocate for students. Many campus issues that I encountered as a Quaker have not been addressed by the UA.

A focus on socioeconomic status without looking at race wouldn’t address the problems affirmative action seeks to remedy.

I have a couple of proposals about how the Republican Party stance needs to change before 2016.

Here’s what I have to say to the 18-year-old future Dr. Robert Hsu.

Time after time, I’ve noticed that the individuals who end up advocating for students are ordinary members of the Penn community with an extraordinary story to tell.

The root of the problem in Senate is not the existence of the filibuster. It’s a refusal to listen to the sense of the meeting.

Send one letter every month — to your grandmother or your best friend from high school who used to wish you Merry Christmas with a handmade card. Collect your letters, your responses, the envelopes and stamps. This project will bolster the postal system while brightening someone’s day.

Everyone wants to be associated with success. When they invest in something that blossoms, they take a share of it.

There will always be some who spin stories to ask for money, but there are 4,000 Philadelphians who are homeless tonight. Many of these people are veterans or victims of the recession; some suffer from addiction or mental illness.