While President Obama’s proposal to increase the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 languishes in the Republican-controlled Congress, Penn Democrats applauds Governor Tom Wolf’s effort to increase Pennsylvania's minimum wage.

There are upsides to being held accountable, but we lose something when we self-censor. We miss the goofy sentiments, the random toss-out of ideas to the universe, the fragility of paint splattered against a river bank. Too often we lose sight of what we want to say in fear we’ll say something wrong.

In the social consciousness of the American public, universities have ceased to be thought of simply as academic institutions, and have come to be regarded as the final step in the developmental process — processing factories for adults, even.

When we fail to pass on initiatives, organizations of great historical importance or simply the lessons we’ve learned while navigating this space for four years, we fail to pass the torch to our contemporaries.

Ask many people, and they will tell you that journalism has an identity crisis. Whether it’s the increasing number of comments on The Daily Pennsylvanian website lamenting the loss of journalistic integrity, or the fall of once highly trusted national personalities like Brian Williams – it is clear that we are suffering from a persistent problem.

As a symbol of the university, the president should make some effort to personally connect with the students, and not just in queueing photoshoots at holiday soirees.

The Daily Pennsylvanian: We have a very special guest interview today. Could you please state your name for the readers? Hermann the Mum Star Rabbit: My name is HERMANN THE MUM STAR RABBIT! DP: Thank you Hermann.

The Daily Pennsylvanian’s annual gag issue has a long history, of which another chapter has been written today.

We are free to believe what we want, the reasoning goes, and since religion is a personal matter, it is not to be an object of criticism. This is true, but only partially.

One of the ideas most integral to America’s conception of itself is the idea of meritocracy. It’s a seductive one, aligning well with what we’d like to believe about our nation and ourselves.

We’ve all heard the urges to get into Center City more, to escape Penn’s boundaries and take advantage of the tourist destination at our fingertips. I love Philadelphia and have made some of my fondest memories this year exploring downtown, but I’m so attached to the environment we create on campus.

The report makes clear that the mostly-white city government systematically and intentionally used the police and courts to extract money from the mostly-black population. It was not simply that the government’s composition did not reflect that of the electorate, the government was acting directly against the majority’s interests.

Going to a different school for one year hasn’t made me more mature or more experienced than my peers who spent their first year at Penn. From what I have experienced, colleges are more similar than they are different.

Unless you have been living under a rock or cabana during spring break, you have probably heard about the Sigma Alpha Epsilon scandal that unfolded last week.

We are familiar with the challengeable, but still prevalent stereotypes about gender. This is just the way things are, we are taught, with “biology” being thrown around as a casual and vague explanation.

As youth, we also often forget that we are mortal. This is good, because it affords us the confidence to aspire for whatever we dream of without the stuttering stultification of self-doubt.

Change doesn’t have to come with an official label. It doesn’t need University funding or a DP article to appear valid. Efforts we make on a small scale are just as legitimate. If we want to change Penn — to really alter the things we all dislike about the University — then we need to start at the individual level.