Like most Penn students, I have political and social ideas about what should be done to help “the underclass.”But there’s a guy who sits on the corner of 38th and Chestnut in a wheelchair that I’ve walked past many times. He’s the poverty I’d like to solve. But not once — even just with a passing smile — have I acknowledged his humanity.
Pennsylvania is one of just 14 states with hate crime laws that do not include protections for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Hate crime protection increases the severity of charges for violence motivated by malicious intent, and these laws protect the people in our community who are the most vulnerable. It is inexcusable that the LGBT community is not protected.
More importantly, though, Yik Yak also forces us to face the aspects of Penn we’d rather ignore. Maybe we have to be anonymous to feel comfortable calling attention to the lesser-discussed elements of Penn’s campus. Yaks like “Penn is the school for smart kids who constantly need to counter their intelligence with binge drinking,” and, “Everyone on campus is a functioning alcoholic and it’s a beautiful thing” call attention to elements of Penn we accept without question.
Furthermore, we need to be aware that when we uphold the value of artists such as Iggy Azalea, we allow them to take space from other artists — in this example, black artists — who are producing art that is both more authentic and less offensive.
Of course language is supposed to change — it should always be evolving with the ideas of its speakers. But being eager to create new uses of language doesn’t necessarily excuse us from stomping on old ones. When we scramble, garble or generally maim language with reckless abandon, we risk burying important concepts alive.
Let’s start with the fact that universalizing beauty is a lie, and it’s not a lie that’s fooling anyone. Not everyone is beautiful. Beauty is a relative term. As such, for some to gain the label “beautiful,” others must lose it. Beauty, like cleverness and athleticism, is a spectrum, and there’s nothing wrong with appreciating particular beauty in others. If everyone is beautiful, the term is meaningless.
Let’s start with the fact that universalizing beauty is a lie, and it’s not a lie that’s fooling anyone. Not everyone is beautiful. Beauty is a relative term. As such, for some to gain the label “beautiful,” others must lose it. Beauty, like cleverness and athleticism, is a spectrum, and there’s nothing wrong with appreciating particular beauty in others. If everyone is beautiful, the term is meaningless.
Pennsylvania is one of just 14 states with hate crime laws that do not include protections for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Hate crime protection increases the severity of charges for violence motivated by malicious intent, and these laws protect the people in our community who are the most vulnerable. It is inexcusable that the LGBT community is not protected.
More importantly, though, Yik Yak also forces us to face the aspects of Penn we’d rather ignore. Maybe we have to be anonymous to feel comfortable calling attention to the lesser-discussed elements of Penn’s campus. Yaks like “Penn is the school for smart kids who constantly need to counter their intelligence with binge drinking,” and, “Everyone on campus is a functioning alcoholic and it’s a beautiful thing” call attention to elements of Penn we accept without question.
The College Republicans’ article may not have been trendsetting, as I have already mentioned, but rather than continue the trend of partisan squabbling, we can still foster a new style of politics in response based on mutual respect. Penn Dems and College Republicans do not have to be mutually exclusive. They are not by default or by definition opposed and perennially at odds with one another.
The next bucket of cases centers around vague, almost meaningless benefits, such as “learning how to learn” and “learning for its own sake.” The latter advantage is particularly dubious; roller coasters are ridden for their own sake, the experience to be quickly forgotten once the seat belt is unbuckled. In the current environment, would a student really embark on a course of study whose benefits leave him as soon as he obtains a diploma, just for its own sake?
It was hard adjusting to Penn. After two weeks, I was set on going home. I had decided that Penn wasn’t worth it. I didn’t want to be Americanized. I wanted to stay true to my identity. I wanted to go back home to Lebanon.
Sam Sherman is a College junior from Marblehead, Mass. His email address is samsherman6@gmail.com.
Anneka DeCaro is a College freshman. Her email address is annekaxiv@gmail.com.
To study history is to take ownership of the human race, sharing in its triumphs and bearing witness to its sins and follies. We join a legacy of transient beings striving to craft a fleeting world for the better. Only by linking ourselves to them across the ages do we keep that legacy intact.
We have the rest of our lives to focus on our chosen field of work. Take advantage of Penn’s opportunities now.
“All About That Bass” is not the first pop song to tell young women and girls that the only real value of their bodies is how men perceive them. “What Makes You Beautiful” by One Direction, “Just the Way You Are” and “Treasure” by Bruno Mars are just some examples of pop hits that require the man to define a woman’s beauty for her. “Men love curvy women.” “Guys love skinny girls.” These back and forth arguments are unhealthy and put down other women. Girls shouldn't have to justify their body types by pointing to what men find attractive.
The building was filthy. Roaches and mice frolicked about on dirty walls and stained hallway floors. Program instructors watched the unsanitary circumstances continue outside, as the cleaning staff dumped dirty mop water and cleaning chemicals into a flooded drain in the school yard. Internet access ceased and took several days to be restarted, which was a major barrier for instructors attempting to academically engage their students.Where I once was frustrated with the conditions at some schools, I was now livid. Children attended the program because of its potential to provide fun and enriching activities. Our purpose was to supplement the students’ school-year learning experiences. We aimed to provide encouragement and support for the students, demonstrate that learning is more than sitting in class looking at books.
But the question remains: When does the pregnancy become a human being? Biologically, this happens within 90 minutes of fertilization — when the fetus’s DNA synthesis is complete and growth begins. At this point, the child is clinically alive in his own right. But legally, this life is initially unrecognized, and finally recognized only in an animal sense.The difficulty with this legal approach is that it fails to provide any point at which our unborn biological selves take on humanity. Viability — the law in Pennsylvania — is absurd because it makes humanity a function of medical technology. By this definition, at 26 weeks a fetus in a third-world country is an animal while his western counterpart is a human being.
Nick Moncy is a College junior from North Miami, Fla. His email address is nickmon@sas.upenn.edu.
To the editor,In your 'Under The Button' September 23rd blog post, "Econ TA has 'Dun Goofed'", you made a number of erroneous claims and omissions.
Fortunately, Republicans were not able to cut SNAP funding by $40 billion. Still, Republicans were somewhat successful in their quest to cut aid to the needy. Earlier this year, President Obama signed into law a compromise agreement that cut SNAP by almost $9 billion.As a result of those cuts, 175,000 Pennsylvania families will lose $65 in benefits each month. Many of these families undoubtedly live close to Penn, and perhaps some of the affected children are those whom Penn students tutor in local schools. For families that have already been struggling to make ends meet, these cuts will be devastating.
I’ve identified myself as a feminist since middle school, but it’s difficult to apply that passion into real social settings. I note trends, but I don’t see the significance in them. I spend too much time trying to determine if a friend’s joke or a passing comment is anti-feminist that I end up letting it pass. I want to practice what I preach — or more accurately, what I share on Facebook — but I over-rationalize my way into inaction.Furthermore, it’s difficult to put the more idealistic points of feminism into place at college. I consider myself a feminist, but I compare myself to other women. Few of my conversations are about women’s issues, and I have no plans to take a gender studies class. Eighty percent of the music on my workout playlist is overtly misogynistic. I don’t freak out when “Blurred Lines” comes on at a party. I go to the gym not so I can release endorphins, but so I can fit into my skinny jeans.
Solutions by The State News
