Letter to the Editor | Please, stop changing your profile pictures

By Nicole Hammons · Feb. 10, 2014

I feel depressed not because Facebook is projecting some sense of perfection, but because my brain does not produce serotonin in the same way or in the same amount as most people’s brains do. The cause of my depression is not external, and it certainly isn’t Facebook.

Roderick Cook | Addressing identity (in just a few letters)

By Roderick Cook · Feb. 10, 2014

Even the smallest of words can have the ability to either reaffirm or invalidate someone’s identity. When it comes to gender, some of the most important words are usually only a few letters long: pronouns.

Alexandra Friedman | The power of the social network

By Alexandra Friedman · Feb. 10, 2014

On my newsfeed, I have discovered articles, videos, Buzzfeed lists and pictures that have made me laugh, cry, empathize and understand.

Guest Column by Nikki Hardison | Fighting the stigma within ourselves

By Nikki Hardison · Feb. 9, 2014

When you live in a society that demands so much of your existence, life does not stop when you feel sad. For many of our families, especially without the information or resources, mental health is often misunderstood and something we’re forced to suck up.

Guest Column by Micah Sandusky, Jeremiah Keenan, Hannah Victor and Faith Concepcion | An Anchored Hope

By Faith Concepcion , Hannah Victor , Jeremiah Keenan and Micah Sandusky · Feb. 9, 2014

Like Ravi, we need rationally grounded answers to maintain hope through the ups and downs of life.

Collin Boots | Not ready for Ravi

By Collin Boots · Feb. 9, 2014

It concerns me greatly to see so many intelligent Penn students praising Zacharias as an intellectual heavyweight. Ravi is an expert rhetorician and apologist, but his views and arguments hardly deserve the term intellectual.

Guest Column by Leah Geoghegan | An ongoing conversation

By Leah Geoghegan · Feb. 7, 2014

It not just reaching out in the moment that counts, but maintaining an ongoing conversation with students.

Abel McDaniels | A different kind of treatment

By Abel McDaniels · Feb. 6, 2014

“Mental illness” is not like cancer, and going to CAPS is not the equivalent of radiation.

Sara Schonfeld | Feminist fashion?

By Sara Schonfeld · Feb. 6, 2014

Can a sorority woman dress a certain way and still respect herself? What about a businesswoman — what does she have to wear to look professional?

Akshat Shekhar | Straight Outta Compton

By Akshat Shekhar · Feb. 5, 2014

To stereotype Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City because of its creator’s hometown and its Wikipedia page is to fail to understand it. To fail to reward GKMC is to prove your complete ignorance of it.

Jonathan Iwry | A different kind of 'Heist'

By Jonathan Iwry · Feb. 5, 2014

I’ve been rapping for 12 years because it genuinely resonates with me — I love the culture of hip-hop as an art form, not an accessory.

Frida Garza | Food porn for thought

By Frida Garza · Feb. 4, 2014

We should not be judging our diets based on arbitrary guidelines (Is this gluten-free? Is there dairy in this? Would a caveman eat it?) but instead get motivated by our individual body goals.

Letter to the Editor by Caitlin Dougherty

By Caitlin Dougherty · Feb. 4, 2014

I was not impressed by “A Wing-sperience to Remember,” the article about the Wing Bowl, a competitive eating contest of who can eat the most buffalo wings. Celebrating the worst of things all things American, it glorified gluttony with a side display of sexism.

Guest Column by Dylan Hewitt, Rishi Simha, Joanna Kamhi, Nicole Grabowski and Dawn Androphy | A request for respect

By Dawn Androphy , rishi simha , dylan hewitt , Joanna Kamhi and Nicole Grabowski · Feb. 4, 2014

It sends a message to the freshmen hoping to be a part of such an organization that women are nothing more than their physique. As we know both from history and present times, it is one small leap from dehumanization to violence. That this flyer essentially depicts a woman’s butt as a prize for successful pledges only proves this point.

Jonathan Iwry | Into the whirlpool

By Jonathan Iwry · Feb. 3, 2014

It’s not just about keeping afloat. College is, above all else, a time of growth and self-discovery. Beyond grades, parties and everything in between, the most valuable thing we walk away with is a sense that we have somehow grown — that somewhere along the last four years, something has awoken inside us, and that we’ve found a voice within ourselves we didn’t know we possessed. From learning to live away from home to landing our first jobs, we slowly come to terms with our own independence.

Alexandra Friedman | Life's great balancing act

By Alexandra Friedman · Feb. 3, 2014

I can say confidently that I took in every sunset, devoured each Israeli-style breakfast and relished each walk around my home of four and a half months. I went to the bus station without a destination in mind, embracing a more spontaneous lifestyle than the one we have here at Penn.

Guest Column by Ernest Owens | CAPS is not the only asylum

By Ernest Owens · Feb. 2, 2014

It was not until the chaplain of this university, Charles Howard, reached out to me and things began to make sense.