A new law will force criminals to think twice before shooting. Recently, Gov. Ed Rendell signed a bill imposing a mandatory 20-year sentence on anyone who shoots or attempts to shoot at a police officer. We commend the governor for endorsing this legislation.
Alex Jacobson is a College junior from Los Angeles. His e-mail address is jacobson@dailypennsylvanian.com.
Domestic terrorism isn't free speech To the Editor: The petition that Penn faculty and students signed in support of William Ayers is totally off the mark. The petition suggests Ayers is being criticized for "voic[ing] perspectives and advanc[ing] questions that challenge orthodoxy and political power" and that this criticism "casts a chill over free speech . and the spirit of democracy.
This last week, I read about 30 e-mails about events occurring on campus, received a dozen or so Facebook messages and had countless awkward confrontations on Locust Walk. Then there was the PennPortal calendar of events, the Fisher-Hassenfeld (where I'm a Residential Adviser) Web site of House events and SPEC's combination of posters and e-mails.
I read trash. Or at least according to some people I do. An article in Monday's issue of The Daily Pennsylvanian reported the plummeting rates of pleasure reading among college students. In it, one student said that "what college students typically read is not helpful at all to improving literacy rates anyway" and highlighted books such as the popular Twilight series as premiere examples of literary garbage.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt once claimed the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. Yet with many Americans spooked by the economy, this fear is translating into an altogether perplexing economic phenomenon. According to a report put out by the National Retail Federation, more people plan to celebrate this year's Halloween than ever before - despite the frightening fall of stocks, savings and financial security.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt once claimed the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. Yet with many Americans spooked by the economy, this fear is translating into an altogether perplexing economic phenomenon. According to a report put out by the National Retail Federation, more people plan to celebrate this year's Halloween than ever before - despite the frightening fall of stocks, savings and financial security.
Alex Jacobson is a College junior from Los Angeles. His e-mail address is jacobson@dailypennsylvanian.com.
Domestic terrorism isn't free speech To the Editor: The petition that Penn faculty and students signed in support of William Ayers is totally off the mark. The petition suggests Ayers is being criticized for "voic[ing] perspectives and advanc[ing] questions that challenge orthodoxy and political power" and that this criticism "casts a chill over free speech . and the spirit of democracy.
With so much media attention focused on the upcoming presidential election, it's easy to forget that Congress is also turning over. That's just as well, since rampant gerrymandering has severely reduced the competitiveness of many congressional elections in Pennsylvania, leaving voters with few real choices or decision-making influence.
Jennifer Lesser is a College junior from Minneapolis, Minn. Her e-mail address is lesser@dailypennsylvanian.com.
Activists are rattling the University's cage about animal experimentation. A small protest last weekend on the corner of 34th and Walnut streets reiterated complaints that community members have with the University's research methods. The protestors echoed the concerns of Stop Animal Exploitation Now (SAEN), an animal-rights group, which claims that Penn is one of the worst universities when it comes to animal research.
In his Oct. 3, 2008 column, Mordechai Treiger raises a very valid question: "Why save New Orleans?" He claims that New Orleans, because of it precarious geologic location, is in danger of succumbing to the forces of nature and therefore will unavoidably be destroyed.
For all those diehard Phillies fans out there, this coming week should be special. For the first time in 15 years your Phils are back in the Fall Classic. But if you want to make it down to Citizens Bank Park to watch the Series in person, it's going to cost you - listings on the ticket resale Web site StubHub.
Massive bulk packs are a necessary evil. Many Penn classes require students to purchase these packages of notes, which can contain upward of 500 pages. Printed and bound bulk packs can be expensive, often over $50. With the economy in the trash and textbook prices ever-rising, this cost can put a significant dent in the Penn student's wallet.
We're nearing the end of October, Fall Break has come and gone, so that can only mean one thing - it's almost Halloween! That may be the first event which comes to most students' minds - my own costume is waiting impatiently to make its debut - but before Halloween week rolls in, some students find themselves playing host to mom and dad.
Janice Dow is a College sophomore from Los Angeles, CA. Her e-mail address is dow@dailypennsylvanian.com.
Amira Fawcett is an Engineering senior from Houston, Texas. Her e-mail address is fawcett@dailypennsylvanian.com.
It might seem easy for a school located in a city surrounded by great farmland to source its food locally. I'm talking, of course, about Penn, located in Philadelphia, a fairly quick drive from Lancaster County, Bucks County and New Jersey. But try finding enough lettuce to feed thousands of salad-eaters several times a day, every day of the week, for eight and a half months of the year.
Unify our parks and recreation systems To the Editor: It's autumn in Philadelphia. The Phillies are in the World Series, and the Eagles' season is in full swing. While we cheer for our professional sports teams, kids and adults all over this City are playing baseball at over 160 ballfields, football on 70 fields, tennis on nearly 300 courts and soccer at approximately 125 sites.
In late July, Sen. Barack Obama held a Missouri town hall in which he contemplated the final weeks of the presidential race: "[My opponents] will say, 'He's not patriotic enough,' 'He's got a funny name,' 'He doesn't look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills.
Alicia Puglionesi is a College senior from Havertown, Pa. Her e-mail address is puglionesi@dailypennsylvanian.com.
I've never been a minority in a classroom. As a white female English major partial to courses on gender and sexuality, I tend to be surrounded by people who look a lot like me. Until this semester, when I enrolled in "African Americans in TV and Film." For the first time, I'm in the racial minority, learning about a group that far outnumbers me in the classroom.
Solutions by The State News
