Because Malik Little '11, until recently a freshman at this university, has been charged with numerous felonies, it is proper for - one might say incumbent upon - the administration to ban him from this campus. The crimes he is ...(back to the article)
The opinions expressed here are those of the individual commenters and do not necessarily represent the views of The Daily Princetonian Publishing Company, Inc. We do not take responsibility for the opinions, facts, or claims presented by individual commenters, and reserve the right to moderate or delete inappropriate comments.
Amen. The focus on writing is one of my favorite things about the school. It's great to see a preceptor's opinion and hear that all the students' hard work shows through. I was particularly fond of Professor Paul Miles's comments on papers, but all my professors and preceptors gave great feedback throughout. Thank you to the professors and preceptors for keeping us on the long march.
Thumbs Up! Thumbs Down!
One thing I've noticed about undergrads at PU (I'm a grad student) and undergrad students in general is that sometimes, students can be quite intelligent and be terrible writers. Writing is a skill that requires refinement, and Princeton is really good about refining it. This fella (and other students here) will be a good writer by the end of his tenure here, I'm certain. I can see the difference in the writing of sophomores, juniors and seniors as they progressively become better. Anyway, it is nice to see someone casting a critical eye on writing, especially writing that represents the University. Writing is something that is ignored by many institutions. Thankfully, Princeton isn't one of them.
Thumbs Up! Thumbs Down!
Those are some great writing quotes! Apologies if it seemed I was suggesting the author was "unworthy of law school" -- I am fortunately not in a position to make that call, and he has several years to go before it is an issue. My original comment could have been much clearer. My thinking was that only law school could further complicate his writing, which would be a very bad thing. As writing is his hobby and he is a student at PU, I do hope he works on it and improves it over the next 3 years. Once his writing is great, then he can go to law school and graduate without risk of becoming one of the "wittnesseth" "whereas" "moreover" snobs. As a heads up "one piece of writing" is used to DETERMINE whether someone gets into law school, gets a job at a firm, gets a clerkship, etc.. Writing is very important, especially published writing that can be found by anyone with access to google.
Thumbs Up! Thumbs Down!
Well, I don't think any impartial reader can argue that the writing needs some serious refinement. But insulting someone by using one piece of their writing to suggest they are unworthy of law school? That's douchebag material there. Especially since this guy's one year removed from high school.
Thumbs Up! Thumbs Down!
This remind me of a quote that got me through my first two years of college: “The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. When there is a gap between one's real and one's declared aims, one turns instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish squirting out ink.” George Orwell
Thumbs Up! Thumbs Down!
Brendan, your prose needs some work. You used 20-dollar words when simpler ones would have suited you better. You will delight your readers more if you keep your prose clear and simple. Let your ideas take on elegance. Hopefully, your writing seminar instructor will help you with this.
Thumbs Up! Thumbs Down!
I agree with Crusty Alum. And, Brendan, can you drop the whole defender-of-the-Western-Canon pose? It's pompous and irrelevant here. Your reliance on it reminds me of something Lichtenberg wrote, "He did not so much defend Christianity as let Christianity defend him."
Thumbs Up! Thumbs Down!
Freshman or not, overwriting something is awful writing. The article's sentiment is laudable, parts are commendable, but the whole of it abuses the reader. It is turgid. The unnecessarily complicated legal wrangling only makes it worse. For some reason people seem compelled to write like that when writing about the law. Law school only makes that worse.
Thumbs Up! Thumbs Down!
A felon is a person who commits a felony; just because Richard Nixon was not convicted of a felony does not mean that he was not a felon. If you get arrested and charged by the police department, you are an un-convicted felon in their eyes. If the crime is juicy and scandalous, as in the Duke Lacrosse case, you are guilty in the public's eye. However, institutions such as Princeton and The Daily Princeton-ian cannot bear witness of guilt or innocence until the case has adjudicated in a court of law or dismissed. "Be a good fellow and gentleman and come back to school once this matter is settled," says the Princeton lawyer to the accused. "With a full grant for my money spent and my time lost," says the accused. "If you are cleared of all felony charges, yes indeed, you will get credit for money and time lost," say the Princeton lawyer.
Thumbs Up! Thumbs Down!
Wow, are you a douchebag. Give the dude a break, he's only a freshman.
Thumbs Up! Thumbs Down!
Dose of reality from a female student: I've made up my mind that even if there isn't enough evidence to lock Malik up, I have more than enough evidence to want to avoid him forever. It is highly unlikely that he is squeaky clean here. At best, he didn't beat her *quite* so much, and didn't raise his voice *quite* so much when threatening to kill her if she aborted the pregnancy. Sorry, rule of law is all nice and whatnot. But as a female I don't want to ever see this guy on campus or anywhere.
Thumbs Up! Thumbs Down!
Turgid. PLEASE do not go to law school. Please. Or if you want to, please submit this as your writing sample so that you won't get accepted.
Thumbs Up! Thumbs Down!
If he knows he's guilty he would be better off pleading and taking the reduced sentence suggested by the prosecutor. But then again, he is being represented by the same lawyer who defended Megan Kanka's (Megan's Law) killer.
Thumbs Up! Thumbs Down!
To anon- I think you may be missing the point because Brendan explicitly addresses your argument. I'll just cut and paste so it's clear: "It will be urged that the jury alone must give Mr. Little this benefit and that the common public may, on the testimony of the witnesses, come to its own conclusions, even before a jury has been convened. Which is to forget that a jury is composed of the common public; that we are those peers, a jury of whom he may demand. And if we presume on the evidence of a newspaper article that Little is guilty, then our judgment may have no legal force." In other words, the general public needs to keep an open mind so that they can fairly judge Little if he goes to trial. Hope that helps.
Thumbs Up! Thumbs Down!
Sources on campus? Does this mean Public Safety? Nassau Hall? I really doubt anyone employed by the U. would ever tell the Prince or any newspaper about something like this. The Trenton Times probably found out about this by having a reporter at the court in Trenton every day, all day. There's no way the Prince could send a student to Trenton every day on the off chance that a case involving Princeton would come up. As for finding more info than the Times story, I think it would be virtually impossible for even the best reporter to have gotten more information for Monday's article. Everyone's complaining that the University covering this up, keeping quiet, etc., so clearly they're not going to say anything beyond what they absolutely must to the Prince or anyone else.
Thumbs Up! Thumbs Down!
I think phrasing the legal right to be considered innocent until proven guilty as sacred is a little preposterous (pardon the pun). I'm not sure the fact that it is an integral part of our judicial system should have any bearing on our personal judgments of this person. What if the law were to be wrong, or someone we know to be guilty to get off on a technicality? Would we all of a sudden consider them innocent?
Thumbs Up! Thumbs Down!
The problem with the Prince's reporting is not that they didn't join the rush to condemn the accused. It was that they, the paper of record for the university, had no idea that there was even an arrest until it was reported by the Trenton Times; even once they did, they didn't find out anything original or more informative. The fact is, they are either lazy or incompetent for not having the sources in place on campus to find out a story about this before a local city daily.
Thumbs Up! Thumbs Down!