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Stop ranting about politics on Facebook

Students across the country are planning to walk out of class for 17 minutes this Wednesday to honor the victims of last month's Parkland, Florida school shooting. Princeton students are holding the "We Call BS: Princeton Rally for Gun Reform." Each night when I look at my Facebook newsfeed, it is saturated with political posts, rants, and cartoons about people's opinions on guns or the walkouts. Many of them make incendiary statements, which then devolve into flame wars in the posts' comments. Inevitably, feelings get hurt, friendships are broken, and the issue doesn't get any closer to being resolved. We should stop making and responding to political posts on social media because most people dislike or don’t care about them.

What happens in the barn, stays in the barn

What happens in the barn, stays in the barn

Reading for the sake of reading

As Princeton students, we read all the time. Whether it’s scientific papers for a molecular biology lab or American novels for AMS 101: America Then and Now, we spend our days here gleaning the knowledge we need for our classes, papers, and exams. Many of us also read journals and some nonfiction for our own respective interests, whether they be in chemistry, history, or music. However, only a few of us read novels for fun. For example, once when spending hours stalking the shelves of the fiction section of Firestone Library, selecting books such as “A Game of Thrones” and “The Little Prince,” I was accompanied by 10 fellow patrons. Out of the 10, I found out, only three came to read novels that were not for class. This disuse of the provided literary resources reflects a key missing ingredient in an undergraduate education in Princeton: reading novels.

Rethinking Distribution Requirements

There’s nothing inherently wrong with the idea of a liberal arts education. The liberal arts model gives students a chance to explore a wide breadth of academic areas, meaning they can decide on a major through experience, rather than through parental pressure or other factors. I don’t envy my friends in Europe who have committed to studying one thing and one thing only, often running into trouble when they don’t find themselves actually enjoying their choice (I do, however, envy their tuition costs).

For decisions about gun control, look to the past

I attended a small preparatory high school, the Episcopal School of Jacksonville, known colloquially as Episcopal. For about 890 students, ranging from sixth to 12th grade, the school provides a sense of home, safety, and possibility. It’s the type of school generations of families attend with its manicured courtyards and stately brick buildings. 

Daily Reminders

Tug of Weather War

Make no mistake – the issue with gun-based suicides is guns

Life is more frail than we often perceive.

Secret hack for brown people at U.S. airports

Go to U-Store. Online or in person, doesn’t matter. Buy a Princeton University shirt or hoodie. Make sure that the big, orange letters of “Princeton” are emblazoned across the front. Wear the gear to the airport. Enjoy not getting stopped by the metal detector that always mysteriously beeps when you get close to it.

Penn Medicine’s acquisition of Princeton Health improves medical care

The University of Pennsylvania Health System’s recent acquisition of Princeton Health is a major step in improving access to medical care for the region. Previously, Princeton Health — which includes Princeton Medical Center, a leading teaching hospital in New Jersey — had been “evaluating partnership opportunities to ensure its continued success in the future,” but ultimately announced its intent to partner with UPHS in 2016. This transaction officially took place early in January, making highly specialized care more accessible via Penn Medicine’s umbrella system.

À la carte

A note on change

How do you speak up when you are not sure your voice will be heard? If you are looking for inspiration, take cues from the students of Stoneman Douglas, who are taking what will likely be the single most traumatic incident of their lives and refusing to be quiet about it — organizing rallies, giving interviews, and forcing everyone to talk about something that is as old as our nation itself, and frankly, overdue for a change: our gun laws. 

Letter to the Editor: Publishing the Honor System Review Committee’s charge

Dear Students,

It’s time to end the gun insanity

I couldn’t believe the news when I heard it. Another school shooting — really? After Columbine, Virginia Tech, and Sandy Hook, how was this still happening? Even the President seemed personally shaken by this one.

Why mental health is a problem at Princeton: Perspective of a schizophrenic

A month ago at eight in the morning, I was in my dorm room on the phone, trying to set up an appointment to get my anti-psychotic medication. The person on the line figured I needed immediate help. Two Public Safety officers barged into my room, assaulted me, pinned me down to my bed, handcuffed me, and dragged me out to the ambulance waiting outside my dorm building. My hands were bleeding. My mind was in shock. 

An American portrait

On Monday, Feb. 12, former U.S. President Barack Obama and artist Kehinde Wiley stood atop the stage at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, each grasping the ends of a black veil that covered the seven-foot tall canvas between them. With the unveiling of the portrait traditional and customary for every American president since the opening of the portrait gallery in 1968, the bounds and parameters of this sustained custom to commemorate each president with a unique portrait in the gallery were pushed, experimented with, and revolutionized while maintaining the respect, solidarity, and sanctity of the ceremony for the nation’s highest office.

Welcoming new contributing columnists

The following 15 outstanding applicants were selected out of an extremely selective applicant pool to be contributing columnists. 

The United States of Humanity

They crossed the border in search of refuge, and were welcomed and guided by the hands of the free and the brave. This is a reality someone might anticipate, based on the impression of our nation’s ideals. But for 28 undocumented single mothers and their children, who came from Central America, this was a fantasy. Upon entering Texas in 2015, these women and children were immediately deported without going before a judge. Although they petitioned for a proper hearing, a federal appeals court denied them this on the grounds that they were seized near the border. 

Sophomore spring can be really stressful. Let's change that.

At all stages of undergraduate life, Princeton is challenging. Freshmen take on the difficulty of first-year adjustments to campus life, and the rigorous independent work demands of junior and senior year are well documented. But, strangely, the struggles of sophomores often go under the radar. Many Princeton students who are (unsurprisingly) not sophomores say that sophomore year is the “best” year at Princeton, since there are no formal independent-research requirements, the first-year adjustment period is over, and graduation is far enough away to be out of mind.