Opinion

Creativity, not selectivity

In college, we are constantly encouraged to try out new disciplines and embark upon new territories. But how can anyone do this if there are constant roadblocks in the form of applications? If a student wants to improve upon a skill, such as creative writing, he or she won’t have the opportunity because of selectivity.

At the expense of health

For better or worse, challenge and competition are integral to the Princeton culture. Students, faculty and administrators all expect that these four years are our time to prove ourselves and excel. For example, the student who came to my class sick last week might have been motivated to attend in fear of the work she would have missed or by how she thought the professor would have viewed her absence. But for every time you come to class sick to surmount an academic challenge, I challenge you to stay home instead.

For affirmative action

In an ideal world, affirmative action would not be necessary. Unfortuately, that time has not yet come. Should affirmative action programs be banned, colleges and universities would lose one of the crucial ways in which they provide students with a well-rounded education. Because this policy not only provides students of all races an opportunity to obtain an education but also all students the chance to interact with people of different cultures, Princeton should continue to defend its ability to admit racial minorities under affirmative action policies.

Only in Princeton

Supportive and inclusive

I am disheartened and disturbed by the anonymous ‘Prince’ comments, which run the gambit from uncivil to downright cruel. Many contain nothing of reasoned argument, but much of ad hominem attack. Furthermore, this is not the first time that I have read vicious comments on The Daily Princetonian website or Princeton FML. The latter site, though less conducive to ad hominem bullying, has nevertheless become an outlet for juvenile sentiments that are disgusting and unpleasant at best and offensive at worst.

Hijacking 101

Although Princeton has in fact been spared, the New York Police Department has been conducting surveillance on Muslim student organizations at colleges like the University of Pennsylvania and Yale. Multiple articles and blog posts — including those of this newspaper — have already dealt in depth with the ethical issues raised by this surveillance. I agree wholeheartedly with them. Racial or religious profiling, and the violation of basic rights to privacy, is inexcusable. But in this article, I want to draw attention instead to the sheer uselessness of spying on a University student organization.

Cartoon: Seriously nature, make up your mind

Passing the banana

I was hoping the Girls would have more faith in their audience. I was hoping to hear a thorough and intelligent discussion of the intricacies of 21st-century feminism and its future after the heydays of second- and third-wave feminism. I wanted the Guerilla Girls, whose potent social commentary was so crucial for women’s rights in the 1980s, to investigate modern issues or at least describe their feminist experience with more than a stilted, self-congratulatory speech that glossed over the intellectualism at its center.

Editorial: Speaking responsibly

Because we have more influence than we think, we also have an obligation to know and understand what we are talking about when we comment on current events. Princeton teaches us to research thoroughly, evaluate both sides of the argument and use reliable sources. However, we neglect to apply these standards when commenting on current events. When we do this, we cloud the facts and contribute to the confusion surrounding certain issues. Given both the influence social media has on society and our ability to shape social media, we have to be cautious both about the sources we trust and what information we choose to disseminate.

A case against commitment

This column is not an argument for reneging on the many extracurricular commitments in your life. On the contrary, it is an attempt to persuade you to add one more. This one, however, should be solely and selfishly for you.

Cartoon: Best candidates: Just do it (already)

An unfinished essay

Meeting my professor after the paper was turned in and done helped me remember that my paper wasn’t and couldn’t be reduced to a grade, that the ideas with which I was engaging were real and didn’t just disappear at 5 p.m. that Tuesday in January.

The Pequod is still too damn high

Moving toward free, easily distributed readings is an opportunity for the University to become a leader in promoting free knowledge and information as far as possible.

College shopping made easy?

It would be prudent for the government to recommend to those who use the new information sheet that it is important for high school students to look at published College Board material as well as the websites of the universities themselves. 

Cartoon: Menagerie in the room

No prohibition against U.S. veterans

Imagine what can be contributed by someone with notions of honor, solidarity and selfless service rarely encountered in the civilian world.

Editorial: Make student jobs optional

We believe it is fundamentally unfair that some members of the Princeton population must either devote nine hours per week to often non-substantive campus jobs or take loans to cover the contribution that could endanger their future financial well-being.

Altered Paths: The story of life after Princeton

Welcome, Tigers, to the 99 percent. And that’s not a bad thing. Or at least it needn’t be. Learning how “the other half lives” — as we used to say — can be a vital part of a continuing education process that may seem ever so far from the ivory tower. Call it the graduate school of hard knocks.

Sweet Sorrow

Let's get practical

We, as engineers, scientists, etc., are specifically trained to think clearly and logically, and not just about our own subject. We are trained to solve real-world problems with clarity and process. We are creative; science requires creativity in its own way. And, often, we know how to articulate ourselves fairly well. Perhaps not all of us can write with as much style as an English major, and we may not be able to think as critically about Sir Francis Bacon. But we aren’t applying for jobs as columnists for the Fiction section of The New Yorker or for the New York Times Book Review and wondering why we didn’t get them.