Opinion

The political philosopher

It is one thing, for example, to say that if we are unsure of the moral status of animals and can subsist without eating them it makes sense to abstain. To say, however, that “suffering is the vital characteristic that gives a being the right to equal consideration,” making infants the equals of many animals, is to assert a priori that every other characteristic is not worth considering.

Cartoon: Nightmares: Tigers and Mutalisks

Change with passion

Using our talents, passions and personal interests to create social change is a primary legacy left by Kopp. We should all be incredibly proud of Teach for America, but we should also be proud of students such as Satok and Friedman and perhaps take inspiration and motivation from them to be creative and be our own vehicles for global change.

Editorial: Push for shadow grading

The University ought to implement a shadow-grading system in its assessment of academic performance during the fall of freshman year. Under this system, professors would privately inform students of the grade they received in the class, but that grade would not be publicly available on transcripts and would not affect students’ grade point averages.

Learning from the Beast

We students need to take some responsibility with regard to alcohol in order to create an environment that aligns fun with reasonable precautions for safety.

Find global warming

Both politicians and the public seem less concerned with climate change than they were three years ago, and governmental action seems unlikely in the near future. While this can partially be attributed to the powerful fossil-fuel lobby and the economic recession, I think a large part of the problem stems from the way we talk about climate change.

Cartoon: The drinking dilemma

Editorial: JSTOR for all

The Editorial Board encourages the University to work with the Alumni Association and the Library in order to provide JSTOR access to Princeton alumni.

The second sex speaks up

We at Princeton are a privileged bunch — we are expected to become leaders and to have the ability to create change. We ought to use this expectation to benefit the world and to hold ourselves to that higher standard, in earnest and in jest. Because there is no reason a Princeton woman should be less likely, or believe herself less capable, to run for an elected position than a Princeton man.

Cartoon: Occupy Wagon Street

Failing diversity

The University should continue to welcome students from every corner of the world, from every background and with every set of values. However, the administration should beware of shiny statistics and those ticked boxes. Numbers are one thing, reality another. Without real integration, “diversity” will result in a shallow pretense of unity.

The dying breed of economics majors

Having asked multiple humanities majors about their future career options, most casually respond that, if they do not end up with a job in their respective concentration, they can always go into finance as a backup. As a backup. Even science and engineering majors are ostensibly starting to consider finance as a secondary plan for their future careers and internships. This trend is perceptible among Princeton students.

Cartoon: Saying goodbye at Princeton

Against pick-ups

There is no excuse to continue this practice that hurts those who aren’t accepted, and it is time that we stop letting this happen. We have three months to reconsider how we do this, so we should get started as soon as possible.

Editorial: Amend the lock-out policy

This Board opposed these measures when proposed in the spring and still finds this policy unreasonable. Rather than leading to greater responsibility, this policy only incentivizes students to leave their doors unlocked or propped open, creating serious safety hazards.

The need for bipartisanship

There is nothing more corrosive to the democratic system than an uninformed voting public, and even here at Princeton I have seen people with pretensions to political knowledge who, when prompted, can do little more than regurgitate the party lines spelled out in colorful bullet points on the Republican and Democratic websites. We can do better.

Rethinking diversity: part I

Many of us will have the opportunity to move to very small and rarified circles after graduation, running the risk of never quite coming back down to earth and interacting with people whose life paths are drastically different from our own. But these interactions are critical to the process of understanding ourselves in relation to society, a core component of diversity.

Activities fair: hold the crazy

I walked into the fair with a plan. I knew which three groups I wanted to scope out, and I was ready to power through the crowd. Get in, get signed up, get out. Oh, how clueless.

Breaking into China

I’m an advocate for study abroad. But I would argue that a study abroad experience that doesn’t include an active research component that engages you with the people of the country is a waste of time.

Cartoon: Life as an alternate