Opinion

Archives: Visiting Ground Zero

I must admit, I wasn't fully prepared. Even after more than six months of anticipating how I would feel when I actually saw it, the first sight still left me dumbstruck. In truth, nothing I could have done beforehand could have completely prepared me for the carnage of Ground Zero. You won't understand until you've seen it. 

Cartoon: Saying hello at Princeton

Yellow brick road(s)

To be sure, entrepreneurship may be a riskier career path than finance or consulting. But in spite of the risks, the potential for impact and success at such a young age is incomparable.

Negative feedback

In my experience, admitting to others the terrible deed of not concealing that I multitask from the professor usually ends in accusations of something akin to social treason — for which a barefoot walk to the Canossa of the lectern tainted by my misdemeanor might be the least I could do to redeem myself.

The End

When Barack Obama announced that Osama bin Laden had been killed, my only reaction was somber relief. I strongly believe that this was the most significant event of Obama’s presidency — but it was not, I think, an occasion for exuberant celebration. A guilty man was executed.

Confronting yesterday's Princeton

Somewhere during the month-long preparation for the three-day blowout, we forget that we have invited back on campus the Princeton many of us are not too fond of, and indeed the Princeton many of us could not attend.

Open letter to President Tilghman

I urge you, President Tilghman, do not attempt to fill our pails. Allow us to light our own fires, and work with us to ensure that we do not inadvertently set something else ablaze.

My $1,000 donation to Princeton

No one will ever have their perfect Princeton, so instead of arguing for the implementation of a specific policy, I will simply endorse some form of self-scheduled exams at a high level.

Cartoon: How to catch a squirrel

The war on friendship

As most students surely recognize, the social opportunities offered by residential colleges and most activity-oriented student groups tend to pale in comparison to the social networks provided by the kinds of organizations the working group finds so problematic.

In which I defend the working group

Regardless of the particular proposals, Princeton’s dangerous culture of “work hard, party hard” must end. The University should at very least continue its program of providing alternatives to that culture.

Thoughts on the Summer Whine

My illumination wasn’t quite as powerful as the bolt of lightning that struck Tom Wolfe at a 1965 panel discussion in Princeton, when he listened to Gunter Grass and Allen Ginsberg decrying America’s descent into fascism and declared that on the contrary, we were undergoing a happiness explosion. But it was strong enough. Suddenly I began to realize that in America even a humble humanist has a great deal to be thankful for.

Cartoon: Paper Airplanes

Liberals are more intolerant than conservatives

I’m not talking about intolerance toward the usual suspects — gays, minorities or women. I’m talking about an equally invidious but far more socially acceptable type of discrimination — against conservatives.

Cartoon: Advice

Editorial: Second semester rush

While the Editorial Board supports many of the concerns raised in the report, we do not wholly agree with the final recommendation: We believe that banning rush events for only the first semester of freshman year would achieve most of the benefits of postponing rush while avoiding certain problems.

Princeton, in people

For much of my time here, I felt like I wasn’t doing a very good job of making new friends, but in hindsight, I see that all along I’ve picked up people to laugh with, pray with and talk to. It’s cliche to say, but the end of this year really is bittersweet.

Rethinking 'Support the Troops'

It means little to the men and women who risk their lives in service to their country to be supported only as individuals. Their missions in the armed forces are a crucial part of their roles and identities.

Intent and negligence

The “something extra” that my referendum proposes is not just “intent to cheat,” as the Editorial Board implied. That change would obligate the Honor Committee to acquit students for even the most irresponsible failures to learn the policy for an exam — failures that usually create an unfair advantage. My referendum would require that the accused either intends to cheat or that he or she is negligent in learning and interpreting his or her exam policy.

The gift of the freshmen

Talking with freshmen and explaining to them their new home really reminds me of why I decided to come to Princeton in the first place. Everything from the details of course selection to the earth-shattering wonder of late meal is brought back in the retelling.