Opinion

In defense of teachers’ unions

Before coming to Princeton, I was a public school teacher and union member for 10 years, the first two of which I was also a Teach for America corps member. During that time, I was often frustrated by what the schools, and the union, could not or would not do for children who needed more. But more often, I was proud to be part of a profession that I believe does a great deal for our nation and grateful for the protection and advocacy that the union provides.

Editorial: Publish Ph.D. placement statistics

To help students contemplating graduate school understand their options and the career paths for different disciplines, graduate placement statistics should be collected and published.

Ten years of justice

Sometime this spring semester will mark the 10th anniversary of the Princeton Justice Project, a student activist group dedicated to social justice that I was pleased to mentor as an attorney, Princeton alumnus and preceptor in politics courses with the word “law” in them. PJP was conceived after a class tour of Trenton State Prison, a maximum-security prison with housing units dating to pre-Civil War years. Students gamely walked the harshly lit corridors in tow with corrections officers (“don’t call them guards”). Among their comments that still ring in my ears are “They’re almost all black” and “They’re in for so long!”

Letters to the Editor: Dec. 13, 2010

Bob Durkee says that the working group on campus social and residential life has not reached an agreement on the campus pub, and Catharine Bellinger and Alexis Morin write that teachers' unions can improve the education system.

Cartoon: Work in progress

The dogs I left behind

My anxieties over my relationship with my dogs became a mirror for my fear over losing my special relationship with my home.

PrinceCast #7: Genderless utopia edition

In this week's PrinceCast, Opinion columnists David Mendelsohn '12 and Allen Paltrow-Krulwich '14 discuss their perspectives on feminism. 

Waiting... and waiting... and waiting for Superman

"Top Test Scores from Shanghai Stun Educators.” Stunned? Really?

Editorial: A fairer way to distribute Commencement tickets

Under the current ticketing system, every senior is given the same amount of tickets, regardless of how many of their friends and family are expected to attend. A more sensible system could make the graduation process easier for seniors and their families.

Cartoon: Celebration

The wrong debate on the humanities

I will leave the debate over whether Goldman Sachs caused our recent recession to someone with more economics credentials than a B in ECO 101: Introduction to Macroeconomics. But from a social perspective, it is clear that investment banks have a huge impact on our lives by their ability to manipulate staggering amounts of wealth and to decide the fate of millions of people’s financial futures. Yet finance is not the only way to make an impact. We in the humanities (I came out as a philosophy major to my family over Thanksgiving) are constantly trying to convince ourselves and others of the utility of our study.

Everything in moderation

Students who feel embarrassed sharing their problems with their friends or don’t wear their hearts on their sleeves can find an audience with other Princetonians on PrincetonFML, maybe the same friends whom they can’t approach personally. There’s a certain catharsis that you can experience when you get to express your woes, and a vindication that you feel when others sympathize or empathize with you.

Letters to the Editor: Dec. 9, 2010

Laiyin Li and Justine Chiu comment on the Ivy League Asian American Conference, Benjamin Kalinsky defends "grade-grubbers," and Samuel Galson objects to TFI's rhetoric.

Austerity

My fellow columnist Adam Bradlow is correct that we shouldn’t implement austerity measures just because we habitually balance our own budgets. At the same time, we actually need them within the next few years at risk of economic catastrophe.

Yes we can (write)

I’m sick of people complaining about the poor quality of opinion columns in The Daily Princetonian. They’re right, but nevertheless it irritates me.

Cartoon: Hunkering down

Editorial: Participate in the discussion on Firestone's future

The editorial board encourages the University community — and especially undergraduate students, who are unlikely to witness these changes during their time at Princeton — to attend these important sessions and provide feedback

Spotted: Feminists at Princeton

You might believe that students at Princeton divide feminists into two major camps: those who calmly pursue a traditional Second Wave feminist agenda (fighting against civic and legal inequalities), and those who just complain. You might believe this, but thankfully, you’d be wrong.

Letters to the Editor: Dec. 7, 2010

Cason Crosby Cheely applauds professors' accepting different views and Rachna Vyas asks governments to invest more in education.

Cartoon: "I'm going to jump!"