Opinion

We’re number one!

Princeton computer science is a fine department, but is it better than, say, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which came in third? MIT was second in 1995, after Stanford and followed by University of California, Berkeley; Carnegie Mellon University; and Cornell — a quite reasonable result. Other computer science departments were jerked around wildly; for instance, computer science at the University of Washington went from ninth to 38th, a most unlikely outcome.

The suicide vest

Unfortunately, the war on terror, and terror itself, is all but normal. This is the story of a Pakistani struggling with that abnormality. The more we try to simplify the situation, the less we have in our arsenal against extremist ideology. The best I can do in this column is complicate things for you, since grappling with confusion is better than settling for simplification.

Cartoon: Don't look down

Letter to the Editor: October 25, 2010

Your editorial incorrectly suggests that ROTC is considered an “outside organization” because of the conflict between its discriminatory practices and the University’s policy on non-discrimination. The reason that ROTC is considered an outside organization is because it is an outside organization: The ROTC program is sponsored, operated and controlled by the U.S. Army, not by the University.

Be brave: State what you think

When we are polite to a fault, we are no longer intellectuals engaging in debate, but politicians practicing the art of offending nobody.

Cartoon: Pregaming midterms

Editorial: Reevaluating ROTC

The permanent repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” would represent an important opportunity for the University to reevaluate its relationship with the ROTC program and to grant it full recognition.

Immigration and hospitality

Imagine you inherit a house with a vast and very fertile garden, and surrounding that garden is nothing but deserts and starving farmers.

Too much information

In a time when it’s infinitely valuable to have the ability to mold your ideology without being labeled a flip-flopper, it’s best never to have mentioned Proposition 19. Likewise, it’s better never to have joined the “One Million Strong for Barack Obama” group on Facebook. But it goes beyond this: It’s better never to have mentioned your feelings about any subject at all.

A day in the life of a troll

What would Princeton do without me? God knows that my detractors have spent thoooouuuusands of hours framing me as abusive, whereas in reality I am almost single-handedly responsible for all reasonable discourse on this campus. When columnists get out of line, I have come to consider it my responsibility to make sure they remember their place on the totem pole.

Defending the smokers

But the push to enact a University policy in response to such situations is a passive-aggressive way to tackle the issue. There’s a far more natural solution: If students don’t want to smell second-hand smoke, they’re free to talk to the smokers about it.

Cartoon: Bike parking

Doubting Vargas Llosa

Contrary to what Vargas Llosa believes, it is only when we doubt and question society and ourselves that we are able to cast off the old order and travel down the road of progress.

Frankly, my dear, it's just drag.

Last Sunday afternoon, I stood in a taxi line next to a middle-aged man dressed as Scarlett O’Hara.

Editorial and Dissent: Expanding gender-neutral housing

The Editorial Board debates the future of gender-neutral housing.

Cartoon: A winning strategy?

Letters to the Editor: Oct. 19, 2010

Glenn Sugameli discusses vacant judgeships on U.S. courts and Alex Beal urges us to stand up to bullying and hatred.

Crash course

Whose side are you on? The bikers’ or the walkers’?

More than a fad

Is sustainability simply a fad that’s catching on recently? I used to think so.

Of divisions and deans

Since Princeton promotes a four-way academic culture — I: “The Humanities including Architecture”; II: “The Social Sciences including History and the Woodrow Wilson School”; III: “The Natural Sciences including Mathematics and Psychology”; and IV: “Engineering and Applied Science” — this means that two of the University’s five most senior administrators belong to Division II, two more to Division IV and one to Division III. Where’s Division I?