Opinion

Health in mind: Keep the conversation going

It is with some hesitation that we offer this criticism of Mental Health Week. We have been deeply moved by the narratives posted online ? indeed, they have inspired our own reflections ? and we hope that our thoughts are not read as an attack on a necessary call for awareness.

Watching the bungee jump

It?s the end of March, and this year, as usual, professors are sleepless in New Jersey. Every morning for the last couple of weeks, I have risen from my comfortable bed at an even more ungodly hour than usual, padded to the kitchen in search of caffeine, and then plunked myself in front of the computer to see what my seniors have sent me.Most days, the catch is plentiful: one or more long chapters, packed with material, appear, attached to an email sent between 4:00 and 6:00 AM.

Oh, to be wise

Having just re-entered the world of academia after a year off from Princeton, I reckon now is a good time to think more deeply about what I’m getting from my formal education.

Editorial: Asian-American Studies

Nearly two decades ago, in 1995, members of the Asian-American Alumni Association for Princeton (A4P) staged a sit-in demonstration at Nassau Hall, protesting the lack of Asian-American and Latino studies programs at the University.

Letter to the Editor: Morning-after Pill

An underrated requirement

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Is this the American dream?

My elementary school history classes stuck mostly to the facts. George Washington was the first president.

The point of college

In Isabella Gomes?s Feb. 22 column, ?Ready, Set, Draw,? she explains what she understands the point of her college education to be, halfway through her freshman year: ?learning to identify ourselves through our associations with others ... Never as much as we do now, we have come to understand that the people we identify with essentially form our identity.? This makes me really, deeply sad.

Fake it ‘til you make it

Talking to a freshman friend before I headed off to Bicker, he lifted his coffee in salute as if I were a soldier entering battle and encouraged me to be myself ? only wittier, smarter and more fun.He was joking, but his point was spot-on: Whether in classes or around the dinner table, I often feel as though I need to be a shinier version of myself in order to compete with my peers.

Pitfalls of diplomacy

When New York Times columnist David Brooks accused Princetonians of being “organization kids,” he claimed that our easy acceptance of authority and eagerness to please had fostered a passive environment in which the greater community protested more on behalf of campus issues than the students themselves.

Producing leaders of character

Several months ago, I stumbled upon an insightful column in the Yale Daily News, ?Leadership without virtue,? by Bijan Aboutorabi.

Responsible criticism

There are few people who are lucky enough to write for The New York Times, let alone get paid to test-drive Tesla?s new Model S around the East Coast and write about it.

Why so serious?

Last week, Dave Kurz wrote about finding truths, ?absolute and bound up with goodness,? and using them to decide how to live our lives.

The time to speak up

Not too long ago, one of my closest friends at Princeton was going through an emotionally rough time.

Examining divestment

Divestment is once again in the news ? and not just at Princeton. Recent proposals by Princeton faculty and students to have the University sell its investments in gun companies and major fossil-fuel producers mirror similar efforts across the country.

Crossing the aisle

The University of Pennsylvania College Republicans recently promoted an Ivy League-wide effort to advocate support for a statement in favor of gay marriage.

Unknown unknowns

During a press briefing in 2002, Donald Rumsfeld (Class of 1954 ? a fact I would assume is not often brought up during Orange Key tours) spoke more like a professor of epistemology than a secretary of defense when he ruminated on the subject of ?unknown unknowns.? According to Rumsfeld, there are ?known knowns,? things we know we know, and ?known unknowns,? things we know we don?t know, but also ?unknown unknowns,? things we don?t know we don?t know.

Editorial: Online lectures

This semester, a large Princeton course will integrate online lectures for the first time. Students in COS 226: Algorithms and Data Structures will experience some of their lectures through Coursera, the platform through which the University offers several free online courses.

A response to: "Studying the melting pot"

It seems especially relevant, at the close of Black History Month, to return to the question ?Why do race studies matter??In some ways, this is a legitimate question.

Editorial: Course evaluations

According to the Academic Life Total Assessment Survey, students cite the Office of the Registrar/SCORE course evaluations as one of their most important resources when making course choices.