Opinion

French without tears

Universities around the country have found it necessary to eliminate foreign language programs. The State University of New York at Albany found itself in the headlines not long ago when its administration decided to eliminate majors in French, Italian, Russian, Greek and Latin — a decision that seemed particularly unfortunate for a university that promises students “The World Within Reach.” Louisiana State University; the University of Maine; the University of Nevada, Las Vegas; and Winona State University have announced similar decisions.

Cartoon: How to ask a girl out to formals

Editorial: Publicize honor proceedings

To allow for more transparency, accused students should be given the option of having the Honor Committee publicly release all evidence from their trial, including both material evidence and a transcript of the witnesses’ testimonies. Such a system would provide a clearer understanding of how trials work and would allow accused students who disagree with the outcome of their trials to make public the evidence against them.

The vocal feminist minority

Do radical feminists alienate men and in so doing set back their cause? In a recent column, David Mendelsohn shared an anecdote in which he offered a female friend help moving a table and was rebuffed when the friend responded, “My biggest pet peeve is when people ask if I need help with something. I’ve done more labor-intensive work than anyone here, but people insist that I need help just because I have boobs!” This, he claimed, suggests that feminists are in two camps: the reasonable ones who “focus on very real modern issues,” and the “highly vocal minority of the feminist movement” who “are hypersensitive to criticism, actively look for evidence of sexism and find it everywhere.”While I don’t intend to attack Mendelsohn’s column, I’d like to give historical context to his comments, as I understand them.

Cartoon: The hummus

Why Princeton should do it early

Princeton should reap the benefits of early admission, as all its peers already do.

An active tolerance

All I ask of anyone else from every person who presents themselves as accepting of all beliefs, is a companion acceptance of my and others’ faiths’ stranger requirements.

Editorial: Smart decisions on STI testing

AIDS prevention and awareness are among the most important health causes among students our age, and making HIV tests more widely available is one of the most effective means of accomplishing these goals.

Illustration: Hello, December.

Busing outside the bubble

A Princeton-sponsored bus that runs between Philadelphia, Princeton and New York on weekends would be a boon to everyone in the Princeton community and could potentially become a profitable venture as well.

Why the clubs clobber the colleges

For some reason — don’t ask me how, don’t ask me why — people seem to be into joining groups that not everyone can be in. Maybe it has to do with feeling better about themselves or something — I don’t know. What’s important is that it works, and this is something that the residential colleges must take into account.

Time to grow up

The gap year can serve as a period to collect one’s thoughts, assess one’s goals and find one’s hidden passions. The opportunity leaves as quickly as it comes.

PrinceCast #6: The Hummus Referendum

Jeffrey Mensch '11 of Tigers for Israel and Yoel Bitran '11 of the Princeton Committee for Palestine to discuss their columns related to the recent Sabra Hummus referendum at Princeton University, being "pro-Israel" and how to effectively critique Israeli policies.

No pain, no gain?

Just because the phrase “no pain, no gain” rings true sometimes, that does not mean that we can only gain through pain. This, however, is essentially what conservatives have argued: Only if we suffer now can we have economic growth later.

Grounded by the State Department

Unfortunately, a policy that makes it harder for scholarly work to be conducted in countries on the U.S State Department's travel warning list will mean that our work remains largely speculative or, at best, dependent solely on external information.

Letters to the Editor: Dec. 1, 2010

Readers voice off on the hummus controversy.

Editorial: Stay the course

Despite other universities’ reticence to follow suit, the University should stay true to the principles it professed four years ago and resist a  reimplementation of any early admission option.

Two kinds of feminism

Feminism is a school of thought and philosophy that must not be used as a street corner soap box, lest everything it stands for be cheapened or destroyed.

Sic transit

It was only a month or two ago that Governor Chris Christie backed out of New Jersey’s commitment to a new railroad tunnel under the Hudson River, citing the cost (about $3 billion for New Jersey if I recall). I’m certainly not an expert on such matters, but it seems that he could have done better on this decision.

Cartoon: First lesson