Opinion

2002: The Odyssey continues . . . so does the Iliad

2002: The Odyssey continues . . . so does the Iliad

Six months and a day after Sept. 11, as air strikes continued over the caves of Eastern Afghanistan, and as closer to home ? all too painfully close to home ? two beams of light rose over lower Manhattan in memory of the thousands murdered, I was safe and warm in the Pyne Tower suite of the Graduate College, glass of Merlot in hand, listening to Professor Robert Fagles give a reading from his dazzling translation of Homer.

OPINION | 03/14/2002

The fluff and puff of the Princeton experience bubble

Walking along the storied pathways of Princeton University, where intellectuals such as Albert Einstein, Adlai Stevenson, Woodrow Wilson and others once roamed, one cannot help but be imbued with that sense of intellectual consciousness that characterizes such a venerated institution of higher learning.

OPINION | 03/13/2002

Disjunctive Architecture and a Lack of Space

Like most, I wear numerous hats as a member of this community. I am philosophy major, art history major wannabe, "Prince" columnist, club sports athlete (soccer), and (thanks to my friends at the "Tory") infamous "campus lefty." At least two of those metaphorical hats were ruffled (metaphorically) by last week's lecture by world-renowned architect Frank Gehry.You know Gehry ? he designed the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, and his buildings are easily recognizable for their signature facades of wavy, curvilinear sheets of steel.

OPINION | 03/13/2002

Discussing the diversity of class

There isn't much people don't talk about at Princeton. Even if we're not as "liberal" as other universities, you can usually find someone to talk to about anything, no matter how inane or controversial (or both). Hell, I was at an hour-long talk last week about the Harry Potter series and The Vagina Monologues played here a few months ago.

OPINION | 03/12/2002

Letters to the Editor

Rethinking Israeli withdrawal and championing free societiesNicholas Guyatt's editorial from March 11, "Participants in the Slaughter," offers the standard, unconvincing argument for a full Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza without the promise of Arab reciprocation in the form of peace.Not only is a total Israeli withdrawal from all of the territories not mandated by the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions, 242 and 338, but what Guyatt proposes is in fact inimical to the spirit of the resolutions in their demands for a termination of all states of belligerency and the holding of negotiations between the parties to establish a just and durable peace in the Middle East.While an Israeli move, such as the one that Guyatt advocates, is unlikely to result in the establishment of peaceful relations between the Israelis and Palestinians, it is more than likely to embolden radical Arab forces in the region, just as Israel's unilateral withdrawal from Lebanon in May 2000 may have been a factor in instigating the most recent intifada and its maximalist territorial demands.Israel's relinquishing of territory should be contingent upon Palestinian fulfillment of its security obligations towards Israel enshrined in the Oslo Accords, such as the prevention of terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians, by both Islamic groups and factions associated with Arafat's Fatah movement, and the imprisonment of known militants.

OPINION | 03/12/2002

The University orchestra as an educational model

I hope I shall not have to surrender my license as a 'Prince' columnist if I this week cease to grump about the decline of practically everything long enough to praise one of the most significant ameliorations in the Princeton educational climate of the last two decades.

OPINION | 03/12/2002

A stifling constitution

In the second annual Murphy Lecture, Professor Stanley Katz took on the daunting task of explaining how America's reluctance to dive head-first into the United Nations human rights covenant system is rooted in its constitutional tradition.

OPINION | 03/11/2002

Irrational Exuberance: The misuse of our SSN

In the days following the 9/11 events, the words cyber-privacy, cyber-crime and cyber-terrorism acquired new dimensions.

OPINION | 03/11/2002

The freedom to choose our rights

Is the American ideal our culture or our Constitution?Is our refusal to sign on to economic and social international human rights agreements a result of our cultural norms or our Constitutional bounds?How many times have you heard the horror stories of human rights violations?

OPINION | 03/11/2002

The word 'evil'

Immediately following the attack on the World Trade Center, President Bush began his use of the word "evil." He told the nation that terrorists were "evil-doers" and that his administration would work hard to "rid the world of evil." At the time, I found his use of the word somewhat comical, figuring he didn't have any larger, more appropriate ones in his vocabulary and needed to resort instead to phrases he'd learned from Ho-llywood blockbusters.

OPINION | 03/10/2002

Participants in the slaughter

Here's a challenge ? see if you can guess which newspaper printed the following condemnation of Israeli policies last Friday, a few hours before Israeli soldiers killed 44 Palestinians in a single day of attacks in the occupied territories: "The killing of innocent people is gradually becoming a norm, and that norm is being implemented in the service of a goal that seeks to deprive another people of its freedom and its human rights." Or this one, targeting Israeli military commanders in the West Bank and Gaza: "They are no longer ashamed to speak of war when what they are really engaged in is colonial policing, which recalls the takeover by the white police of the poor neighborhoods of the blacks in South Africa during the apartheid era." Of course, such hot-headed stuff couldn't appear in The New York Times; and it sounds way too pro-Palestinian to appear in the American media.

OPINION | 03/10/2002

Letters to the Editor

Simple measures are needed to protect water resourcesI am writing in response to the article about the drought emergency, "Drought crisis declared in New Jersey," that ran in last week's paper.In reference to the water-use restrictions that are to be put into effect next week, I say it's about time!

OPINION | 03/10/2002

OWL responds to 'Man Show' flyers

Sexy. Powerful. Strong. These are typically masculine adjectives, but they should not be. They should be gender neutral, immediately masculine or feminine, and it is with this goal in mind that the Organization of Women Leaders has launched it's "what is a feminist?" campaign.

OPINION | 03/07/2002

'Man Show' flyers

Advertising does not effect you, right? So why are you wearing a shirt with "GAP" or "J.

OPINION | 03/07/2002

Sexism cuts both ways

A truly gender-neutral society would demand such an equal-opportunity reaction from the overzealous "activists" who tore down the Maxim-style "Man Show" posters used by several a cappella groups to advertise a show.

OPINION | 03/07/2002

Princeton in the nation's service: What does that mean?

In yesterday's commentary on Boutique Medicine, I described two extreme ideological visions for our health system: the egalitarian and the libertarian vision.

OPINION | 03/06/2002

Early decision disadvantages all students

My high school in mid-December's early decision season is like a war zone. Espionage is undertaken to find out who has gotten in where.

OPINION | 03/06/2002

National health care as a private consumption good

In their spirited point-counterpoint on "boutique medicine" (Feb. 11, 2002), Natalya Efros '05 and Eric Harkleroad '03 framed the debate on our nation's health policy, honestly, as only young people would.

OPINION | 03/05/2002

Fifth amendment capitalism, or the fallacy of the free lunch

In my youth I knew a fellow who was a notorious drunk ? the word "alcoholic" not as yet having found a home in the Ozark dialect ? who had an interesting take on his situation."The weekend's coming," he was once heard to remark.

OPINION | 03/05/2002

More than just a few minutes late: A victim of the Dinky's ills

When was the last time you calmly walked to the dinky? Chances are you usually make a mad dash for the train, and it's not because you're running late; you just don't know what mood the dinky-men might be in today.Earlier this year a friend and I decided to make a trip into New York.

OPINION | 03/04/2002

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