Opinion

Adding dose of modernity to First Amendment

Adding dose of modernity to First Amendment

It was just a joke, the writers of The First Amendment said, all just a joke.Nine kids at Miami's Killian High thought it would be fun to get together and compile a pamphlet of their finest art, poetry and prose, and name it "The First Amendment." Their final product was certainly some piece of work ? a vulgar collection of racist commentary, innuendo and crude depictions of sex.One featured essay was entitled, "One Student's Complaint." Like all the other contributors to "The First Amendment," this one student remained ever so bravely anonymous while wondering "what would happen if I shot Dawson in the head?" Dawson, Principal Timothy Dawson, just so happens to be in charge at Killian High.Those fluent in psychobabble have chalked the booklet up to adolescent angst, that term now used to justify what once was known in many cases as juvenile irresponsibility.

OPINION | 03/04/1998

Lights out in land of sheep dogs

AUCKLAND, Feb. 24 ? New Zealand, like any island state, guards its borders closely. Undesirables and foreign plagues ?fruit flies, the potato blight ? must be kept out.

OPINION | 03/03/1998

Following trailings of a long, concrete ribbon

Being stuck in a cramped dorm room these past rainy-sleety days has been making me want to hop in a car and go somewhere.

OPINION | 03/03/1998

Kodak moment

At 9 p.m. Monday the 'Prince' was inundated with calls from students ? both experienced and inexperienced with networked University computers ? who were concerned with the pictures appearing on the University's home page.

OPINION | 03/03/1998

Driver's seat of a cadillac major

Every year, I am surprised to meet people who have never set foot inside the E-Quad. I bemoan each one's loss, for the E-Quad is a truly wondrous place.

OPINION | 03/02/1998

The crumbling ivory tower

Ah, Italy enslaved, hostel of misery, ship without pilot in great tempest, no princess among the provinces, but a brothel!" I begin this column with Dante's great apostrophe to Italy in order to express what must be the sentiment of anyone who truly cares for this beautiful but seriously diseased and overrun university.While all of its publications have remained strangely silent or unceasingly self-congratulatory, Princeton has become enslaved to the disease of corporate greed, home to myriad forms of boredom, misery, loneliness and discontent ? a leaderless, purposeless place, and a sink of human cruelty and indifference.

OPINION | 03/02/1998

Big brother

Public Safety Crime Prevention Specialist Barry Weiser was pleased last Sunday with the performance of the "Axis 200 Web Camera" ? currently filming the progress of the new football stadium's construction ? when the camera caught trespassers on the construction site.

OPINION | 03/02/1998

Letters to the Editor

On futility of gradesGrades are merely incidental to a student's purpose at an institution of learning.

OPINION | 03/01/1998

Pervasiveness of humanity between molecules

The Astonishing Hypothesis is that "You," your joys and your sorrows, your memories and your ambitions, your sense of personal identity and free will, are in fact no more than the behavior of a vast assembly of nerve cells and their associated molecules.

OPINION | 03/01/1998

Airing out grade inflation debate with queen of television

Oprah Winfrey's publicist said the talk show diva was coming to Princeton this past weekend for a sit-down fawning with her favorite bestseller, Toni Morrison.

OPINION | 03/01/1998

Giving a nod to Durham's 'Cameron Crazies'

Two basketball games, one night. In one arena, thousands of college students waved green construction-paper leaves, taunting an opposing team for their star's quitting over charges of marijuana use.At the other stadium, somewhere over a thousand collegians jumped up and down and yelled repeatedly that their opposition "sucks."Which crowd would you rather be a part of?The first, I say.Which crowd was Princeton's?The second, you know.Last Saturday night's Dartmouth game was probably my last time in the stands for a Princeton basketball game as an undergraduate.

OPINION | 02/26/1998

Letters to the Editor

Ratings justifiedI am disturbed by the 164 law school deans who, in a letter to me and all law school applicants this year, claimed that "law school rankings may be hazardous to (my) health." Despite the warm-fuzziness of this egalitarian plea, I find their position perplexing.First of all, how is it that U.S.

OPINION | 02/26/1998

Coming up empty-handed after paying 'Rent'

Leaving a production of "Rent" a few weeks ago, I overheard the following conversation between a girl (approximately 14 years old) and her father (approximately middle-aged):GIRL: Come on, Dad!

OPINION | 02/25/1998

Letters to the Editor

Deflating the facultyAfter I read the committee report on grade inflation, it dawned on me that there might be other significant kinds of inflation.

OPINION | 02/25/1998

Bringing a movie behemoth back down to earth

Any year in which "Titanic," a movie which apparently was written by a mildly retarded 13-year-old girl, is far and away the most acclaimed film doesn't bode well for cinema.

OPINION | 02/24/1998

Letters to the Editor

On 'insults' to students' intellectThe current controversy over grade inflation at Princeton has prompted a number of newspaper articles and letters to the editor, from the front-page story in The New York Times to the recent statements of Mr. Corwin in Friday's 'Prince.' Everything that I have come across in respect to this situation has disturbed me greatly.The first insult was learning from The Times that every good grade that I have earned at Princeton is meaningless.

OPINION | 02/24/1998

For love of Larry Bird, the American system

A while ago, I found myself in conversation with someone who had emailed me back in September about my first column after a sophomore hiatus from the pages of the 'Prince.' That hadn't been a particularly political piece, just my view of a slice of Americana in the Olympic summer of '96.

OPINION | 02/23/1998

Considering the consequences of alleged grade inflation

In the wake of The New York Times article on grade inflation at Princeton University, I began to ponder the effects such a situation could have on the future of Princeton students.In good faith, I cannot deny all of the claims the article made, partly because I've only completed one semester here and partly because I've heard stories of grade inflation in certain courses.

OPINION | 02/23/1998

Letters to the Editor

On defense of 'Smart Fan' logicSince the printing of yesterday's 'Prince' article "Student group criticizes fan behavior at basketball games," I have received an exorbitant amount of criticism for my participation in the 'Smart Fans' fight against excessive heckling at basketball games.Let me begin by saying that when Jon Garfunkel first approached me about my feelings on the matter and before the article was even printed, I would not have considered myself a devout 'Smart Fan.' However, after justifying myself and my position on the topic to my friends and acquaintances this afternoon, I have found even more of a reason to be a part of Jon's impromptu organization of like-minded students.Jon Garfunkel, in all of his efforts, is not attempting to hamper fan participation and spirit at games.

OPINION | 02/23/1998

Democratic drama at the edge of the millennium

I remember it all like it was just yesterday. Election night, 1994 in the procastinariffic Joline TV room during my formative Mathey years.

OPINION | 02/22/1998

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