This week kicked off the start of the spring semester. Though we have new classes and new professors, it’s difficult to feel excited with Baltimore’s cold and gray winter weather hanging over campus. Our surroundings may be bleak, but it doesn’t mean our days should be, too.
We have come to the end of another semester at Hopkins. Fall 2022 was challenging, rewarding and in many ways the first “normal” semester since the University suspended in-person instruction in March 2020.
If you didn’t know the United Nations’ Convention on Climate Change was happening last month, we don’t blame you. Representatives from almost 200 countries attended the summit, known as COP27, to advance global climate action. Despite its importance, conversations on campus about the conference were slim to none.
This week, our cozy Monday night staff meeting in the Gatehouse looked a little different. While it is usually a time for everyone to catch up and converse on the couches, crowded around the space heater, we instead found ourselves speaking primarily to a Zoom audience with only a few in-person attendees.
While Hopkins boasts a “tradition of employment excellence,” recent protests demonstrate that current employees disagree with that assessment.
Over the past few weeks, the Hopkins community has received multiple emergency alerts about crimes occurring around Baltimore campuses, including two abductions or attempted abductions near the Homewood Campus. The University responded to this uptick in serious violent crimes in a message to affiliates on Oct. 29.
As midterm elections near, it seems that many young voters have become disillusioned with the political sphere. For many of us, it’s been a while since we were our 18-year-old selves, all registered and geared up to vote.
If you’re reading this, you’re probably aware of the exciting news that The News-Letter is back in print.
According to its constitution, the Student Government Association (SGA) was founded upon “the importance of strengthening student unity, representing student interests and providing a forum for the exchange of ideas.” Unfortunately, we’re not sure these lofty ideals are being met.
In the most recent step toward the implementation of a private police force, Hopkins Public Safety hosted a town hall at Shriver Hall last Thursday. The event was quickly interrupted by protesters, which included Hopkins students and Baltimore community members.
Welcome to Week Four of the semester — classes are underway, midterms are right around the corner and life just got a whole lot busier. While high grades are a top priority for any student, especially here at Hopkins, we also want to emphasize the importance of maintaining your mental health and well-being.
The recently released 2022-2023 U.S. News & World Report college rankings place Hopkins at seventh among national universities — a jump from last year’s ninth. The annual rankings always spark conversation around campus. Over the last decade, Hopkins has gradually climbed to the top 10 and is continuing to rise through the ranks.
Every new school year brings change: different professors, different classmates, maybe even a different go-to order at Brody Cafe. But some of the recent changes on campus have us scratching our heads, wondering how and why the University has decided to alter key policies.
This fall marks the University’s first fully in-person semester in three years. Along with this change comes the revival of classic college traditions and the process of adjusting to a repopulated campus. It’s both an exciting and scary time for all of us, even the ones who have been at Hopkins for a few years now.
Congratulations – we’ve made it through another year of college during a pandemic. This is no small feat, and being a student as the world tries to keep it together is an emotional rollercoaster.
A few weeks ago, Amazon and Hopkins revealed the JHU + Amazon Initiative for Interactive AI (AI2AI), a research-based collaboration to further advance artificial intelligence (AI) research in areas such as machine learning, computer vision and speech processing.
It finally feels like spring is here: The weather is warm, the end of classes is near and students are getting ready for Spring Fair. While there is much to celebrate, we also acknowledge that Hopkins has seen an uptick in COVID-19 cases following spring break and the emergence of a highly contagious Omicron subvariant.
Three years ago, The News-Letter conducted an internal review of our staff’s demographics to determine the extent of our representation of the student body. We came away with mixed results and a firm resolve to do better moving forward.
Amid last year’s virtual classes, the 2021 Student Government Association (SGA) election showed a 66% decrease in voter turnout compared to the year prior. While this is understandable given that we were virtual, only 20.3% of students — compared to last year’s 12% — participated in the recent SGA election even now that we’re back on campus.
Once again, all but one position of the Student Government Association (SGA) Executive Board elections are uncontested. In past years, we’ve noted that those appointed in uncontested elections often lack accountability and encouragement to undertake new initiatives. Some of last year’s uncontested candidates are running in this year’s elections.
