news-features

FLI students do not owe Bloomberg support

By SAMUEL FARRAR
November 22, 2019

This time last year, Michael Bloomberg announced that he would donate a historic $1.8 billion to the University, to be used exclusively for undergraduate financial aid and related services. Earlier this semester an administrator told myself and a group ...

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FILE PHOTO Maras feels that Hopkins students undervalue themselves and their accomplishments.

You are doing enough. It’s time to be proud of yourself.

By GRETA MARAS | November 20, 2019

My friends and I have talked about the exact moment when we found out we got into Hopkins. Everyone remembers their own story in almost perfect detail. I was sitting in my German class on Dec. 14 watching Elf, more nervous than I had ever been, waiting until the clock hit 2:00 p.m. CST. 

Taste of home: Mixed feelings about Orient Express

By JESSE WU | November 20, 2019

In this issue of The News-Letter, Your Weekend brings you a special theme: Taste of Home. In the other article, you will hear from Aubin, who has found a warm comfort in the homey stews and fried plantains from the newly opened Sobeachy Haitian Cuisine in the renovated Cross Street Market. I, on the other hand, will revisit one of the places I have loved to hate in the two-and-a-half years of my Hopkins undergraduate career: Orient Express.

COURTESY OF JESSE WU Dry fried pork intestine and chili mung bean noodles: Sichuanese classics.
COURTESY OF JESSE WU Poisson rouge, or fried red snapper, is served with pikliz, plantains and rice.

Sobeachy Haitian Cuisine sparks childhood memories

By AUBIN LOHIER | November 21, 2019

Food is a large part of our lives, cultures and identities. Each culture has its own set of unique ingredients, cooking techniques and dishes that distinguish them and set them apart. It is those elements that let us feel closer to our families and ancestors. It is also the taste of those things that give us a sense of belonging and home.

Athlete of the Week NATALIE ASTON — Volleyball

By BINYAMIN NOVETSKY | November 20, 2019

While there have been many fall sports teams that have had stellar seasons, the Hopkins volleyball team has been the shining star of the Hopkins athletic department this year. The Blue Jays went through a rigorous 27 match regular season and emerged undefeated before continuing their winning streak in the Centennial Conference Tournament and the first three rounds of the NCAA Tournament.

HOPKINSSPORTS.COM Aston was named an All-American.

Students share gap year and med school advice

By JUNYAO LI | November 21, 2019

For those who have decided to take a gap year between their undergraduate education and medical school, the question of what to do during that year can be overwhelming. Beta Beta Beta (TriBeta), a collegiate honor society and academic fraternity for students of the biological sciences, hosted a Research & Medicine Gap-Year Student Panel earlier this month. Four Hopkins alum, who are currently on their gap years, shared their experiences on the panel. 

PUBLIC DOMAIN The Aedes aeqypti species transmits a variety of diseases including Zika.

Study shows how mosquitoes sense human scent

By WILLIAM BLAIR | November 21, 2019

Although most people in the United States perceive mosquitoes as no more than an annoyance, mosquitoes are, in fact, the world’s deadliest animal. About seven million people are infected by mosquitoes each year, resulting in over one million deaths. 

Searching for meaning during the crisis of consumerism

By KELVIN QIAN | November 20, 2019

We live in an age of crisis. The ice caps are melting and the forests are burning. Above all else, if headlines are to be believed, we face the possibility of an uninhabitable Earth, societal collapse and human extinction. I’ve thought a lot about this over the past year or so. Unsurprisingly, this made me sad. 

COURTESY OF KELVIN QIAN Qian’s time with his dance group, the Eclectics, reminded him of a life beyond consumerism.
PUBLIC DOMAIN While it was hard to say goodbye, Im is excited for her semester abroad.

Looking forward to a semester abroad in Sweden

By ELIZABETH IM | November 20, 2019

Here’s the news: I’m studying abroad this spring in Stockholm, Sweden. I have been dreaming of it since my senior year of high school and I am more than thrilled. However, I was surprised by my own hesitance to commit when I received the email that I had been accepted to the program.

The stress of high-stakes and limited-income life

By SAMUEL FARRAR | November 20, 2019

I have to buy a new computer. Well, I don’t have to, technically speaking. But the screen is split open almost all the way around. Some keys have to be typed three times before they register. And I must always arrive to my classes that meet once a week rather early and make a beeline to an outlet, because the battery won’t last the two-and-a-half hour time slot. 

PUBLIC DOMAIN Buying a laptop encapsulates Farrar’s fiscal anxiety as a low income student.

How to truly take a day off when you’re stressed

By SANIYA RAMCHANDANI | November 20, 2019

So it’s been a stressful week (as every other week at Hopkins tends to be) and all you want to do is curl up on your couch with warm cider and watch a movie. But it’s a Monday night and you have an early morning class tomorrow that you just can’t skip and a quiz on Wednesday that you just have to spend the whole of the next afternoon in Brody studying for. 

Grappling with my eating disorder while abroad

By KATY WILNER | November 21, 2019

In case you haven’t seen Ratatouille, let me tell you how much the French love their food. Unlike in the States, where people juice their breakfast to drink on-the-go, in France, meal time is a serious part of the day. Most working adults take at least an hour to stop working, sit in a restaurant and eat a multi-course lunch.

COURTESY OF KATY WILNER Wilner reflects on how she has managed her eating disorder while studying abroad in France.

His Dark Materials TV adaptation starts off strong

By ELIZA ZIMMERMAN | November 20, 2019

If you’re like me, vague memories of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass and its cinematic iteration wove themselves intermittently throughout your childhood. Although they were less beloved than Harry Potter, less modern than Percy Jackson & the Olympians and less classic than The Chronicles of Narnia, they are perhaps the most timeless and successfully constructed stories of them all (although the 2007 movie adaptation garnered a fair amount of criticism). 

GAGE SKIDMORE/CC BY-S.A 2.0 Lin-Manuel Miranda plays Lee Scoresby in the newly released adaptation.
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New Disney+ service offers impressive collection

By SEAN GLAISTER | November 25, 2019

Disney was a big part of my childhood. And over time, after releasing sequels to my favorite movies and acquiring film production companies such as Pixar in 2006 and Lucasfilms in 2012, Disney managed to become an even bigger part of my childhood. But building up to the Nov. 12 release of Disney+, a new streaming service for Disney-owned content, I wasn’t that excited.