Opinion

The opinions presented below are solely the views of the author and do not represent the views of The News-Letter. If you are a member of the Hopkins community looking to submit a piece or a letter to the editor, please email opinions@jhunewsletter.com.

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THE PUBLIC EDITOR: Donuts, ad space and alumni: on sustaining print journalism

By JACOB TOOK | October 17, 2019

So last week’s editorial was titled “Does print journalism have a future?” Pretty dramatic. I bet the irony was especially tactile if you read that in the print issue. More likely, though, you were reading online. Maybe you were browsing our website or our Facebook page, and you raised your eyebrows and thought, this feels relevant to what I’m doing right at this very moment.

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Why I won’t be marching in the strikes for climate change

By SHUBHA VERMA | October 17, 2019

Since last March, Climate Strikes have been taking place about every other month. In every state, students skip school for the day, make posters and take to the trains to meet in the heart of the city. Their motive is clear and their voices are loud. They’re powerful, and I do believe that they will make a change.

Does print journalism have a future?

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD | October 10, 2019

On Monday, Sept. 30, The Diamondback — the University of Maryland’s independent, student-run newspaper — announced that it would exclusively publish content online starting in March 2020. The decision to discontinue The Diamondback’s print publications comes 110 years after the paper was first founded and just 47 years after it became financially independent in 1971. 

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SGA has the power to fix student organization culture. We need to start using it.

By NATHAN MUDRAK | October 11, 2019

I was troubled to read last week’s Opinions article “What I learned from student club rejections” by Keidai Lee. The article details Keidai’s difficult experience applying to student organizations here at Hopkins. His experience, and that of so many other incoming students who face rejection after rejection from on-campus student groups, is simply unacceptable. Your Student Government Association (SGA), of which I am a part, is entrusted with the power to regulate the majority of student organizations here on campus. We need to use it.

Opposing Viewpoints: Trump's impeachment inquiry should not be conducted

By ARMSTRONG GBESSAGEE | October 10, 2019

On September 24, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and House Democrats announced the opening of an impeachment inquiry against President Donald J. Trump. The allegations claim  he unduly pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate the business dealings of ex-Vice President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter. Adam Schiff, the Speaker’s handpicked impeachment prosecutor, compared the President to a crime mob boss in an elaborate quid pro quo scheme involving military aid in return for dirt on a political opponent.

GAGE SKIDMORE/CC BY-SA 2.0 Gbessagee thinks that the allegations against Trump are false, while Park feels that impeachment was long deserved.

THE PUBLIC EDITOR: September 2019 in The News-Letter

By JACOB TOOK | October 10, 2019

You might notice that something’s a bit different this week — I’m not directly responding to reader criticisms! Don’t worry, that doesn’t mean I haven’t heard from any readers recently. Y’all are out there and you definitely have thoughts, so continue to share those with me.

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Focusing solely on electability will not get Democrats elected

By SAM SCHATMEYER | October 5, 2019

Democrats have an electability problem — they won’t stop obsessing over it. According to a FiveThirtyEight poll taken just after the last Democratic debate, a candidate’s “ability to beat Donald Trump” is the top 2020 concern of nearly 40 percent of likely Democratic primary voters. The next most important issue, health care, was the priority for a mere 11 percent. 

Letter to the Editor 10/03/2019

By DIVA PAREKH | October 4, 2019

Before I read the article “Unbelievable is not for the faint of heart,” I hadn’t heard of the show it discusses, which is about a woman who has been sexually assaulted.

THE PUBLIC EDITOR: On curating a dialogue through the permanence of the printed word

By JACOB TOOK | October 8, 2019

The News-Letter got a letter to the editor this week. It’s the first in quite a while — the first this calendar year, actually. In the last two years, the paper has only received 11 letters to the editor, three of which responded to a particularly spicy op-ed arguing that conservatives’ free speech was under attack. This made me wonder: what exactly is a letter to the editor?

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EDA INCEKARA/PHOTO EDITOR Lee, a sophomore who transferred to Hopkins, reflects upon the experience of applying and being rejected from student groups.

What I learned from student club rejections

By KEIDAI LEE | October 3, 2019

Why does this damn school make us apply for clubs, anyways?” I thought to myself. The systematic, pre-professional style of going about extracurriculars felt both foreign and stifling. Shouldn’t these activities be fun? And maybe, a little bad. But definitely fun, right? Bad fun isn’t allowed here, I guess. It’s understandable. Bad fun is now for dimly lit Friday nights and frat parties.

Why do big donors hold so much sway over politicians?

By KERIM BALI | September 28, 2019

In the third Democratic debate, the top 10 candidates went after each other’s policy proposals for either being too ambitious or not ambitious enough. The progressives on the stage, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, explained how Medicare for All would bring down the cost of health care. Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Amy Klobuchar attacked progressive proposals and made the pitch for a return to centrism. Senator Kamala Harris and Mayor Pete Buttigieg positioned themselves as the middle ground candidates with their compromise solutions. 

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COURTESY OF LAIS SANTORO Student protestors participating in last week’s Global Climate Strike in Washington, DC.

How young people will fight climate change

By LAIS SANTORO | September 26, 2019

I was on the Charm City Circulator on my way to Inner Harbor on Friday, Sept. 19, when I overheard a conversation about the climate strikes that happened that day. A passenger on the bus said something along the lines of, “Now don’t get me wrong, I believe in climate change and all that and something needs to be done about it. But I just don’t understand what striking from school is going to do, I don’t think it’s effective.” Valid. 

We must stand in solidarity with Hong Kong

By BONNIE JIN | September 26, 2019

As long as the erosion of human rights in Hong Kong continue, the region’s already 16-week long summer of discontent will go on well into the fall. Approaching October 1 — the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China — Hong Kong authorities face mounting pressure from Beijing to utilize stronger state force to quell unrest. Last Tuesday, Hong Kong student activist Joshua Wong testified at a U.S. Congressional hearing, noting that the “stakes have never been higher.’’ As crackdowns on the city’s autonomy and civil liberties continue, Hopkins students must stand in solidarity with the students of Hong Kong.

PUBLIC DOMAIN The 2019 Hong Kong protests have been ongoing since June 9.
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Hopkins must do more to support its student groups

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD | September 19, 2019

Hopkins prides itself on offering students the opportunity to pursue their passions, whatever they may be. On campus tours, guides promise prospective students that it is easy to join student groups or start their own clubs and organizations. The Campus Life page on the University’s website depicts Hopkins as a place where students can pursue their diverse backgrounds and interests, whether they’re into “singing or kayaking, taking pictures or building robots, discussing international relations or playing Quidditch.”