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.
Over the past couple of years, Hopkins has been at the forefront of tracking COVID-19 cases and disseminating accurate information about the virus to the public. Now that in-person classes are back, it can be tempting to believe the pandemic has ended. Unfortunately that is not the case.
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.
I hardly need to introduce Andrew Tate. The controversy surrounding his name is difficult to miss. The 35-year-old former kickboxer, who gained notoriety through streaming and social media platforms, is known for saying atrocious things such as “I’m not a f**king rapist, but I like the idea of just being able to do what I want” while explaining why he moved to Romania and that women must “bear some responsibility” for being sexually assaulted.
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.
Taylor Swift’s place in the political sphere is complicated, to say the least. Early in her career, she stayed silent about politics. Swift has said that she acted this way for two main reasons: she believed that country music was hostile towards artists who spoke out politically, as was the case with the Dixie Chicks, and she did not feel educated enough to make political statements with the ability to influence millions of people.
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.
In April I assumed the role of Public Editor at The News-Letter. What is that? How does one edit the public? I had similar questions.
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.
In response to “Students claim discrimination led to their dismissal from School of Education Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program” published March 10, 2022:
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.
As a result of the war and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine sparked by the Russian Federation’s military invasion of the country, over two million citizens have been displaced and tens of thousands of Ukranians are facing a lack of food, water and electricity.
It’s now March, which means it’s been just about two years since the COVID-19 pandemic permanently impacted our lives. Around this time in 2020, students were sent home from campus without a clue about when we’d ever return as fear, lockdowns and uncertainty swept across the country.
Hopkins recently released the results of its Early Decision II cycle to the high school seniors who eagerly applied. We want to extend our warmest congratulations to our new Blue Jays, the Class of 2026!
Last Friday, Blue Jays walked out of their morning classes to a 60-degree day, ready to relax and recharge in the sunshine. Alas, the weather was short-lived: Dreams of lounging on the Beach all weekend quickly came to an end as another round of snow brought us back to reality.
On Jan. 26, industry legend Neil Young requested the removal of his music from Spotify, a private company, due to its complicity in allowing misinformation about COVID-19 to spread on the streaming platform. Digital platforms, like Spotify, present a perfect landscape for the spread misinformation, due to their relatively discrete algorithms and immense volume of participating voices.
Students have long criticized the University’s Office of Institutional Equity (OIE). Tasked with fostering an environment free from harassment and discrimination, OIE should be a useful and effective resource for the Hopkins community. Instead, it is underfunded, understaffed and unproductive.
