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.

The Hopkins administration must back off

By THEODORE KUPFER
April 20, 2017

Ever take a campus tour? Even if you haven’t, you know what it’s like: your friends walking backwards, cutting quickly through Brody while ignoring the palpable malaise, telling you how many student-run groups there are — more than 400! It turns ...

Iracaz/Public domain The administration was too controlling of Bernie Sanders’ visit to Shriver Hall.

New guidelines violate our right to protest

By CONCERNED STUDENT GROUPS | April 13, 2017

The University administration released new “Guidelines for Free Expression” last week “to serve as a resource to you as you consider acts of public expression” on and around campus. While it is unclear which policies outlined in the document are new and which are compiled from old statutes, what is clear is that these “guidelines” are merely restrictions on our freedoms re-branded as “resources” and “support.”

fibonacci blue/cc by 2.0 Protesters rallied against the immigration ban, a dangerous precedent for adoptees.

The U.S. should grant international adoptees citizenship

By CATHERINE PALMER | April 13, 2017

Imagine coming to the United States as a baby, the adopted child of American parents. You grow up as an American. You never visit your birth country. You don’t speak any language besides English. Now imagine you’re adult trying to do something as routine as applying for a passport. Your application gets rejected. Why? Because it turns out you are not an American citizen. You never have been.

SGA election’s high voter turnout is a sign of progress

  | April 13, 2017

Student Government Association (SGA) Executive Board elections took place over the weekend and drew a noticeably larger voter turnout. Last year, 1,371 voters participated in executive board elections, triple that of the previous year’s turnout. This year, the trend away from apathy continued, and 1,421 undergraduates cast their vote.

Editorial: Free Food at JHU offers sustainable solution to campus food waste

  | April 13, 2017

Free Food at JHU, a new food waste initiative, recently launched a pilot version of its program on campus that informs Hopkins students about leftover food after events. The initiative, started by recent graduate Nemo Keller and the Office of Sustainability, sends email and text message alerts with the amount of food left over and its location.

Susan Sullivan/cc by-sa 4.0 The Engaging New Voices campaign poster features a protest.

Trump’s Sexual Assault Awareness Month is problematic

By GILLIAN LELCHUK | April 6, 2017

On April 1, President Trump declared that April would be Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention Month, eliciting a collective “Seriously?” from the greater population of Trump resisters. Not only has Trump been accused of sexual assault, but Sexual Assault Awareness Month was established in 2001.

The campus programming model needs improvement

By TOMMY KOH | April 6, 2017

Three of my classmates walked into class 15 minutes late this Monday. The cause of their atypical delay was a “too fun to resist” bouncy castle that was on the beach. While 15 minutes of instructional time was lost, one could potentially argue that the memory of missing class to jump on a bouncy castle will probably stick around longer than the content covered in the same time. This is in no way condoning skipping class, but surely many can agree that there’s something special in these small moments.

Azbounce4kids/cc by-sa 3.0 On Monday, RAB held an event with bouncy castles on the beach for RAB Week.

Editorial: New Horizons can deliver the change that SGA needs

  | April 6, 2017

Student government at Hopkins needs to change. The Editorial Board has unfortunately seen the Student Government Association (SGA) stagnate, and students have undoubtedly lost respect for this critical institution. But because SGA is the only official representative of students, it must regain their respect.

Working class voters didn’t choose Trump

By EMELINE ARMITAGE | April 6, 2017

Since the election, there have been numerous articles trying to get to the bottom of the motivation of Trump voters. Are Trump voters the result of racism and xenophobia, economic anxiety or a mixture of both (spoiler: According to exit polls, the answer is racism)? And, depending on your answer to the question, how best can liberals and leftists reach out to them?

GAGE SKIDMORE/CC BY-SA 2.0

Hopkins misses the mark with diversity training

By ALLISON JIANG | March 30, 2017

When I arrived on campus for freshman orientation in August, I was apprehensive. College was like nothing I was prepared for, it was a whole new space in which I needed to reestablish myself. But I quickly grew comfortable and was pleasantly surprised at all the social issues that the University seemed to take responsibility for.

Be cautious of using the phrase “self-care”

By GILLIAN LELCHUK | March 30, 2017

In the age of fragile liberal snowflakes, there’s a phrase that I see thrown around quite a bit: “Practice self-care.” Now don’t get me wrong, it is incredibly important to take care of yourself, but we need to examine what we actually mean when we say something like that. If eating a pint of ice cream instead of watching the news is your idea of “self-care,” aren’t you buying into the idea of being a fragile snowflake?

FotoosVanRobin/CC BY-SA 2.0 Eat your brownies, but don’t pretend that binging on chocolate equates to self-care.

Editorial: Rescind the new student group branding policy

  | March 30, 2017

The Editorial Board strongly condemns Student Leadership and Involvement (SLI) and Homewood Student Affair’s new branding policy for student groups. Kirsten Fricke, the SLI’s director, notified student group leaders of the policy on Thursday March 16, right before Spring Break.

Editorial: Why we should all buy local

  | March 30, 2017

The University’s Hopkins Local initiative, a program that commits Hopkins to supporting local and minority-owned businesses, was introduced in September 2015. A new progress report released March 9 details future plans to expand the program and reiterate the University’s mission.

Keith Weller/public domain Remember that every hamburger you eat was once a cow. Giving up meat can reduce your carbon footprint.

Giving up meat can help reduce your carbon footprint

By KIM KOON | March 30, 2017

From the halls of our dorms to the walls of our bathrooms, we are constantly reminded to turn off the lights, to take shorter showers or to drink out of reusable water bottles. In light of Earth Day coming up in a few weeks, it’s important to remember why someone took the time out of their day to cut out a bunch of tiny signs and post them around campus.

Editorial: Why Hopkins students should care about Remington gentrification

  | March 16, 2017

Remington, the neighborhood just south of the Homewood Campus, was originally inhabited by Baltimore’s working class families. In recent years, however, the area has seen a spike in housing prices and experienced an influx of single, white Baltimoreans in part due to its proximity to Hopkins.

Editorial: Former convicts deserve equal access to higher education

  | March 16, 2017

For those with criminal records, seeking access to higher education can often seem pointless. The obligation to report any past convictions on college and graduate school applications has discouraged former prisoners who want to better themselves through education.

Spring break in Mexico is problematic and political

By GILLIAN LELCHUK | March 16, 2017

Spring break is finally upon us, and for me, that means three things: Procrastination will rise to an all-time high, visits to the dog park will become essential and my newsfeed will be full of pictures of friends visiting places like Cabo and Puerto Rico.

Beachfront Solutions/ CC BY-SA 2.0 Many students spend their spring breaks in Mexico without knowing the consequences.

Take time to listen, but don’t wait too long to take action

By TOMMY KOH | March 16, 2017

Change is the only constant. In student administration, this premise can certainly be applied broadly. Indeed, many who facilitate conversations about student leadership and involvement often preach the importance of adaptability, to be creative to avoid being stagnant, to innovate to achieve greater things, to experiment as a way toward new beginnings.