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.
We are two months into 2020, and it’s not an exaggeration to say that civilization itself hangs in the balance. All around us, Trumpian forces of authoritarianism and corruption operate with impunity in our federal government, the international order continues to crack under its own weight and the climate crisis marches on unabated.
You’re a Hopkins student. You wake up, and if you’re not already on campus you’re probably no more than a few minutes away. You grab coffee and a croissant from Brody Cafe before class. You catch the JHMI, which ferries you across Baltimore to the Hospital’s doorstep. You’re in the lab, head bent, back aching for hours. You head back to campus, hit up the library and then the rec center. You grab dinner at the FFC or, if you’re feeling adventurous, somewhere along St. Paul, on your way home.
Last week, the Second Commission on Undergraduate Education (CUE2) released a set of recommendations to revamp the undergraduate curriculum at Hopkins. These recommendations aim to improve the undergraduate experience, with an emphasis on student health and wellbeing.
What is Your Weekend? I’m not talking about the weekend, those horribly magical two days during which you can both take a breather from the last week and work yourself into a panic about the next. Nor do I mean The Weeknd, whose mixtape collection Trilogy remains perennially underrated. And while we’re on music, I should clarify that I’m definitely not thinking of SZA’s timeless sidechick anthem “The Weekend.”
Coronavirus (CoV) is currently spreading all over the mainland of China. It has already constituted the deaths of over 1,100. Since the first CoV case in Wuhan, China on Dec. 1, it has not only brought about 45,000 individuals infected with virus, but has also activated Chinese civic awareness.
This past Sunday, the Oscars honored a historically excellent year of movies and recognized a group of artists at least somewhat more diverse than award shows of recent memory. From Tom Hanks announcing the opening of the Academy Museum, to the many award-winners who sobbed out their “thank you”s, to an emotional “In Memoriam” section, the show was truly a celebration of the passion for storytelling and dedication to their craft exhibited by the filmmaking community.
Before I start this article, I just want to say that I love Hopkins. I love the campus, I love the diversity, I love meeting new people every day, I love the Chocolate Chunk shakes with soy milk from Brody Café. However, there are some problems with our service culture that I think need to change quite a bit.
Though the spring semester has just begun, the Office of the University Registrar is already looking ahead at next year’s academic calendar. On Friday, Jan. 31 Hopkins announced plans to implement a University-wide calendar in an email.
You may have noticed an unusual byline in last week’s Voices section — Arden Arquette, a name laden with literary whimsy, appeared beneath a silhouetted headshot. Read the title, ‘Ask Arden,’ and the pieces come together — The News-Letter has an anonymous advice column.
This has been a long time coming. I wasn’t expecting to change my political party now. I was waiting for a good, strong moment: a few weeks before my state’s primary, perhaps. But I was updating my driver’s license, and the question flashed across the screen: Do you want to register with a political party?
On behalf of the Board of Liquor License Commissioners for Baltimore City (BLLC), I write to address my concerns related to an article that was published in The Johns Hopkins News-Letter (“Panelists talk impact of lack of liquor regulations on black communities”) on November 21, 2019.
Though the semester is just beginning, clubs and student organizations are already deep in planning for their big events of the spring, from the Barnstormers’ annual musical to Homecoming Weekend. It’s impossible not to be reminded of upcoming events – any walk around campus or a scroll through social media features flyers and notifications.
Here we are, halfway through another school year. To my Hopkins readers, congratulations! You’ve made it this far. Stick it out, and Spring Fair will be right around the corner before you know it. To my readers in Baltimore and around the world, thanks for joining me as I tackle another semester at The News-Letter through your eyes.
The U.S. finds itself at the center of what is becoming a constitutional crisis with the potential to set precedent for generations to come. The animosity and tribalistic fog that pervades politics has been steeping for as long as I can remember.
Neither of us ever really imagined ourselves joining a fraternity or sorority in college. However, when we noticed those in Fraternity and Sorority Life (FSL) who are incredibly involved on campus, we realized, as many do, that going through recruitment might be a worthwhile experience.
We know that rape is bad. That’s not what we’re here to say — if you have an ounce of morals, you know that, so we don’t have to tell you to stay away from fraternities with a history of sexual assault allegations.
Since 1998, the Program of Women, Gender, and Sexuality (WGS) has given students and faculty the space they need to engage with interdiscplinary feminist and queer scholarship — scholarship that has long been overlooked and undervalued.
When I started recording data on the number of different types of perspectives represented in The News-Letter, I wanted to give editors a benchmark to measure the scope of each week. That’s not to say they should always strive to increase these numbers — at some point, the paper will reach critical mass and just be too full. Instead, I hope it can offer a new way to track coverage from one week to the next.
Hopkins recently bought the Newseum building, home of a museum dedicated to preserving the history of our news media and honoring our freedoms of speech and the press. As such, it will be closing its doors at the end of the year.
