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.
In many respects, Kemalism’s death warrant was signed by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on July 20, 2016. Following an abortive coup d’état, the Turkish president predicated a state of emergency. In other words, it was a constitutional suspension of the Turkish constitution on the destabilized sociopolitical atmosphere of the country, prompting a widespread culling of dissent within Turkish society.
When some students hear the word “college,” they perk up and think about the fascinating classes they are taking, the lifelong friends they are making and the exciting freedoms that come with living away from home. Others might cringe and recoil upon hearing this word.
In response to the article “Henrietta Lacks’ estate to sue Hopkins Hospital” published on March 2:
The University sent out an email to current juniors and seniors on Feb 28 requiring them to complete a mandatory online training course that addresses sexual assault, as well as alcohol and drug use. Freshmen and sophomores had previously completed the module, called Think About It, as part of their Orientation.
In response to Donald Trump’s election, many professors at Hopkins have altered their course curricula to address the president’s rhetoric and policies. Some, like Wayne Biddle’s Writing Seminars course “Nonfiction in the Post-Factual Era,” were created this semester specifically to confront the aftermath of Trump’s win.
The cells of Henrietta Lacks, a black woman who died at Johns Hopkins Hospital in 1951, have led to countless medical advances both at Hopkins and around the world. The story of her life and her HeLa cells are the subject of a 2010 book by Rebecca Skloot, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, which has quickly become required reading at many schools and universities in the U.S.
The University’s new required “Think About It” online course about sexual assault, alcohol and sex on campus is one of the most inept, incompetent and downright insulting programs I have come across. I am honestly flabbergasted as to how this program was accepted and sent out to students after years of intelligent conversations about sexual assault.
Sometimes I imagine what it would be like for me to be a model. I can only imagine, because the market for Asian male models is rather small, and I’m not the best looking out of all of them. But fortunately enough, society has deemed me a model minority, and that’s the closest I’ll ever get to actually being a model.
Since Trump’s inauguration, anti-Semitism has been rising at a disturbing rate. According to CNN, 48 Jewish community centers (JCCs) in 26 states have received almost 70 bomb threats, and two Jewish cemeteries, in Philadelphia and in Missouri, were vandalized.
The Foreign Affairs Symposium’s (FAS) speaker series theme this semester is “Undercurrent,” which the promotional poster describes as “an underlying feeling or influence, especially one that is contrary to the prevailing atmosphere.”
As February draws to a close, so too does the nation’s observance of Black History Month. The Hopkins community has been engaged in a month of educational and celebratory programs to honor the contributions of black Americans. But why end on Feb. 28?
As the days go on, it seems more and more likely that the Trump administration will eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in order to divert the money elsewhere. Regardless of whether or not this actually happens, the fact that the Office of the President would put forth such an idea is extraordinarily alarming.
It is a couple of weeks into my first semester at Hopkins when, out of the blue, somebody says to me, “Your eyes are so small.”
On Feb. 19, 1942 President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, enacting the removal and incarceration of over 120,000 people of Japanese descent on the West Coast. This past Sunday marked the 75th anniversary of Executive Order 9066 and the annual Day of Remembrance for the internment of Japanese Americans.
Donna Brazile, the interim chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), came to Hopkins last Friday as part of a “listening tour” to connect with students. She spoke about the future of the Democratic Party in a meeting closed to the general campus community and open only to leaders of ten left-leaning groups on campus.
Johns Hopkins does not provide housing for students after their sophomore year, and many students have difficulty finding a place to live after moving out of the dorms.
Many of us are familiar with the phrase “agree to disagree.” Some of us may consider this phrase to be symbolic of an informed conclusion after a well-reasoned discussion. After all, we live in a world where to recognize diversity, including diversity of thought, is considered valuable.
This weekend, I watched a talk from Larry Holmes (not the boxer but the first secretary of the Workers World Party) about the current role of the Democratic Party. After the election, Holmes made the point that if the Democrats truly wanted to stop Trump, as they claim to in their rhetoric, they could do so easily.
This month the Maryland General Assembly will be considering the Humane Adoption of Companion Animals Used in Research Act (SB 420, HB 528). This piece of legislation calls for research institutions in Maryland, including Hopkins and many others, to take reasonable steps in allowing for the adoption of research dogs and cats following their time spent as research animals.
A team of Hopkins students has created the mobile app Atrium as part of the Hopkins community’s mission to improve mental health on campus. The app is designed to provide free, anonymous peer support and counseling from a licensed therapist, and it is currently in pilot testing with Hopkins students.
