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.
Election day is right around the corner, and this year it falls exactly 11 days before my one-year anniversary of becoming an American citizen. No, I was not born in America — and this election, I can vote while my immigrant parents cannot.
As the daughter of two journalists, I have been surrounded by the media since birth. And I mean that quite literally. Two hours after I was born, the photographer at my mother’s station had a video of me on air during the 11 p.m. broadcast.
At a school where the social sphere as a freshman is dominated by men, where, as at many other colleges, there has been a troubling history of sexual assault and administrative responses to it, where we still have professors who believe that women are inherently more emotional and nurturing than men, the idea of a woman’s value is important consider.
When looking to elect a leader, or more specifically, president of the United States, empathy is one of the most important traits a candidate should possess. The role of the president is to govern and lead a diverse group of individuals, each with their own unique backgrounds and to put forth and implement policies that will benefit the common good. I believe empathy is necessary for this job, because without it, we risk appointing an indifferent or even cruel individual to make decisions that will have tremendous effects on us all.
With Donald J. Trump most likely headed toward defeat in the general election, many political pundits are talking about the impending death of the Republican Party. Nevertheless, these reports are very much premature. Thanks to successes in down ballot elections, the Republicans have a sufficiently deep bench of governors, senators, representatives and state legislators to remain competitive in elections throughout the next four years.
In American presidential elections, the short term rules. News cycles have been dominated by Donald Trump’s latest outrageous soundbite and conspiracy theories about Hillary Clinton’s “failing” health. We’re told that Trump will immediately build a wall to “solve” the immigration crisis, and that as soon as Clinton becomes president, the email scandal will suddenly disappear.
The JHU College Republicans released an official statement on Sept. 26 endorsing Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. The one-paragraph brief was posted on their Facebook page and garnered significant critical attention from the student body. Three weeks later, the College Republicans posted a longer statement explaining their decision, citing Trump’s experience as a negotiator and his tendency to be critical of both sides of the political aisle as qualities that bolster his candidacy. The statement then took a contradictory and confusing turn when the group did not encourage students to vote for Trump despite their endorsement
This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Humanities Center at Hopkins, and it may also be the year it is eliminated.
The Hopkins Board of Trustee notes are only available 25 years after they are written; therefore, only records before 1991 are available. From 1985 until 1987, Hopkins undergraduates, graduate students and a few faculty protested the University’s investment in apartheid South Africa by erecting mock shanty towns around campus under “the Coalition for a Free South Africa.”
Prospective students on campus tours often hear references to the “Big Four” in relation to student activities at Hopkins. This is not a reference to the top consulting firms that entrepreneurship and management minors seek employment at; It refers to four large student-led organizations that plan events and programs for the Hopkins community: the Milton S. Eisenhower Symposium (MSE), the Foreign Affairs Symposium (FAS), Spring Fair and the Hopkins Organization of Programming (HOP). These organizations contribute toward building community and traditions on the Homewood campus.
In recent years, a great deal of emphasis has been placed on issues of race. Not only are we challenging the integrity of deeply-rooted institutions like the police and the entertainment industry regarding race, but we are also opening dialogues about systemic racism in the smallest aspects of our society. Recently, programs focusing on these issues, like the one at Clark University introducing freshmen to the dangers of subtle microaggressions, have drawn a lot of attention.
It’s an era of ultra-liberalism, where users on social media platforms such as Tumblr and Instagram have biographies riddled with labels that add color in a few quick words to identify them, empower them.
Everyone at Hopkins is stressed out. We all have papers and exams and problem sets and lab reports and and and we can’t possibly have the time to get all of that done and also be in an a cappella group and a theater group and a sorority and a community service group and and and also sleep.
After the 2005 recording of Donald Trump bragging about sexual assault surfaced this week, several top Republicans have been disavowing him or rescinding their endorsements (my future children will potentially read about the “pussy tapes” in their textbooks; Let us softly weep).
The day is Wednesday. The time is 12 p.m. For those passing through the Mattin Center, Bamboo Café offers a convenient lunch stop with a variety of Asian dishes. Some order their bahn mi sandwiches to go, others sit among friends to enjoy a bowl of steaming hot jook, a Korean-style porridge dish that was recently added to the menu.
Sleeping seems like such a simple thing. You go to bed at night and wake up in the morning, and whatever happens in between is what we call “sleep.” It’s you lying still in your bed for six to eight hours, and then when your eyes open in the morning, you’re refreshed and ready for the day.
Monday marked the 79th anniversary of the establishment of Columbus Day as a national holiday. The tradition first began in 1937 to commemorate Christopher Columbus’ landing in the Americas on Oct. 12, 1492.
My obsession with reality TV started when I was about 10 years old. Occasionally during Sunday family lunches at my grandmother’s house I would sneak upstairs and watch VH1 reality shows, namely Flavor of Love, Rock of Love and Charm School.
When I was younger, I was afraid to order my food from restaurants. I wouldn’t talk to waiters, and I wouldn’t talk to cashiers. I would timidly whisper my order to my mother, who would relay my words. That’s just one example of how my social anxiety manifested itself before I knew to call it that.
