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.
I know. When your crazy, Republican aunt from Idaho posts on Facebook that Trump is a reasonable choice for President of the United States or your radically liberal friend from high school claims Clinton has never done anything wrong in her life, it can be tempting — irresistible perhaps. I admit, I’ve given in a few times. But please, stop talking about politics on the internet.
You might drive past one every day, you might see a freshly printed picture of one in the newspaper you read or you might even attend one — a school. We regularly associate schools with picturesque buildings, rows of students with their heads studiously bent, centers of education and intellectual betterment. The students supposedly attend classes at their schools to learn about the world around them and pursue their passions.
Last Sunday was the 15th anniversary of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. I sat and watched the same two videos I have watched every year for the past few years. The first video is of President George W. Bush throwing out the first pitch of game three of the World Series at Yankee Stadium. The second is of John Stewart’s iconic return to The Daily Show following the attacks.
The Bloomberg School of Public Health held a symposium about violence against LGBT+ communities on Monday, Sept. 12. Speakers touched upon issues of homelessness among members of the LGBT+ community, gun violence, gun control and wider public health concerns like HIV/AIDS.
Hopkins’ six-month-old University Health and Wellness Task Force held its first major event, Well-Fest, on Friday, Sept. 9. This event marks the beginning of what will hopefully be a major step forward down the path of addressing Hopkins students’ mental health concerns.
Senior Stuart Walters was charged with multiple accounts of sex offenses, false imprisonment, property destruction and assault after an altercation with his girlfriend on Tuesday, Aug. 2. The News-Letter reported on this incident on Aug. 13 after obtaining information from The Baltimore Sun, and the University has not released a statement or sent out a security alert about the incident.
If you haven’t heard of Pokémon Go by now, you must actually be living under a rock. Niantic’s smartphone game, which allows players to catch Pokémon by walking around in the real world, launched on July 6 and has since then gathered hoards of passionate supporters and critics.
On May 18, Shelton Jackson “Spike” Lee addressed the 2016 Hopkins graduating class at the Royal Farms Arena and received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters. Director of “Do the Right Thing,” Lee was recognized for his achievements as a filmmaker and for other contributions he has made to American culture.
The United Kingdom decided last Thursday to permanently sever its long membership of the European Union. 51.9 percent of UK voters voted to leave against 48.1 percent to remain in the EU, the most ambitious Western political project of the postwar era.
It has almost become a cliché to call on fellow Hopkins students to relax and tone down the high-strung competitive environment for which Hopkins has become infamous. In October, the satirical publication The Black and Blue Jay published “Johns Hopkins Ranks 1st in U.S. News’s ‘Most Soul-Crushing Universities,’” which fooled many a commenter into thinking it was a real ranking. Earlier this year, Jason Plush stepped down from his position as SGA executive president, citing the overwhelming amount of work he had and how much it affected his health in a brave opinions piece.
On my way out of college, I've spent some time thinking about loose ends, trying to tie each as efficiently as possible. Laced with bittersweet feeling, I write this piece, leaving my undergraduate career with a PSA.
We all know the type: the conservative great-uncle who is very vocal about keeping his gun close and the immigrants out or the liberal classmate who really wants free college and legalized marijuana or the independent kid you went to high school with who makes it well-known that he is moderate on most issues. They’re the Facebook sharers, and if you don’t know one, it’s probably you.
The University recently opted not to renew its lease of the Hopkins Inn for the 2016-2017 school year. Hop Inn has been used as overflow housing in recent years when the freshman class has exceeded 1,300 students, and based on the Class of 2020 enrollment size, the hotel will not be needed next year.
At the Taiwanese American Student Association’s (TASA) recent Night Market, which highlighted many Asian cultures, there was a booth dedicated to breaking Asian stereotypes. Members of the Inter-Asian Council, which sponsored the booth, spoke about the importance of raising this issue on campus, citing the recent casting of Scarlett Johansson as Major Motoko Kusanagi in the live action version of Ghost in the Shell.
Dwight Watkins, a Baltimore native and Johns Hopkins graduate, spoke to students and faculty earlier this school year at the Milton S. Eisenhower Symposium. Watkins lectured about growing up in the east side of Baltimore, or “the beast side” as he calls it, a community dealing with gun violence, drug dealing, racial profiling and the “endangered species of black men,” a phrase Watkins has coined to describe the current state of race relations in the United States. His first book, The Beast Side, chronicles his life on his side of the “two Baltimores.” Watkins uses this distinction to distinguish between the gentrified shops of North Baltimore, which are patronized by a majority-white and prosperous upper class, and the authentic marble steps of East Baltimore, which are populated by “30-year-old pregnant grandmas and dudes in Nikes waving automatic weapons.”
My college career is coming to an end, which makes me both nostalgic and excited. Nostalgic because I’ll never be an undergraduate again and excited because I am finally finished. My college career has been anything but traditional. I started off pre-med at the University of Pittsburgh, studied abroad in Dublin, transferred to Hopkins, majored in Writing Seminars and minored in Women, Gender, and Sexuality. I worked at The News-Letter, played cello in the chamber orchestra, TA’ed and went to a grand total of one frat party. I’m not going to graduate school but instead will be moving to New Zealand to work and celebrate not being in college anymore.
Don’t kill the lesbian: TV edition
With graduation less than a month away, many students are anticipating the arrival of commencement speaker Spike Lee. The Editorial Board supports the University’s choice as Lee for our speaker, especially given Baltimore’s past year. The Baltimore uprising brought many endemic social and political issues to the forefront of our collective consciousness, and Lee is great choice to address them. As students of the University, we live in this city for four years and it is thus a part of our lives. We believe that Lee’s speech will be relevant to all students.
Last Friday, The Chainsmokers, Shwayze and Marian Hill performed for the annual Spring Fair concert. The event was co-hosted by Spring Fair and The HOP and took place on the practice field.
