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.

Baltimore’s labor force must stand up to Hopkins

By JOHN HUGHES
March 21, 2018

For the majority of the 20th century, Hopkins was not the primary economic engine of Baltimore City. That title belonged to a massive steel mill whose workers were part of a strong union, operating out of Sparrows Point in southeast Baltimore — Bethlehem ...

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Courtesy of Louis Macabitas This image from UC Davis shows the potential dangers of a private force.

A Hopkins private police force is not the answer

By STEPHANIE SAXTON | March 29, 2018

A protest on campus hosted by Students Against Private Police advertised with a now-famous picture of the University of California (UC), Davis police pepper-spraying peaceful protestors. In her book Campus Sex, Campus Security, Jennifer Doyle writes about the above incident of brutality.

BIT training must consider sexual assault survivors

By DIVA PAREKH | March 21, 2018

I’ll start with a disclaimer: This article is going to discuss my experience with the Bystander Intervention Training (BIT) program during my freshman year. The program may have changed or evolved since my experience. I’m not criticizing the way it works today, but what happened during my BIT session was not okay.

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Why we should care about the Italian elections

By MORGAN OME | March 11, 2018

This is an election year, and for most American voters the November midterm races for the House and the Senate are of paramount concern. But Americans should also pay close attention to elections happening abroad, particularly those in Italy, because they highlight important global trends which have wide-reaching ramifications. 

Flip flopping in politics is more dangerous than ever

By SAMUEL FARRAR | March 8, 2018

“Flip flopping” is a very charged term in the realm of politics. However, from Reagan’s flip from liberal abortion legislation in California to anti-abortion laws in the White House; to Nixon’s promise to end Vietnam that turned into massive escalation; to Lincoln’s promise to not use federal troops within the borders of the Union (a flip we are all thankful for) — this process of changing agendas is a very normal part of a president’s career. 

Michael Vadon/CC by-SA 4.0 Trump changed his stance on gun control quickly, which has implications for all of politics.
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Hopkins needs to act now for the health of students of color

By ALIZAY JALISI | March 8, 2018

On Feb. 22, 2018 the Task Force on Student Mental Health and Well-being released a report outlining the insufficiently met mental health needs of students and strategies to better meet those needs. Three major recommendations called on Hopkins to “promote a climate of awareness,” “to provide greater access to mental health services” and “offer, and in some cases require, training on mental health awareness and resources for faculty, staff, and students.” 

Creating a bullet journal can change your life

By GILLIAN LELCHUK | March 1, 2018

I started bullet journaling in May 2017. I started on the first day of May. I didn’t know what I was doing. I didn’t have a special bullet journal. I didn’t have any fun pens. I didn’t have a plan. Actually, that was the whole reason I started doing it — because I didn’t have any plans.

Courtesy of Gillian Lelchuk Lelchuk's bullet journal has helped improve many aspects of her life.
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Let’s hold Hopkins accountable for mental health

By SAM MOLLIN | March 4, 2018

It’s a well-known fact that for many people, Hopkins is a stressful school. There’s probably only one place in the world where you’ll see students streaming directly into the library after their University holds a campus-wide ceremony and light show, and that’s Hopkins! 

Armed teachers would create a culture of fear, not learning

By SAMUEL FARRAR | March 1, 2018

The Parkland school shooting two weeks ago proved to be the deadliest school shooting since Sandy Hook in 2012. Video surveillance footage revealed that the single armed guard at the school never made an attempt to confront the shooter and never even went into the school. 

Fabrice Florin/CC by SA-2.0 Students have started a movement of change in the aftermath of the Parkland shooting.
Luu/CC By SA-4.0  Alina Zagitova has become a legitimate talent in the last few years.

Stop asking female athletes if they hate their competitors

By CATHERINE PALMER | February 24, 2018

Tonight marks the final figure skating event of the 2018 Winter Olympics: women’s long program. While the three Americans are likely out of contention for the podium, the gold medals favorites are Russian teens Evgenia Medvedeva and Alina Zagitova, both of whom hold world records.

PUBLIC DOMAIN Ko argues that we can reduce plastic use through smart shopping decisions.

We need to be mindful about our plastic use

By KELSEY KO | February 25, 2018

Every year, one billion toothbrushes (roughly 50 million pounds) are thrown out and added to landfills every year. That’s enough plastic to stretch around the world four times. The average American woman menstruates for 38 years and uses disposable feminine hygiene products. That’s roughly 250-300 pounds of garbage during your lifetime, just from your period. 

Studying abroad is great, but not essential

By JACQUI NEBER | February 15, 2018

I didn’t study abroad during my time at Hopkins. I stayed on campus for all four years and got to live vicariously through my friends posting on Instagram from cities across the globe: London, Buenos Aires, Rome, Sydney, Paris, Amsterdam, Hong Kong, the list goes on. Sometimes I wished I was with them. But at the end of it all, as a second-semester senior, I’m glad I’ve spent four whole years at Hopkins.

COURTESY OF JACQUI NEBER Jacqui did travel to Italy, but the trip involved more cooking than studying.

We must continue fighting for a two-state solution

By BENTLEY ADDISON | February 8, 2018

I first heard about the community of Susya this fall. I was horrified to learn about the ways in which the inhabitants of the village, by virtue of the circumstances of their birth, are forced to live with the constant fear that their homes could be taken away at any moment. Susya is a Palestinian village of about 350 people, located in Area C of the West Bank. 

Editorial: What we talked about this week

By THE EDITORIAL BOARD | February 9, 2018

In this week’s editorials, we would like to highlight two stories that we believe are not discussed on our campus as much as they should be. Both stories are grounded in historically rooted problems that carry very real implications today. Even though these stories may not always be in the headlines that we read, we hope that we can — at the very least — be aware of them and perhaps, do something about them.  —The Editorial Board

Hopkins cannot let PILOT become a casualty of cutbacks

By JOHN HUGHES | February 8, 2018

As they returned to campus this January, students working as leaders in the PILOT program were greeted with an email informing them that the program would be making cutbacks, including some leaders not being assigned a session for the semester. This is terrible news.

FILE PHOTO Leading PILOT groups helps students better understand their course material outside of class.
FIBONACCI BLUE / CC By 2.0 Twitter allowed for the misrepresentation of the #BLM movement.

You must support your hashtags with action

By NICOLA SUMI KIM | February 5, 2018

With the introduction of the internet, more specifically social media, activism has ceased to be the radical exercise it once was. Instead, it has become something accessible, something easy, something commonplace. Where marches and mass demonstrations used to be the main staples of activism and awareness, Twitter trends and Instagram hashtags now dominate.