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Towards the end of next week, most students will return home or at least gather with friends and family to enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday. But the last thing anyone should do is get up early the next day and venture to the biggest mess in American consumer culture, Black Friday.
Last week Colorado and Washington made international headlines by becoming the first states to legalize marijuana for recreational use. These measures contradict existing drug policy at the federal level, and many pundits anticipate a legal showdown that goes all the way to the Supreme Court. But the short-term outcome of these battles will do little to change the long-term necessity of ending the War on Drugs. Legalizing marijuana across all 50 states is long overdue, and whenever it inevitably comes to pass it will make our nation richer, safer and freer.
Two days have passed since Barack Obama was re-elected President of the United States. Eight years have passed since a young soldier named Matt Lynch was killed by a roadside bomb in Ramadi, Iraq. And over these past 48 hours, I’ve been attempting to reconcile the two. What do the past two days tell me about the past eight years?
On Tuesday, the country missed the opportunity to vote for real change – actual, real and tangible transformations to our country. Change will come when we stop passing and renewing laws such as the Patriot Act and the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which egregiously violate the very basic principles this country was founded upon. It will come when we stop calling the dead children from the drone strikes in Pakistan “collateral damage” and actually put a face to these people who are no different from the rest of us.
Three weeks’ worth of misguided campaign strategies and unbecoming soundbites in the lead-up to this Tuesday’s election forecasted Romney’s downfall even before the race was called. In fact, the phrase “bleak prospects” would have seemed a gross understatement; by the morning of the election, the New York Times’ number-crunching guru Nate Silver had boldly pegged Obama’s chances of re-election at over 90 percent, and by 11:30 PM – before Florida and Ohio’s tallies had been finalized – none other than Fox News had declared a landslide victory for Barack Obama.
Now that I can safely say that Mitt Romney will not be elected our next president, I feel it’s necessary to reflect on what his presidency would have meant for the all-important and salient issue of disaster relief.
Last week President Ronald J. Daniels wrote an op-ed piece in The Baltimore Sun in support of marriage equality in Maryland. Daniels briefly mentioned that he saw the issue as “a matter of justice and core civil rights,” but the remainder of his piece gave a less common interpretation as to why marriage equality is important: it is beneficial for business, especially for an organization like Hopkins. Proposition 6, which reaffirmed the right to marriage among all citizens in Maryland, passed on Tuesday night.
On Tuesday, Alan Fish, the Vice President of Real Estate and Campus Services, introduced some of his suggestions for development at Homewood to the Student Government Association (SGA). One of the most ambitious projects Fish spoke about and the first one he would like to implement is the construction of a hotel on the vacant Olmstead lot on 33rd St. between St. Paul and N. Charles St. Fish told the SGA that the hotel would increase the quality of student life by bringing “really great restaurants” to Charles Village and would provide students with another place to “hang out.”
Opioids are among the world’s oldest drugs and are still used today to manage pain. Classified as narcotic analgesics, they are legally available by prescription. They work by binding to specific receptors in the nervous system and altering the way that the brain identifies and interprets pain sensations.
Hurricane Sandy has finally come and gone, but she has left a trail of devastation in her wake. And environmental catastrophes like her are becoming more common and are a direct result of climate change. Unfortunately, in our modern society, climate change is one of the least publicized yet one of the most important issues that faces the next generation.
A year ago, an article ran in The News-Letter which discussed the topic of covered grades. The article indicated that the Academic Affairs subcommittee of the Academic Council had recently approved a motion to eliminate the first semester grading policy, which indicates only a satisfactory or unsatisfactory performance in the course and does not calculate grades received in first semester classes into cumulative grade point average (GPA). This recommendation, if approved by President Ron Daniels, would take effect in the fall of 2014.
With Hurricane Sandy now gone, the recovery process has begun. The University and its surroundings, however, have emerged relatively unscathed. This is largely due to the people who worked through the storm to insure Hopkins was prepared
In the midst of a heated race for the U.S. presidency, many in the foreign policy arena are concerned about the implications of a new Egyptian government. How will Egyptian-American relations fare under recently elected President Mohammed Morsi? Will the 1979 peace treaty between Egypt and Israel remain intact? Although these are important questions, they are self-interested. The most fundamental question must be: is Morsi good for the Egyptian people?
With the U.S. elections approaching and the world market still recovering from the 2008 financial crisis, the economy has rarely been such an important factor in the political arena. In their second debate, Governer Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama mainly focused on their two different approaches to solve this situation. Obama is mainly proposing to increase government spending, while Romney wants to cut taxes in order to improve the prospects of small businesses. Both these solutions reflects their parties historical beliefs: big government and aid to the low-income sectors of society for the Democrats and small government and greater liberty to entrepreneurs for the Republicans.
Last week, I was very excited to see an article about sexual violence in The News-Letter. I believe sexual violence is an issue that is too often ignored or unrecognizably distorted at Hopkins. Someone was finally acknowledging the fact that, yes, sexual assault does occur at this school. However, I was dismayed after reading the article “70 Sex Offenders Registered in Area,” which was published on Oct. 11. This article only served to perpetuate the false and dangerous sentiment that sexual violence only comes from perpetrators outside of our school.
It’s probably a bit premature to be getting excited about next year’s awards season, but the recent announcement that Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are going to be hosting the upcoming Golden Globe Awards in January merits discussion. These are two of Hollywood’s best comediennes who happen to have undeniable chemistry. If this does not boost ratings for the Awards, then I don’t know what will.
Yesterday, the Sustainable Hopkins Infrastructure Program (SHIP) held the first annual Future of Hopkins Symposium. The event allows students and faculty to present ideas to create a better and more sustainable Hopkins. Some of the ideas presented included the creation of a University-wide donation bank which would accept used items from students, an art gallery at MSE focused on science and the planting of gardens on buildings to increase the amount of local produce on campus.
Tuesday morning, the pro-life demonstrations conducted by the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform were met with demonstrations by pro-choice groups and other students on campus. These students stood up to the demonstrators and held up signs pronouncing their right to choose.
Next week, President Obama and Mitt Romney will debate our nation’s foreign policy and clarify their visions for America’s role in the world over the next four years. One of the foremost issues is the evolving Middle East. Amidst change and turmoil, it is often easy to kick the can down the road when it comes to that region. However, one issue the candidates cannot lose sight of is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Solving the conflict is necessary for a secure future — without fixed borders for Israelis and full political and human rights for Palestinians, there will be no peace and the regional situation will continue to deteriorate.
The Homewood campus is aesthetically pleasing in many ways: the continuity of red brick, white marble and aged copper intermingled with ample green spaces creates a classical and inspiring educational environment.
