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This week kicked off the start of the spring semester. Though we have new classes and new professors, it’s difficult to feel excited with Baltimore’s cold and gray winter weather hanging over campus. Our surroundings may be bleak, but it doesn’t mean our days should be, too.
We have come to the end of another semester at Hopkins. Fall 2022 was challenging, rewarding and in many ways the first “normal” semester since the University suspended in-person instruction in March 2020.
Hopkins has a worldwide reputation as a center for public health information that serves to protect people around the world. Despite this, the institution has continued to exploit its workforce, including the graduate student workers whose work generates billions of dollars in funding from grants, private donations and government contracts.
Ever since The Cheetah Girls 2 premiered on Disney Channel in 2006, I’ve wanted to go to Spain. Granted, I was 4 years old. I don’t think I even grasped what countries were then. Yet, I knew I wanted to see the streets of Barcelona where the girl group sang “Strut.”
On Nov. 15, former President Donald Trump announced from his Mar-a-Lago residence that he would be running for president for the third time. Trump cannot be allowed to escape the consequences of his presidency. He denied the results of the 2020 election and incited violence at the Capitol in January of 2021.
If you didn’t know the United Nations’ Convention on Climate Change was happening last month, we don’t blame you. Representatives from almost 200 countries attended the summit, known as COP27, to advance global climate action. Despite its importance, conversations on campus about the conference were slim to none.
In response to “Hopkins Dining union hosts forum to discuss negotiations with the University” published November 15, 2022: As a leader in food service operations for over 25 years, I’ve seen a lot. I’ve been all over the country working in universities, convention centers, hospitals, restaurants and even at a couple of Olympics. Last September, I came to JHU tasked with leading the transition of bringing our Homewood and Peabody dining operations in-house, and I can honestly say that it’s some of the most meaningful work that I’ve ever done.
Among other things, one of the main problems with Twitter has been too much censorship on the platform. While the censorship may have been undertaken by the company in order to curb hate speech and misinformation, the problem was this: the rules around what to censor and what not to censor were drawn up by a bunch of Twitter employees.
This week, our cozy Monday night staff meeting in the Gatehouse looked a little different. While it is usually a time for everyone to catch up and converse on the couches, crowded around the space heater, we instead found ourselves speaking primarily to a Zoom audience with only a few in-person attendees.
On Nov. 8, the U.S. held its midterm elections, the first cycle since President Joe Biden’s win in 2020. Although the results from several House and Senate races are yet to be determined, we now have a much clearer picture of the political landscape and what matters to voters.
While Hopkins boasts a “tradition of employment excellence,” recent protests demonstrate that current employees disagree with that assessment.
If you’re reading this, you probably already know The News-Letter is back in print! For many Hopkins students, this is the first time they are seen a physical edition of their school’s newspaper. It’s also the first time many of The News-Letter’s staff have produced a newspaper or seen their work in ink, myself included.
Over the past few weeks, the Hopkins community has received multiple emergency alerts about crimes occurring around Baltimore campuses, including two abductions or attempted abductions near the Homewood Campus. The University responded to this uptick in serious violent crimes in a message to affiliates on Oct. 29.
With midterms quickly approaching, we are reminded once again of the impending 2024 election. President Joe Biden still hasn’t formally decided whether he will be running for a second term. This raises the million-dollar question: should he run again?
The random roommate policy Hopkins has instituted for the Class of 2026 is important to promote a more inclusive student body and encourage connections between peers with diverse backgrounds and interests.
Living with a person you’ve never met is bound to be difficult regardless of who you are. Hopkins shouldn’t make the adjustment to University life more stressful than it needs to be, particularly for queer students and students of color.
As midterm elections near, it seems that many young voters have become disillusioned with the political sphere. For many of us, it’s been a while since we were our 18-year-old selves, all registered and geared up to vote.
High school should be preparing students for the next exciting and challenging phase of their lives, which is attending university. At the very least, students should be taught important information before they are thrust into a new and hectic environment, where they don’t often have time to learn basic life skills other than via trial and error. It wasn’t until one of my public health classes at Hopkins that I realized just how much our high schools fail us in that regard.
If you’re reading this, you’re probably aware of the exciting news that The News-Letter is back in print.
Long-distance relationships are hard. We can’t touch or be physically affectionate with our partners. We can’t spend time doing what couples typically do, like snuggling over a movie or enjoying a meal together. Our limitations are a constant reminder of what we cannot have.
