Published by the Students of Johns Hopkins since 1896
October 6, 2026
October 6, 2026 | Published by the Students of Johns Hopkins since 1896

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.







COURTESY OF SABRINA BET-MANSOUR
Bet-Mansour tells her family's story regarding immigration and argues against current forming policies. 

Immigration policy: My ancestors vs. today

My great-grandmother was not a threat, neither was the rest of my family who came thereafter or the woman I described at the start of this piece. Immigration policy should exist to give them, as it once gave my family, an honest chance at life and a chance at the American dream.


JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY STUDENT DISSABILITY SERVICES 

The Editorial Board argues that the university needs to provide more attention to physical dissabilities.

Advocating for a physically accessible campus

While SDS is designed to support all students, its initiatives often center on accommodations that suit those with mental disabilities, leaving physical accessibility underemphasized. Examples of accommodations listed on the SDS website primarily address cognitive or sensory disabilities over mobility-related disabilities.


ARMAN MOMENI / OPINIONS EDITOR
Schager argues that Hopkins should publish course syllabi prior to registration. 

The case for publishing syllabi at Hopkins

Syllabi are almost always made available by professors on the first day of class, characterizing the first two weeks of the semester as a period where students regularly use the conditional add/drop feature to switch out of courses that they wrongly predicted would be beneficial to them. If syllabi were published before this hectic window, registration and the add/drop period would be much less stressful.


COURTESY OF ALEXIS CONNER 
Serringer argues that while the DC streetcar system was unfinished and inefficient, it should have been preserved for its cultural and aesthetic value. 

A streetcar I desire: a superficial defense of streetcars

Instead, my argument in favor of streetcars deals with aesthetics. For lack of a better word, streetcars bring a certain level of chic to a city. While buses are undoubtedly more efficient, they’re not considered as sophisticated as rail transit. Streetcars simultaneously represent both modern urbanism and a time before car dependency, an attractive idea to residents and urban planners alike. 


SKASISH / CC BY-SA 4.0
Gauba argues for the many benefits of spending time with oneself

A table for one

Once a week, I still take myself on a date. Sometimes it’s coffee at a new spot in Hampden. Other times it’s a walk down Charles with nowhere particular to be. Occasionally I like to just sit somewhere on campus where no one expects anything from me. The awkwardness of asking for a table for one has long since faded away.  What replaced it was something I didn't expect to find by sitting still: a version of myself I could recognize. Turns out she’s pretty good company. 


ERIC WANG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Zamora, Jaiswal and Andriessen advocate for the removal of MCOs in Medicaid.

Reclaiming Medicaid from MCOs in Maryland

The future of Maryland’s health and our state budget can benefit greatly by removing MCOs. With 1.5 million Marylanders covered by Medicaid and 85% of those individuals enrolled in one of the state’s nine MCOs, a shift to a unified Medicaid program could save taxpayers up to $521 million annually while preventing patients from experiencing disastrous delays in care. 


KGROOVY / CC BY-SA 2.0
Feng argues for greater participation from citizens in primary elections. 

Better candidates start with better primary turnout

Even though the midterm elections are still more than six months away, many candidates have been campaigning for several months already. This long, dragged-out election season is in large part due to a peculiarity in our system — the primary election.



COURTESY OF CHRIS ZHANG
Zhang argues that U.S. intervention, while well-intentioned, does not provide necessary long-term solutions for regime change.

The US is fighting the right fights, but the wrong war

The U.S. has, since the start of the new year, conducted military strikes and operations in both Venezuela and Iran. This marks a surprising militant turn in U.S. foreign policy in recent decades, which presents a larger issue regarding the role and image of the United States across the world.



COURTESY OF KASHVI GANESH
Ganesh argues that Hopkins should guarantee housing for its students across all four years. 

Hopkins should guarantee four-year housing

From my little desk in the corner of the Housing Office in Wolman 103, I’ve gotten to witness the freshman and sophomore classes grow into the comfort of calling their dorms “home.” Groups of strangers on move-in day leave as best friends on move-out. 



Neutrality is not an option

Lately, it feels strange to walk into class as if everything is normal. To sit in lecture halls, laugh with friends and plan for the future while so much is happening beyond campus walls. The world doesn’t pause just because we’re students, and yet sometimes it feels like we’re expected to let it.


NASA GODDARD PHOTO AND VIDEO / CC BY 2.0
Morris condemns Jeff Landry’s op-ed in The New York Times, arguing that inflitrating Greenland contradicts America’s founding ideals. 

Greenland (and America’s) winter of discontent

On Jan. 29, Governor Jeff Landry penned an essay for The New York Times titled “Trump's Greenland Envoy: We Need ‘Total, Unfettered Access.’“ Mr. Landry, the U.S. Special Envoy to Greenland, was tasked by President Trump to “lead the charge” to acquire the world’s largest island. In his essay, he argues that the U.S. must expand its military presence in Greenland.


CMGLEE AT ENGLISH WIKIPEDIA / CC BY-SA 3.0
Feng argues that partisan gerrymandering undermines democracy and requires federal and systemic electoral reform. 

Gerrymandering is a symptom. Our electoral system is the disease

A fierce nationwide redistricting battle has unfolded ahead of the midterm elections this year, sparked by the Texas state legislature’s adoption of an aggressively gerrymandered congressional map aimed at flipping Democratic-held seats. Across the country, around a dozen state legislatures have initiated efforts to redraw districts to favor their parties.


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