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.
This past Labor Day, tens of thousands of workers employed at Amazon fulfillment centers appreciated one of their few days of rest. It was doubtlessly a needed reprieve from working conditions so strict that Amazon fired a worker for seven minutes of unproductivity, forced employees to walk over 15 miles a day and caused one employee to state that [Amazon] kills you mentally and physically.
Most of us at Hopkins are privileged in not having to think about disability accommodations, or even think about the challenges our peers with disabilities face. As the University moves forward with its initiatives, it’s time we change that. If we’re to successfully undo ableism at Hopkins, staying ignorant and passive is not an option.
That smoking jeopardizes everyone’s health has been well-known for decades. In fact, Hopkins faculty have produced much of the research detailing smoking’s deleterious effects. Ironically, it is the University’s smoking policies that lag behind those of its peer institutions.
If you’re a graduate student receiving health insurance through the University, congratulations are in order. The 2018-2019 plan which took effect on Aug. 15 is a big improvement over its woefully unaffordable predecessors, reducing the costs of care and expanding coverage to vision and dental. Turns out that our eyes and teeth are part of our bodies after all.
In response to “On their own” published on April 26:
The Board of Trustees defended their decision to wait until last Thursday to revoke Bill Cosby’s honorary degree by claiming to respect due process.
On April 7, the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) conducted a chemical attack on the Syrian town of Douma, killing at least 40 Syrian men, women and children.
This Sunday at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, Michelle Wolf’s comedy routine delivered an unflinching roast to many of the people in attendance.
Last Thursday, following decades of accusations from over 50 survivors of sexual assault and years of courtroom battles, a Pennsylvania jury finally found Bill Cosby guilty on three counts of felony aggravated indecent assault, which include sexually assaulting a woman he had drugged in 2004.
Eight months ago, I wrote an article from the perspective of a senior who still had eight months left at this school and at this newspaper. I don’t anymore. It’s time to say goodbye.
I am a low-income student, which means my parent makes less than $30,000 a year. This doesn’t mean I lived in squalor, but I certainly wouldn’t be able to afford the $70,000 price tag of Hopkins without a significant amount of financial aid.
In Response to “We should speak out against US military support of Israel” published in the April 19th edition of The News-Letter.
The irony of being politically active in college is that once you get the hang of it, it’s time to graduate. I now know how to access the archives and notes of the Board of Trustees, how to navigate the Hydra head of bureaucracy that swallows student discontent, who is most effective to scream at and when, etc.
At the start of the semester, The News-Letter set to work on an in-depth feature about the Office of Institutional Equity (OIE) and its handling of sexual assault and harassment cases. Over the past several months, eight survivors came forward to share their stories with our reporter. We would like to recognize those eight individuals who bravely shared their stories with The News-Letter.
As May 1 approaches, high school seniors across the country are making the exciting and difficult decision of where they will spend the next four years of their life. Three years ago, when I was in that same position, I heard some troubling comments about how Asians are held to higher standards than other students.
Thousands of Palestinians in Gaza have been peacefully protesting the ongoing occupation of their land and advocating for their right, as well as that of Palestinian refugees, to return to lands illegally occupied by the Israeli state since March 30 of this year.
“Mission Accomplished!” No major politicians have dared to utter these words since George W. Bush famously stood by them (literally) atop an aircraft carrier 15 years ago. In this now infamous speech, Bush proclaimed the end of major combat in Iraq, right before the vast majority of casualties in the Iraq Wars, in a campaign that can hardly be called a ‘success.’
As Hopkins students, it is easy to become enchanted by our elite education and the grandeur of the brick and marble buildings on campus. Yet it is important to remember the mistakes of the people who have led and worked for our University.
Recently, my friends and I went to a reading at which five finalists for a literary award presented some of their work. Three of these finalists read snippets of fiction, and the other two read selections of their poetry. Four of these finalists were women, with one man standing among them.
In my four years as a Writing Seminars major, I was often asked if I would double with something else. The answer was always no — I reveled in my specific coursework, thought the Writing Sems requirements were broad enough and thought that nothing else was so compelling that I should devote more time to it than a few classes.
