Published by the Students of Johns Hopkins since 1896
November 22, 2024

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.



Editorial: Second diversity roadmap demonstrates real progress

University President Ronald J. Daniels released a new version the the Roadmap on Diversity and Inclusion to the Hopkins community on Friday, Nov. 4. Updating an earlier draft created last February, the revised document responds to student and faculty feedback and to the demands presented by the Black Student Union (BSU) last November.


Editorial: Supporting the protesters at Standing Rock

Construction of the 1,170-mile Dakota Access Pipeline was officially approved by the U.S. federal government in Aug. 2016. Talks about the $3.7 billion project actually began back in 2014, but it remained outside of mainstream media coverage until recent weeks. It escalated particularly following the arrest of actress Shailene Woodley during an Oct. 10 protest at the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Reservation in North Dakota.



Stay politically active after the election

I originally intended for this op-ed to have a much more positive perspective on the outcome of the election and what we could all do going forward. Given the results of the election, I am no longer nearly as optimistic as I was before about the state of our nation. However, I realize that this does not change the importance of the message of my original op-ed. If anything, for those of us that were devastated by Tuesday night, I believe this message is more important than ever before.


 ANOTHERAEOLIST/CC BY-SA 4.0
On Nov. 17, Sen. Bernie Sanders will speak at a joint MSE-FAS event in Shriver Hall.

Sanders event ticketing was poorly planned and timed

Bernie Sanders is coming to Hopkins on Nov. 17 as part of both MSE’s and FAS’s speaker series. Sanders is the most prominent speaker the symposiums have brought to campus in recent years, and in anticipation of a large crowd and an intense security situation, the University required the groups to dole out free tickets to the event.


Editorial: Vote for Hillary Clinton

The News-Letter officially endorses Hillary Clinton for President of the United States. We believe Clinton’s vast experience and sane policies make her a qualified candidate for President. Our endorsement stems from the belief that Clinton’s strengths make her not merely a better option than Donald Trump, but a strong candidate for the office in her own right.


Editorial: Guns don’t belong on campus

Professor Daniel Webster of the Bloomberg School of Public Health and University President Ronald J. Daniels published on Oct. 21 an op-ed in The Washington Post speaking out against the recently enacted Campus Carry law in Texas. The legislation allows licensed individuals to carry open and concealed firearms on the campus of any public university in the state. Texas is the eighth state to pass this type of legislation.


The JHU Republicans show cowardice

On Sept. 26, the JHU College Republicans (JCR) announced their official endorsement of Donald Trump for president of the United States. On Oct. 19, the JCR posted a statement on their Facebook page explaining why they chose to endorse Trump. Bizarrely, in their statement, the JCR wrote “we... do not encourage people to vote for Donald Trump in this upcoming election,” yet they still stand by their endorsement, prompting the question: What the point of an endorsement is if not to encourage people to vote for a preferred candidate? Yet their most hypocritical and cowardly action is refusing to talk to The News-Letter or any press about their endorsement.


DIGIDREAMGRAFIX/CC BY-SA 3.0
How could you not embrace the Christmas spirit after seeing this little guy’s smile?

Stop resisting the early onset of the Christmas spirit

The first of November hit us this week, and that means a lot more than you’d initially expect. It means Halloween is over, and so are all the spoopy memes. It means we’re in the final stretch of the semester (yikes). It means Starbucks started selling its Christmas drinks.


RENAN KATAYAMA/CC BY-SA 2.0
Naomi Campbell built her career on modeling, not Instagram.

Instagram models harm young girls’ self-esteem

If you scroll down your Instagram feed, what will you see? Besides maybe the few random cute puppy accounts that you follow, your feed will be littered with pictures of a group of girls with impeccable makeup, bright lighting and (if you look closely enough) most likely one foot propped higher than the other to make it look like there’s a space between their thighs. In other words, the classic look of the Instagram model, also known as the “baddie” makeup look.


 COURTESY OF KELSEY KO
The first anniversary of Kelsey Ko’s naturalization is coming up on Nov. 19.

Why my new American citizenship means so much to me

Election day is right around the corner, and this year it falls exactly 11 days before my one-year anniversary of becoming an American citizen. No, I was not born in America — and this election, I can vote while my immigrant parents cannot.


 U.S. Department of State/Public Domain
Mika Brzezinski (center) is the cohost of MSNBC’s Morning Joe, along with Joe Scarborough (right).

How the media has boosted Donald Trump’s rise

As the daughter of two journalists, I have been surrounded by the media since birth. And I mean that quite literally. Two hours after I was born, the photographer at my mother’s station had a video of me on air during the 11 p.m. broadcast.


 U.S. Department of State/Public Domain
Hillary Clinton has been a consistent supporter of women’s causes for decades.

Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and female worth

At a school where the social sphere as a freshman is dominated by men, where, as at many other colleges, there has been a troubling history of sexual assault and administrative responses to it, where we still have professors who believe that women are inherently more emotional and nurturing than men, the idea of a woman’s value is important consider.


 FIBONACCI BLUE/cC-By-2.0
Donald Trump’s failure to exhibit empathy has sparked many protests amongst minority groups.

The role of empathy in the election

When looking to elect a leader, or more specifically, president of the United States, empathy is one of the most important traits a candidate should possess. The role of the president is to govern and lead a diverse group of individuals, each with their own unique backgrounds and to put forth and implement policies that will benefit the common good. I believe empathy is necessary for this job, because without it, we risk appointing an indifferent or even cruel individual to make decisions that will have tremendous effects on us all.


Conservative policies can improve America’s standing

With Donald J. Trump most likely headed toward defeat in the general election, many political pundits are talking about the impending death of the Republican Party. Nevertheless, these reports are very much premature. Thanks to successes in down ballot elections, the Republicans have a sufficiently deep bench of governors, senators, representatives and state legislators to remain competitive in elections throughout the next four years.


We need strong American leadership to combat climate change

In American presidential elections, the short term rules. News cycles have been dominated by Donald Trump’s latest outrageous soundbite and conspiracy theories about Hillary Clinton’s “failing” health. We’re told that Trump will immediately build a wall to “solve” the immigration crisis, and that as soon as Clinton becomes president, the email scandal will suddenly disappear.


Editorial: Why College Republicans should speak to us

The JHU College Republicans released an official statement on Sept. 26 endorsing Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. The one-paragraph brief was posted on their Facebook page and garnered significant critical attention from the student body. Three weeks later, the College Republicans posted a longer statement explaining their decision, citing Trump’s experience as a negotiator and his tendency to be critical of both sides of the political aisle as qualities that bolster his candidacy. The statement then took a contradictory and confusing turn when the group did not encourage students to vote for Trump despite their endorsement



NY Photographic/ CC By-sa 3.0
Students occupied campus quads during the anti-apartheid protests of the 1980s.

The Board of Trustees and the anti-apartheid protests of the 1980s

The Hopkins Board of Trustee notes are only available 25 years after they are written; therefore, only records before 1991 are available. From 1985 until 1987, Hopkins undergraduates, graduate students and a few faculty protested the University’s investment in apartheid South Africa by erecting mock shanty towns around campus under “the Coalition for a Free South Africa.”


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