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.
We all know the type: the conservative great-uncle who is very vocal about keeping his gun close and the immigrants out or the liberal classmate who really wants free college and legalized marijuana or the independent kid you went to high school with who makes it well-known that he is moderate on most issues. They’re the Facebook sharers, and if you don’t know one, it’s probably you.
The University recently opted not to renew its lease of the Hopkins Inn for the 2016-2017 school year. Hop Inn has been used as overflow housing in recent years when the freshman class has exceeded 1,300 students, and based on the Class of 2020 enrollment size, the hotel will not be needed next year.
At the Taiwanese American Student Association’s (TASA) recent Night Market, which highlighted many Asian cultures, there was a booth dedicated to breaking Asian stereotypes. Members of the Inter-Asian Council, which sponsored the booth, spoke about the importance of raising this issue on campus, citing the recent casting of Scarlett Johansson as Major Motoko Kusanagi in the live action version of Ghost in the Shell.
Dwight Watkins, a Baltimore native and Johns Hopkins graduate, spoke to students and faculty earlier this school year at the Milton S. Eisenhower Symposium. Watkins lectured about growing up in the east side of Baltimore, or “the beast side” as he calls it, a community dealing with gun violence, drug dealing, racial profiling and the “endangered species of black men,” a phrase Watkins has coined to describe the current state of race relations in the United States. His first book, The Beast Side, chronicles his life on his side of the “two Baltimores.” Watkins uses this distinction to distinguish between the gentrified shops of North Baltimore, which are patronized by a majority-white and prosperous upper class, and the authentic marble steps of East Baltimore, which are populated by “30-year-old pregnant grandmas and dudes in Nikes waving automatic weapons.”
My college career is coming to an end, which makes me both nostalgic and excited. Nostalgic because I’ll never be an undergraduate again and excited because I am finally finished. My college career has been anything but traditional. I started off pre-med at the University of Pittsburgh, studied abroad in Dublin, transferred to Hopkins, majored in Writing Seminars and minored in Women, Gender, and Sexuality. I worked at The News-Letter, played cello in the chamber orchestra, TA’ed and went to a grand total of one frat party. I’m not going to graduate school but instead will be moving to New Zealand to work and celebrate not being in college anymore.
Don’t kill the lesbian: TV edition
With graduation less than a month away, many students are anticipating the arrival of commencement speaker Spike Lee. The Editorial Board supports the University’s choice as Lee for our speaker, especially given Baltimore’s past year. The Baltimore uprising brought many endemic social and political issues to the forefront of our collective consciousness, and Lee is great choice to address them. As students of the University, we live in this city for four years and it is thus a part of our lives. We believe that Lee’s speech will be relevant to all students.
Last Friday, The Chainsmokers, Shwayze and Marian Hill performed for the annual Spring Fair concert. The event was co-hosted by Spring Fair and The HOP and took place on the practice field.
Last spring semester, controversy broke out on campus when the Senate of the Hopkins Student Government Association (SGA) killed a finance bill that would have funded the Women’s Dignity Drive, which raised funds and collected feminine hygiene products for homeless shelters. Detractors of the bill argued that it did not directly benefit the student body and that the bill did not serve the SGA’s only constituents, the students. Unfortunately, this opinion remains popular on campus and highlights the myopic, privileged view students have of their position on campus.
“Mom, why are all these street lights so tiny and why are all of these houses connected?” asked my freshman self as my family drove me up Calvert Street for the first time. Yes, I was 18 years old when I saw my first rowhouse, and I was 20 when I moved into one. Not going to lie, I still think rowhouses are weird. It’s like an apartment and a normal, free-standing house had an awkward lovechild. The funny thing is that I’ve come to love them. Nothing beats firing up the grill on your second story front porch and grilling a bunch of steaks with your friends on a breezy summer day in Baltimore. Plus, I was always jealous of my elementary school friend Bryce whose house was three stories and had a laundry chute. Now after having both of these things, I worry I’ve peaked too soon. My relationship with rowhouses is a microcosm for my relationship with Baltimore as a whole.
April is a busy month for our campus. With SOHOP, Alumni Weekend and Homecoming last week, Spring Fair this week and Relay for Life next week, April is one month where Hopkins students might have an excuse to stay “within the bubble” since so many things are going on. The last day of April is also the last day of classes. Between busy and bustling weekends, we’re in class finishing up those last few midterms (that aren’t in the middle of the term) and rushing through the remainder of the course material left on the syllabus. Let’s think about what April means.
Last Thursday, the Committee on Student Elections (CSE) hosted the debate for candidates for the SGA Executive Board. The students running for the 2016-2017 Executive Board positions – President, Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary – had two hours to answer questions asked by a moderator.
The Editorial Board recognizes the fact that many members of our current student body will one day be quite wealthy, and this editorial is for these future movers and shakers: Please for the love of God don’t use Mossack Fonseca for your money laundering and/or tax evasion needs. Given the recent leak that the liberal press deemed “the Panama Papers,” we believe that Mossack Fonseca failed catastrophically at its only purpose: keeping secret fortunes secret. Consequently, we cannot in good conscience let any of our peers make the same mistake that Sigurður Ingi Jóhannsson and the other 140 or so public figures implicated so far have made. Here are some alternatives to Mossack Fonseca you all should look into:
Every year, The News-Letter interviews each ticket and endorses candidates for the Student Government Association (SGA) Executive Board.
You have probably heard the phrase “ The Panama Papers” dropped in casual conversations, emphatically reported on television and written all over newspapers by now. What exactly is going on? Over a year ago, an unknown source reached out to German Newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, leaking data about a Panamanian firm called Mossack Fonseca. These pages identified certain rich and powerful figures in the world and described how they had hidden their assets with the aid of Mossack Fonseca. This German newspaper reached out to a nonprofit organization called International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and after a great deal of analysis, the lid on many shady deals exploded. You can call it another Edward Snowden, but the information amounts to a total of 11.5 million files on information alleging 12 former or current leaders and a total of 128 political and/or public figures. Huge.
When my friends heard that I was going back home after college, they were shocked. When they learned that it was a conscious choice I had planned and accounted for, they were mystified. Oh yes, my first big boy job happens to be in my home town of Austin, and you better believe I’m moving back in with mom.
As President Daniels speaks about creating new partnerships in the community and students submit new ideas for community engagements to Idea Lab, an initiative by Hopkins to give funding to new programs, I begin to question the quality of work we have done for our existing community partners.
Students should participate in and support the arts.
Collectively, I probably put in no more than 30 to 40 hours of real work over the course of first semester. In comparison, I drank 30 to 40 alcoholic beverages per week. I blew through my allowance for the semester well before Thanksgiving — mostly in Uber charges, Subway sandwiches and cash withdrawals — as my hobbies grew increasingly illicit. By Christmas, I forgot what it felt like to put pen to paper. My brain had spent the past three months marinating in its own sloth, ripened with “experiences,” as I would call them, instead of with knowledge. At one point, my extended group of friends started to joke about who could achieve the lowest GPA while still passing all their courses. And let me tell you, I came close to winning that competition.
Although this is the first election in which I’m eligible to vote, I think I can say with confidence that this election has spawned the most memes. My Twitter and Facebook are flooded with Trump’s hair, the bird that landed on Sanders’ podium and Ted Cruz, a.k.a. the Zodiac Killer. A new species of meme has also landed on my social media: the Hillary Clinton the Feminist (TM) meme. Mainstream feminist accounts and publications share images of Clinton with captions such as “YAS QUEEN” and “SLAY QUEEN HILL.” (The appropriation of black slang is a different but important conversation.)
