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It’s Jan. 2, everyone in the room is jet lagged, and, of course, London’s classic rain soaked everyone on the way to the conference. The administrators of the abroad program wait for us to grab our cups of coffee, ignoring the tea like the Americans we are, and pick through the assortment of cookies, or rather, biscuits before taking out seats.
I wish I could say I have no time for reality television. I wish I were so busy with work and studying that I simply do not have time to watch shows that are the antithesis of intellectual curiosity. Unfortunately, every week I religiously watch, and feel like I’m actively participating in, the cultural phenomenon that is The Bachelor. Why do I like watching The Bachelor so much? More importantly, why do I have opinions about what happens on The Bachelor? These are questions I ask myself in the effort to prove that yes, I realize it is an inherently absurd show and yes, I am embarrassed that I am so invested in it.
The spring semester has just begun, and some of you are feeling the pressure. I don’t mean the pressure of classes, I mean the pressure to fit in at Hopkins, to be happy, to make friends. Is this the second, third or fourth semester you’ve tried to convince yourself that this semester will be better than those previous? Do you find that, despite joining numerous clubs, you still feel as though you and Hopkins just don’t mesh?
As winter brings dropping temperatures to Baltimore and Homewood, students are raising concerns regarding their on-campus housing experiences. Issues range from insufficient hot water to poor insulation around the dorm windows, which are often directly next to students’ beds. Intermittent or occasional maintenance issues are bound to occur in any building, but the frequency and severity of the issues that occur inside the dorms — such as room temperatures dropping below 50 degrees Fahrenheit at night — should justify spending the necessary money to complete large-scale repairs.
The office of Student Leadership and Involvement (SLI) moved this spring’s activities fair from the Rec Center to the Breezeway and lengthened the event to a full week. The new format, called Student Involvement Week, lasted from Feb. 1-5 and included tabling at the Breezeway and a Student Organization Showcase on Wednesday. Each category of student groups — Advocacy and Awareness, Performing Arts, etc. — was assigned a day to set up tables at the Breezeway and attract students passing by.
During this hellish never-ending abyss of what-the-f**k-ery that is this election season, my social media accounts have been flooded with posts decrying Donald Trump and his racist fascist rhetoric. Which, don’t get me wrong, is not a bad thing. Denouncing fascism, Islamophobia, racism, misogyny, etc. is a good thing in my book. Unfortunately I have not seen that same indignation aimed at the systems and policies that mirror some of Trump’s rhetoric and affect millions of people, specifically immigration.
Do you remember when the ground was covered in a fluffy blanket of snow? The time when all you could see was white while the sounds of giggles and laughter rang throughout our campus? Over the weekend, Hopkins students braved the cold and made (or at least attempted to make) snowmen; Students spent hours sliding down the Beach and making fun of that random kid who was still wearing cargo shorts. Those of us who were less courageous chose to curl up on the couch with a delightful cup of hot chocolate. Four days later, things were back to normal and students are once again heading to class at 9 a.m. with cups of coffee in hand. The snow was but a fond memory of laziness.
George Pope, a 62-year-old disabled man living in Queens is convinced by a smooth-talking mortgage broker to refinance his home at a rate of $535 per month. Pope, however, only receives $558 in monthly income from Social Security. Despondent, Pope recalls: “Not being able to read, I got a loan that was predatory and I didn’t know it.” He now faces foreclosure on his home.
New changes to the Greek life rush process greeted recruits at the start of spring semester. While some changes were met with approval, such as the shortening of sorority recruitment from seven to four days, others did not earn high marks among members of Greek life. Director of Fraternity and Sorority Life Calvin Smith mandated a shortening of the pledge process for fraternities by several weeks in an attempt to reduce the stress felt by pledging fraternity members. And while the goal may have been to make the lives of these pledges easier, the Editorial Board believes the opposite effect will be achieved.
In 2009 Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to win a Best Director Academy Award for her work on The Hurt Locker. I remember the anticipation beforehand about the implications of the first female winner and the gossip that surrounded her because she was up against her ex-husband James Cameron (for Avatar). I remember her name being announced, and I remember her standing on the podium, giving a speech. But I don’t remember much else. After all, I was 15 and in 10th grade — there were more important things to think about.
The closing of Donna’s represents a concerning trend in Charles Village. We’ve lost more than that famous mac and cheese and weekend brunch. The decreasing number of small business eateries near campus detracts from the identity and health of the Hopkins community and the surrounding neighborhood.
Down in West Baltimore, there’s a six-lane highway that winds through the town. It’s a perfectly normal highway, except that there are no cars in sight and the road dead-ends into a McDonald’s.
The week before Thanksgiving break the student representatives of the Center for Social Concern (CSC) hosted a Social Justice Dinner where undergraduate students gathered to discuss social justice issues and community service on our campus. The student-led, staff-supported event served as an opportunity for students to voice their concerns about community service culture on campus.
By EDITORIAL BOARD
