Published by the Students of Johns Hopkins since 1896
November 21, 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.



Letter to the Editor 11/16/22

In response to “Hopkins Dining union hosts forum to discuss negotiations with the University” published November 15, 2022:  As a leader in food service operations for over 25 years, I’ve seen a lot. I’ve been all over the country working in universities, convention centers, hospitals, restaurants and even at a couple of Olympics. Last September, I came to JHU tasked with leading the transition of bringing our Homewood and Peabody dining operations in-house, and I can honestly say that it’s some of the most meaningful work that I’ve ever done. 


BRAZIL MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS / CC BY 2.0
Lunia explains why Musk’s acquisition of Twitter is good news for the social media platform.

Elon Musk is what Twitter needs

Among other things, one of the main problems with Twitter has been too much censorship on the platform. While the censorship may have been undertaken by the company in order to curb hate speech and misinformation, the problem was this: the rules around what to censor and what not to censor were drawn up by a bunch of Twitter employees.


The News-Letter is taking a break. You should, too.

This week, our cozy Monday night staff meeting in the Gatehouse looked a little different. While it is usually a time for everyone to catch up and converse on the couches, crowded around the space heater, we instead found ourselves speaking primarily to a Zoom audience with only a few in-person attendees. 


GPA PHOTO ARCHIVE / CC BY 2.0
Boppana reflects on the 2022 midterm election results.

What the midterms mean for America

On Nov. 8, the U.S. held its midterm elections, the first cycle since President Joe Biden’s win in 2020. Although the results from several House and Senate races are yet to be determined, we now have a much clearer picture of the political landscape and what matters to voters. 



PUBLIC EDITOR: The merits and pitfalls of returning to print

If you’re reading this, you probably already know The News-Letter is back in print! For many Hopkins students, this is the first time they are seen a physical edition of their school’s newspaper. It’s also the first time many of The News-Letter’s staff have produced a newspaper or seen their work in ink, myself included. 


COURTESY OF MOLLY GREEN
With the recent crimes near campus, we encourage everyone to take advantage of the University’s safety resources. 

In light of recent crimes around campus, prioritize safety.

Over the past few weeks, the Hopkins community has received multiple emergency alerts about crimes occurring around Baltimore campuses, including two abductions or attempted abductions near the Homewood Campus. The University responded to this uptick in serious violent crimes in a message to affiliates on Oct. 29. 


MICHAEL STOKES / CC BY 2.0
Heng claims that President Joe Biden should remain Democrats’ top pick for the 2024 presidential election. 

Biden is Democrats’ best bet for the 2024 election

With midterms quickly approaching, we are reminded once again of the impending 2024 election. President Joe Biden still hasn’t formally decided whether he will be running for a second term. This raises the million-dollar question: should he run again? 




Voter apathy is spooky. Go to the polls.

As midterm elections near, it seems that many young voters have become disillusioned with the political sphere. For many of us, it’s been a while since we were our 18-year-old selves, all registered and geared up to vote.


Kim reflects on the inadequate sex education in U.S. schools.

American sex education is a public health problem

High school should be preparing students for the next exciting and challenging phase of their lives, which is attending university. At the very least, students should be taught important information before they are thrust into a new and hectic environment, where they don’t often have time to learn basic life skills other than via trial and error.  It wasn’t until one of my public health classes at Hopkins that I realized just how much our high schools fail us in that regard.




JINA LIM / CARTOONS EDITOR
Gonzalez argues that incoming freshmen shouldn’t begin college in long-distance relationships, while Basu discusses their merits.

Opposing viewpoints: Don’t go the distance

Everyone experiences a culture shock when they go off to college. For some people it's the weather, for others it's the new city’s slang. For me, it was finding out how many college students are in long-distance relationships. 


SHOURYA ARASHANAPALLI / DESIGN STAFF

In SGA, we (wish we could) trust

According to its constitution, the Student Government Association (SGA) was founded upon “the importance of strengthening student unity, representing student interests and providing a forum for the exchange of ideas.” Unfortunately, we’re not sure these lofty ideals are being met. 


SOLEN FEYISSA / CC BY 2.0
Boppana worries TikTok is pushing users’ political views to the extreme ends of the spectrum.

TikTok is bad for political discourse and furthers polarization

Social media is increasingly influencing political discourse, and TikTok is no exception, becoming home to political content for its 1 billion monthly users. However TikTok’s structure, algorithm and moderation are inherently hostile to productive political discussions and instead encourage extremism.



NIAID / CC-BY-2.0
Zacharski raises concerns about the University’s current approach to the monkeypox virus.

The University should do more to prevent monkeypox

Last month, many students began what was their first day of the “normal” college experience: attending classes in 400-person lecture halls, grabbing food with large groups of friends and walking around campus unmasked. The months of wondering “Will this ever end?” seemed to be over as the first fully in-person semester since the fall of 2019 commenced.