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Firn ’16: Jump on the beardwagon

  Back in March, rhetoric surrounding the upcoming 2013 MLB season was uncharacteristically pessimistic in Boston. Coming off their worst season since 1965, the Red Sox had slashed $33 million in payroll during the offseason and seemed poised for a second consecutive year in the cellar of baseball’s ...


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Miller '70 P'02: Fascism and the open campus

I went to scores of seminars and talks during my four years as an undergraduate at Brown, but the one I will never forget took place on the evening of Nov. 30, 1966. The speaker, a Brown alum, had been invited by the Faunce House Board of Governors to take part in its fall lecture series. But once his ...


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Hare '14: Solidarity against Kelly undermines U.’s credibility

Just before his speech was canceled by the relentless interruptions of protesters, New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said, “I thought this was the academy … where we’re supposed to have free speech.” So did I. But at Brown’s most recent demonstration of its inability to foster healthy ...


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Katz '14: Tea Party on the left

In 2012, 55 percent of those stopped and frisked were black, 32 percent were Hispanic and only 10 percent were white. In the same year, 89 percent of stops and frisks involved citizens not guilty of any crime. It would take significant convincing to demonstrate to me that this type of policy does not ...


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Ho ’14: Reframing the divestment decision

  Within half an hour after President Christina Paxson announced the Corporation’s decision not to divest from coal on Sunday, my Facebook News Feed was overrun with criticisms of Paxson’s letter. Despite rallying alongside more than 100 other student activists last Friday in support of divestment, ...


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Fong ’14, Kwon ’14, Li ’14, Rajan ’15, Furuyama ’15: Freedom of speech or freedom to silence?

In light of the Taubman Center of Public Policy and American Institutions’ decision to host Ray Kelly, police commissioner of the city of New York and creator of the controversial “stop-and-frisk” policy, members of the Brown and Providence communities have come together to demand his lecture ...


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Moraff '14: Ditch the Corporation

“Work with us” is the mantra of the modern university administrator. Collaborate. Compromise. Be polite and considerate, and you will be heard. You have a voice. We will listen. Brown Divest Coal did everything right. Its members collected petitions. They held peaceful and nondisruptive rallies. ...


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Freitag ’14: The tax we can agree on

  “We can choose to believe that Superstorm Sandy, and the most severe drought in decades, and the worst wildfires some states have ever seen were all just a freak coincidence,” said President Obama. “Or we can choose to believe in the overwhelming judgment of science and act before it’s ...


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Carrigg GS: A deepening divide in the Democratic party

In the wake of last week’s end to the government shutdown, a slew of national commentary has focused on an apparent rift forming between the Tea Party and mainstream Republicans. But here in Rhode Island, a local political rift appears to be brewing in the Democratic Party. Disagreements over the ...


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Feldman '15: Let’s leave being paid to the professionals

At the start of this year’s college football season, reigning Heisman Trophy winner and Texas A&M University quarterback Johnny Manziel was suspended amidst reports that he was paid to sign autographs for the first half of his team’s opening game. Some would argue these reports suggest that ...


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Ingber '15: Free speech at Brown?

With all the buzz about the strategic plan, there has been no shortage of discussion surrounding Brown’s mission statement and larger purpose as a university or university-college. And while the debate has often revolved around the centrality of undergraduates to our educational philosophy, I’d ...


Opinions

Firn ’16: The unfair demands of a glaring spotlight

When I tell people Tiger Woods is my favorite athlete, I invariably receive either a quip about the irrelevance of golf or a quibble about Woods’ infamous marital problems. Either way, I seem to be pretty alone in my opinion — Woods currently ranks as the third-most hated athlete in America. Woods’ ...


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Brown Divest Coal: An honest vote on divestment

In one week, the University’s Corporation will meet, discussing and likely voting on whether the University should continue to profit from any of the 15 largest coal companies it’s currently invested in. This decision is critical: for those suffering in communities impacted by mountaintop removal, ...


Opinions

Enzerink GS: Tonight, Islam comes to church

It has been almost nine years since Dutch film director Theo van Gogh was murdered while biking to work in Amsterdam. Dutch-Moroccan terrorist Mohammed Bouyeri shot Van Gogh while he begged for mercy, slit his throat and used a dagger to pin a warning message to “America, Europe, the Netherlands and ...




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