Recently, same-sex marriage has made news headlines. In March, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Hollingsworth v. Perry, which challenges California’s heterosexual definition of marriage, and United States v. Windsor, which challenges the Defense of Marriage Act’s restriction of federal ...
I do not agree with John Stuart Mill on everything, but he is far and away the best thinker I’ve ever read on the topic of freedom of speech. The second chapter of his “On Liberty” is filled with philosophical gems, but here’s my favorite quote of all: “The steady habit of correcting and completing ...
The Supreme Court held hearings last week for the cases against Proposition 8, the California state bill banning same-sex marriage, and the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, which restricts federal recognition of marriage and its benefits to solely opposite-sex spouses. Protests and lectures demonstrated ...
To the Editor: Of the 2,649 potential new undergraduate students Brown admitted last week, 17.5 percent will be the first in their families to attend college. While it’s great that this is the largest percentage in Brown’s history, recent research shows just how much it still falls short. Most ...
Professor Josiah S. Carberry, As your assistant and personal amanuensis Truman Grayson recently shared with me prior to his encounter with a most audacious and agitated affenpinscher, you are currently not planning to make an appearance on campus for an entire academic year. Whether that decision is ...
When New York State Supreme Court Judge Milton Tingling ’75 overturned New York City’s ban on large sugary drinks, I am sure Mayor Michael Bloomberg and countless other New Yorkers were frustrated. But I was very pleased with the ruling. Bloomberg certainly had the best intentions when proposing ...
We’re currently in the midst of arguably the two greatest sports days of the year. With 32 games in 36 hours, from noon ‘til midnight on both Thursday and Friday, the first round of the NCAA tournament promises dramatic upsets, frantic comebacks, epic collapses and Gus Johnson seizure-inducing buzzer ...
Dorothy Lutz '13: Yes In 2011, then-President Ruth Simmons upheld the 1972 decision to ban the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps Program on campus. I urge President Christina Paxson to reconsider this decision and re-establish ROTC at Brown. The University’s ban on ROTC denies students the freedom ...
Religion continues to ignite debate on campus, a trend made clear by the recent election of Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio to the Papacy. Facebook News Feeds exploded with comments, pictures and links about the new Pope, activity akin to the hoopla that surrounds events like the Presidential election. Our ...
Stop for a moment and think about your typical day. When you wake up, what do you do first? Do you check your email on your phone? Do you usually skip breakfast or grab a Pop Tart on your way out the door? What about lunch or dinner? I know sometimes I bring my meal with my work and eat in the library. ...
Beginning April 1 — just in time for Spring Weekend and 4/20, coincidentally — possession of up to an ounce of cannabis will no longer be a misdemeanor in Rhode Island. Instead of receiving a year in jail and a $500 fine, offenders can expect to get no more than a $150 fine, akin to an expensive ...
In its interim report released Jan. 25, the Committee on Reimagining the Brown Campus and Community suggested that the University build a proper concert hall in the Jewelry District. While this plan has merit, considering that Brown is the only Ivy League institution without a concert venue, the recommendation ...
To the Editor: The basic problem with Oliver Hudson’s essay (“A lump of coal isn’t so bad,” March 19) is that he entirely misses the urgency of climate change. He doesn’t get the latest government report that ends, “Scientists say hopes of limiting warming to 2 degrees are fading away to ...
The world’s next great leader may be named Francis. He is a man of the people. He rides the bus, dresses in ordinary priest robes, lives in an austere apartment with a roommate and is the first modern pope to hail from Latin America. The last point is especially salient because Latin America is home ...
There is no denying that tuitions of elite private institutions such as Brown have skyrocketed to unprecedented levels over the past few years. College is expensive, undoubtedly, and many students and their families struggle to afford tuition. But we should not let that cost taint our view of the true ...
Hundreds of gun rights supporters gathered at the Rhode Island State House Feb. 28 to protest proposed legislation that would add firearm registration to Rhode Island’s comprehensive gun control laws. Under House Bill 5573, introduced Feb. 14 by Rep. Linda Finn, D-Newport, Middletown, Portsmouth, ...
At a couple hundred universities, the Divest Coal movement has inspired students. The movement wants universities to divest investments in the 15 “of the largest, dirtiest coal companies in the (United States).” According to We Are Power Shift, an umbrella Divest Coal organization, universities ...
When I was a student at Brown, I was constantly challenged by my classmates, encouraged to secure my beliefs and passions, pushed to make sure I pursued a life that was meaningful and fought for justice. Everyone at Brown had a cause that motivated him or her. For me, that cause was the Israeli-Palestinian ...
The California State Senate introduced a bill last Wednesday that would force its state institutions to give credit for online courses from outside the universities. This legislation is attempting to fix a chronic flaw of the University of California system, where courses are over-enrolled and students ...
Recently, Oliver Hudson ’14 argued that raising the minimum wage will increase unemployment (“The $9.00 minimum wage: A policy to increase unemployment,” March 7). His claim is empirically unfounded. A 1994 paper by Princeton economists David Card and Alan Krueger found no employment impact of ...
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