Opinions

Letter: Column overstates privileges of the academic elite

To the Editor:

Editorial: Does college actually teach us anything?

Last week, sociology professors Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa made national news with a provocative op-ed in the Chronicle of Higher Education, entitled "Are Undergraduates Actually Learning Anything?" The article previewed their book documenting some unsettling studies on undergraduate education. In ...

Nicholson '12.5: A weighty issue

Norris-Leblanc '13: The ROTC Question

After 18 years, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"  was finally repealed by a Senate vote of 63 for and 33 against. This historic legislation marks the end of an almost two-decade period when gay and lesbian members of the armed forces had to face a dishonorable discharge if they divulged their sexuality ...

Editorial: Mental health on campus after Tucson

The tragic events that took place just a few weeks ago in Tucson, Ariz. — where 22-year-old Jared Loughner opened fire on a crowd, killing six and injuring 14 — raise questions about how colleges deal with mental health issues. Records at Pima Community College show that school officials ...

Letter: ACCRIP chair challenges Yale's standard for ethical investments

To the Editor:

Sarah Rosenthal '11: Has Brown got the write stuff?

Welcome back, and don't mind the snow!

The world rang in the new year nearly a month ago, and now we ring in a new semester. For some of us it will be our last at Brown, a bittersweet moment at the intersection of reflection on the past and anticipation for the future. To them we say welcome back, and take some time to enjoy your last weeks ...

Sheffield '11: Be bold

BROWN.

Doren '14: The myth of Brunonian progressivism

Brown is universally known as the rebel Ivy — standing apart from the entrenched educational elite by embracing progress and challenging the prevailing norms of our time. This reputation has served us well — if not always in the U.S. News and World Report rankings, then certainly in the ...

Tobias '12: Piracy abroad

Imagine that you had never been accepted to Brown — would it make sense to pay not to go there? Of course not, but this seemingly ridiculous policy officially governs Brown's relationship to study abroad.

Rosenbloom '13: Bagel Gourmet Ole: a salute to cultural fusion

Here at Brown, "patriot" is a four-letter word. For this reason, many people question my abiding faith in American greatness. I try to make my case by explaining the transcendent beauty of our founding documents, our genuine commitment to human rights and our monumental foreign policy successes. Unsurprisingly, ...

Editor's Note

There's more than snow in the air.

Letters: Death of Richard Holbrooke '62

To the Editor:

Stephen Wicken GS: Give thanks!

I have no doubt, dear reader, that you are a fabulously multicultural melange of intellectual vivacity and animal charm. We live, I heard somewhere, in an increasingly interconnected world, where groovy beings like you nibble Spanish pastries while sipping Argentine yerba mate tea, tapping your Chinese ...

Hunter Fast '12: On property rights and the marketplace of ideas

In a recent column, Elizabeth Perez '13 decried Amazon's endorsement of the free exchange of ideas while bending to consumer pressure to remove highly controversial books from its offerings ("Corporate power trip," Nov. 29). While this may make Amazon's corporate leadership disingenuous and two-faced, ...

Alexa Caldwell '11: Why the athletics department is good for Brown

I would like to offer an alternative perspective to Susannah Kroeber's '11 column ("Why the athletics department is bad for Brown," Dec. 1). It is understandable why she would have such a negative view of sports, as her feeble attempt to list the benefits of athletics is dismal. Her reasons for playing ...

Ian Trupin '13: Grade inflation - not just for students anymore

This October, many in the Brown community may have been delighted to hear that Brown University tied for first place in the 2011 Green Report Card, a report by the Sustainable Endowments Institute that profiles the environmental and social initiatives of over 300 American colleges and universities.

Editorial: Greatest hits

Over the course of a semester, the editorial page board sometimes starts to feel like the complaint department. Each day, we try to make a suggestion to improve our school, the surrounding community or higher education broadly. For instance, this fall we've called for:

Susannah Kroeber '11: Why the athletics department is bad for Brown

I used to be a believer in the project of "sports." Sports bring people together, allowing people to see others as equals on the field, regardless of all the other markers that differentiate us in everyday life. In high school, sports were how I felt I could earn the respect of my classmates, how I ...