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Editorials

Opinions

Editorial: Stop charging for books

While shopping courses, many students are aware that they are also shopping for textbooks. In addition to the $59,428 that we pay in tuition, professors request that students shell out what can often add up to thousands of dollars for reading materials. We urge the University to address the ever-pressing ...


Opinions

Editorial: Ra ra Brunonia?

This past week, members of the class of 2018, following in the footsteps of thousands before them, walked through the Van Wickle Gates carrying with them the long-standing history and traditions of the University. They come with a profound sense of pride in their admission to Brown and, despite their ...


Opinions

Editorial: Challenge sexual violence

We applaud the United States Department of Education’s decision this summer to launch an investigation of the University’s sexual assault policies, though without powerful new legislation from Congress we remain deeply skeptical that the department’s recommendations will do much more than provide ...


Opinions

Editorial: The minority STEM crisis

Last semester, The Herald published a series called “Missing Scientists” exploring the minority students at Brown involved in what is colloquially known as STEM — science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Both at Brown and across the country, students who describe themselves as underrepresented ...


Opinions

Editorial: Beyond year 250

The 1968-69 academic year at Brown was one that forever changed the trajectory of both the University and higher education in the nation at large. In December 1968, black students at Brown boldly organized a walkout to push for increased minority recruitment and a more diverse faculty. Over the course ...


Opinions

Editorial: Happy birthday, LGBTQ Center

Recently, the University’s LGBTQ Center celebrated its 10th birthday. The center is honoring its achievements and the challenges it has overcome with a month-long celebration. As The Herald reported Monday (“LGBTQ Center celebrates 10th birthday with cake, reflection,” April 21), the anniversary ...


Opinions

Editorial: What we’re fighting for

As we recover from Spring Weekend, prepare for finals and enjoy the newly beautiful weather, Emma Jerzyk’s ’17 April 8 Herald article should be a wakeup call to us all. Jerzyk profiles several homeless Rhode Islanders and explores how so many remain affected by the 2008 recession and subsequent ...


Opinions

Editorial: Reform on a community level

Yesterday, President Obama and Vice President Biden announced $550 million in grants for community colleges and apprenticeships. The programs are designed to produce graduates whose skill sets are tailored for open jobs in local industries. Of course, this figure is but a drop in the bucket compared ...


Opinions

Editorial: The very model of modern scholar-athletes

On Monday, Brown Athletics announced that the women’s rugby team will finally receive varsity status. This designation is well-deserved and represents the culmination of a decade-long drive for recognition. Even before the change to varsity status, the women’s rugby team has been a model for how ...


Opinions

Editorial: Creating course credit for labs

An article in Wednesday’s Herald reopened a perennial debate about the definition and value of courses on campus. Currently, all courses are credited equally (except for .5 credits for some music groups and lessons) regardless of hours of class time or the inclusion of a section or laboratory. Such ...


Opinions

Editorial: A Civil Service G.I. Bill

The Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 (known as the G.I. Bill) is widely recognized as a major driver of the postwar growth that also changed the character of American universities. Over 2 million veterans used funding from this bill to pursue higher education, while other veterans received low-cost ...


Opinions

Editorial: Flexibility necessary for grad programs

For years, students have talked about the law school crisis. After an explosion of law students led to a massive oversupply, recent difficulties for law graduates in the job market have sharply depressed application numbers, causing five law schools to shut down in the last two years. It seems likely ...


Opinions

Editorial: A chance to protest

In a New York Times column this Sunday entitled “The New Gay Orthodoxy,” Frank Bruni declares victory for the gay rights movement, or at least for the movement to legalize same-sex marriage. “In a great many circles, endorsement of same-sex marriage has rather suddenly become nonnegotiable,” ...


Opinions

Editorial: Move away from sophomore Meiklejohns

The Herald reported Wednesday that acceptance to the Meiklejohn Peer Advising Program was more competitive this year, due in part to earlier online outreach. We are excited to see a more competitive process, since it implies improvement in advising, but we believe the program could be improved even ...


Opinions

Editorial: No Corporation without representation

The movement for student representation on the Corporation has recently stirred a wave of discussion around campus. As the University celebrates its 250th birthday and looks forward to the future, the Corporation has been highly scrutinized and, at times, criticized. Its decision last fall not to divest ...


Opinions

Editorial: A call for student research

The University recently reported its decision to increase the number of Undergraduate Teaching and Research Award recipients and expand the monetary award from $3,000 to $3,500. This action was made in part as an element of President Christina Paxson’s drive to get more undergraduates involved in ...


Opinions

Editorial: Take the sports out of college

Last Wednesday, in a surprise decision, a regional division of the National Labor Relations Board ruled that Northwestern University football players seeking to unionize were employees of the university. While Northwestern will certainly appeal the decision, the implications, if the decision holds, ...


Opinions

Editorial: STEM shortage may be overstated

Throughout all the recent debates concerning the value of a liberal arts education versus a sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education, we’ve tended to ignore a critical fact. Not all STEM subjects are equal regarding employment prospect and national need, and in several of ...


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