Op Eds

Schiller ’25: When are overheard words stolen?

By Eva Schiller | October 4

“Then they set the corpses on fire. … My sister was still alive after being shot seven times. As for me, a bullet went through my left cheek. I can’t smile. My face won’t let me.” If you found this quote disturbing, good — that was its intent. It is taken from “DMZ Colony'' by ...

Sender ’25: Our highway system has failed. We shouldn’t wait to try something new

By Gabriel Sender | September 19

In 1991, the Federal Highway Administration revealed that the total cost of the Interstate Highway System was a whopping $128.9 billion, or about half a trillion dollars in 2016’s money. In 2019, state and local governments spent $203 billion to maintain existing highways and roads, only 37% of ...

Fang ’26: The dangers of eco-fads

By Juliet Fang | September 12

On move-in day at Brown and college campuses across the world, millions of students race through superstores looking for dorm supplies. The items they purchase reflect the latest environmental trends. “Climate neutral certified,” one shirt promises. “Powered by plants,” a laundry detergent ...

Serrano: Brown’s grading system and advising culture are suppressing student achievement

By Roberto Serrano | September 12

Over 30 years teaching at Brown, I have had the privilege of working with many talented students who have thrived through difficult academic challenges and gone on to wonderful careers in academia and the professional world. But, for a few years now, I have been noticing a deterioration in the quality ...

Rios-Galindo ’25: The Housing Lottery is in shambles. It demonstrates deeper problems within ResLife

By Angelina Rios-Galindo | April 27

Each spring, just after midterms, many Brown students enter perhaps the most stressful season of the year: housing selection. What should be a time of excitement in anticipation of the academic year to come is annually soiled by an inequitable cache of options, problematic power and resource dynamics ...

Artis ’22: The fight for a Green New Deal — people vs. fossil fuels

By Zanagee Artis | April 26

In July 2017, I co-founded Zero Hour, a global, youth-led climate justice organization mobilizing for a livable planet while working to dismantle the systems of oppression at the root of the climate crisis: colonialism, capitalism, racism and patriarchy. In the summer before my first semester at ...

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Opinions

Thio ’22: Moving on from COVID-19 shouldn’t mean doing nothing

By Ethan Thio | April 24

We are tired of COVID-19. Surveys suggest the majority of the United States thinks we need to move on, and many moved on a while ago. I’m tired, too — it’s been a long two years. When experts say almost everyone will get the virus, it can be easy to wonder why one should bother avoiding COVID-19 ...

Opinions

Nyman ’23: With increasing temperatures, we should start preparing for a rise in climate anxiety

By Brooke Nyman | April 7

It’s almost impossible to tune into the news these days without being forced to reckon with humanity’s role in perpetuating the climate crisis. Believe me, I don’t like hearing about my undeniable personal contribution to the degradation of our planet any more than the next person — ...

Opinions

Agvanian ’25: Don’t just blame Putin for the Russian invasion

By Artem Agvanian | March 22

As I walked the streets of my hometown of Mariupol, Ukraine this summer, I saw a poem painted on a wall. Part of it went like this: “Now every one of us has an empty piece of luggage in hand / In that luggage there are ashes gathered in the crosshairs.” Now, as Russian forces bombard the city ...

Opinions

Dill ’24: Brown needs to better accommodate students with chronic illnesses

By Delaney Dill | March 11

Living with chronic illness is no easy task, but living with chronic illness in college sometimes feels impossible. Last year, I learned that my medications meant to treat my illness were not working. I relapsed. While I am no longer in clinical remission, I am on a new medication that has the potential ...

Opinions

Orr: Remembering the lost social justice legacy of Charles C. Diggs, Jr.

By Marion Orr | February 18

The civil rights movement transformed the United States. While there were many reasons for its success, nothing was more important than the rise of strong African American leaders who displayed great courage in confronting injustice and righting past wrongs. They publicized racial inequities and ...

Opinions

Sender ’25: What ancient Angkor teaches us about building modern cities

By Gabriel Sender | February 2

Engineers around the world all face the same fundamental challenge: How do we protect flood-prone cities from the rising tide of climate change? Since the 1970s, climate change has caused weather-related disasters to become five times more common and seven times more damaging. What is particularly ...

Opinions

Drake ’24: Brown needs to oppose Koch influence, starting with the PPE Proposal

By Ethan Drake | January 28

Every year, the network of donors convened by billionaire industrialist Charles Koch spends millions of dollars on universities, think tanks, policy groups and politicians to promote a worldview that is anti-science and anti-democratic. Between 1997 and 2018, Koch Family Foundations have spent nearly ...

Opinions

Papendorp and Sindhu: GLO members demand workplace democracy

By Carin Papendorp | December 3

As members of our graduate union, we were proud to agree to a contract with the University on issues that matter to graduate students, such as wages, parental benefits and a grievance procedure. We have also continually done our best to respect and honor the words of our contractually binding agreements ...

Opinions

Simon '25: Sustainable fashion is a class issue

By Alissa Simon | November 17

Fast fashion is wasteful beyond belief. Its models of constant production in many ways represent the very worst of the industry, and slowly but surely, these brands are falling out of favor. I’ve watched it happen in my own closet.

Opinions

Barboza: Brown’s commitment to dining employees and dining services on campus

By George Barboza | October 22

In the weeks since Brown returned to more traditional operations for fall 2021, a news story,

Opinions

Rauschenbach ’23: Brown must respect BDS workers

By Matt Rauschenbach | October 8

Long lines might be the hallmark of the student dining experience at Brown. But these lines are a symptom of a deeper crisis: the shocking conditions facing our dining hall workers. ...

Opinions

Bayard ’24: The GOP’s heart is no longer orderly nor conservative

By Augustus Bayard | September 20

In his 1968 book “Miami and the Siege of Chicago,” novelist-slash-journalist Norman Mailer offered the following characterization of the rank-and-file Nixon supporters he saw at that year’s Republican National Convention in Miami: A “principal of a small town high school, local lawyer, retired ...

STEM

Gumus GS: When PhD dreams turn into nightmares: bad mentoring edition

By Selahaddin Gumus | September 17

Nightmares surrounding STEM PhDs are plentiful — classic examples are the student who spends 14 hours a day in the lab, the coworker who sabotages others’ experiments and the newly graduated student who stares down the barrel of two consecutive postdoctoral positions because they are unprepared ...

Opinions

Gupta ’22: IAPA and the old three-concentration system can and should coexist

By Deepak Gupta | September 13

“Do you pronounce it I-A-P-A or I-APA?” This conversation with my fellow International Relations concentrators was a lighthearted way of passing the time. But questioning IAPA’s pronunciation illustrated how the Watson Institute had transformed over the past year. In April 2019, the Watson Institute ...