Opinions - The Brown Daily Herald

Opinions

Dean-Johnson '16, Dunbar '16, Gorodilova '16, Sedivy '17, Shiver '17: On whiteness, free speech and missing the point

By Liam Dean-Johnson, Aidan Dunbar, Anastasiya Gorodilova, Nico Sedivy and Madison Shiver | October 19

We urge you to read the statements published by Native Americans at Brown and other student of color groups on campus prior to reading this. For all its talk of freedom of speech, Brown has a problem talking about race. In the storm of blame and accusation that has swept campus in the past two weeks, ...

Opinions

Bewes, Ravindranathan: Žižek’s hypocrisy

By Timothy Bewes and Thangam Ravindranathan | October 19

Many of us here at Brown have read and admired philosopher Slavoj Žižek’s work through the years. Žižek’s critique of ideology — notably his elucidation of the paradoxes through which ideology may do its work (in “The Sublime Object of Ideology,” “Welcome to the Desert of the Real” ...

Opinions

Letter: Some acts of expression can be harmful

By Brown Daily Herald | October 16

To the Editor: Something is missing from the attempt by Professors Ross Cheit, David Josephson, Glenn Loury, Kenneth Miller ’70 P’02 and Luther Spoehr to identify what is missing from the statement about the current debate over free expression by President Christina Paxson P’19, Provost Richard ...

Opinions

Swartz '14 MD'19: PLME seniors, don’t enroll in biochemistry

By Solomon Swartz | October 16

PLME seniors are strongly encouraged to take BIOL 0280: “Introductory Biochemistry” in their last semester as a way to better prepare themselves for the challenges of the first year of medical school. Having just completed the biochemistry block at Alpert Medical School myself last week, I feel ...

Opinions

Chokshi '18: To fellow Indian Americans trying to assimilate

By Sohum Chokshi | October 16

Updated Oct. 16, 2015 at 1:45 p.m. I write this for you and only you. Others will watch. I cannot help that. When I read Daniella Dichter ’17 and Rohan Gulati’s ’17 white supremacist op-ed “Some speech hurts — and that’s okay,” and when I recognized the Indianness of Gulati’s name, I ...

Opinions

Cheit, Josephson, Loury, Miller '70 P'02, Spoehr: Free expression matters

By Ross Cheit, David Josephson, Glenn Loury, Kenneth Miller and Luther Spoehr | October 15

Something is missing from the fine words spun by President Christina Paxson P’19, Provost Richard Locke P’17 and Executive Vice President for Planning and Policy Russell Carey ’91 MA’06 in recent days about the need for discussions on power, privilege, responsibility, feelings and community ...

Opinions

Esemplare '18: Pride and prejudice

By Nicholas Esemplare | October 15

It’s Saturday morning, and there’s an energy across campus. Students meet up with friends and don their school gear, applying temporary tattoos and face paint for the afternoon’s football game. Tailgating starts two hours before game time. The student body packs the stands and holds its collective ...

Opinions

Dichter '17, Gulati '17: Some speech hurts — and that’s okay

By Daniella Dichter and Rohan Gulati | October 14

Last week’s controversy over two opinions columns published in The Herald demonstrated the misconceptions and misgivings many members of the Brown community have toward the principle of free speech. Luckily, Brown’s mission statement provides a strong affirmation of this principle. It states, “The ...

Opinions

Horowitz '16: The FAQs of veganism — part II

By Adam Horowitz | October 14

I received several interesting responses to my article, and since half of them were positive and the other half posed questions, it seemed appropriate for me to write a continuation of my first to provide further insight. Question one: What about B12? Answer: As some of you may have seen, an Oct. 8 ...

Opinions

Editorial: Sophomores searching for support

By Editorial Page Board | October 14

As sophomores approach their spring semester, they are expected to reflect on their time at Brown and determine which concentration provides them with the right departmental fit, curriculum and job prospects. Unfortunately, too few departments and concentrations provide students with substantive and ...

Opinions

Letter: Column offensive, but not worth censoring

By Brown Daily Herald | October 14

To the Editor: I sincerely hope The Herald reconsiders the removal of M. Dzhali Maier’s ’17 column “Columbian Exchange Day” from its website after it was published in the print edition last Tuesday, Oct. 6. While I agree the piece was ill-conceived and offensive, I believe the lesson you are ...

Opinions

Editorial: High school is not a means to an end

By Editorial Page Board | October 14

Brown is one of the over 80 institutions to have joined the Coalition for Access, Affordability and Success. The coalition presents itself as an alternative to the Common Application and, according to the organization’s press release, its “goal is to recast admission process, broaden access and ...

Opinions

Letter: Herald, University lack backbone

By Oliver Hudson | October 12

To the Editor: Be outraged with the Herald and University, not the writer. The Herald apologized for publishing a recent controversial column. Worse still, The Herald removed the article from its website. The apology and removal declared that there is a limit to which ideas are acceptable for discussion. ...

Opinions

Editorial: Shootings and college campuses

By Editorial Page Board | October 12

Last week, stories about shootings on college campuses in Oregon, Arizona and Texas made national headlines. The 11 students whose lives were taken so violently over the past two weeks remind us of a sobering national trend — one that should be of immediate concern to our community. Mass shootings ...

Opinions

Malik '18: The door is open

By Ameer Malik | October 12

Every time I visit a professor during office hours, I feel nervous. The most recent time, I felt especially anxious. I was worried that I was wasting my professor’s time, despite the fact that my professor seemed happy to see me and had told me a couple of times that it’s completely okay if I drop ...

Opinions

Paxson P’19, Locke P'17, Carey ’91 MA’06: An open letter to students on power, learning and responsibility

By Christina Paxson | October 9

During the spring semester of 1989, a series of racist incidents — ranging from graffiti to slurs yelled from windows to physical violence — took place at Brown. The impact on the community was deeply felt. A campus meeting was held in Sayles Hall where students, faculty and staff voiced their feelings ...

Opinions

Native Americans at Brown: Exchange Columbus: The case for Indigenous People's Day

By Native Americans At Brown | October 9

Native Americans at Brown’s demonstration Monday is a fight for visibility and a call for the University to oppose the acts of genocide against Native peoples. By changing the name from Fall Weekend to Indigenous People's Day, we aim to turn this holiday into a celebration of the cultures and histories ...

Opinions

Scott, Jr. '17: Indigenous People’s Day

By Ronald Charles Scott, Jr. | October 9

Disclaimer: This piece represents the writer’s views on Indigenous People’s Day. It is in no way representative of all Native Americans at Brown (NAB) or Indigenous Peoples across the world. Yá’át’ééh, shí éí Ronald Charles Scott, Jr. yinishyé. Naasht’ézhí Tábaahá nishłí, Tsénjíkiní ...

Opinions

Letter: The role of a free press

By Michael Lewitt | October 8

To the Editor: The only standard that you should use to determine whether to publish anything is the quality of what is written. If you made an error by publishing something that was of inferior intellectual quality and included factual errors or widely discredited and offensive or inciteful material, ...

Opinions

Letter: Diversity benefits the majority

By Elizabeth C. Morgan | October 8

To the Editor: Your recent editors’ note ends, “We do not and will not tolerate racism,” but this begs the question: What are you actively doing to dismantle it? I mean, if you ain’t for us, you’ve got to be against us. It seems many organizations at Brown and beyond think recruiting a few ...