Opinions - The Brown Daily Herald

Opinions

Duncan '16, Borgonjon '14, Bustos '16, Wolff Landau '20, Niculescu '20 and Saji '20: Warren Kanders still must go

By Sophie Duncan | September 12

Warren Kanders ’79, a prominent University donor, recently resigned from his position as vice chair of the Whitney Museum of American Art, which should serve as a reminder of why Brown must cut its financial ties with Kanders. We find ourselves at a crossroads: Will the University lead by example ...

Opinions

Aman ’20: Dear Blueno should not be an academic advisor

By Rebecca Aman | September 11

“Are there any CS classes that are for people who have zero foundation and just wanna give it a try to see how it is? scared of being destroyed by cs 15.” “I want to take Physics 50 but I haven’t touched math in a while (ever since Math100 freshman year) — is the course doable if I review ...

Opinions

Hall ’20: Principles of Economics should teach the nuance of human rationality

By Galen Hall | September 11

Every year, around 400 undergraduates sign up for the introductory course Econ 0110: “Principles of Economics.” Nearly four out of every five students in the current iteration of this course are first-years. For them, it may be their first serious exposure to economic policy. It might also be the ...

Opinions

Schmidt '21: How to make orientation introvert-friendly

By Rachael Schmidt | September 8

Brown orientation provides an opportunity for new students to meet each other and to explore the myriad of social and extracurricular opportunities Brown has to offer. First-years should be prepared for the countless social activities in their unit meetings, classes and any other clubs or student organizations ...

Opinions

Letter: Public condemnation by CS HTAs further isolates students

By John Wrenn | September 8

To the Editor: As a computing education researcher, a teaching assistant and, most importantly, an equal member of the CS community, I was deeply dismayed by the April 25 letter by Head Teaching Assistants for CSCI 0150: “Introduction to Object-Oriented Programming and Computer Science,” condemning ...

Opinions

Reed '21: The Hidden Dangers of Nuclear Energy

By Andrew Reed | September 6

In civilization’s fervent search for alternatives to fossil fuels, nuclear energy has been the most promising. It produces more energy more efficiently — and with less carbon emissions — than solar, hydro and wind power. For many, nuclear power long seemed like the answer to the world’s energy ...

Opinions

Klein '20: What has gone wrong for Team USA?

By George Klein | September 6

The first week of the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup has proven troublesome for Team USA. Even though the group stage of the tournament was not expected to present much of a challenge, USA narrowly defeated Turkey on Tuesday by just one point in overtime. Even so, Turkey should have won, only missing ...

Opinions

Flynn '20: Brown should ban laptops from the classroom

By James Flynn | September 5

Laptops are ubiquitous in Brown’s classrooms. Whether in a 100-student lecture or a small seminar, many students spend most of the class staring intently at the screen a few feet in front of them, rather than at the professor or the board. Just a cursory glance from the back of the classroom will ...

Opinions

Simshauser '20: Out of Silicon Valley, a political challenge to an Uberized economy

By Derek Simshauser | September 4

When Uber was founded in 2009, its prospects for global recognition looked slim. It was a high-end cab service — on-demand black car rides for the Bay Area’s more ostentatious residents. In the ensuing years, however, as the company grew, it became not merely an innovative transportation technology, ...

Opinions

Meszaros GS: Disentangling grad school and alcohol culture

By E.L. Meszaros | September 4

Alcohol use and abuse is a noted problem for undergraduate students, but in my experience, it becomes an accepted and expected part of the culture in grad school. In grad school, alcohol is worryingly intertwined with academic activities in a way that can be exclusive and damaging. We should re-evaluate ...

Opinions

Editors' Note: The Herald's new print design

By 129th Editorial Board | September 3

The Herald is back for a new academic semester with significant changes to our print design for the first time in four years. Over the past six months, a team of talented designers and editors have worked tirelessly to update our fonts, alter spacing and add design elements to the physical paper. These ...

Opinions

Aman '20: It’s time to make youth sports fun again

By Rebecca Aman | September 3

In high school, I played three sports: cross country, swimming and track. Being a multi-sport athlete could be tough; at the beginning of each season, I would struggle to keep up with my teammates who trained year-round. I almost certainly would have been a faster swimmer or runner if I had chosen to ...

Opinions

Mark Liang: On writing

By Mark Liang | May 24

I have this weird ritual at the end of every year. Instead of packing clothes for home as many folks do, I fill my suitcase with books and course packets, napkins and brochures, letters received and written — piles of printed material that I collected over the academic year. There’s the Orgo midterm ...

Opinions

Rachel Gold: Speak to all pasts, and they shall teach thee

By Rachel Gold | May 24

On Earth Day this year, my friends and I stood on the Main Green for a few hours and asked passersby to guess the age of our planet. Our team of undergrad geology students had laid out a timeline of Earth’s history that spanned the Green: The formation of Earth was under Faunce Arch, the oxygenation ...

Opinions

Emily Miller: Indelible ink

By Emily Miller | May 24

When Mayor Pete Buttigieg announced his presidential candidacy, few knew where to turn for in-depth analysis of his political philosophy or personal beliefs. The New York Times struck gold when the editors dusted off the opinions columns Buttigieg had written 16 years prior for the Harvard Crimson. According ...

Opinions

Saanya Jain: Making choices, taking chances

By Saanya Jain | May 24

I have spent this semester counting my lasts — granola bowls, John Street basement concerts, all-nighters in the Rock. At each occasion of arithmetical gymnastics, one question inevitably arose: Would I do it all again the same way? Each time, I would think back to a memory from my senior year of ...

Opinions

Benjamin Potee: Graduating into cataclysmic climate change

By Benjamin Potee | May 24

Part of graduating is accepting unpredictability. Our graduating class will be forced to reckon with an emerging source of uncertainty: our changing climate and subsequent impacts upon societies, populations and individuals. The existence of climate change has been known for decades, but specific effects ...

Opinions

Rebecca Okin: On 'using everything'

By Rebecca Okin | May 24

Gertrude Stein has watched over me for the past four years. Or more specifically, her words, etched into the English department building at 70 Brown St., have: “And then there is using everything.” They’ve watched me run to Smith-Buonanno Hall on Tuesdays and Thursdays and Shabbat dinners on Fridays. ...

Opinions

Julianne Center: Dreams and diagnoses

By Julianne Center | May 24

I joined The Brown Daily Herald because I wanted to be Rory Gilmore. It was as simple as that. I was a small-town-girl from Southern California, and I knew no one who had navigated the brick-patterned halls of the Ivy League beside my dear friend Rory. I thought there would be an interview. My school ...

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Opinions

Aidan Calvelli: UNIV0100: How to Fall in Love

By Aidan Calvelli | May 24

You’re supposed to learn all sorts of things in college: how to read more critically, solve for a p-value, live on your own, manage your time efficiently or maybe even shotgun a beer. Brown tries to prepare its students to “discharge the offices of life with usefulness and reputation.” Its liberal ...