Opinions
Rahman '26: Our ‘publish-or-perish’ culture is breaking the academy
By Tasawwar Rahman | April 12Publish or perish!
Tasawwar Rahman
Staff Columnist Tas Rahman is a staff columnist at the Brown Daily Herald writing about issues in higher education. When he's not coding or studying biochemistry, you can find him hiking and enjoying the great outdoors.
Opinions
Rahman ’26: Brown must adopt institutional neutrality
By Tasawwar Rahman | February 28In a hearing before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, then-Presidents Liz Magill of Penn and Claudine Gay of Harvard, as well as President Sally Kornbluth of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, were asked if “calling for the genocide of Jews” violates each president’s ...
Opinions
Rahman ‘26: Why I said no to parental tracking
By Tasawwar Rahman | February 2Two weeks ago, I was sitting at Saloniki Greek in Harvard Square visiting two friends from high school. I looked at my phone and saw a bombardment of anxious text messages from my parents: “Go home.” “It’s already 8:30” “Safety should be your first priority.” “Is it worth throwing your ...
Opinions
Rahman ’26: Has ChatGPT turned the BA into BS?
By Tasawwar Rahman | December 4In just one year, generative artificial intelligence models like ChatGPT have transformed the way we work and learn. In the Herald’s Fall 2023 poll, only 30.3% of surveyed students said that they do not use ChatGPT or similar tools in their academic study. Given the prevalence and utility of this ...
Opinions
Rahman ’26: America is media illiterate. Schools must fill the gap.
By Tasawwar Rahman | November 28Thanksgiving is a time for love, food and family. It is also a time to argue with our relatives over a plate of turkey, as many of us were reminded last week. These often heated conversations have made it evident to me that America is media illiterate — unable to parse the many channels through which ...
Opinions
Rahman ’26: Universities must not take stances on political matters
By Tasawwar Rahman | November 17On Oct. 7, the world watched in horror as Hamas launched an unprecedented terrorist attack against Israel, killing 1,200 civilians and kidnapping around 240 more. In the weeks that have followed, Israel has carried out a horrific bombing campaign on the Gaza Strip, killing at least 11,000 civilians, ...
Opinions
Rahman ’26: College attainment is dividing America. Non-degree-holders are getting left behind.
By Tasawwar Rahman | October 27Despite low unemployment, growth in real wages and strong GDP figures, only 19% of Americans characterize the economy as excellent or good, and nearly half of Americans expect things to get worse. Furthermore, America is deeply politically polarized, and while the division historically fell along class ...
Opinions
Rahman ’26: Medical students face an undue burden of debt that schools and stakeholders must work to alleviate
By Tasawwar Rahman | October 11According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, the average physician today graduates with about $200K worth of medical student loan debt. While physicians, who are amongst society’s highest earners, can undoubtedly bear these costs, we ought to consider rethinking how we finance medical ...
Opinions
Rahman ’26: What rankings really tell us about college — and why students should ignore them
By Tasawwar Rahman | September 27In his column, Tas Rahman ’26, argues that rankings can be more harmful than helpful in a college applicant’s search for the best fit.
Opinions
Rahman ’26: The education crisis facing American boys
By Tasawwar Rahman | September 10Today’s higher education landscape looks drastically different from that of our parents. In a dramatic reversal of the United States’ higher education gender breakdown, 59.5% of college students today are women. While both men and women this century are more likely to attend college than in the ...
