If the intervention in the West African country of Mali shows us anything, it’s that colonialism is still alive and well, though its form has changed somewhat. Its old colonial ruler, France, has directly intervened in Mali in the name of “humanitarian intervention,” claiming that if they do not, ...
Googling “religion anti-intellectual” returns about 3.6 million hits, most of them on the anti-religion side of the argument. In fact, the only article on the first page countering the assertion that religion is inherently anti-intellectual is from The Gospel Coalition, which, though a fine site, ...
In Kevin Carty’s ’15 recent column (“Identity politics is counter-productive,” Feb. 7), he argues that dismissing a person’s opinion as the product of privilege is detrimental. His argument consists of three claims. First, dismissing the opinion doesn’t win the argument. Second, it discourages ...
How do we work together? That seems to me to be the question for this new year. We’ve certainly spent more than enough time learning how to disagree. Just ask the United States Congress how much they know about that. I’ve learned a lot from them about disagreement and not working with others. U.S. ...
Spending last semester abroad in Edinburgh, Scotland, I experienced cultural differences that shaped me emotionally and spiritually, providing me a worldview the likes of which anyone who hasn’t been abroad (i.e., you) could never understand. On this mystical journey, I immersed myself in culture, ...
Fuerbacher '14: Yes College dorms now come in many flavors: cultural, affinity-based, religious and even gender-neutral. Given the plethora of organizations and campus life options one may access in college, it is logical to offer substance-free housing to students who do not wish to be surrounded ...
If I could make one suggestion to President Christina Paxson on her strategic planning update, it would be to implement a Brown/Johnson and Wales culinary dual degree program. Though I have a feeling this isn’t going to happen anytime soon, we still have an impressive variety of food here on College ...
A few months ago on Facebook, a friend of mine wrote of how one friend’s perspective “as a white male in a fraternity” seemed to guide his opinion about sexual assault policies at Brown. A couple days later, I saw one writer’s opinion explained away by another’s accusation that he was simply ...
When Bill Gates puts a huge chunk of his fortune into the American educational system, a few things happen: Schools receive funding they desperately need, educational policy is fundamentally corrupted, Bill Gates receives extensive attention and praise and Bill Gates’ lifestyle stays exactly the same. That ...
Struggle: The word evokes famous phrases, including “no pain, no gain,” and “there are no shortcuts to anyplace worth going.” Accompanying these sayings are stories of individuals who pushed through failure to achieve success. These stories include those of Michael Jordan, who was cut from ...
In an oversized bold font, at the top of Brown’s Spiritual and Religious Life website, it is affirmed, “A nonsectarian institution, Brown embraces all spiritual traditions and celebrates the diversity of religious identity on campus.” Considering this forthright affirmation of religious neutrality, ...
Imagine you are earning a handsome salary, attending soirees in the most exciting cities and gracing television screens and newspapers regularly. The best part is that you do not need to apply an established skill set or engage in rigorous thought, as your assistants do most of the preparation and analysis ...
In the aftermath of a multiple-victim shooting, there often sounds a call to take up arms. Well, perhaps it’s more of a call to take away arms. Whenever the media sensationalizes these tragedies, the phrase “common-sense gun control” is tossed around to marginalize dissenters as no more than heartless ...
In my time at Brown, I have sometimes noticed a culture in which athletes are perceived in an unflattering light. In The Herald I’ve read stories about “the jock stereotype” (“Athletes struggle against ‘dumb jock’ stereotype,” April 24, 2012) and claims that athletics are overfunded or ...
Dreschler '15: Yes Every year around this time, students descend into applications for that three-syllable word that makes most of us shutter with dread: internships. For many, that means brushing the dust off resumes, updating cover letters with over-exaggerated examples of leadership and calling ...
On January 7, Austin-based talk radio host Alex Jones excitedly claimed, “1776 will commence again if you try to take our firearms,” during his appearance on Piers Morgan Tonight. While this comment was certainly entertaining — I highly recommend watching the entire clip on YouTube — what struck ...
Everyone seems to understand grade inflation to be real and to be a problem. Websites are devoted to tracking the average grade point averages at colleges and universities and shaming the universities that the sites’ owners consider to be the worst offenders. Last year, the Brown Conversation devoted ...
There is an insidious form of institutionalized discrimination written into our Constitution, and it affects virtually every student at the University. Young people under the age of 35 — nearly half of the citizens in the United States — do not enjoy the full benefits of enfranchisement: We are ...
The tragedy of the Sandy Hook massacre not only opened American eyes to policy and social issues affecting our nation, but it also illuminated some of the shoddy inner workings of the mechanism that shared this information with us in the first place: the media. Through news websites, Twitter, Facebook ...
When innocent people are killed in a burst of gun violence, gun control rhetoric can never be far behind. It is only natural then, that the latest mass shooting in America’s sordid history — the Sandy Hook massacre — has prompted some of the most heated debate over gun legislation in recent memory. ...
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