Harvard’s proposed admissions plan will fail to promote genuine altruism March 24, 2016 — by Divya Rallabandi and Austin Wang What does it take to get into Harvard? Traditionally, a combination of high GPA, perfect or nearly perfect SAT scores and a plethora of research internships would give applicants a fair chance. read more »
New Facebook ‘reactions’ force users behind another emotional shield March 21, 2016 — by Katherine Sun In theory, Facebook rearranges our news feeds based on our “likes” and clicks to prioritize content that interests us. That’s fine. But the beauty of sorting posts by likes is that anything we feel strongly enough to react to — whether with laughter, sadness or frustration — stays high on our feed. read more »
Community should actively combat dismissive racism March 21, 2016 — by Caitlin Ju There is a growing divide in the country. On one side are those who are passionate about the issue of racism and are willing to change it; on the other are those who simply wish to stand back and let whatever happens happen. read more »
YouTuber’s TSA experience calls for religious acceptance in airports March 21, 2016 — by Anant Rajeev and Arjun Ramanathan The TSA is just as responsible for keeping itself in check as it is for keeping airline passengers in check. If passengers are to respect the TSA’s wishes as they go through security to board their flights, the TSA personnel must be ready to demonstrate respect for the cultural values of every passenger in return. read more »
Sadie Hawkins’ dance has sexist implications March 17, 2016 — by Nidhi Jain Because it suggests that a female taking dominance in terms of a social dance is atypical, the idea of Sadies emphasizes outdated gender norms and has insufficient backing to be included in a modern, egalitarian society. read more »
Archaic Iowa caucus system should be eliminated March 11, 2016 — by Katherine Zhou The Iowa caucus: the first expression of voter interest in the election season. The caucus is an electoral event where residents meet in precincts and select delegates for the state’s Congressional District Convention and State Convention, which eventually choose the delegates for the presidential nomination. read more »
Abortion regulations arbitrary, unjust March 10, 2016 — by Vibha Seshadri and Isabelle Yang Remember when you began walking as a child? Your parents and relatives would test your endurance by giving you an endpoint to reach, and just when you thought you had made it, they would move further back, making you walk more. In this case, they were making you do more because you needed to learn how to walk. read more »
Students need to be able to make their own decisions March 9, 2016 — by Roland Shen These days, peers, teachers and parents pound students with different pressures. What many of these stresses have in common are decisions — ones that aren’t made by high school students but by other people in their lives. read more »
Young adult books aim to interest all readers March 6, 2016 — by Claire Rhee Young adult (YA) books, though they target teenagers, are still perfectly good books for readers of any age. The category “young adult” should not be considered a restrictive label. read more »
Excuse card not the answer for relieving student absences February 7, 2016 — by Michelle Koo and Eric Sze According to statistics provided by assistant principal Brian Thompson, nearly 8,000 class periods have been recorded as excused absences due to illness so far this year. In recent months, an idea has arisen to help combat this trend: Give students a “get out of jail for free” card, which would allow them to skip one day of school without penalty each semester. read more »