Even after Yale abruptly ended its Education Studies and Teacher Prep programs last year, students like Alison Grubbs, BR ’12, are finding ways to look forward in education reform. Grubbs is the Director of Volunteer Recruitment and Selection for The Future Project, a mentorship program developed last year by Andrew Magino, BR ’09, and Kanya …

Chances are that if you’re reading this, you once had to write 500 characters about why you wanted to go to Yale. More likely than not, you said something about the residential college system (“Great balance between small college and big university!”); I definitely did. But now, having spent a full year at Yale, I …

My mother just told me a story about a Tibetan accupressurist she recently visited. She went in for a nagging ache in her shoulder that hasn’t responded to physical therapy or homeopathic assault. The monk masseuse asked her if she was open to an herbal treatment—she was. A few minutes later, my mother noticed that …

In January, during the live broadcast of the Golden Globes, an ineloquent Melissa Leo slipped the word “fucking” into her otherwise uninteresting acceptance speech. In a similar situation, Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant was caught on camera calling the referee a faggot after receiving what was arguably an unjust foul call just last week. …

I remember submitting my application to the Ethics, Politics, and Economics major in one of the anonymous offices on Hillhouse Avenue. I was careful to slide my folder into the middle of the stack. Too high up in the pile and I risked looking like a procrastinator. Too low and I would be labeled overly …

This past week, my friend smuggled a bag of pretzels into Bass under the guise that it was “Jesus food” and would somehow stop her statistics homework from eating her soul. However, it’s probably more similar to crack than divine nourishment. Every time she brings the pretzels into the room, we proceed to devour them …

Modern democracies cannot be trusted to manage their budgets. The problem is not that rival parties might disagree and shut down the government which is only possible under a presidential system like America’s. The problem is what they actually do agree on: Debt. The Capitol is a good place for arguing about balancing our nation’s …

Supporting freedom of speech requires extraordinary self-restraint. On Sun., Mar. 20, the restraint of the U.S. Government was tested when radical Florida pastor Terry Jones publicly set fire to the Koran after a well-publicized “mock trial” intended to condemn the entire religion of Islam for the actions of its most extreme fundamentalists. Jones achieved his …

The New York Times has made some strategic mistakes in its day, and I don’t just mean publishing articles like “Can We Feel Good About Our Necks?” and “Yankees Caps Are Popular Among Criminals.” (Note: I read these pieces from beginning to end, and both were exactly what they sound like.) No, I mean real …

The Internet and modern technology are forever changing the landscape of television programming. Netflix’s recent purchase of the exclusive rights to House of Cards, a hot-ticket television series directed by David Fincher (who helmed The Social Network) and starring Kevin Spacey, embodies this change. It also illuminates Netflix’s emerging role as the architect of a …

Spontaneity is great sometimes. But sometimes, not so much. About two weeks before spring break, I decided it would be a great idea to visit a friend in London along with a fellow Yalie. Our trip plans included meeting up with an old friend for debauchery and perhaps a trip to the Tate Modern or …

Congratulations. You got into to Yale. Truly, your life has just been validated on a far-reaching and impressive scale. Soon 1,300 kids just like yourself—teens likely without their mothers for most the first time—will be treated like adults for the first time, all made to manage on their own. It’s like summer camp all year …

Thinking of a topic for my biweekly column is always a struggle. Just ask my editors. The day a column is due, I usually ask every person I see if he or she has an idea for a column. (And then when they put an idea onto the table, I ask if they want …

Conservatives complain that the government responds badly to new information and cannot effectively deal with issues of social welfare. Liberals complain that this belief allows conservatives to justify having no heart. So far, it has been impossible to please both parties. That is, until now. The Center for American Progress has picked up on an …

I’ll be the first to admit that the media’s current focus on Charlie Sheen’s debauched lifestyle is disconcerting. However, it’s worth taking a look at the ways in which news networks seem to favor sensationalized celebrity gossip to objective reporting and hard line journalism, as well as the public’s willingness to substitute entertainment for news.
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Friendships at Yale come in all shapes and sizes. Easily the most exciting part of first semester is teasing out the surprising and unique details of strangers around you who will ultimately come to define your friendships. Remember the fratty guy through your suite’s fire door who has taken up permanent residence on your couch? …