Due to the underage pregnancy of Sarah Palin’s daughter, Bristol, the issue of teenage pregnancy was a more prominent issue in this election than in any previous one. Several groups have insisted for years that they have the solution, and that solution takes the form of abstinence pledges, in which young people promise to refrain [...]

This past July, the presidents of 130 colleges (and counting) all over the United States formed the Amethyst Initiative, a group whose goal is to “re-examine the drinking age.” These presidents want to “support a debate” about the current drinking age because they believe that the forbidden nature of alcohol–due to a nationwide drinking [...]

The cover of the July 21st, 2008, edition of The New Yorker was the source of some controversy. Illustrator Barry Blitt drew a picture of Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and his wife Michelle in the Oval Office that collected many stereotypes about the Democratic presidential hopeful: dressed in Muslim attire,Obama fist-bumps his wife, dressed as a [...]

According to a recent article in The Brown Daily Herald (“Unique no more? U. may require Common App,” Apr. 9), there is a very real possibility that Brown will require its Class of 2013 to apply using the Common Application, and only the Common Application. Luckily, there has been very little complaining or controversy [...]

Recently, the Reverend John Shelby Spong, a retired Episcopal bishop, spoke at Brown on a variety of subjects, including Christianity, the current election, and many social issues, such as abortion, gay marriage, and the “-isms,” particularly racism and sexism. While Spong brought a new and interesting set of ideas to campus with his lecture, [...]

An article that ran in The Brown Daily Herald (“Brown looks to other universities in its discussion of co-ed doubles,” Jan. 30) discussed the possibility that the University would implement “gender-neutral” dorms for upperclassmen. This would be a relatively drastic step for Brown to take, and the administration is looking to comparable schools to see [...]

The Brown Daily Herald’s latest poll, conducted back in November, attempted to summarize many things about Brown students, from our drug habits to our cars, and from our level of sexual activity to whom we want in the White House. The question on the poll that asked how many sexual partners we each have had [...]

Earlier this month, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority in Britain (a statutory body responsible for controlling all issues related to in vitro fertilization, storing of human sperm or eggs, artificial insemination and most embryo research carried out in the United Kingdom) decided there is no reason to prevent cytoplasmic hybrid research. This research would [...]

Sooner or later, one is going to hit a wall in any political discussion involving opposing views. However, on most political issues, there is much room for compromise. On the remainder, there is at least room for conversation. It seems there is only one issue on which the opposing sides are unwilling to give any [...]

I don’t drink. Anyone who meets me knows this fact within our first fifteen minutes of conversation. The closest I’ve come to over-consumption of alcohol is during Communion at Mass – and I’m pretty sure it’s both impossible and sacrilegious to get drunk off the blood of Jesus Christ. I choose to surround myself with [...]