Politics

NOBODY’S OPINIONS | Things Kellyanne Conway Will Say in the Next 4 Years

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“No, Donald Trump’s pledge of allegiance to Putin does not disqualify him from being President, and the fact that you would even suggest that, Anderson, is just another example of this media bias that we see all the time now.”

“I think Justin Bieber is the best alternative rock musician, period.”

“No one really cares about Trump’s Muslim registry besides the press, so we’re just going to go ahead and do it.” “Mr. Trump has nominated me today to be his new Secretary of Propaganda. Despite vocal opposition from Marco Rubio, John McCain and Lindsey Graham, we’re pretty sure they’re all going to vote for it anyway.” “General Mattis, execute Executive Order 66.”

“Apple pie is one of the most overrated pies in America. Frankly, it is undeserving of an Oscar and the fact that it is even being considered for one reflects such massive media bias.

Politics

KRAVITZ’S KORNER | We Need to Rethink First-Year Diversity Programs

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Cornell University recently decided to replace Tapestry of Possibilities — the diversity event that has been presented to incoming first-year students for the past 11 years — with the Identity and Belonging Project. This change was due to a host of complaints leveled against the old program, particularly the failure of the old program to encompass enough topics. The University’s decision to modify this decade-long program brings into question the efficacy of diversity programs, and whether they are really needed.  

Diversity programs instill in students the belief that anything that can be remotely perceived as offensive (i.e. microaggressions) is indeed offensive and should therefore be prohibited. On today’s college campuses, speech that is innocuous in mainstream society is often misconstrued as offensive.

Politics

ANDREW SHI | On Hiring Conservative Faculty

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Re: “What Kind of White Faculty Should We Hire?,” Sunspots, Dec. 10

Christian Brickhouse recently penned an ambitious essay in this newspaper. Amongst other things, the author argued against the idea of creating a political diversity initiative in campus-wide faculty hiring. This “Republican Affirmative Action” as he coins it does sound counterintuitive, if not offensive. After all, CS majors or sociolinguists or behavioral psychologists are no more likely to better understand concepts taught by a Republican professor.

Politics

LETTER TO THE EDITOR | What Kind of White Faculty Should We Hire?

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By Christian Brickhouse

Re: “Liberal Intolerance at Cornell,” Sunspots, Dec. 7

To the Editor:

In the last few weeks, The Cornell Daily Sun has published a number of articles by conservative students decrying the lack of “intellectual diversity.” Indeed, last week, a resolution was proposed at the Student Assembly meeting to ask the Faculty Assembly to create a committee on diversity of thought. They diminish “diversity of thought” from the broad and deep intricacies of each field to one of partisan politics. They ignore the glaring racial disparities in hiring at Cornell and replace it with a discourse on hiring more “conservatives” (read: white people). To put this in no uncertain terms, these efforts couch veiled white supremacy in an otherwise valid aspect of academic discourse in order to make it seem more legitimate and palatable.

Politics

KRAVITZ’S KORNER | Liberal Intolerance at Cornell

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Evelyn Beatrice Hall, in her biography of Voltaire, famously coined the phrase, “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” This should be a universally accepted principle at Cornell. But sadly, it is not. On November 30, Cornell Republicans hosted former U.S. Congressman and presidential candidate Rick Santorum. As a Republican known for his unabashed support of social conservatism and of Donald Trump, Santorum was met with fervent protest outside the event, which is allowed per University policy. At the beginning of the event, the president of Cornell Republicans kindly asked that audience members do not interrupt Santorum and defer all questions until the end of the speech.

Politics

WELCOME TO THE ZOO | Cop Body Cameras

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With an open mind and two sides of the story, you’re bound to learn something new. Welcome to the zoo! This is a blog where both the Republican and Democratic viewpoints are represented. The blog is not meant to sway you either way necessarily, just to present both sides of the story. You may not agree with the whole article, but hey, you’re likely to agree with half!

Politics

KYLIE’S ROOM | A PRACTICAL PODCAST

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As a college student, sometimes I feel like I am in a bubble, or have blinders on. Here at Cornell, and probably at many other schools, you can go through your daily life focusing on nothing but school, those around you and whatever is happening on campus. With this, you can find yourself being unaware of what is going on outside of the boundaries of the campus, or the community where your college is located. With the incredible amount of work that undergraduates have and the vast amount of material you are supposed to learn and retain in order to succeed in your coursework, it is easy to let watching the news or reading the paper slide. But it can become a habit, and once it becomes habitual, it becomes a new norm.

Politics

BETWEEN BARS | Prisoners and Playwrights

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I’ve had two thoughts about theatre. The first is that it is a high art form. It is difficult to understand, like the complex symphony or the abstract painting—a sensory experience for refined tastes. The second impression I’ve had of theatre is that it is meant to entertain. People attend theatre performances because they want to have a good time.

Politics

KRAVITZ’S KORNER | Evaluating A Trump Presidency

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Ever since Donald Trump’s stunning Electoral College victory, there has been a lot of talk about what Trump will do as president. A lot of people believe that his presidency will destroy America and that the world will descend into chaos under his watch. However, few have taken a sober look at what Trump can actually do as president. Upon closely inspecting his plans for the country, it becomes apparent that his presidency might yield positive results. Potential positives:

Reducing Inner-City Crime

As the so-called “law-and-order candidate,” Trump plans to increase funds for programs that support law enforcement efforts to prevent crime, drug use and violence.

Politics

NOBODY’S OPINIONS | OBSERVATIONS OF THE WEEK

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When considering what to write about this week, I realized that I haven’t really lived up to my promise of providing “highly varied content” – not that anyone cares, but I would feel bad only writing articles related to the election all semester, no matter how much it reflects the current news cycle. Instead, here is a collection of things I thought about this week, which you may or may not find interesting. First, I still have no idea what to make of Donald Trump. He did some serious backpedaling and also looks to be considering Mitt Romney for a highly important post – Secretary of State. This is a man who has denounced Trump at every possible turn and called him a fraud, but is now seeking to reconcile and has apparently been forgiven, at least to some degree.