Opinions

The University of Puget Sound recently received a $250,000 three-year grant from the Andrew Mellon Foundation emphasizing experiential learning.The University proposes allocating these funds toward e-portfolios and symposiums to foster greater experiential learning and interdisciplinary collaboration and competition among students. Creating an online, browsable database for students to articulate their passions and interests while seeking out others’ portfolios would cultivate connections across majors. Students have a lot to learn and gain from each other. Establishing a platform which allows students to easily collaborate has the potential to aid in continued...

by Michael Greenblatt You’ve probably been serenaded by a flute or a violin as you walked by the Music Building and thought to yourself how fun it would be to learn how to play an instrument. Or you may already play an instrument and want to be able to utilize the practice rooms in the Music Building because there are no other places on campus to play. Unfortunately, if you’re not a part of the School of Music, whether this means taking a music class or being involved in one...

There has been much speculation recently regarding the decision of the Associated Students of the University of Puget Sound Senate to announce a special election for the two senator-at-large positions most recently up for election. What I say here represents only my personal opinion, and I do not speak for anybody except myself, and I would extend an offer to any concerned students to come to me or anyone else in ASUPS in order to continue productive dialogue regarding this issue. What I say here in no way represents ASUPS...

To the editor of The Trail, Since last appearing in The Trail at the end of last semester, ECO Club has been busily investigating and advocating for divestment from fossil fuels by the University of Puget Sound. Since we started this effort last September, the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere has risen by 1.5 parts per million (ppm), crossing the 400 ppm mark, putting us within 24 years of reaching the 450 ppm mark. At the 450ppm mark, the chance of the temperature rising to over 2 degrees Celsius...

by Ryan del Rosario Once again, Senate is holding a special election to recover from the errors of a previous election. I tried to explain to them why correcting a wrong with another wrong is just….wrong. But today the elections went live and candidates can start applying for the two Senator-at-large positions that are open (but not really). At Senate Open Forum on Thursday 4/23, I spoke: “Friends, Faculty, Staff, and Senators of the Associated Students of the University of Puget Sound, Please allow me to introduce myself before I...

by Michelle Leatherby On September 29, 2001, “Saturday Night Live” recorded the first episode of the 27th season of the show. The episode began with New York’s mayor at the time, Rudy Giuliani, delivering a heartfelt speech about the 9/11 attacks on New York just a couple weeks earlier. After a tribute to the lives lost, “Saturday Night Live” producer Lorne Michaels joined the mayor on stage asking, in light of recent events, “Can we be funny?” Mayor Giuliani responded with “Why start now?” followed by the famous words uttered...

by Sophie Carr The phrase “College Admissions” provokes a sense of worriment not only in parents, but also for anyone who went through the hell of an undergraduate application procedure.  The horror stories of enrollment follies seem to only augment this anxiety—all of them words of warning or cautionary tales that are just a little too piercingly close to reality; the suspended requests, the rejection letters, technological mishaps—all stories that are grounded in failure.  They all in some way resemble a Brothers Grimm tale. Presented in these parables of woe,...

  Since the Iranian Revolution in 1979, relations between the U.S. and Iran have been incredibly hostile. The recent Interim Nuclear Agreement between the U.S. and Iran has sparked a lot of worldwide discussion, though many have misinterpreted what exactly the interim deal states. The first thing to point out is there actually is no signed deal. All that has happened in the last month was the creation of a framework agreement, which basically means there is an agreement to agree on something this summer. The interim agreement loosely states...

Dear Editor, I have a mental illness. When I was sixteen, I was diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. That was a very painful time for me—I spent a lot of it crying. At one point, my mother and I wondered if I would be better off in a psychiatric ward. We went to a friend’s Halloween party instead. I put on my Maximum Ride costume, carved a scary pumpkin, and resumed living my life. It was one of the best decisions I have ever made. I’m not alone. According to...

by Michael Greenblatt Recent events in world news have been favorable for the U.S. and its place in the global order: a reopening of relations with Cuba, a likely nuclear deal with Iran, a mutual commitment to reduce carbon emissions from the U.S. and China. All of these breakthroughs can be attributed to President Obama’s foreign policy preference for engaging and negotiating with the United States’ foreign adversaries. This is a fundamental distinction from the policies of George W. Bush and leading Republican candidates for president, who advocate isolation and...

  Fifty-two years ago, the Beatles—the band we all know and love—released their first debut album, Please Please Me. No one, especially the Beatles, could anticipate how big they would one day become. Although their music was released during the 60s and 70s, so much of our musical culture in the U.S. is tied in some ways to the Beatles. The Fab Four were true visionaries in every aspect of the word. Professor in the French Studies Department at the University of Puget Sound, Steve Rodgers, commented on the impact...