Last week President Mark Burstein and the Provost and Dean of Faculty, Dave Burrows, issued a joint statement opposing the recent boycott of Israeli academic institutions by groups like the American Studies Association (ASA) and Association for Asian American Studies. In their statement, they stressed the importance of the exchange of ideas and “the freedom…
Staff Editorial: The right kind of communication
Glance at the wall of posters by the Corner Store or the official Lawrence University calendar and experience an unfiltered information overload. Event advertisements in dorms and campus buildings vary from building to building and range from applied-on-every-surface to notably-absent. For a campus the size of 84 acres, there is a lot happening between the…
Letter to the Editor
In response to Mr. Doreza’s article in the November 8th, 2013 issue of The Lawrentian: Mr. Doreza employed some ridiculous anti-logic when he lampooned atheists in last week’s edition of The Lawrentian. Doreza’s arguments about atheism suffer from ignorance regarding atheism’s status in both the Lawrence community and the broader country. While it is true…
Staff Editorial: Maintaining small school pride
With all the papers, tests, lists and music scores to work on at the end of eighth week, Lawrence can start to bear down on students as they wind their way toward finals week and the break that follows. Unfortunately, the reward is often soured. Come break, we chat with distant family and acquaintances as…
Letter to the Editor
I believe the removal of the Main Hall bathroom signs was wrong, but let’s put this in perspective here. Trans* people have been oppressed virtually without exception in all of Western culture for a couple thousand years or so. You can assume that there will be a bit of pent-up frustration after that. When, in…
Staff nomination: Neil Gaiman
Last Wednesday, the Chair of the Committee on Public Occasions, Phillip Swan, informed students they can now nominate speakers for the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 Convocation Series. This level of foresight is encouraged and applauded, as students have often complained about the selection of Convocation speakers. All students were encouraged to submit, and in that spirit,…
Staff Editorial: Keeping the trust
Every day students here at Lawrence innocently leave their valuables around campus, trusting them to remain where placed when their owners return, while others leave their doors unlocked. These actions reflect the culture of trust and safety that the majority of Lawrentians experience while on campus. When a theft occurred in the Conservatory last week,…
Staff Editorial: Participatory apathy
We, as Lawrentians, like to complain. It’s a common language, a topic of discourse that allows the occasional laugh. “The food at Bon Appétit today isn’t as good as it was in Welcome Week. How come Jill Beck was never around? I hate that there’s only one Big Event every three years. Snow sucks.” But…
Staff Editorial: Hey, who turned off the parks?
The United States government’s last shutdown was in 1994. Last year, Congress dodged the fiscal cliff at the last hour and most experts expected an eleventh hour deal this time as well. However, as the clock ticked towards midnight, both parties entrenched themselves in their ideologies, determined to delay or enable ‘Obamacare.’ Rhetoric and threats…
Staff Editorial: Discussing social issues at Lawrence
This week’s Op-Ed section is a kind of variations-on-a-theme: Each of the writers this week offers a unique perspective on feminism. Please excuse the break with tradition. What the goals of feminists should be and where the line should be drawn is up in the air, though. This has been an interesting year for gender…