Author Archives: Julia Fisher

Hurricane Sandy has arrived. People along the Eastern Seaboard are hoarding water. Governments and schools are shutting down. In a lovely throwback to the last century, I saw a young couple at Rite Aid yesterday actually buying candles, lest the storm knock out their battery supply as well as the city’s electrical grid. And at »

Let’s make this perfectly clear: there is no rape culture at Yale. If Yale had a rape culture, there would be students and faculty speaking in favor of rape. Rape would be a common practice; it would be routine to hear someone talking about raping or being raped by someone last weekend. People would discuss »

On Sept. 18, 2001, in response to a quick fifth-grade assignment, I wrote: “I think America might be overreacting a little to the attacks. Canceling Little League games, unbelievable! And just because Bush called a day of prayer. He stopped us in the middle of Math! I understand that thousands of people died, but still, »

A few days ago, I was in the first earthquake of my life. Something started rumbling, loudly and abruptly. The next thing I knew, I was dodging flying books, watching the walls jolt back and forth, wondering “nuclear bomb?” and running downstairs for fear that my house would soon come tumbling down. Yes, Californians, I »

Shortly after President Obama announced Osama bin Laden’s death Sunday night, I found myself among a crowd of about a hundred Yale undergraduates at the memorial to Yale men who died in World War I. Students wore American flags on their backs, blasted vuvuzelas like they were at a football tailgate, screamed the Star Spangled »

There’s one lesson to be learned from the endless stream of YCC emails asking for, introducing, and promoting new programs designed to make life at Yale better: Life at Yale offers just about everything a person could want. When YCC programs serve no purpose more pressing than a bike exchange, it’s pretty clear that Yalies »

Last week, President Levin was scheduled to address Yale sophomores at the first inaugural Sophomore Class Dinner. Levin showed up to give the speech, but his performance was a firm demonstration of complete indifference towards the student body. President Levin arrived at Commons to deliver his speech 25 minutes after the scheduled time, and only »

Since the repeal of the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, the general consensus around Yale seems to be overwhelmingly in favor of reinstating ROTC, which has been banned from the campus since 1969. But the program wasn’t banned because of the military’s treatment of gay soldiers. Regardless of recent policy changes, the university should »

The Oscars are in just three days. To prepare you to fill out your ballots and express your outrage at your favorite films’ losses — or in case you haven’t seen all the nominees — here are some predictions and assessments of who really deserves the major awards: Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress: “The Fighter’s” »

I’m very reluctant when it comes to technology, so I’d simply like to tell a story involving technology. Make of it what you will. Marvel at the role of the internet, the power of the printed word, the stupidity and carelessness, the bureaucratic delays, or the triumph of law. Or just listen to the story. »

Late one night, I was procrastinating by flipping back and forth between Facebook, iTunes, and a series of summer job and internship descriptions. Suddenly, I noticed a few words repeated in the many lists of required intern skills: “an ability to multitask.” This stopped me. Multitasking is what I do when I don’t have to »

A university is supposed to teach its students to be educated citizens, to prepare them to participate among the world’s leading minds. There’s a problem, though. Universities create new fields of study without expanding the breadth of undergraduate education in turn. Students may be very well versed in one field, but the typical undergraduate’s general »