OPINION
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DANZIGER: War is coming

Sometimes reality hits hard in the face. American students feel safe in our universities thousands of miles from conflict because disorder hasn’t hit us like it hit the Ukrainians in 2022 and the Israelis on Oct. 7. Yale and its peer institutions must wake up and ask themselves now how they can contribute to national security and preparedness. Now is the time for students and faculty to depart from idealistic anti-military dreams, and begin out-researching and out-innovating our competitors abroad. This is not fear mongering. It is a matter of national security and Yale can help — lest America squander it's time to catch up.

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KAPCZYNSKI & HOSANG: The newest threat to campus speech — “neutrality rules”

Over the last year, nearly 20 schools across the U.S. have adopted rules on “institutional neutrality,” restricting statements by university leaders about current events. Yale […]

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PÁSTOR: Coincidences of the Global South

One quality we in the Global South possess in abundance is resilience. Despite hardships, battles over resources, and economic crises, there is an undeniable strength in our lands - something that goes beyond economics. It’s an optimism that rises from the green of our forests and the blue of our rivers. This hope, rooted in nature, continues to offer solutions even in the face of overwhelming challenges.

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LOGAN: Think you’re shopping sustainably? Think again.

Let me be honest: I love to shop. Several years ago, I made a commitment to buy 90 percent of my clothes secondhand, only buying new pieces that were essential items. Moreover, I picked even my secondhand items carefully — natural fabrics like silk, linen and cotton. I thought I was shopping guilt free, but I’ve since learned otherwise.

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WITT: Sports as a public good

Sports matter to people, and it’s bad when their teams get taken away. The story of the Oakland A’s illustrates that. I’m a Yankees fan; the Yankees are of course never going to move. But the basic premise remains. If New York somehow did become a bad media market, Hal Steinbrenner would take the team to San Antonio. Franchises ultimately need to take all the money they can get from their consumers. The fans have deep, heartfelt relationships with their team. It’s an emotionally abusive relationship. Regulating Major League Baseball would limit the damages.

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DING: Meditations on animal welfare

In my childhood, my cousin Zoe once fostered a kitten, inky black, whose name I have long forgotten. I was some age before morality, clearly, as I remembered learning that cats had nine lives so I decided to see whether that was true. Testing this hypothesis felt unextraordinary, like testing if plants could prefer green tea to soda, or if they could understand human speech. So when my parents were gone and my cousin was out and my grandparents weren’t looking, I would fling the few-months-old kitten across the room. 

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GORLICK: Demystifying the Trump-witch paradox

It is within this era-specific political rhetoric and culture that we find one of Donald Trump’s recurring outcries: the world is a witch hunt, all political opponents are enemies and accusers and — most significantly — he, Donald Trump, is the one true and tragic witch. 

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LIN: Don’t let racism distract us

This November, America faces a choice. Trump and Vance represent the worst tradition in American politics: a divide-and-conquer, us-vs-them strategy on behalf of America’s plutocrats. It is a tradition with a long history, dating back to before the Civil War. We have a decision to make. Don’t let racism distract us. 

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FLANIGAN: Early decision or desperation?

I once imagined elite universities as places where the pursuit of knowledge reigned above all else  — institutions beyond reproach that existed to bring together […]

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GRAHAM-MARTINEZ & STRETCH: Yale’s mission demands institutional neutrality

The debate we are having on institutional neutrality is backward. In the university’s listening sessions and on the pages of the Yale Daily News, the […]

| STAFF REPORTER
PUBLIC EDITOR: Picking the right headline

“McInnis lacks unique academic vision.” That was the headline the News ran on Oct. 4 for a major story on University President Maurie McInnis’ plans […]