Be careful with removal of assistant master positions

By Daily Princetonian Staff Published: Friday, September 15th, 2006 Be careful with removal of assistant master positions Regarding 'RCAs debate removal of assistant master position' (Friday, May 19, 2006): I read the article about the abolition of the assistant master position with a sad heart.  I served as assistant master at Butler College in 2002-03. In my short tenure there, I made many friends and worked with an exceptionally bright group of undergraduates.  Though having served definitely delayed my academic progression, I have no regrets about my choice.  As for my duties, it wasn't so much that my presence in Butler enriched the students' lives; rather I was fortunate enough to have learned many things from people more junior than I. Giving more graduate students the chance to interact with the wider college community is to be lauded, but I hope that the diminished responsibilities with the new graduate positions do not lessen the scope for interaction.  After all, it was the fact that the position consumed so much of my time that made it special. The group of shy 18-year-olds that I met in September 2002 have now left the orange bubble — good luck in your new endeavors!…

The graduate student’s long march

Students of English literature might be acquainted with Alan Sillitoe's classic novel, "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner."  In that story, the protagonist, Smith, gains relief from his chaotic schedule in a well-heeled boarding school and time to muse about life in his daily runs.  As a runner myself — having competed in track and field, cross-country and marathons — I empathize with Smith. One of the simple pleasures of long-distance running is the seclusion that Sillitoe notes.  The solitude of running provides an opportunity to appreciate, inter alia, the beauty of the sun setting over rolling hills while hearing the sound of leaves crunching under one's feet.  However, sometimes the solitude is simply lonesome. This is why I sometimes think that Sillitoe was in fact writing about the doctoral adventure.  The Ph.D. is a very lonely pursuit, and it goes without saying that it is a long race, metaphorically speaking.  (The median time from matriculation to receiving a Ph.D. is 6.0 years.)  And the isolation of the Princeton graduate experience has given me an epiphany about life: It really is stranger than fiction. Though I don't run on the beach, I often imagine leaving tracks in the sand…

Hunger Banquet sends wrong message

By Daily Princetonian Staff Published: Thursday, November 17th, 2005 Hunger Banquet sends wrong message Regarding 'Lobster, steak and plain white rice' (Tuesday, November 15, 2005): This article gave me an unsettling feeling in my stomach.  As a person who ate "plain white rice" for many years in the parlance of the article (I ate chicken bones and rotten vegetables tossed away by local grocers), I must admit I felt uneasy about how the SVC chose to raise awareness of this matter.  For one, I am not sure how much awareness is really brought to the problem, and surely empathy is not on the menu as participants know that after the meal they can resume with their regular lives.  I certainly didn't have the option of walking away from the "plain white rice" dinner when I was growing up in poverty.  Secondly, one of the hardships of eating "plain white rice" is the loss of dignity that cannot be captured in a smug gesture.  Although the event was rooted in good intentions, as a person with a perspective growing up in poverty I found it condescending and bordering on mocking, especially given that this is the same school that hosted Ralph…

The joys of adding insects to your daily diet

The food options at Princeton are rather threadbare:  The dining halls serve the same things day after day; Frist is simply atrocious; and the so-called eating clubs are places where I shudder to dine — but I'm happy to mooch a meal there if you care to invite me.  So what's a person in this one-tiger town to do if she's looking for a gastronomic adventure?  Before you shout "Go to Burger King!" let me say, "B.K. R.I.P."  Thus, we are left to grovel at the feet of the administration for a tastier menu selection. So what would I place on the menu?  Here's my idea:  I suggest that we start serving insects.  Think about it.  Remember all those cicadas from last year?  Well, if people would open up their minds — and stomachs — instead of viewing the swathes of cicadas as some biblical-proportion plague, one would instead see a smorgasbord of asparagus on wings (yes, they taste like asparagus).  And what a delicacy they are — they only come around once every 17 years! You can also take pride, when munching on a bug, in knowing that you are helping to control the pest population.  Plus, you'll never…

Religion can blind followers to the truth

I am secular.  In a society that is very religious this is an invitation for scorn. I was not always secular, however.  I was once a devout Christian.  Up until my eighteenth birthday I would have described myself as a believer. I had started going to church as a young lad because my parents were too busy working to take me out.  So when local church officials came knocking on my door and asked if I wanted to go to Sunday School – where there would be other kids to play with and, best of all, free food – I acquiesced. I was a very committed Christian.  At one time I led the church youth group and headed a Bible study unit.  Just as much, my social values were conservative:  I summarily opposed abortions; I thought homosexuality was wrong.  These were the norms I was taught at church. Now I see religious intolerance as one of the great challenges for a pluralistic and compassionate society.  I say this because I see how religion is oftentimes used as a veil for hate:  How is denying human rights (i.e., marriage) to gays seen as moral?  Likewise, is it just to bring a…