Harrison: Save Yourself The Stress
This column is featured in the 2021 Freshman special issue.
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This column is featured in the 2021 Freshman special issue.
Ever since Dartmouth decided to become a coeducational institution in 1972, providing on-campus housing options to all students enrolled in classes has proved challenging, if not impossible. While the College’s adoption of an academic calendar divided into quarters was supposed to ameliorate the housing “crunch” caused by admitting female students, it has been clear for years now that the D-Plan has not been a viable solution to the problem. Even in normal years, the College simply cannot accommodate every student’s desire to live on campus.
For decades now, America has been falling behind other advanced countries in terms of its physical and non-physical infrastructure. While the sight of crumbling roads and bridges, the prevalence of unsafe drinking water and the scarcity of well-funded public schools should not be accepted as the norm in any country — rich or poor — the startling reality is that the wealthiest country in the world is, in fact, complicit in the deprivation of essential services to its own people. Fortunately, the Biden administration recently put forth proposed legislation to tackle the uniquely American infrastructure crisis. The American Jobs Plan would invest $2 trillion in, among other things, creating “green” jobs, attempting to address inequities in transportation and initiating efforts to bring certain communities — particularly those in rural and underserved parts of the country — into the 21st century with high speed broadband.
After former President Donald Trump’s refusal to accept his electoral loss in November and the storming of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, it’s clear that the American people are deeply divided on the integrity and legitimacy of the electoral process. With six out of ten Republicans still under the impression that widespread voter fraud was responsible for President Joe Biden’s victory — it was not, to be clear — no one ought to think that American democracy is well. Baseless conspiracy theories like these will only lead to more chaos down the road.
Since German reunification, Chancellor Angela Merkel has led Germany for more time than all other chancellors combined. From November 2005 to the present, Merkel has led not only her center-right party, the Christian Democratic Union of Germany, but the largest economy and most populous nation in the EU. She has won widespread praise for her steady leadership in times of crisis: the Great Recession, the European migrant crisis and more recently the COVID-19 pandemic. She has governed as a moderate — and won the support of her fellow citizens in four separate federal elections — even as reactionary politics have gained a foothold in other European countries.
We’re only a couple of weeks into the new year, but fortunately, we now have promises from states across the country that the general public will be eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine in the months ahead. So, it seems reasonable to assume that the latter half of the year will usher in a badly needed wave of normalcy. However, if there’s one thing that the pandemic has taught us, it’s that so many of the things we hold dear are incredibly fragile: the presence of our loved ones, our ability to progress academically and professionally and our ability to socialize freely.
We are in uncharted territory. With the recent confirmation of Justice Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court, Americans are living with the most conservative court since 1950. Never before has each one of the Supreme Court’s sitting justices been so closely affiliated with the party of the president who appointed them. All Americans, regardless of party, should know that the kind of partisanship that has infected the Supreme Court offers a terminal prognosis. And if the U.S. Senate — or the next president — does not act to reform the Supreme Court in nonpartisan ways, the American people can rest assured that the U.S. will be at the mercy of a decidedly political Supreme Court.