Forgive me.

Even with the loads of work piled on us 1Ls by our professors, I should have time to write a substantive column every two weeks. Unfortunately, it’s just not happening for me this time around. I’ve got a memo due on Thursday (it’s a lot more time consuming than it sounds, trust me), Yom Kippur services today and Mets playoff games to make time for this week, so I had to get ahead in my classes a bit this weekend.

So, rather than bagging and forcing you to read yet another fascinating college exchange, I figured I would give you my own personal run-through of the interesting views on some of the other opinion pages in the Ivy League:

In Thursday’s edition of The Dartmouth, Junior Evan Meyerson decided to attack the Dartmouth administration for having the gall to allow classes on Yom Kippur:

“With ten-week terms, missing even a single class can be detrimental to one's academic performance in that course. Dartmouth is forcing Jewish students to choose between faith and scholastic success. Such religious insensitivity does not speak highly of an institution which has the least favorable reputation for ethnic multiplicity in the Ivy League.”

Look. I’m Jewish. I’m fasting. I went to services last night and I’m going to services for a little while today. And I am also going to class. While it’s been annoying to deal with the high holidays over the last five years, as long as religious holidays are treated equally by college administrations, there’s really no logical argument here. After all, there’s class on Good Friday, too.

***

In Friday’s issue of The Princetonian, a staff editorial criticized the university’s optional “Pass/D/Fail” grading scheme:

“The PDF grading option should be a limited-use safety net that can be retracted at any point when the student feels confident enough in her ability in a course. Professors and peers alike will be rewarded by a more enthusiastic atmosphere. When the PDF option becomes a sentence, the initiative to learn is removed.”

Oh, come on. While I understand the plight of a student in this situation, wouldn’t this make it possible for students to begin each semester with all of their classes graded PDF and then allow them to change the grading schemes of the classes they are doing well in? While this would be great for students, somehow I don’t see the Princeton administration going for it.

***

In Friday’s edition of The Harvard Crimson, Junior Adam Goldenberg wrote an intensely cynical column aimed at freshmen, essentially suggesting that they not get involved in extracurricular activities and wait for their Harvard connections to kick in to get them jobs:

“For the next four years, while you’re sitting in your single room, contemplating ways to undercut your friends’ (read: competitors) extracurricular ambitions, these people will have a litany of experiences that are both enriching and rewarding. But wait 10 years and see who’s laughing, when you’ve got your own desk on the 50th floor and they’re off ‘making a difference,’ whatever that means.”

I really hope this isn’t the sentiment of the majority of Harvard students. Because if it is, well, that’s really pathetic.

***

In the Friday, September 22 issue of The Daily Pennsylvanian, guest columnist Noam Harel, a 1992 alumnus, suggested that because people frequently confuse Penn with Penn State, the university change its name to Ben Franklin University, or:

“The University of Pennsylvania should auction off its naming rights to the highest acceptable bidder. Sunoco School? Turner Braincast System? Google U? So be it. Would we be selling out? Yes, to a degree. But along with the ridicule would come at least $1 billion, up front.”

Yes. It seems he’s serious. Man, I thought that Cornell had image problems over the last couple of years with the Big Red Box logo and all. But that pales in comparison to having alumni suggest that an Ivy League institution sell off its name like an arena. Frankly, I’m not really sure that a university with a $4 billion endowment really needs the extra money anyway. But, if they’re going to do it, I vote for Quaker Oats University.

***

In the Friday, September 22 issue of The Columbia Daily Spectator, a staff editorial took on Columbia’s decision to rescind an invitation given to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak at the university:

“Asking Ahmadinejad to speak at the World Leaders Forum is not the same as condoning his actions or beliefs nor is it providing him with any greater platform from which to promote them. Speaking on campus would not have provided him with any true legitimacy — legitimacy is only granted by the international community. Instead, his visit would have been an opportunity for faculty and students to debate and cross-examine one of the most influential leaders in the world. Student protests alone would have spoken volumes.”

I think I probably agree with this, although thinking through it would pretty much be a column in and of itself. Either way, I commend the staff of the Spectator for having the guts to take that position.

See you after fall break …

Eric Finkelstein ’06 is a former Sun managing editor and is currently a first-year student in the Law School. He can be contacted at ejf33@cornell.edu. Saturdays Excepted appears alternate Mondays this semester.