A graduating senior looks back
It’s a daunting task, writing my final article for this paper and avoiding the cliches that characterize graduation season.
Andrew Jacobson
Articles
Impact investing for dual financial and social returns
For more than two centuries, capital markets have provided a place for companies and governments to raise money to finance activities. It’s the largest game in the world: part strategy, part luck. Companies issue debt or equity to expand operations by opening new business lines, executing mergers or acquisitions, etc. Investors, in turn, pour their capital into businesses with attractive financial prospects based on the security’s price and risk. If the price is good, the risk is acceptable and the firm’s earnings are expected to increase at a rate higher than the rest of the market, then the company is a buy.
In choosing a career path, pursue what you enjoy the most
What are some of the biggest misconceptions undergraduate students have about working in the real world? I asked this question to several business professors, to which they frequently responded with things along the lines of, “they’re unprepared for the drudgery,” “unprepared for the difficult feedback,” “unprepared to just put their head down and work.”
Having more options does not lead to happiness in every situation
Apparently, the United States is experiencing a “sex recession.” This month’s cover story for The Atlantic documents how and why Americans are having less sex than ever before, and seeks to answer how this phenomenon could be possible. In our liberal era, with access to potential sex partners easier than ever thanks to apps like Tinder, with taboos around sexual promiscuity falling and access to pregnancy and STD-preventing devices rising, how could it be that we’re actually spending less time in the bedroom?
Establish financial literacy as part of University Requirements
Of course, the Business program offers courses in financial accounting, managerial accounting and other related subjects. But for Business and non-Business majors alike, there is no single course about how to manage one’s personal finances.
Urge social media generation to realize the value of privacy
Borders between countries and other boundaries have not been the only ones to suffer collapse with postmodernism; those between the private and public spheres have disappeared as well. And the result is an unfortunate lack of privacy.
Urge reform in sentencing severity for drug possession
Reform the jail sentencing for individuals charged with drug possession.
Acknowledge detrimental effects of social media on youth
“Why our screens make us less happy” was the title of a TED talk given by psychologist Adam Alter this April.
Denounce stifling of conservative speech on college campuses
On March 2 at Middlebury College in Vermont, author and academic Charles Murray planned to speak on his recent book, “Coming Apart: The State of White America 1960-2010.” He was invited by a local chapter of the American Enterprise Institute, but at the podium, Murray was met with protesters that chanted lines such as, “racist, sexist, anti-gay, Charles Murray, go away,” according to a March 3 Inside Higher Ed article.
Appreciate the intellectual value of a liberal arts education
In recent years, the liberal arts education has been criticized for being impractical and distinctly non-vocational.
A 2024 guide to the Massachusetts Ballot Questions
Brandeis accused of financial aid price fixing
Losing the Lydian String Quartet: Administration's disregard for Brandeis arts
Music professor Taylor Ackley’s contract to end in 2025
Jewish Bund at Brandeis holds vigil for lives lost since Oct. 7