Saturday, December 21
The Lawrenceville School's weekly newspaper.
Opinions
Satellites for Climate Change? Seriously?
If you looked up at the sky with your naked eyes, it would be hard to accurately guess how many satellites there are. In fact, over 5,000 satellites currently hover...
Sinking and Swimming | New Student Reflection
Imagine this: You’ve been an award-winning open-water swimmer your entire life, waking up at ungodly hours every morning to trek down to the beach, repeating the same routine and navigating...
Your Move, NATO.
For over two years, Ukrainian troops have tirelessly resisted the Russian invasion—and even expanded onto Russian soil—in a quest to defend their sovereignty. From devastating air missile attacks to full-out...
Senate Bill 1329 Fails Idaho Minors
On July 1, 2024, Idaho’s State Senate enacted Senate Bill 1329, which requires healthcare providers to secure parental consent before treating minors. This bill covers all degrees and aspects of...
AI Legislation Woefully Inadequate
In light of recent leaps in A.I. development, the question of what A.I. programs should be allowed to do grows ever more complex. For example, a pair of glasses developed...
Taylor Swift and the New Era of Political Endorsements
Donald Trump is infamous for his social media presence. From late-night proclamations about his sky-high intellect to lies about the 2020 Presidential Election being“stolen,” the former President is an unpredictable...
How a Founding-Era Article Explains America’s Broken Politics
By 1785, James Madison was at a loss of words. America’s first attempt at a Republic, The Articles of Confederation, failed miserably. The federal government failed to enforce the Treaty...
Hookup Culture and Existentialism
As the temperature drops in steep increments, I opt for a hot matcha latte instead of my usual iced Americano. Growing up, sweaters, pumpkin spice, warmer drinks, and rom-coms were...
How To Destroy A Political Party (In 3 Easy Steps!)
Have you ever wanted to destroy a political party? If so, you might anticipate an arduous journey, but fear not: toppling a national political party can be accomplished in three...
Carbon Capture: Inefficient Technology
With the impacts of climate change starting to emerge, the search for viable solutions becomes increasingly urgent. Among the proposed methods, carbon capture technologies have emerged as a popular option...
Carbon Capture: Illogical Policies
As the climate crisis escalates, carbon capture and storage (CCS) has gained traction as a technological solution to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. With recent federal subsidies, corporations—including those deeply entrenched...
Disconnect To Connect
Sahana Lowy ’26 and Allie Grice ’26
My fingers ghost over the flashing lights below them. The scroll consumes all of my focus before I even realize it. I can’t recall exactly how I decided to open...
When In Rome...
At the age of four, I knew of Julius Caesar as a man of honor. His name echoed from the dinner tables to my bedroom, where my father regaled me...
Yes, There's A Place For The Classics In Modern Society
“ Γνῶθι σαυτόν” “Know thyself”—inscription on the oracle of Delphi I love the word “classics”—it's a tinkling chime that paints the ancient Achaeans anew. Whenever said, the noun stirs up...
Letter to the Editor: On Popularity
A scrawny figure gazes into the bathroom mirror on the second floor in the Dawes House, unaware of the metamorphosis ahead—an experience unique to Lawrenceville. In the coming months, she...
Build Connections, Not Cliques
The Circle and Crescent are staples of campus life at Lawrenceville; residential events like House Olympics and structured House time adds a familial essence to the Lawrenceville experience as students...
Political Masculinity, Whatever That Means
Deciding which candidates in the upcoming Presidential election would most adequately support women is not just a woman’s problem: Men must also educate themselves to make sure they are voting...
Meritocracy: A Myth, A Mess?
On September 4, Dr. Scott opened the 215th Lawrenceville School year with the following remark: “Students … please rise. Look to your left, right, behind, and in front of you....
In Defense of Phone Usage
Lawrenceville prevents students from using their phones in the dining halls, School Meetings, and academic buildings, threatening confiscation, yet often failing to fully enforce this policy. By limiting phone usage,...
Silent Violence: The Dangers of Autonomous Weapons
H.G. Wells claimed the “introduction of the longbow marked the beginning of the end for the need to look into the eyes of those we kill.” This trend away from...
Bring Back the 24 Hour Pass
Sitting on the common room couch, staring at my nearly completed essay on the eve of its due date last spring, I was struck by a troubling realization: I hated...
In Defense of the Summer Job
“What are you doing over the summer?” Spring Term of sophomore year, I detested this question that I just could not seem to avoid. Friends, classmates, and teammates seemed so...
Senior Reflection
As Lawrentians, we have been trained to dash out reflections at interims and at the end of every trimester. So, when presented with the honor of writing a Senior Reflection...
Senior Reflection
1) On a rainy April afternoon, I returned to my apartment lobby with a notification that I had received a package. I signed my name and faced a large box...
Senior Reflection
Two scrapbooks sit on the windowsill of my room, both originally and solely dedicated to my travels. At the beginning of senior year, I decided to scrapbook more in depth—not...
The Magical Andy Kim
Five years into office, Rep. Andy Kim stands out in a crowded district with once-tight battles between Republicans and Democrats. His district voted for Donald Trump, while Kim voted to...
A New Voting Bloc Emerges: Tracking Trends Among Gen Z Voters
Come November, many members of Lawrenceville’s Class of 2024 will head to the polls to vote in the upcoming 2024 Presidential Election. The ballots of young people, akin to our...
Senior Reflection
If you’re going to take anything away from this reflection, make it this: be present. That doesn’t just mean showing up for things. Find moments to be and to connect...
Senior Reflection
I’ve always been a materialist: in seventh grade, I filled three Wegmans shopping bags with candy wrappers for a “to be determined” art project for a “to be determined” future...
Senior Reflection
In my head, Lawrenceville has always been a dragon of sorts. A beautiful dragon, yes, with iridescent scales and eyes the color of rubies, but a terrifying monster nonetheless. I...
Home is Where the Heart Is: Fostering a More Equitable House Experience
The Circle and Crescent, which encompass six and five Houses, respectively, are staples of campus life at Lawrenceville: House-based events like House Olympics and the tight bonds Lawrentians form by...
The Tetris Trap: How Perfectionism Reinforces Student Struggles
As I sat down to do my homework and opened Tetris for the hundredth time today, my friend’s voice chimed in behind me with a snarky comment: “Wow, you SUCK...
Senior Reflection
As I sit down to write this essay, I realize I am already on my fourth draft. During my four years here, I have served as a prefect, techie, editor,...
A Waning Trust: Is the American Media to blame for its Unpopularity?
This Monday marked the arrival of Lawrenceville’s seventh Capstone Speaker, NPR White House Correspondent Asma Khalid. While Lawrentians’ immediate focus was Khalid’s presentation, followers of the broader media industry would...
Letter to the Editors
Sahana Lowy ’26 and Tiffany Sun ’26
As the Mem Hall bell chimed, signaling the start of the period, I set foot in my classroom and found myself in the middle of a heated conversation between a...
Letter to the Editor
Living through the II Form year—the gate to a new phase of your life, as a high schooler and Lawrentian—can be overwhelming. Freshmen enter the School knowing absolutely nothing about...
Expanding our Horizons: The Case for Space Exploration
Sarah Jang ’27 and Matthew Fu ’27
Humans have studied the stars for millennia. Virtually every culture formulated theories about the universe and celestial objects. The Greeks associated planets with gods; Helios and Apollo moved the sun...
The Political Mirage; The Dangerous Politics of RFK Jr.
When stumbling upon a recent poll, the competition between Former President Trump and President Biden may catch our eye, but below lurks a surprising contender—Robert...
Walking on Eggshells: Flimsy Defenses for Meat Eating
The human race raises 27 billion chickens, 1.5 billion cows, 1.2 billion sheep, and 784 million pigs for meat. 72,650 billion gallons of water are used to grow livestock feed....
Falling from Cloud Nine: A Faulty Solution for Climate Change
In 1990, physicist John Latham hiked the undulating hills of Wales with his young son. Gazing at the clouds, Latham’s son asked why the clouds were bright. Latham explained how...
The Unseen Scars of our Future
In 2008, amidst the deafening clangor of tanks and sporadic cries of civilians, my family and I were tasked with fleeing our home less than 35 miles away from active...
The Art of the Compromise: Mike Johnson's Strenuous Path Forward
It is a question that has become an intense matter of debate: who is Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) always on the phone with? Whether it be the...
The Downfalls of Student Activism
A few months ago, I walked into Tsai only to be greeted by an entourage of people asking me for donations. There’s a word in Chinese that perfectly describes this...
Pride Reflection
I often joke with my friends that Lawrenceville “turned me” queer; after all, I spent the 14 years prior to arriving on this campus only having crushes on guys, and...
Who's Working for the Working Class?
Leo Mahe ’26 and Eric Chen ’27
In a reverse-polarized political climate, where the electorate votes “against” candidates as much as they vote “for” their rivals, Trump should be a pretty easy target, right? The fascist rhetoric,...
Il Dolce far Niente
With the influx of ‘50 days left at 2500 Main Street’ posts and seniors shopping for graduation dresses, it seems like the end of the 2023-24 school year has snuck...
Watch Your Language: How Journalists' Word Choices Distort Truth
In the British science-fiction anthology series Black Mirror, there's an episode where soldiers are deployed to hunt terrifying, humanoid mutants known as "roaches." After a neural implant embedded in one...
Letter to the Editor
A response to “Don’t Blame ByteDance,” published 4/14/2023 Last month, the House of Representatives passed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, forcing Chinese corporation ByteDance to either...
Let Migrants Work
Over spring break, I returned home to Chicago. One of the first things I noticed was that sections of the airport had been closed and converted into migrant shelters. Outside...
Journalism Is Not A Crime
The front page of a newspaper is supposed to be jam-packed with critical information, summarizing the most important events in a typically chaotic day. So imagine the surprise the 555,000...
Senior Reflection
William Jiawei Huang ’24 believes that the diminishing house and school culture at Lawrenceville is mainly due to the loss of mutual respect on campus. While I don’t respect Jiawei,...
Senior Reflection
To say my journey through Lawrenceville has been conventional would be an utter lie, but that’s what makes this place so unique—you don’t have to take the same path as...
Lawrenceville Vignettes
1 We’ve just finished our workout. I’m exhausted and my legs shake of their own volition. As we trudge through Tsai, desperate to sit down and finally eat, you spot...
On Belonging
During my II Form year, I always thought of the House system as one of the numerous PR stunts that Lawrenceville employs to attract applicants—one of those ideas that looks...
It's Bigger than US: 4 Elections to Watch in 2024
Although it is easy to think that all that matters in 2024 will depend on the impending Biden-Trump rematch in November, there are many other elections taking place this year...
Difficult To Divest
On February 2, 2024, the 143rd Board of the Lawrence published the Editorial “Sustainable Living, Beyond the Council,” advocating for students to actively incorporate sustainability into their day-to-day lives, instead...
Epidemic of Violence
Valentine’s Day 2024: 22 shots ring out during the Super Bowl Victory Parade in Kansas City, Missouri, killing Elizabeth Galvan, a beloved radio host, and injuring twenty-two others. If you...
Yap Culture: The Good, The Bad, and the Wordy
You sit at an oval table: a notebook, pencil, and book splayed out around you. Your teacher has scribbled your classmates’ names on a piece of paper, and remains silent,...
Alumna Reflection
I’ve always liked to keep diaries, but I’ve never journaled as often as I did during my senior year at Lawrenceville. Fueled by an intense need to preserve the present...
Senior Reflection
1 As soon as the lights dimmed and Lauren Williams strutted onstage with her “yeah girl, you tell her,” I knew I was in for a rollercoaster of emotions. Periwig’s...
Senior Reflection
After Winter Gathering, I cleared out my dark purple “everything” folder: any and all papers, whether from my Honors Government class or from an elective I took last term, end...
Senior Reflection
For years, my favorite movie has been Monte Carlo. Even as a child, I found its premise ridiculous but endearing, and as I grew older, it cemented itself as my...
The War on Thinking: Censorship in Curriculums
Last year, Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis enacted bans on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs in public schools and universities, intending to eradicate these diversity programs which DeSantis claims “indoctrinate...
Capital Punishment is a Crime
On January 25, 2024, the state of Alabama executed Kenneth Smith using nitrogen hypoxia, a first in American history. Though state attorneys assured courts that the method induces “unconsciousness in...
Lawrenceville Revolutionizes Scheduling: The Future is Awake.
The following article is NOT satire and should be taken very seriously, as it is the honest to god truth. This Winter Term, Head of...
The Best Bathrooms At Lawrenceville
This article is not a Features article, and not satire either, so it should be taken very seriously. Coming in as a new Lawrentian, I had many...
Consultation: A Hidden Gem from the Stephan Archives.
There's no way that the following article is satire. According to records recently uncovered by the 2023-2024 Heely Scholars from the Stephan Archives, Lawrenceville had a mysterious block in the...
A Question for the Culture
The following article is NOT satire! People tell me to write for the lawrence all the time—my teachers, my classmates, and even my mom. They all...
Letter to the Editor
Letter to the Editor: After “E Pluribus, None? A Recent History of the Republican Party” It seems that former President Barack Obama’s terms in the Oval Office caused a radical...
The 2024 U.S. Presidential Election Is on the Horizon: Now Is the Time to Help Ukraine.
Soldiers crammed into muddy trenches. The exchange of frontal assaults, machine guns, and shellfire all to gain minimal territory. No, this isn’t a recount of the Battle of the Somme,...
Reflections on Repetition: Our New Academic Schedule
In the midst of a grueling Lawrenceville Winter Term, it may seem impossible to look ahead; however, next year’s academic schedule is nothing if not...
Completion Over Caring: How Our Homework System Fails Us
Last night, I checked Canvas to see my math homework and got excited when I saw that we only had six problems to do for...
Free Speech Musings
The First Amendment and the extent to which it protects free speech has become increasingly relevant since the start of the Israel-Palestine war. Phrases like...
Independence? Truth? Reason? Reflecting on Political Intrusion in Higher Education
Claudine Gay's recent resignation as the president of Harvard University was prompted by allegations of inadequate responses to antisemitism, accusations of plagiarism, and conservative efforts...
The Border Crisis: Learning from the Past
The United States faces a crisis at its southern border: millions of migrants, both illegal and legal, pour into the nation at sustained record highs,...
Can Israel's Bombing Campaign End Hamas?
For over a hundred days after Hamas militants crossed Israel’s border on October 7, killing 1,139 people and taking around 250 hostages, Israel has bombed...
Christmas? In This Economy?
December is that time of year: Whether it be Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa, family members travel across states, nations, or even continents to reunite with...
Breaking the Silence: Why We Must Discuss the Israel-Hamas War
On October 7, the terrorist group Hamas launched an attack on Israel which, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, was the deadliest...
On the Recent School Meeting
This Monday, January 8, the Lawrenceville community gathered to listen to alumni Jane Ferguson ’04 and David Ottaway ’57 P ’86 ’91 GP ’24 discuss...
Letter to the Editor
To the Editor: I am writing to express a grievance regarding the prohibition of earbuds in the Loucks Field House Power-Rack room—a new policy established...
Reflecting On Kamala Harris
There were hints of history-making in the air on January 21, 2021, when Kamala Harris, sporting a purple dress suit paying homage to both women’s...
A Class Act: Speculating Why Lawrenceville Alumni Donate
As much as Lawrenceville is known for its high quality education, it is equally known for its high tuition—one of the highest in the country...
The Magic of Sports
Here at Lawrenceville, many students are stressed and sleep-deprived from their academic, athletic, and extracurricular commitments. Simply put, life at Lawrenceville can be taxing on...
Dishonesty Was His Only Policy
“Why would I want to stay here? To hell with this place!” That was former Representative George Santos’ (R-N.Y.) response...
Letter to the Editor
A Response to "Reimagining Lawrenceville's Work Ethic" published October 9, 2023 In the Editorial published on October 9, 2023, the Board argued that it is not technically academic rigor–“a permanent...
E Pluribus, None? A Recent History of the Republican Party
Head hung low, Jim Jordan exited the House of Representatives in defeat for the final time on October 21. His attempt to succeed Kevin McCarthy...
Humanity’s Friendly Ghost: On the Assumption and Absence of Independent Thought
“Don’t ask the question if you don’t want to hear the answer.” This is a refrain that was constantly echoed by my father throughout my...
Defending Our Defense: A Lesson from Ukraine, Corporations and the Military Industrial Complex Don’t Mix
On September 8, it was unearthed that Elon Musk, private owner of X (formerly known as Twitter) and CEO of Tesla and Space-X, denied the...
A Call to Keep: How “Smartphone” Usage Combats Restrictive Phone Policies
This year, Lawrenceville announced drastic changes to its student handbook and phone policies. Phone use is now prohibited in academic buildings as well as during...
A Polemic on Plastic
Plastics are a staple of humanity, but they are not a harmless convenience. Through advertising campaigns, front organizations, and faulty education, the plastics industry hides...
The Big Red Reality: Lawrenceville in the Eyes of a New III Former
Lawrenceville was Barbieland. There were ponies jumping over rainbows and there were green rolling hills and the blue of the sky was a bit too...
A Call to Confiscate
Since its origin in 19th century English Boarding Schools, study halls have forced students to use their unstructured time effectively. In the past, when the...
For an Affirming Affirmative Action: How An Attempt at Increasing Diversity Ironically Decreases It
A while ago, I read an article called “Affirmative Action is Over. Should Applicants Still Mention Their Race?” A line in the article illustrated the...
A Chance to Create
Angel Xin ’26 and Arya Vishwakarma ’25
The last time the late-summer sun beat down on Lawrentians in formal attire, the Class of 2026 had only spent about a week on campus. At last year’s Convocation, fanning...
From Pariah to Palatable
On the first anniversary of Earth Day in 1971, the “Crying Indian” ad campaign from the environmental organization, Keep America Beautiful (KAB), showcased an indigenous man distressed by the amount...
Letter to the Editor: A response to “The Case for American Communism” published in Opinions on May 26, 2023
Mr. Gupta’s article, “The Case For American Communism,” is a laudable exercise in scholarly debate and an opportunity for diversity of views. All high schools...
Senior Reflection
When it comes to Lawrenceville, I’ve always been a cynic. For years, I’ve run from the Hype Squad and joked about this school’s various pitfalls; the term “hellville” is ingrained...
The Intervention Dilemma
In the past year, the United States gave $75 billion of financial, military, and humanitarian aid to Ukraine to support the country’s resistance to Russia’s invasion. While the vast majority...