Scott Stern
Scott Stern
Recent Stories
STERN: The grammarian’s manifesto
We have lost our way, but I am determined to correct that. So I am writing to promulgate a new code of grammar, just as the great Strunk and White have done before me.
‘The New Jim Crow’: An absolute must-read
Reading Between the Lines
“The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness” by Michelle Alexander is an important book. Don’t believe me? Just ask the Baltimore Sun, which called it an “important book.” Still not convinced? Well, the Birmingham News called it “Undoubtedly the most important book published this century about the U.S.” In my opinion, this is not an exaggeration.
STERN: Occupying our conversations
A Stern Perspective
The Occupy New Haven encampment has been having a hard time. Reports of infighting and crime on the Green coincide with city efforts to dismantle the site completely.
Greenhouse's Very Short Introduction is Very Short — And Very Good
When "The U.S. Supreme Court: A Very Short Introduction" arrived in the mail, I initially thought I had ordered incorrectly. It looked too short, too cute — maybe only nine inches tall with barely 100 bite-size pages. Yet after a moment's pause, I realized that this was what the title had promised: a very short, accessible introduction.
STERN: Watching the watchers
A Stern Perspective
On September 25, 2010, Luis Luna was arrested. His crime? Filming a police officer. Yes, when Luna used his iPhone to record several arrests being made on Crown Street by then-NHPD Assistant Chief Ariel Melendez, his phone was confiscated and he was placed under arrest.
STERN: For another prefrosh weekend
A Stern Perspective
Last weekend, you may have noticed that Yale had more visitors than usual. These slightly confused-looking kids wandered around in herds, mostly staying close to Science Hill but occasionally straying into the heart of campus. They were here as part of Yale Engineering and Science Weekend (YES-W).
A Walk in the Woods
I had been told that this area was swampy, but somehow I hadn’t quite envisioned getting my feet wet. As I walked through the woods, the ground squelched underfoot. Leaves — some still improbably alive during this unexpectedly fair winter — rustled above me.
STERN: Lift the Cuba embargo
A Stern Perspective
When you own a cow in Cuba, you can drink its milk, but you may not slaughter it, said Patricia Alejandro ’12, who was born in Cuba and is a member of Yale’s Cuban American Undergraduate Student Association.
STERN: Freshman seminars should be mandatory
Freshmen deserve personal classroom experiences. When it comes to getting the courses I want, I consider myself supremely lucky. Yes, last semester, I was not placed into the English seminar I wanted or the Spanish seminar I initially wanted.
STERN: Needle exchanges work
A Stern Perspective
For six and a half years, Margaret Lippitt, a student in the Yale Graduate School of Public Health, worked for an organization with a slightly surprising name: Helping Individual Prostitutes Survive (HIPS). HIPS provides services including disease testing and support groups to prostitutes, intravenous drug users and other at-risk people.