Philip Issa

Republican or Democrat: Vote for Obama in November

There is more at stake in the upcoming election than foreign policy, economic policy, social policy and a handful of Supreme Court nominations. What is really at stake is the nature of American politi…

Changing cultures

I visited my grandparents in Aleppo, Syria last summer. The city is located in the north about thirty miles from the Turkish border and is one of the world’s oldest. I’ve travelled there regularly sin…

An open letter from Obama to Swarthmore admissions

I’m sure you’ve heard by now that Barack Obama, America’s greatest President-Elect ever, was rejected from Swarthmore.

What you may not know is that I have in my hand a letter that he asked me t…

A look at free trade

Free trade is a perilous discussion topic. One of its most remarkable features is that support for it seems to be best explained by random assignment — that is, any individual, regardless of their cha…

Lessons and opportunities of the economic crisis

It’s hard to imagine a more breathtaking election cycle than this one. The economic crisis effectively blew a hole in the old political rhetoric and has forced everyone, politicians and citizens alike…

Swarthmore’s Arabic program successful and essential

Dear Constance Hungerford,

I received your letter about the current review of the Tri-College Arabic program. I will be happy to describe my specific experiences with the program in a private letter, …

Either beauty or brains?

By the first Thursday of my freshman year, I had already arrived at the same revelation that everyone else had about my new school: the good-looking went elsewhere. Yes, it was a bit hyperbole, and ye…

Mental illness damaging, real

Mental illness is no different from any other illness of the human body. The worst mental illnesses are as damaging as the most insufferable physiological illnesses and remain equally incurable. Along…