Peter Singer spoke at Rutgers last week, giving his renowned talk on donating to charities. In this weeks JVP Speaks, the Johnsonville sounds off on the event and the argument.

It’s been a long time since I’ve written a formal article, so I thought I’d take what little free time at the end of this semester to discuss some things that have been on my mind this year. 2L year is not easy, and I spent the semester frantically trying to keep up with the demands of the criminal defense clinic, two classes, an internship, and the Journal of Telecommunications and High Technology Law. 80-hour work weeks were not uncommon, and sleep was a luxury highly coveted. I didn’t mind the work at the time because, due to a combination of sleep deprivation and starry-eyed idealism, I deluded myself into thinking that all this unpaid labor would be beneficial in the long run.

I’ve yet to have a real life conversation with JVP Co-founder and inaugural editor-in-chief Mike Stuzynski, so the only thing I know about him are from his articles and comments. I’ve come to appreciate and respect the effort and content of Mike’s thought because in thinking about his work I end up having to re-evaluate and possibly replace my own claims. As a writer, then, Mike is providing a valuable service to the JVP community. Kudos to you, Mike! And I think the legal service you’re providing through the misdemeanor clinic is cool too!

As Managing Editor of the JVP, I’ve spent the past few months working closely with Editor-In-Chief Matia Guardabascio. I’ve been exposed to her sharp-wit, her strong analytic skills, and her love of literature and music. Business meetings, however, can only let one so far in to the life of another. A Q and A can provide even further access, as is the case with this interview, wherein myself and readers get to learn about Matia’s upbringing and stargazing, amongst other things. The best way to get to know someone, as Matia herself points out, remains to be through casual conversation and plain-old hanging out. But until you have the pleasure of chatting with Matia herself, this Q and A will have to hold you over.

Project Civility is in full swing at Rutgers, whether you noticed it or not. The initiative’s aim is to get people to ask questions about what it means to be part of a community, about how people should treat one another, and what can be done to improve the quality of people’s treatment of others. Of course, the whole initiative is voluntary rather than mandatory, which means that, chances are, one likely won’t be prompted to participate in Project Civility in one’s day to day. At the very least, I’ve yet to be prompted, so I figured that I’d prompt myself and my fellow JVPers to participate ourselves with this week’s question: Should America have a notion of civic duty if it doesn’t already? Why or why not? If so, what should it entail?

Hello and welcome to JVP Speaks! In this soon-to-be-a-recurring-feature, contributors will kick-off a discussion on a particular topic by writing on a single prompt. This week the JVP asked itself: are you voting? Why or why not? Feel free to answer the question yourself, comment on any of our answers, and to generally get the ball rolling on this important topic! Here’s what we had to say:

Every day on my way to and from school, I treat myself to the distinct pleasure of strolling through Lafayette Square and past the front gates of the White House. Picking my way through crowds of people clad in Bermuda shorts and fanny packs reminds me not only of where I am, but how I got there…

We debauch upon a newer, mightier world where the only thing unlikely
to change too quickly is the inflational price of hotdogs and bottled
water. Obesity flows like oil, black gold seeping through cracks in
the cobblestones.

Ralph Waldo Emerson is usually credited as being the father of American literary and philosophical thought, laying the foundation for what Dewey and James would later call pragmatism, though it is worth noting that this discourse was in use as early as the signing of the American Constitution.  Pragmatism is generally characterized by an optimistic faith in the potential of the individual, whose perceptions and thoughts give him the power to shape the surrounding world at his whim.  Embraced by luminaries such as Whitman and Thoreau, it was carried …

I am writing this in response to Josh Baker’s column from last week’s Targum (found here) in order to correct some misunderstandings present in the article.  The article was concerned with new legislation proposed by Senator (not really) Al Franken that seeks to limit the bargaining power of corporations under government contracts.  Mr. Franken wants to make it illegal for corporations under government contracts to include arbitration clauses in their employee’s contracts.  This outcry resulted from KBR’s (Haliburton subsidiary) poor handling of the aftermath of the rape of one of …