At the beginning of a new year, the Managing Board of The Cavalier Daily — like many of the newspaper’s readers, no doubt — likes to take the opportunity to consider its faults and resolve to address them. In that spirit, we publicly resolve to continue to strive for excellence in journalism — to bring you accurately reported, well-written content every day we are in publication. Of course, we are not the only organization on Grounds that aims to improve itself annually, and with that in mind, we offer the following resolutions for some of the others.
The Honor Committee should resolve to kick its drinking habit — its Kool-Aid drinking habit, that is. A diversity of opinion strengthens any organization, and that would be especially true in the leadership of an honor system that suffers from a lack of credibility and is in desperate need of reform. Talking to most members of the Honor Committee, one would think the system is as strong as it ever was — and that the single sanction worked perfectly. It is unclear what percentage of the student body supports the single sanction, but it is clearly far less than the percentage of Committee members and support officers who do. Almost three years have gone by since University students asked the Committee to investigate alternatives to the single sanction, and 2009 should be the year the Committee finally does so in earnest.
Student Council needs to get organized this year. Council’s agenda is cluttered with minor initiatives that are the pet projects of individual Council members, as well as other programs that likely will not be sustainable in the long run. Council should reevaluate some of them and establish mechanisms for the others to be continued under future Council administrations. One such project that needs to become a more stable institution is the University Unity Project and the several initiatives that were established along with it last semester. Matt Schrimper’s brainchild does not need to expire along with his administration, but unless a permanent committee on the project is established and guidelines for it codified, it could easily become just another casualty of Council’s short institutional memory.
The athletic department should resolve to read more often. Specifically, it should read all of the bad press its actions have generated. From the “Sea of Orange” to last year’s ban on signs, the athletic department has been slowly watering down the University’s athletic traditions. Judging from the public reaction to these policies, it seems as if most fans preferred a poor football team with rich traditions to the current mediocre team that resembles every other program in the country. When the department finishes reading the volumes of writing critical of this priority shift, it can get started on the many editorials and blog posts calling for an end to Al Groh’s tenure.
Applied to individual students, these resolutions are a recipe for a successful semester in the classroom: reading the requisite material, staying organized and drinking less — or at least responsibly. They leave out something important, however. Rather than finishing their degree, padding their resume and getting out of here, they should resolve to make the most of their remaining time at the University by effecting positive change in the community.
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