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(04/19/04 4:00am)
LAST YEAR, a lawsuit against retail chain Abercrombie and Fitch introduced a new "-ism" into the American lexicon of prejudice: lookism. Abercrombie admitted to having a national policy of recruiting attractive people to work at their stores. However, anti-discrimination law entered the picture when Abercrombie appeared to have an overly inclusive definition of "attractive" as white.
(04/05/04 4:00am)
WE ARE rapidly approaching the 50th anniversary of the landmark Court decision Brown v. Board of Education, which ruled that segregation by race in public schools was unconstitutional. The significance of Brown in achieving improved educational opportunities can hardly be overestimated. Yet 50 years later, America still faces a persistent problem of racial disparity in elementary and secondary school education. The problem is the root of a greater gap in the socioeconomic differences among racial groups, and its resolution is imperative.
(03/22/04 5:00am)
UNLESS you've been living under a rock, you would know that the Supreme Court upheld the use of affirmative action in higher education last summer. This is good news for the University, which relies partially on the consideration of race to maintain a diverse student body. Affirmative action programs are a privilege for underrepresented racial minorities. The fact is that if the admissions office relied solely on traditional criteria (e.g. SAT scores and GPA), some minority students currently enrolled would not be here.
(03/01/04 5:00am)
THE DICTIONARY defines a virgin as one who has never engaged in penile-vaginal intercourse. Yet, there are many variations of sex. Many unmarried women, and doubtless a few of their partners, choose to engage in these while preserving the right to call themselves virgins. This hypocrisy demands exposure. The behavior of such technical virgins is a symptom of society's obsession with reglegating intercourse to a category apart from and more significant than other sexual acts. This arbitrary division makes standards for intimate behavior illogically rigid. This is not a revolution in sex, but one in common sense.
(02/16/04 5:00am)
LAST YEAR, I took a class on sexual assault from the SWAG department. And I was struck by the one certainty with which I completed it: No man who chose to take that class would ever commit an act of date rape. Similarly, the sociology class SOC 341: Race and Ethnicity will doubtless make every member more sensitive to the realities of race in America. I wouldn't call this kind of education "ideology," -- I would call it awareness. And, moreover, it is an awareness that no student should graduate without. The University has a social responsibility to provide education outside of objective learning.
(02/06/04 5:00am)
ALL I CAN say is this: It's about time. On Wednesday, Massachusetts' highest court made an advisory ruling that same-sex couples have the right to marry. Note, we are not simply talking about "civil unions" but the institution of marriage, semantically and legally identical to that enjoyed by heterosexuals. The decision sent social and religious conservatives nationwide, including those occupying the White House, into fits. And the Massachusetts legislature promptly rebelled by announcing plans to amend the state constitution to limit the definition of marriage to that between a man and a woman. And the majority of the public opposes gay marriage as well (CBS News Polls, July 30, 2003).
(01/19/04 5:00am)
IN THIS last season of the ever-popular NBC sitcom "Friends," two of the show's main characters, Chandler and Monica, have decided to adopt a baby. They quickly encounter the reality that the adoption process does not guarantee success -- even for highly qualified parents. On "Friends," despite Monica and Chandler's credentials to become parents, they only get their baby through a combination of system error and deceit. There are many children awaiting adoption. Perhaps, the couple would have more luck if they did not limit themselves to choosing a baby who is white.
(11/24/03 5:00am)
IT'S COURSE registration time, which for most students is a big deal. And for the others, it should be. Our course schedule's will largely determine the character of our next semester and yet we have very few resources to use to make these decisions. The establishment of an accessible, comprehensive course evaluation database would make choosing courses more efficient and consequently improve the University's academic environment.
(11/10/03 5:00am)
WHILE I have repeatedly asked the editors to remove my photo from next to my editorial column, the fact is it's here to stay. People want an identity to go with the opinion and they are simple enough to believe that a snapshot will do the job. How much can we learn from that face? If he's cute, I can forgive him for being a Republican. She's wearing a polo shirt so I can take her word on the Greek system. And most of all: if she's not black, she has no right to be talking about black people.
(10/27/03 5:00am)
LAST WEEK, Congress sent to the Oval Office legislation to ban partial birth abortions. Bush not only publicly announced that he will sign it, but has been hustling the Senate to get it on his desk as soon as possible. This will be the first significant incursion on Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. The passage of this legislation will factor exponentially into the 2004 Presidential race. If the public is properly informed, the Democratic Party can use this issue to their advantage rather than their detriment. The key will be in stressing that the ban on partial birth abortions is most significant as a step toward making all abortions illegal.
(10/20/03 4:00am)
THIS ISN'T your childhood Monopoly game. The top hat, the shoe and the iron have been replaced by a pimp, a marijuana leaf and a crack rock. And the properties around the board include a liquor store, a gun shop, and a peep show. And remember those Chance cards that said, "Win second prize in a beauty contest. Collect 10 dollars"?Now, if you get lucky you might draw one that reads, "You got yo whole neighborhood addicted to crack. Collect $50." The game is called "Ghettopoly," and it's been a hit. But since Ghettopoly's conception, leaders of the black community have been publicly protesting its sale, deeming it racist. Last week, Yahoo.com responded by prohibiting online sale of the game as an "offensive" material. First Amendment issues aside, is the game offensive? Yes. But racist? No. This is one more example of what's become an all too common fallacy. The attack on Ghettopoly is symptomatic of a culture obsessed with arbitrary racial solidarity.
(10/06/03 4:00am)
LAST WEEK, the State Department announced that this December the Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra will perform for the first time in the United States in December. Through military invention, we brought Iraq as a country politically closer to our own. But in the meantime, we further solidified American prejudice toward its people as a cultural group. The idea of bringing over the Iraqi orchestra, while narrow in scope for certain, offers a possible tactic of promoting American acceptance of the Iraqi people: harnessing the growing popularity of "diversity."
(09/29/03 4:00am)
LAST TUESDAY, the Coalition and Student Council held a forum in Old Cabell Hall called "U.Va. in 20/20: How's Your Vision?" -- you must have seen the signs. Frankly, the turnout was pretty pathetic. The still enthusiastic speakers, both professors and graduate students, spoke to perhaps 75 people in attendance in a space that could hold many times that number, and a good many got up before the end. The situation is hardly unique.
(09/22/03 4:00am)
REMEMBER that movie from "A League of Their" Own? Geena Davis and Madonna portray members of a professional women's baseball league fighting to be kept open by their corporate sponsorship, Harvey's Chocolate. Madonna screams -- through tears -- at the league manager, "You go tell rich Mr. Chocolate man, he ain't shutting me down!" And the collective conscience of the audience thinks, "Injustice! Give those women their league!" After all, don't women deserve the same opportunities as their male counterparts?
(09/15/03 4:00am)
LAST TUESDAY, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the nation's first federally funded voucher program by a margin of a single vote. Should it pass in the Senate, the plan will offer D.C. students $10 million worth of private school tuition grants next year. Vouchers are yet another band-aid solution that will not only offer limited improvement in the short-run but hinder the possibility of public education from ever becoming adequate. Further, while voucher proponents from the District insist the bill is a local issue, the voucher plan will set a dangerous precedent for the entire nation.
(09/08/03 4:00am)
WHEN I found out the members of the University were aiming to create a "gay frat," my gut reaction wasn't good. Another minority group segregating themselves through the fraternity system is exactly what we don't need. But further consideration reminds me that I fell into the common fallacy that corrupts our idea of racial and sexual minorities: that they are parallel. The distinction between the two is what legitimizes the formation of a fraternity aimed at homosexual interests and not racial ones.
(09/01/03 4:00am)
UNIVERSITY first years encounter many new pleasures in their first week in the dormitories: the abolishment of curfews, readily available kegs and high-speed Internet connection courtesy of the school, free of charge. This last perk -- in combination with new computers -- makes first-year college students easy candidates to abuse Internet music downloading services like Kazaa or Morpheus. The Washington Post reports that at American University, orientation leaders counsel first years to stay away from this illegal activity. Downloaders are now subject to being sued by the Recording Industry Association of America. The RIAA has a valid point in wanting to protect the copyrights of recording artists. However, the methods required to hunt down possible downloaders involves infringements not justified by their purpose. If the protection of intellectual property and the protection of personal privacy are mutually exclusive, then forfeit the former in favor of the latter.
(08/25/03 4:00am)
THE CANDIDATES for the Democratic presidential ticket made headlines last week despite what has become an ongoing battle for any press coverage. Unfortunately, The Washington Post chose to devote space to an account of the candidates' visit to the Iowa State Fair ("At Iowa's State Fair, A Political Circus" August 17). Washington Post staff writer Mark Leibovich recounted the attempts of seven of the candidates to capture the market of the Regular Guy. Will this election be decided by who looks more natural eating a corndog? The standards with which Americans increasingly decide how to cast their votes are often irrelevant. It's unfeasible to try to officially restrict the franchise, but we should at least encourage ignorant voters to stay away from the polls.
(07/31/03 4:00am)
AT OBERLIN High School in Ohio, a group of parents is protesting the school's decision to allow a course in "black history" to be taught by a white teacher. Not only is this an irrational complaint, but its wider societal implications are dangerous. This is yet another example of how focusing on color and a fallacy of racial solidarity perpetuates issues of racism.
(07/21/03 4:00am)
AHH, THE fraternity party. It has become the ultimate symbol of the debauchery possible in a parent-free environment. Kegs kills, drunk frat boys chanting "toga" and rave-like dance floors are the icons of the college social life. The hallowed walls of the University fraternities houses have housed fun for many of our parents and grandparents.