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(03/15/05 5:00am)
ONE WEEK and hundreds of gallons of piña colada removed from the 2005 Spring elections here at the University, it is easier to look back at our annual spectacle of student self-governance in action and wonder if this is really why we are here.
(02/22/05 5:00am)
IN A LEAD editorial earlier this month, ("Flyering blues," Feb. 4) The Cavalier Daily denounced flyering by Hoos Against the Single Sanction and Students for the Preservation of Honor after both groups plastered Grounds with handbills championing their respective causes. The editorial claimed that "these often uninformative, often vitriolic and often misleading printouts threaten to harm the integrity of a legitimate debate." But while informed, reasoned discourse is a noble goal, no one at the University ought to suppress or discredit simple, rhetorical dialogue. With elections beginning this week and campaigning already in full swing, our community, and most importantly our media outlets, should embrace even the most caustic diatribes.
(02/16/05 5:00am)
THE RECENT move of theAlpha Phi Alpha Fraternity,Inc. from the Black Fraternal Council to the Inter-Fraternity Council has kindled much debate on Grounds. While many were encouraged by the transition, the Alphas were also criticized by some students and administrators for flying in the face of black tradition. Most notably, Office of African-American Affairs Dean M. Rick Turner lambasted the switch, saying, "Martin Luther King, Jr. was an Alpha, and he would roll over in his grave if he knew that these young men made this move." Such an opinion highlights a problematic trend in social thought. At the University and around the world, people routinely misunderstand the role history ought to play in our lives, allowing an over-preponderance of the past to prevent us from living a rational life.
(02/08/05 5:00am)
FOR THE first time in recentmemory, a reasonable decision involving race was made at the University. Last week, the historically black Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity left the Black Fraternal Council and joined the Inter-Fraternal Council, an umbrella organization whose resources and operating procedures better fit Alpha Phi Alpha's needs and ambitions. In short, students made a decision based on logic rather than outdated conceptions of racial boundaries -- a refreshing idea in a community where students and administrators alike stubbornly insist on perpetuating beliefs that absurdly differentiate people by the color of their skin. We can only hope that others follow suit.
(01/25/05 5:00am)
IT MAY be a new semester, but University administrators are up to the same old tricks -- namely, rampant paternalism and frivolous spending. Students arrived on Grounds last week just in time to catch the latest example of administrative folly, an agreement to pay the city of Charlottesville to hire a new housing inspector specifically responsible for student off-Grounds housing. Once again, officials unable to keep up with the costs of funding a top academic institution are throwing money down the drain under the misconception that they are obligated to act as authoritarian overseers of an all-encompassing University community.
(11/30/04 5:00am)
STUDENT journalism is farfrom perfect, and publications on Grounds, this newspaper included, are no exception. But over the past three weeks, coverage of University issues by one of Charlottesville's "professional" news organs has made student reporters look like seasoned veterans in comparison.
(11/23/04 5:00am)
LAST WEEK hundreds of students, staff and faculty members assembled in silent protest of the University's sexual assault policy. The demonstration targeted, among other things, the Sexual Assault Board's confidentiality policy, which prevents those involved in proceedings from speaking out and precludes the release of all trial records. The protest was certainly praise-worthy. Indeed, the arcane ethos of secrecy surrounding sexual assault at the University has gone on too long. Our system is in desperate need of immediate change in favor of an open system that will allow community scrutiny. But the implications of such a move will likely upset those currently protesting the sexual assault policy more than they realize.
(11/16/04 5:00am)
BLUE STATE or red? Gay or straight? Black or white? Our culture is today more focused than ever on identity. From frustrated liberals deep in conservative country to disenfranchised ethnic minorities at predominately white universities, our race, our gender, our sexuality, our socio-economic status and our politics define who we are -- and why not? These pivotal aspects of our personality dictate what we do and think. But what makes identity? Today, many believe that the myriad roles we play are an innate part of our existence. But in reality, identity is little more than a set of prefabrications into which we step all too willingly, succumbing to a sad situation propagated by crusading radicals and staunch reactionaries alike.
(10/26/04 4:00am)
A GROUP of Venable School second graders were paraded before City Council last week to protest the sordid state of 14th Street, lobbying local politicians to do something about beer bottles, pizza boxes and other post-party refuse that frequently litter the area around their elementary school. While it was very likely an indignant teacher rather than particularly pugnacious seven year olds who spearheaded the appearance, many would argue that the trip provided the children with a valuable lesson in civic participation. Unfortunately, by teaching young Americans to run to the government at the slightest sign of controversy, we are perpetuating a major problem of modern activism.
(10/19/04 4:00am)
WITH A hotly contested election drawing near, there is a great deal of debate concerning who will protect basic American freedoms over the next four years. And despite all the bickering, one thing has been made very clear -- it won't be George W. Bush or John Kerry. Fortunately for any American who values constitutional rights over partisan bumper stickers, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals stepped up to the plate of civic responsibility last week and hit a home run for real American values. Now it's our turn to back them up.
(10/05/04 4:00am)
WITH LESS than a month remaining until the 2004 presidential election, America is saturated with reminders that the most important, patriotic thing citizens can do is get out and vote. Everyone from P. Diddy to Isaac Mizrahi wants you to know that it doesn't matter for whom you cast your ballot as long as you exercise your franchise. Sadly, this couldn't be further from the truth. Perhaps the most politically savvy thing Americans can do this year is proudly abstain from voting for president.
(09/28/04 4:00am)
LAST WEEK graduate student Richard Felker made the bold decision to open his University Judiciary Committee trial for misconduct to the public. While the trial, in which Felker was found guilty, gave the University community a chance to witness the professionalism and competency with which UJC proceedings are conducted, it also served as a reminder of the tremendous power the Committee wields over students in relative secrecy and ought to reinvigorate discussion on increasing the transparency of the judiciary system.
(09/21/04 4:00am)
IT'S THAT time again at the University. Time for wide-eyed first years to gape in awe at the prospect of altering a pillar of school tradition and time for jaded upperclassmen to roll their eyes. It's time to reevaluate one of the University's most hallowed and controversial institutions -- the single sanction.
(09/07/04 4:00am)
LAST WEEK, the Managing Board of The Cavalier Daily exchanged jabs with administration officials concerning a hike of the Student Activity Fee. The Board was disquieted by a seeming lack of public discussion last semester when administrators and student leaders worked together to prepare the newly implemented fee-increase proposal. While it appears proceedings may not have been particularly clandestine, the Managing Board was correct to question the transparency of administrative decision-making as student government and school administrators alike are notorious for assuming they know what is best for students instead of testing the forum of public opinion. However, in this particular case it appears all parties involved have failed to ask a more important fundamental question. Instead of simply concerning themselves with the allocation of newly levied funds, students ought to consider the legitimacy of the activities fee as a whole.
(06/24/04 4:00am)
FOLLOWING a federal judge's certification this week of a class-action lawsuit against Wal-Mart, it appears likely the American public will soon witness the largest ever employment discrimination lawsuit against a corporation. The outcome of the suit, already being hailed as a historic milestone comparable to Brown v. Board of Education, will surely affect our nation's perception of civil rights and the application of laws designed to protect them in the next decade. But unfortunately, the approach taken by the plaintiffs and their supporters already promises to re-enforce the kind of fundamentally flawed thinking that has characterized the civil rights debate of late.
(06/17/04 4:00am)
JUST WHEN you thought your next history lesson was not until September, the powers that be have conspired to keep life academic. "History" has been everywhere early this summer -- Ronald Reagan's death making history, thousands of mourners thronging the capital to be part of history, Smarty Jones failing to race into history and the deteriorating situation in Iraq threatening to look like a little bit of history repeating itself. The word "history" has been tossed about so much that BBC Newsman Daniel Lak observantly noted it is now difficult to know whether history is what shapes American perspective or whether American perspective shapes what we consider history.
(04/06/04 4:00am)
LAST WEEK high school senior Candace Parker won the Slam Dunk Championship at the McDonald's High School All-American game, a contest replete with young, talented male athletes. Parker, the only female contestant, became the first woman to win the title, prompting reporters everywhere to proclaim the dawn of a new era, the coming of a savior and a giant step forward for women everywhere. In fact, the only person associated with the event not focused on its historic significance was Parker herself, who said she was just happy to go out and dunk the ball. Parker's treatment by a ravenous media, hungry to paint any event in shades of race, gender or religion, is not only unfortunate but is symptomatic of a greater problem.
(03/30/04 5:00am)
At a university struggling to maintain its status as a top academic establishment while simultaneously coping with the demands that besiege a public institution, there is no issue more pressing than the organization of housing and student support structures. While there is currently a great deal of discussion in our community concerning on and off-Grounds housing and fraternity residency, the status of Brown College, one of the most interesting residential situations at the University, routinely goes unnoticed. This is unfortunate, for hidden away in its nook on Monroe Hill, a great University resource is going to waste.
(03/23/04 5:00am)
IN THE 2000 presidential election, Ralph Nader received over 2.8 million votes and significantly altered the political landscape, yet despite Nader's legions of supporters nationwide, asinine laws in many states are currently forcing the Independent candidate to wage war just to get his name on the 2004 presidential ballot. While pretentious Democrats and Republicans will spend the next eight months squabbling over trivial character issues and even deriding Nader's legitimacy, no one besides Nader's out-gunned volunteers will pay much heed to the disgraceful state of representative democracy in the United States.
(03/16/04 5:00am)
WHILE a variety of probing philosophical inquiries concerning bikinis and mai-tais will be thick in the air this week, one question will no doubt loom above all others: When the hell do we get out of here? Indeed, there is no better time to consult the academic calendar than upon one's sun-baked return to reality. But unfortunately for students, the result might provide a sudden gut-check. While there isn't much to worry about this semester, next year's schedule -- courtesy of the reigning Student Council dynasty upheld in the recent election -- is nothing to smile about.