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(10/28/15 4:15am)
Last month the Obama administration released the finalized Clean Power Plan — the first ever carbon emissions standard for existing power plants and arguably the most significant piece of U.S. legislation addressing global climate change to date. The CPP aims to reduce carbon dioxide emissions to 32 percent of 2005 levels by 2030 — a promising feat for a government that has otherwise shown reluctance in addressing the issue on both domestic and international fronts.
(09/02/15 4:05am)
On Aug. 19, I received an email invitation to attend McKinsey & Company's information session, linking videos entitled “The Benefits of Becoming a Business Analyst” and “What Do Business Analysts go on to Achieve?” Several days later I received the same memo, this time forwarded to me by a fellow fourth-year. On Aug. 25, I received an invitation to attend one of five recruiting events hosted by Bain & Company, another top-tier management consulting firm. On Aug. 27, I received yet another invitation enclosing the same memo, this time forwarded by my very own editor-in-chief.
(04/15/15 4:00am)
The other day I realized something odd: I am not myself. I have never been myself. Nor could I ever consciously achieve selfhood because in the attempt I inevitably over analyze and find myself back at square one: self-less.
(04/07/15 2:17pm)
Recent news headlines display a grim image of smoke and soot creeping through East Village, New York following the explosion of poorly installed natural gas piping, leaving a dozen injured. This news came as quite a shock to me, for a friend and I had been staying just one block to the west of the explosion site a mere two weeks before the incident occurred. And somewhat ironically that same week I took part in the Mountain Valley Pipeline Resistance Rally organized by students and community members of Blacksburg, Virginia. While issues of Manhattan utility maintenance are not to be conflated with the disruptive installation of an interstate pipeline project, both concerns ultimately stem from our continued reliance on a deeply problematic energy source that has no part in a healthy and safe energy economy. As stakeholders in a just energy future, University students should be wary of these concerns.
(03/18/15 4:01am)
Evangelical activist David Lane, at 60, has stepped up his game in encouraging pastors nationwide to run for public office. Lane’s impressive grassroots American Renewal Project, which aims to restore “our Christian heritage” by rekindling Moral Majority sentiments, has already contributed to the removal of three Iowa State Supreme Court justices who favored same-sex marriage. Lane forewarns of a “moral crisis” and claims that evangelicals must unite to “save the nation from the pagan onslaught imposing homosexual marriage [and] homosexual scouts.”
(03/04/15 7:03am)
I recall a recent conversation with a student studying international market policy who stubbornly refused to accept climate change as an imminent concern. So I asked — why so? By the end of our conversation it became obvious that he associated climate change with the stereotypical in-your-face-with-a-megaphone kind of personality you might find lining the streets at any anti-Keystone pipeline rally. After switching subjects to the more relatable domain of economic inevitabilities such as stranded assets and burgeoning markets for wind and solar, he seemed a bit more concerned. Soon enough action on climate meant contributing to the fascinating technological transformation accompanying the dying out and demonization of dirty energy. After all, clean-tech potential just keeps getting more awesome. My point, though, is not to advocate for grounding climate change in economic argument. I simply want us to consider alternative ways of framing the discussion — ways that may be more meaningful and motivating for others.
(02/18/15 6:12am)
These past weeks you may have noticed two frazzled students running around Grounds, thrusting clipboards into peoples’ laps. As third-year College students Jaeyoon Park and Ian Robertson have come to realize, it takes this sort of massive, shameless thrust to get people engaged with the honor system — or more appropriately put: our “community of rust” (to quote myself). However, the most recent issue surrounding the system seems to stem not from student apathy, but from a select few who have been proactively inhibiting others' ability to address the first.
(02/04/15 5:07am)
Our species balloons like bacteria on a petri dish. But like any finite sugar supply, the fossil-based energy that permits our continued growth has its limits. Though with modern advances in the energy sector, it would seem that humankind has the ingenuity to engineer the cap right off of our own carrying capacity. Take a star, put it in a box and voilà, you have fusion power — the panacea to our impending global energy crisis and perhaps the only way to sustain human life at its current growth rate.
(01/21/15 6:06am)
Last week the Managing Board directed our attention to the problem of partisan influence in higher education. They referenced a recent case at the University of Kansas where students and faculty are concerned about the hiring process of Dr. Arthur P. Hall, the current director of the Center for Applied Economics at KU and former public-sector chief economist for Koch Industries Inc. Students are demanding “greater transparency regarding Dr. Hall’s background, connections, and affiliations” and all documents pertaining to several KU faculty suspected of being brought in by Charles and/or David Koch.
(12/12/14 12:54am)
I wrap up the semester with a relevant question — what is this place, this adored jumble of white pillars, construction sites and endless red brick? According to the official Online Etymology Dictionary, the word “university” derives from the Latin root universitas meaning all things, universal, whole, etc. Barring additional etymologies, this term seems to approach a core characteristic of most universities, namely the diversity of opinion, culture, language and identity that thrive within them. Subsequent centuries tacked on more familiar descriptions, fleshing out the university as a place of higher learning and community of scholarship. To summarize — we appear to be a diverse intellectual community that exists for the advancement of ideas. So far this all seems fairly accurate. But I believe the definition wants for one crucial element: the unknown.
(11/19/14 5:21am)
Water gurgles up from beneath calciferous bedrock across coastal Florida, threatening to turn coastal communities into mini Venices by mid-century. Governor Rick Scott idly ignores the inevitable, pledging to dismantle any adaptive initiatives eagerly proposed by climate experts and urban planners. Meanwhile, the Midwest withers as heat waves intensify, projected to render parts of Iowa, Missouri and southern Illinois infertile to farmers within decades. And yet no comprehensive climate legislation has been passed in the United States, despite potential damages amounting to over $100 billion due to coastal flooding and agricultural loss. In fact, only 3 percent of Republican congressmen have accepted human-induced global warming on record.
(11/05/14 4:45am)
This article strives to formulate a more radical understanding of Honor — both as a tradition and principle upheld by our Community of Trust. In his recent column “Reform is required,” Gray Whisnant draws attention to the stagnancy of our beloved Honor system. He states, “[W]hat Honor needs is radical thinking, not in the political sense but in the Latin meaning of the term — examining inherent or root causes of a problem.” As Whisnant suggests, these roots extend far deeper than a common struggle for fairness. In other words, instances of lying, cheating and theft are inevitable and beside the point. Instead, I argue that student apathy toward Honor stems more from a prevailing attitude at our University. By recontextualizing Honor as part of a broader, competitive and intellectual student community, we might reconsider whether the traditional system of fairness is appropriate for our current University.
(10/22/14 7:09am)
With over 21,000 students currently enrolled in the University, there has to be at least a handful of Swedish folk speckled across the crowd. Here’s my suggestion — find one and take him or her out to coffee. Why? Because in doing so, you may discover a key characteristic of effective diplomatic leadership and the very essence of global citizenship amidst world of ever-increasing international reflexivity. Simply put, you may discover lagom.
(10/08/14 4:59am)
With climate threats looming, it’s no wonder we Millennials have shown increased concern for human impact on the environment. And yet hope for meaningful environmental policy continues to slip away into the great divide between staunch conservatives and demanding liberals. If we could learn to depoliticize grave issues of environmental degradation by reconciling party values, then perhaps we could grease up the old political engine and deliver a future that would make Jefferson proud.
(09/24/14 4:45am)
Last week, my fellow Opinion writer John Connolly wrote a column asking a basic question about student activism: is the University a place for it? He smartly concludes that academic communities such as our university provide students with the intellectual confidence to stir political and social change. He asserts, “Movements with no basis in intellectual thought or discourse rarely succeed,” but then says, “Our reverence for tradition [provides] a very healthy climate for student activism.” These two statements are problematic. The broader intellectual purposes of a university should not be conflated with its institutional inflexibility. The latter is a symptom of the broader political inertia rampant in institutions across the country. The former serves to upheave that resistance to change by motivating our students to take action.
(09/04/14 4:13am)
I was excited to see an article in The Cavalier Daily draw attention to socially and environmentally responsible investment. “Do your part” rightfully argues that students should encourage their universities to cut back on fossil fuel consumption, an energy reliance that must end if greenhouse gas emissions are to be significantly reduced. However, fossil fuel divestment — i.e. the removal of University assets from dirty industries like coal, oil, and gas — would not meet this objective. Simply put, the University’s investment portfolio is independent of its energy policy.