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(02/11/14 4:49am)
In response to former Governor Bob McDonnell’s federal indictment, members of the Virginia House of Delegates have announced a bipartisan package of ethics reforms which they hope to pass in the current session. But though this package is a step in the right direction, it shouldn’t be considered a victory for ethics in politics; the delegates’ proposed reforms are relatively tame, and they leave plenty of loopholes for politicians.
(02/04/14 6:06am)
Recently, Attorney General Mark Herring has come under fire from Republican members of the General Assembly and the chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia for announcing his intent not to defend Virginia’s current same-sex marriage ban. Under the guise of defending the Constitution, gay marriage opponents are criticizing Herring’s decision and claiming that he is not living up to his job title. But this criticism is grossly unfair; it is within Herring’s rights to determine the constitutionality of a law and to prioritize which laws to enforce and defend.
(01/28/14 5:29am)
In the 1960s the Vinegar Hill neighborhood in Charlottesville was demolished and redeveloped, causing the relocation of most of its black community. Black residents of Vinegar Hill, who were unable to reside elsewhere because of segregation, weren’t able to vote on the razing of their neighborhood at the time due to the existence of a poll tax. This former neighborhood is now part of the Downtown Mall, a social hub of Charlottesville and an area University students frequent.
(01/21/14 3:28am)
Bill de Blasio, the newly inaugurated mayor of New York City, has made creating a universal prekindergarten system one of his top priorities. His program will be contingent on raising income taxes for the most affluent New Yorkers — those who make more than $500,000 a year. His main roadblock to implementing this tax program — and therefore universal pre-K — is the disapproval of current New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.
(01/14/14 4:33am)
During our brief hiatus from school, a special election took place to fill Lieutenant Governor-elect Ralph Northam’s now-vacated state Senate seat. Another one is set for Jan. 21 to fill Attorney General Mark Herring’s spot.
(12/03/13 3:45am)
As an avid fan of the books, I greeted the latest film adaptation of “The Hunger Games” series with enthusiasm. I don’t mind most of the film’s divergences from the book. There are few, and most are slight. But one place where the film deviates from the book is worth some discussion. When Katniss and Peeta go on their victory tour, they visit the districts of each of their former competitors; the first district is District 11. In the film, District 11 seems to be the only primarily non-white district (the racial makeup of each district isn’t elaborated on in the books).
(11/26/13 3:14am)
Despite Republican efforts to invalidate votes that would favor Democratic attorney general candidate Mark Herring, Herring has officially won the Attorney General race by a thin margin, the State Board of Elections announced Monday.
(11/19/13 5:16am)
Following Election Day, in a transparent attempt to give Republican attorney general candidate Mark Obenshain an advantage, Virginia’s State Board of Elections ordered Fairfax County to change how provisional ballots are counted, right in the middle of the vote-counting process. Provisional ballots are cast by voters whose eligibility is in question — perhaps they changed addresses and didn’t update their registrations, or forgot to bring an ID to the polls or their names are misspelled on the electoral rolls. Once polls are closed, legal or otherwise permitted representatives at the polls can advocate for those ballots to be counted.
(11/12/13 4:30am)
Since New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s sweeping victory last week — and before it — many pundits consider Christie the likely GOP nominee for president in 2016. As the nation becomes more and more disenchanted with the dysfunction in the Republican Party, a moderate like Christie seems like a sensible candidate. But even if Christie appeals to Americans across party lines, before he can win the Presidency he has to win over extremists in Republican primaries, which could very well be his downfall.
(11/05/13 12:49am)
The University’s statement of purpose and goals includes the goal “to quicken, discipline, and enlarge … ethical awareness” in the University’s members. To pursue this goal, the University should make ethics a required course in the curriculum of all its undergraduate schools.
(10/29/13 2:27am)
For the first time in the paper’s history, the Richmond Times-Dispatch has opted not to endorse a candidate in Virginia’s gubernatorial election. Not only is this a cop-out on the part of the paper’s editorial board, but the paper’s refusal to take a position on whom to vote for is irresponsible to its readers.
(10/22/13 3:51am)
Coming from the Northeast, I still have a lot to adjust to when it comes to Southern culture. I can handle drinking sweet tea and saying “NOVA,” but I was thoroughly unprepared and offended when I learned of the existence of the Jefferson Davis Highway. Davis is undeserving — to say the least — of this kind of memorialization. This highway needs to be renamed immediately.
(10/16/13 3:08am)
There has been a lot of speculation lately about how the government shutdown will affect midterm elections in the House, but the shutdown will also have an effect on the gubernatorial election here in Virginia. This effect will negatively impact the Republican candidate, Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli — to the point that he will likely lose this election.
(10/08/13 3:53am)
It has recently come into the public consciousness that, unsurprisingly, most of the members of the University’s Board of Visitors have donated generously to the campaigns of the governors who appointed them — in most cases, current Gov. Bob McDonnell. It is not at all conspiratorial to deem this patronage. This particular kind of patronage can have — and has had — major consequences for the University, and makes it clear that we need to find a new method for appointing members to the Board. Even setting aside the ethical implications of leaving governors to appoint their campaign donors to these positions, these appointments have numerous adverse effects.
(10/01/13 1:59am)
A week ago, a friend of mine got a phone call from a crying high school friend. She (the high school friend) had just finished the often-stressful “rush” process at her college, and didn’t get a bid from any of her chosen sororities. After leaving home at least two weeks earlier than she had to, researching everything there was to know about Greek life, and spending the beginning of her time on her new campus competing to join a group of girls she didn’t even know yet, she was rejected — and devastated.