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(05/14/20 7:31pm)
The three Cs of becoming a great Opinion writer are craft, criticism and creativity. To master the craft of structuring arguments and concise phrasing requires effort, while growing a resilient response to criticism is a skill that comes only with time. Becoming a creative and nuanced writer on the other hand cannot be accomplished through sheer exertion alone.
(04/21/20 7:03pm)
With over 2,500 undergraduate and graduate students hailing from 128 countries outside the United States, it is clear that there is a very strong international presence at the University. Their unique perspectives and backgrounds help to enrich the academic environment for all students and — from a macro perspective — their burgeoning presence in the workforce has become a crucial component of the U.S. economy.
(04/06/20 6:03pm)
Last month, President Donald Trump claimed that “large sections” of the workforce could possibly be “back to work” as early as Easter — a proposition that came across as inconceivable due to the coronavirus’s ferocious transmission rate — and expectedly sparked a barrage of criticism. Despite his recent recantation, the initial proposal in and of itself was not entirely without merit, and in fact is an important consideration. While it will indeed necessitate risky tradeoffs and may not be the most intuitive approach, there is a case to be made for restarting our economy — at least partially — to mitigate some of the harshest impacts of the virus.
(02/13/20 6:33pm)
The act of making love is what organisms desire most at a primal level — the pinnacle of carnal rapture — and represents the culmination of millions of years of evolution and generations of heredity. Across all of Western civilization, though, we are witnessing an interesting phenomenon — increases in celibacy rates among youth, and complementary decreases in the rate of childbirth. Perhaps most notably, the United States recently hit a historically low fertility rate of 1.72, well below the scientifically-documented population replacement rate of 2.1. People in developed nations are having fewer children than ever before, and while the circumstances that brought about this shift may be positive in nature, there are also several negative ramifications that come along with it — primarily from an economic perspective.
(01/23/20 7:19pm)
Earlier in January, Virginia House Delegate Sally Hudson, D-Charlottesville, introduced a bill that would remove salary limits for Charlottesville politicians, namely city council members and school board officials. This would effectively bypass limitations instantiated by Virginia state code, which sets salary caps for municipalities proportional to their total population. Currently, maximum annual pay is capped at $18,000 for Charlottesville councilors and $20,000 for the mayor, which Hudson claims is not enough “to raise a family.” While this is not a sentiment I would necessarily disagree with, I think any amendment to political salary limits should be done much more tactfully, with checks still in place. The last thing we want in our representative democracy is for representatives to have unconditional control over how much they’re earning — a breeding ground for corruption and complacency.
(12/27/19 8:07pm)
The Federal Communications Commission announced their plan to fully repeal former President Obama’s 2015 net neutrality decision in late 2017, and soon after were met with deafening fanfare and outrage from critics across the nation. These activists found success inciting the public by leveraging trite boogeymen and hackneyed, fear-mongering tactics — demonizing the “big cable companies” who purportedly wanted nothing more than to make life a living hell for their consumers. We all remember the viral tweets prophesying the end of the internet as we know it — but the proposed repeal quickly came and went, and none of the foretold doomsday scenarios ended up materializing whatsoever. In fact, I would assert that the internet is healthier and faster now than it has ever been, and we owe it all to the astute decision-making and bold leadership of FCC Chairman Ajit Pai.
(12/06/19 8:34pm)
Following sweeping victories in Virginia state elections, Democrats now have complete control of the Commonwealth and have trained their sights upon the right to bear arms. At a recent victory party, the bastion of morality and ringleader of Virginia Democrats — Ralph “Blackface” Northam — unveiled an array of new gun control proposals, ranging from mandatory universal background checks to full-scale assault weapons bans. While many of these proposals are in fact sensible and widely supported by both parties — such as background checks on gun sales — it is still vital that we recognize the importance of preserving our constitutional liberties, and ensuring that accessibility to firearms is maintained.
(11/21/19 2:59am)
Earlier this month during course registration, the increasingly common tradition of Student Information System malfunctions reared its ugly head once again. The outage — lasting for several hours on the first day of enrollment — affected thousands of fourth-year students and was purportedly linked to a “piece of inefficient code found within the new SIS interface,” mirroring a 2017 incident of the same nature. What further aggravates this situation is the fact that the system of randomized enrollment ends up hurting many academically gifted students who have the ill fortune of being assigned later time slots — which this year were more vulnerable to technical setbacks. Time and time again, University ITS has proven itself incapable of formulating a comprehensive remedy to this recurring issue, so perhaps a novel approach to enrollment is necessary, prioritizing efficiency and equity among students.
(09/26/19 1:24am)
About three years ago, it was revealed through a Senate initiative that 56 private universities with endowments of $1 billion or more were receiving massive tax exemptions on the property they possessed, including Harvard, Brown and many other notable institutions. This sparked controversy, with some claiming that these unfair exemptions should be removed in order to increase tax revenue for local governments and level the playing field with other universities that did not receive such privileges. But, given the current college tuition and housing crises that are plaguing students across the country, I believe it would be in the best interest of local governments to increase the scale and scope of these exemptions, rather than crack down on them.
(09/17/19 2:00pm)
In the past months, we have witnessed an impressive rise in the polls from businessman Andrew Yang, who quite literally started out at a statistical zero percent and is now viewed as a serious contender in many of the early Democratic primary battlegrounds. Much of this increase can be attributed to his popularity amongst young voters, who he believes resonate greatly with his technocratic, logical approach to politics. However, contrary to the racially charged rhetoric that he often espouses, simply being Asian doesn’t make his policies any less fiscally absurd, which is a fact that many of his most ardent supporters seem to be overlooking.
(08/28/19 12:26am)
Earlier this month, within the span of a day, nearly three dozen Americans lost their lives in mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio. Like clockwork, both halves of our polarized, political dichotomy attempted to craft their own narratives, with large swaths of the GOP choosing to target violent video games and internet culture. This right-wing media frenzy demonstrated a lot of sway on individuals and corporations alike, as evidenced by the recent cancellation of a popular ESports tournament from ESPN in response to the tragic events.
(07/26/19 3:59pm)
The practice of affirmative action in our country has a very complex and at times contradictory history. Modern day policies are most heavily influenced by a 1978 Supreme Court ruling that declared race-based quotas in college admissions to be unconstitutional. In order to continue their efforts towards diversity though — and to ensure indemnification against future court rulings — colleges began to obfuscate the details of their admissions procedures, exchanging forthright quotas for more nuanced racial biases. It was from here that our modern understanding of the term was born, and despite myriad subsequent rulings, this practice has remained mostly unchanged.
(06/27/19 11:55am)
The University eliminated its early decision program — which had existed for nearly half a century prior — and transitioned to a single track admissions system in 2006. This was later supplemented by the addition of the early action program in 2012, which was differentiated from its predecessor by its non-binding nature. University representatives cited attracting low-income students as the primary reason for the removal of early decision, in addition to an overall simplification of the process, which surely led to some degree of bureaucratic streamlining. However, this past month, the University announced that early decision would be returning — accompanying the existing early action and regular admissions — and I believe that this decision couldn’t have come early enough.
(04/05/19 5:51pm)
The European Parliament recently passed sweeping legislation which will transform online copyright laws in member nations, much to the chagrin of numerous multinational tech firms. However, what is being touted as a victory for independent content creators is actually a wolf in sheep’s clothing. The most prominent statutes being passed — the infamous Article 13 and the lesser known Article 11 — will have widespread, calamitous ramifications on the fundamental framework of web platforms, perhaps beyond the scope of what many of the senile legislators can foresee. Rather than protecting the rights of content creators, the new laws as they currently stand could spell the end of many popular content-sharing websites as we know them.
(03/21/19 1:59am)
The Board of Visitors approved yet another major tuition hike in December, amounting to a roughly 3 percent increase for undergraduate students and up to 4.9 percent for graduate students. This increase is particularly concerning when you consider the University’s quantifiable history of questionable financial decisions, such as their massively overzealous $160 million needed for Alderman’s renovations — which is equivalent to annual in-state tuition for nearly 5,000 students. Because of this palpable fiscal irresponsibility, it is important for the student body to constantly scrutinize where exactly our tuition dollars are going. Nowhere is this more necessary than in the University athletics department, a non-essential sector that spends over $100 million annually and often fails to turn a net operating profit.
(02/28/19 12:33am)
With the brouhaha of elections finally upon us, we have begun to see the same tired monologues stressing the importance of Student Council and imploring increased turnout — which in recent elections hovered around 20 percent of the populace. However, contrary to what many of our peers would have us believe, the Council does not have the power to legislate any degree of meaningful change in our lives — nor should they. In truth, the Council is little more than a glorified bookkeeping club — which isn’t necessarily a bad thing — but without any tangible authority whatsoever, there is no reason for the average student to be concerned with the outcome of these races.
(02/06/19 3:42am)
Earlier this month, hundreds of employees from Verizon subsidiaries, BuzzFeed and the Huffington Post were laid off – amidst broader corporate media cuts that ended in a loss of nearly 7 percent of Verizon’s digital media operations. In response to announcements of the layoffs on Twitter, a multitude of users mocked these newly unemployed journalists. Their comments centered upon a simple three-word rallying cry — “Learn to Code.” This seemingly innocuous banter was met with wanton discipline from Twitter, who now treats the aforementioned phrase as “abusive behavior” and a violation of their terms and services. While the comments may have been a bit untimely and insensitive — and the intentions of those who used it may not necessarily be good — there is truth behind this phrase, which forebodes a changing climate in national and global job markets that must be acknowledged.
(11/06/18 3:26am)
This past month, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-MA, released the results of a DNA test which she was prompted to take after continual goading from President Trump and other conservative talking heads. Senator Warren had originally claimed Native American heritage on several occasions, citing her relative’s “high cheekbones” and various childhood stories. However, the DNA test revealed that she is truthfully only around 0.1 percent to 1.6 percent Native American. Since the minimum requirements for tribe membership range between 12.5 percent and 25 percent depending on location and since she was openly condemned by the Cherokee Nation for her claims, it is clear that Warren’s past claims were simply bold-faced lies used to earn brownie points with her constituents. However, an examination into the history of these assertions reveals not only flagrant dishonesty, but horrible ramifications which affect our society at large.
(09/05/18 4:41am)
Across the nation, a number of tech companies have taken bold stances in support of diversity and inclusion, with some even contractually pledging to make efforts towards social justice initiatives. I find it hypocritical that corporations are making these shallow promises, while simultaneously propping up institutions of modern slavery through their global business practices. Information about these injustices must be spread, and companies should be held accountable for their double standard.
(06/07/18 2:43am)
National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell released a policy statement on May 23 — approved by all 32 NFL club owners — concerning pre-game anthem protests, which became prevalent last year during the 2017 season. This statement created numerous new regulations regarding protest, including a league-wide ban on kneeling during the national anthem in addition to fines for personnel who “do not stand and show respect for the flag and the anthem.” All of these new rules are to be implemented in the upcoming 2018 season. While the NFL is a private organization, and thus has sovereignty over its internal operations, I believe this new policy is simply an act of pandering as opposed to patriotism, and goes against the American principles cultivated by our forefathers.