Editorials

Opinion

​What’s wrong with Wheaton’s health insurance decision

By Managing Board | August 31, 2015

While there is merit to the debate over religious exemptions to this mandate, Wheaton officials were not yet being forced to act against their religious beliefs. Moreover, they did not even attempt to grandfather students into their new policy, halting coverage immediately for students who probably expected to remain covered through their school as long as they remained enrolled.

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Opinion

​The WDBJ shooting is shocking but not surprising

By Managing Board | August 27, 2015

We are devastated by a tragedy that is both proximate and exceptionally lurid. But this tragedy does not stand alone: a 2014 FBI study of 160 active-shooter events since 2000 showed an increase in shootings over time.

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Opinion

​Don’t privilege McDonnell

By Managing Board | August 26, 2015

McDonnell’s entire case, even though he is the first Virginia governor to be tried and convicted of corruption, has demonstrated the special privileges his title offers.

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Opinion

​In support of the University’s new insurance policy

By Managing Board | August 25, 2015

Though some of us may have felt blindsided by this change in our system, its benefits far outweigh any small annoyances we may have with filling out another form.

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Opinion

​By the numbers

By Managing Board | April 28, 2015

As the academic year comes to an end, the Managing Board recounts some notable numbers.

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Opinion

Yes to gender-neutral bathrooms

By Managing Board | April 27, 2015

Issues facing LGBTQ students can be complex, but one issue that almost uniquely plagues transgender and gender non-conforming students is the issue of invisibility. When spaces demarcate between just two genders — male and female — and force all students into one of these two categories, transgender and gender non-conforming students are rendered invisible to existing structures.

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Opinion

Reevaluating structures in higher education

By Managing Board | April 24, 2015

If it is not conscious decisions, but rather subconscious biases as a result of existing structures, that push administrators toward unethical tendencies, addressing ethical issues in higher education is that much more complicated. But this case-study provides some clear solutions: one could be that administrators be required to review their decisions in one consistent platform; another could be that outsiders come into college campuses over certain periods of time to discuss current ethical dilemmas.

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Opinion

​Eramo’s letter and Rolling Stone’s ramifications

By Managing Board | April 23, 2015

We cannot overstate the harm these generalizations have created. People who are survivors may not see themselves as such, or if they do, they may not report their stories. And those who work tirelessly on behalf of survivors and take all the right steps — such as informing survivors of all their options and allowing them the room to make a choice to give them back their agency, something Erdely condemned in her article — must fear that doing the right thing will be manipulated and distorted by an ill-informed public.

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Opinion

​Acknowledging our history

By Managing Board | April 22, 2015

Slavery was ubiquitous, and therefore markers of its existence and impact should be ubiquitous, too. As we strive to confront this history and best navigate the waters of simultaneously appreciating and condemning the contributions of major historical figures, making our physical spaces reflect that contradiction can only help.

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Opinion

​Free tuition is unrealistic

By Managing Board | April 21, 2015

As these colleges strive to raise revenue, they are attempting to do so without it being, literally, at the neediest students’ expense. It is unrealistic to expect a school to be completely or close to free, as wonderful as that would be.

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Opinion

​Student groups handled “American Sniper” right

By Managing Board | April 20, 2015

By turning the viewing into an opportunity for dialogue about the state of Muslims in America and globally and how the film contributes to perceptions of Muslims, the MSA made it possible for the film to be contextualized. Students who may not otherwise question the presentation of Muslims and Middle Eastern individuals in the film had the opportunity to do so this weekend. In fact, it was probably better for students to watch “American Sniper” in this setting — a setting that ultimately forced them to think critically — than to see it at a movie theater where they may not view the movie the same way.

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Opinion

​End racial gerrymandering in Virginia

By Managing Board | April 17, 2015

It is extremely disappointing that the General Assembly has yet to produce a new, fairer map. What the General Assembly has done so far has actually been contrary to the goal of undermining gerrymandering: this past session, the General Assembly passed numerous bills tweaking existing districts to make them less competitive instead of properly responding to the U.S. District Court’s initial ruling.

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Opinion

​Finally, a faculty Board member

By Managing Board | April 16, 2015

The Board has included a non-voting student member for a long time prior to this recent inclusion of a non-voting faculty member; this speaks to the disconnect at our school between the various populations in need of representation. With our commitment to student self-governance, students have the privilege of independence, and therefore fewer interactions with faculty members outside their academics. Compared to other schools, there is likely increased interaction between students and administrators, without interim faculty involvement.

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Opinion

​Don’t curb student protests against sexual assault

By Managing Board | April 15, 2015

There is a difference here between what public and private schools may regulate, but there is no difference between our University and Columbia in terms of what is right and wrong when it comes to the voicing of student concerns. In this case, Columbia students should not see their protests restricted.

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Opinion

​Lack of transparency in BOV led to member quitting

By Managing Board | April 14, 2015

Keeping information in the hands of only a few Board members is problematic for obvious reasons. But if it was so egregious as to lead to the resignation of a prominent Board member, transparency within the Board must be an even worse problem than we anticipated previously.

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Opinion

​Don’t just focus on Sullivan

By Managing Board | April 13, 2015

The intense scrutiny of Sullivan — who has only been at the University since 2010 — begs an important question: where is that same scrutiny of other administrators who have been here much longer and whose impact is, in many ways, much more significant to the lives of students?

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Opinion

Limit non-tenure track faculty

By Managing Board | April 10, 2015

This year, the University further shifted toward hiring non-tenure track professors (“non-tenure track” is the University’s term for “adjunct”). Information released under the Freedom of Information Act shows that in the 2012-13 academic year, there were 151 non-tenure track teaching faculty, whereas in the 2014-15 year there have been 270. This compares to the roughly 860 tenure-track professors for both academic years.

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Opinion

​Aramark proves unethical once again

By Managing Board | April 9, 2015

The University’s contract with Aramark is a business, and not ethical, contract. And in the world of business transactions, there will often be trade-offs between low-cost solutions and efficiency and the moral character of a company. In Aramark’s case, however, the trade-offs are simply not worth it.

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Opinion

​Phi Psi is right to sue

By Managing Board | April 8, 2015

For journalism, proper reporting on sexual assault and for sexual assault survivors themselves, Rolling Stone needs to see consequences beyond a comprehensive review of its mistakes. This brings us back to Phi Psi’s lawsuit. The lawsuit is appropriate for what the fraternity went through as a result of this article — but it also appears to be one of the only ways left to hold this magazine accountable.

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Opinion

​In favor of “Affordable Excellence”

By Managing Board | April 7, 2015

But the dramatic nature of these numbers obscures the immense benefit they create for families struggling to afford the cost of our University. In theory, the Affordable Excellence model — the name of this new plan — will reduce the net cost of a University degree for 70 percent of Virginian families. This high tuition, high aid model truly will help — and it will help such a large number of families that this is a model we should be happy about.