Editorials

Opinion

​Make the Lawn representative

By Managing Board | March 5, 2015

Students may be quick to criticize the Lawn selection system for the disproportionate representation of particular groups, or stigmas surrounding particular extracurriculars, or even the diversity of the applicant pool itself. But the homogeneity of Lawn residents, though impacted by many factors, is due to what we have made the space of the Lawn — an accolade for high-achieving students, a reward by which we can (imperfectly) measure individuals’ achievements, and not necessarily a space where our whole community can gather.

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Opinion

​Sexual assault bill leaves much to be desired

By Managing Board | March 4, 2015

The police as a whole have not yet demonstrated the ability to sensitively interact with sexual assault survivors. This does not mean police cannot be trained to respond carefully to survivors’ needs when questioning them or moving forward with investigations — but until the police are thoroughly trained, survivors should not be subjected to the consequences of mandatory reporting laws.

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Opinion

​Standardize interrogation practices

By Managing Board | March 3, 2015

Perhaps not every confession can be recorded, but the argument that this means police should not record interrogations is unpersuasive. If police are excessively forceful or brutal in their interrogation tactics, but no recording exists, a defendant’s claim that his confession was coerced or that he was subject to police brutality can’t be substantiated. In such a he-said, she-said scenario, a police officer — even if he did in fact coerce a confession — will appear much more believable than a potential criminal.

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Opinion

​Debt collection agencies hurt students

By Managing Board | March 2, 2015

If collection agencies knowingly concealed payment options that could lighten students’ burden of debt, the Department of Education is right in its decision to cut ties with those agencies. Moreover, the U.S. Department of Justice should immediately begin investigating whether those agencies violated existing federal debt collection laws — a strong possibility.

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Opinion

​What Honor is, and what it isn’t

By Managing Board | February 27, 2015

Undeniably, the ideals that fall under the umbrella of the community of trust extend far beyond lying, cheating and stealing, and Honor may have a place in conversations outside that punitive domain. But the time for Honor to take on that role has not yet come.

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Opinion

​Homeless citizens are entitled to free speech

By Managing Board | February 26, 2015

Here in Charlottesville, homelessness is an obvious problem — a simple walk on the Corner demonstrates that. But in a city where the Downtown Mall serves as one of few pedestrian areas where people are likely to gather (as opposed to driving through in a car), banning panhandling on the Mall is effectively a preliminary step to banning panhandling altogether.

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Opinion

LGBTQ individuals deserve anti-discrimination legislation

By Managing Board | February 25, 2015

It is obvious the problem of workplace discrimination against members of the LGBTQ community persists. With no current national law in place to mitigate this discrimination — the Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2013 died in Congress — addressing this issue is left to the states. SB 785 would address this problem, solidifying in law the state’s stance on issues of discrimination.

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Opinion

​Guns won’t stop rape on campus

By Managing Board | February 23, 2015

Perhaps the most obvious flaw in the gun lobby’s argument is that allowing campus carry would not exclusively put guns in the hands of potential victims — it would also allow assaulters to legally carry guns on campus. Potential rapists would now have a new tool in their arsenal with which to attack.

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Opinion

Virginia needs better ethics laws

By Managing Board | February 20, 2015

Currently, the State Integrity Investigation ranks Virginia 47th among 50 states in its “Corruption Risk Report Card,” with an overall grade of “F.” Last year’s ethics reforms were largely unimpressive, seemingly little more than a gesture.

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Opinion

Our endorsement for Student Council

By Managing Board | February 19, 2015

We are pleased that more Student Council races are contested this year, and hope this signifies more student interest in what our governing body does. We are confident the combination of Axler, Carré and Winsky will serve our student body well over the next year.

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Opinion

Our endorsement for Honor

By Managing Board | February 18, 2015

While student candidates naturally have a quality of idealism, we sought those whose idealism would not overwhelm their pragmatism. The honor system’s ability to maintain relevancy to our student body can only stem from concrete reforms, and Committee members will only have a year to implement such reforms. We think these candidates have the drive and initiative to take on this challenge.

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Opinion

Our endorsement for the University Judiciary Committee

By Managing Board | February 17, 2015

We are pleased UJC elections are contested in the College this year, but still worry that student engagement with UJC is lacking. Austin and Mason will prove excellent at engaging the community, but we hope this effort will extend beyond simply the College.

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Opinion

Jackie, FERPA and your right to privacy

By Managing Board | February 16, 2015

This process took a dark turn following the Rolling Stone article, but reveals the problems with privacy flagging directories in general: should a student wish to make her information private years into her University career — which she is able to do — the information that was previously made available will still be available. With online directories, the chance of such information remaining public is obviously heightened.

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Opinion

Standing with UNC

By Managing Board | February 13, 2015

In the coming weeks, months and perhaps even years, the UNC community will likely see its history as a division between before and after these murders. The job of reporting on these events will fall to the dedicated students who put together The Daily Tar Heel, UNC’s student newspaper. Staffers have already gone to task reporting on the triple homicide, providing excellent coverage, both news and editorial.

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Opinion

Stop damning hook-up culture

By Managing Board | February 12, 2015

Essentially, the amount of time and emotional energy required of a relationship is no longer a burden for a woman who prefers casual sex; in fact, she has more time to complete her academic work and achieve good grades. Additionally, women in relationships find it “difficult to meet people” — perhaps an inhibitor to the kind of social networking characteristic of a college experience (a networking that can help later in life when college friends have dispersed around the country and may be helpful in finding jobs).

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Opinion

Prevent secrecy in executions

By Managing Board | February 11, 2015

Enshrouding the practice of lethal injection in secrecy will make it difficult for the public to know whether inmates are being subjected to faulty or painful drugs and will prevent us from effectively determining whether current execution practices are acceptable. Such secrecy will also prevent us from determining whether these practices are legal, as determining what constitutes “cruel and unusual punishment” under the Eighth Amendment requires knowledge of what exactly the punishment is that’s being inflicted.

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Opinion

Make college data transparent

By Managing Board | February 10, 2015

The virtue of compiling these data on an individual level — as opposed to the U.S. Department of Education’s current plan, which is to rate schools given various criteria and compare them — is that families and students will be able to assess each school for themselves. Comparing schools with different interests and focuses may prove difficult, but making their information accessible to a wider audience will allow people to evaluate these data and make informed decisions.

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Opinion

​No concealed carry at schools

By Managing Board | February 9, 2015

There is no obvious reason civilians need to carry firearms at schools — certainly not concealed ones. At least at our University, with an undergraduate population numbering above 14,000, the potential for a mistake — a student failing to turn on “safety” on his gun; a student mistakenly suspecting someone of being dangerous and responding by use of his firearm — could have grave consequences.

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Opinion

Take steps toward privatizing ABC

By Managing Board | February 6, 2015

Currently, ABC stores' success is limited by bureaucracy: the department runs like a government agency and not like a business. Because of this, running ABC stores can be very difficult. According to Albo, it can take up to six months for ABC stores to procure products — a turnover time private businesses do not face.

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Opinion

What does Teresa Sullivan have to do with Bob McDonnell’s sentencing?

By Managing Board | February 5, 2015

Perhaps the worst element of this intervention is that Sullivan intervened on the wrong side of an ethical issue. We should expect and demand more from the person who represents our school.