Opinion

Opinion

​GORMAN: The failures of Federal Work-Study

By Ryan Gorman | September 3, 2015

The fundamental problem with this convoluted system is clear: because FWS students are given significant preferential treatment by university employers, students who need the additional income but choose not to accept the award face the risk of not being hired at all, especially at institutions like the University of Virginia, which has nearly monopolized the job market within walking distance of Central Grounds.

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Opinion

​EVANS: Don’t cave to consulting

By Will Evans | September 2, 2015

Nearly every fourth-year experiences the undue pressure of having to justify four years of costly education by securing some notable next step: law, medicine, high finance. The problem is the latter of the three has flooded the job market with millions of opportunities to make money by helping others make more money.

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Opinion

​MINK: Race, depression and Sandra Bland

By Alex Mink | September 2, 2015

Moreover, in disregarding Sandra’s issues with depression, her family may be unwittingly absolving the police of a lesser but still significant offense. If, as the department states, Sandra indicated her issues with depression and suicide, then why was she not put on a suicide watch?

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Opinion

​PATEL: Don’t click send

By Sawan Patel | September 1, 2015

It is strange that students, who are supposed to be intimately involved with self-governance, have no input in a system as integral to the functioning of the academic and social structures as the Internet and email systems are.

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Opinion

​What we can learn from Columbia student activism

By Managing Board | September 1, 2015

The board’s decision to divest — and to refrain from investing in private prison companies in the future — serves as a reminder of the varied impacts universities can have. While this past year we became consumed with issues over which our University has more direct control, the impacts of a given school can extend far beyond its physical campus or student body.

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Opinion

​ADAMES: Political correctness and the culture war

By Alexander Adames | August 31, 2015

Many conservatives bash liberals for their attempt to ‘infringe on one’s freedom of speech,’ yet they often neglect their own political sensitivities.

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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

​DOYLE: Hold the (revolving) door

By Bobby Doyle | August 31, 2015

A government in which the regulators and regulated interact so closely is not intuitively how citizens want their government to operate. That said, that close relationship can create workable regulations and encourage skilled people to become government employees.

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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

​GORMAN: Sanders and the benefits of socialism

By Ryan Gorman | August 27, 2015

Sanders’ vision for a nation governed by democratic socialism is — at its core — an expression of a desire for every American citizen to have the right to live a fulfilling and comfortable life, regardless of his circumstance.

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Opinion

​BERNSTEIN: Don’t give Jesse Matthew the death penalty

By Dani Bernstein | August 27, 2015

For many of us, Hannah’s disappearance is too close to home to allow us to address this issue. But because it is so close to home, we should feel empowered to address these questions head on and, ultimately, follow a moral path.

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Opinion

​ZIFF: When politicians ‘evolve’

By Tamar Ziff | August 27, 2015

Yet how much of a ‘learning curve’ should we allow our politicians? Clinton has come under fire, during both her 2008 and her current campaign, for — as Obama put it in 2007 — “triangulation and poll-driven politics,” i.e., altering policy platforms according to shifts in constituent opinion and refusing to make definitive policy statements.

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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

​WALLS: Religious liberty isn’t a license to discriminate

By Nora Walls | August 26, 2015

The irony of Cruz’s insistence that the government stop persecuting its citizens is that the citizens in question were all caught persecuting others. It is an irony he does not seem to notice, but it also raises an interesting question: what do we do when one American exercising his right impedes the right of another?

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Opinion

​PATEL: A great tradition under fire

By Sawan Patel | August 26, 2015

The backlash against birthright citizenship for all demonstrates a resurgence of xenophobia that is startling to many. Birthright citizenship for all people is one of the great things about America, not a detriment.

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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

RUSSO: The need for a sober socializing space on the Corner

By Mary Russo | August 25, 2015

The prevalence of bars and drinking institutions as well as the history of exclusion and instances of injustice make it clear that there is a need for a cultural shift on the Corner. Our first step in fostering this change should be the creation of a sober socializing space, open to all University students, on the Corner.

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Opinion

RUSSO: Literature as a means to promote global literacy

By Mary Russo | August 21, 2015

White men have traditionally dominated much of English language literature. Names such as Salinger, Fitzgerald and Steinbeck will always be important in the American consciousness. However, shaping curricula to include more diverse narratives will create a generation of globally literate Americans.

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Opinion

​RUDGLEY: The need for campaign finance reform

By Ben Rudgley | August 18, 2015

The absorption of both wealth and political power by the few has, by definition, propelled the country down the road to oligarchy. The promise of a “government of the people, by the people, for the people” is under threat. When both the economy and political process are rigged to favor those at the top, change has to come from outside our governing institutions — from the grassroots.

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Opinion

​ALJASSAR: Donald Trump and ‘telling it like it is’

By Nazar Aljassar | August 18, 2015

Candid speech, while admirable, is no excuse for a politician’s ideological shortcomings. In the case of Trump, his tendency to “tell it like it is” does not redeem his toxic misogyny, nativism or jingoism, none of which sound better coming from a foghorn than from a dog whistle. What people like Trump and his supporters fail to understand is that political correctness is not some trivial issue manufactured by the left to restrict free speech or thinking.