Opinion

Opinion

​Combating racism on campus

By Managing Board | March 16, 2015

Since our University is no stranger to this type of racial scandal, these issues are just as relevant for us. At a party jointly thrown by the University chapters of Kappa Alpha and Zeta Psi in 2002, some guests came wearing blackface. We can readily point to the party-goers wearing blackface as racist in their actions — but why not also consider the fact that these two fraternities, by ostensibly failing to criticize these guests and failing to kick them out, contributed to an environment in which racist behavior was acceptable?

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Opinion

MINK: Jefferson deserves our praise

By Alex Mink | March 16, 2015

Where Adames goes wrong, however, is saying that praising “Jefferson as a person” suggests “appreciation for everything about the man, including his personality and practices.” Jefferson was flawed, to be sure, but his sins were the sins of his time, and did not belong to him alone.

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Opinion

​BROOM: Distinguishing pieces and increasing links

By Christopher Broom | March 16, 2015

Effective labeling is especially important in the digital space, where the lines between sections and types of pieces within sections are more easily blurred. In the current website design, sections are labeled in the navigation bar and in text at the top of each article. This seems reasonable for both the News and Opinion sections where the type of piece is then clear. In other sections, though, the readers are left to sort out for themselves whether they are reading an objective news report or an Opinion column.

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Opinion

​By the numbers

By Managing Board | March 6, 2015

Ahead of spring break, the Managing Board recounts some notable numbers from the start of the semester.

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Opinion

​HARRINGTON: Why endorsements don’t matter

By Elaine Harrington | March 6, 2015

The 2015 student elections results proved endorsements are insufficient for and unnecessary for winning.

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Opinion

​RUDGLEY: Looking back on “Examining Women’s Studies”

By Ben Rudgley | March 5, 2015

Not only was WGS not what I wrote it was, but it also proved to be a wellspring of expansive and insightful critical debate. Thanks to the class, I am now far better equipped to understand and deconstruct both forms of explicit patriarchal oppression and the subtler implicit biases that continually erode at the possibility of equal opportunity for women and minorities in all spheres of personal, work and civic life.

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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

EDEL: Expanding our idea of spring break

By Brennan Edel | March 5, 2015

I realize Groves’ intention isn’t to solely promote the traditional spring break experience, but in effect his email is doing exactly that, with the side-effect of marginalizing alternative spring break options. Although it’s not the express job of the University administration to publicize alternative options — many of which are student-organized — and more their job to ensure student safety, they should match their coverage of ‘traditional spring break’ with a touch of other options.

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Opinion

CONNOLLY: Seeds of conservative hope

By John Connolly | March 5, 2015

Did CPAC actually provide answers to any of these questions? No, not remotely. But it does provide a useful lens into what looks to be an extremely entertaining primary season. More than that, perhaps the most important function of CPAC is to determine whether Republicans can achieve some measure of cohesion as they look to pick their nominee.

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Opinion

RUSSO: Why we need vigils

By Mary Russo | March 5, 2015

Vigils are not merely “gestures of solidarity.” Rather, vigils provide a space for individuals who are grieving to find emotional support in their community. When unimaginable tragedies, such as the disappearance and death of Hannah Graham, face our community, the only method of support that is available is support through our peers.

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Opinion

GORMAN: Define your own education

By Ryan Gorman | March 5, 2015

Thirst for knowledge is fading away from undergraduates, and as a result, higher education is losing its focus on exploring the depths of human intellect. College has become a stepping-stone, a four year itch on the backs of students with inherently misguided ambitions. The concept of attaining wealth in the professional world has protruded the sacred boundaries of our nation’s higher institutions, for as an undergraduate, if you sit back to smell the roses, you lose.

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Opinion

PERLA: The history behind University living wage activism

By James Perla | March 4, 2015

In the 1960s students went as far as Waynesboro to protest a General Electric Factory over wages and employee benefits. During Vietnam War protests in the 1970s, University students stormed the Lawn, occupied buildings and made demands from the administration, among them the right for University employees to strike and bargain collectively. And now in the context of such incendiary events last semester over hate crimes and rape, the Living Wage Campaign is not simply making noise to shout.

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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

​LETTER: Let the Good Ol’ Song speak for itself

By Roy Thigpen | March 4, 2015

Why would we elevate another school to the point of mentioning them in our fight song? Why would we lower ourselves to using profanity?

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Opinion

JACKSON: Time to overhaul our prison system

By Lauren Jackson | March 4, 2015

In America, African-American males are incarcerated at six times the rate of white males — an increase from 1960, when black men were five times as likely as whites to be incarcerated — and Latino men face a ratio of 2.5 to one. Our justice system is rife with racial disparities in sentencing, death-penalty verdicts, the granting of probation or parole and employment prospects after incarceration.

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Opinion

EVANS: Building a wider base for climate change action

By Will Evans | March 4, 2015

Most action-oriented folk forget that we are a minority whose expertise stems from intense experiences unshared by most. We readily dismiss non actors as hopeless and unwilling to engage in environmental discussion because our idea of what constitutes normal contribution fringes on the extreme. Strong opinions can even have polarizing effects on those who identify with the same overarching cause but hold different personal beliefs on how best to approach it. For instance, I was initially reluctant to engage with climate action at the University.

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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

​DEZOORT: In defense of metal

By Gage DeZoort | March 3, 2015

In general, most listeners immediately write off metal. After all, it seems like noise to a novice ear. However, the music is actually an intricate combination of melodies and complex rhythms. Whether they’re pleasing to the listener, they are an enormous part of what makes metal interesting. It’s simply a matter of presentation that separates metal from other music.

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Opinion

PATEL: Don’t legalize sports betting

By Sawan Patel | March 3, 2015

The legalization of sports gambling would lead to a reduced interest in sports by those who do not bet, much like fantasy football has turned off traditional fans from being a part of the fandom of people who root for teams but instead root for players on their team. The attention of games would shift from simple wins and losses to spreads and margins of victory. Introducing money into the equation removes personal engagement and bonding with the team and other fans.

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Opinion

ADAMES: The misguided exaltation of Jefferson

By Alexander Adames | March 2, 2015

While I am sure not all of my fellow Cavaliers are paying homage to Jefferson as a man, from my experience and the experiences of many others, a substantial population of the University (administration and faculty included) seem to be Jeffersonian sycophants. If one searches “Thomas Jefferson” in the University email address, then one is likely to come across many references to Jefferson. The expression “What would Jefferson do?” is familiar to some students, faculty and staff. It seems to elevate Jefferson to a quasi-deistic stature.