Opinion

Opinion

​DOYLE: We need mental health professionals outside of student health

By Bobby Doyle | March 23, 2015

The solution to the lack of training of the PHEs and the lack of confidentiality of CAPS is simple: anonymous mental health advising. These meetings could be on a one-time basis to let students talk through their problems and figure out possible solutions before approaching CAPS. Health professionals could hear students’ problems with no way to report who they were to any sort of medical record.

---

Opinion

​BROWN: The new U.Va.: building a change coalition across race, class, gender and sexuality

By Jared Brown | March 23, 2015

At face value, these separate incidents may seem unrelated. Drawing the conclusion that oppression exists at the center of University life and culture may seem exaggerated. In other words, it may be difficult for some to relate the ways in which different expressions of oppression and exploitation, such as rape, labor abuse and racial brutality, are in fact interrelated.

---

Opinion

​LETTER: Remove law enforcement powers from the ABC

By Sam Shirazi | March 23, 2015

In light of the arrest and injury of Martese Johnson, it is time for the laws to be enforced by traditional law enforcement officers and not ABC officers.

---

Opinion

​BROOM: Exceeding expectations

By Christopher Broom | March 23, 2015

While I think the coverage, overall, has been very good, I do have some concerns. Primarily, I’m struck by the fact that the core of the reporting on this story has been done by two members of the Managing Board.

---

Opinion

BLACK DOT: What Martese's arrest means for us

By Black Dot | March 20, 2015

In solidarity, we are wrestling with the devastating reality that our blackness is persecuted, beaten and tortured. No longer will we go unheard. No longer will we accept complacency with the status quo. We will not allow for the University to continue to operate under the erroneous presumption that race is no longer an issue.

---

Opinion

​Martese Johnson and the Yik Yak effect

By Managing Board | March 20, 2015

On social media platforms such as Yik Yak, students have posted comments blaming Martese for the arrest, saying his wounds were insignificant and even accusing Martese of enjoying a publicity stunt. These and countless other anonymous posts affirm that race is still a serious problem at U.Va.

---

Opinion

​WAN: Don’t exaggerate systemic racism

By Sasha Wan | March 20, 2015

The fairer way to describe the situation is that the community is influenced by cultural stereotypes of race. Racism involves dehumanization and discrimination against racial groups by labelling them as inferior, and thus it oppresses the abused groups. Racial stereotypes, on the other hand, are sets of beliefs about typical characteristics of certain groups and mental shortcuts that people employ to help reduce the cognitive efforts without the intent to dehumanize certain groups.

---

Opinion

​RUDGLEY: Policy is more powerful than dialogue

By Ben Rudgley | March 20, 2015

If we want something to change we need more than social media activism; we should pursue paths of action that will directly impact our governing institutions. In short, emailing, writing and calling state and federal legislators to advocate on behalf of concrete policy proposals is a far more direct, substantial and powerful way to enact real change. There are four realistic policy proposals that, if campaigned for and implemented into law, would achieve far more than nebulous dialogues.

---

Opinion

WAHEED: First World ideals, Third World expectations

By Noor Waheed | March 19, 2015

The University’s lack of concern for its international community’s unique circumstances resurfaced in many other forms. I personally had to deal with a good deal of grief at the hands of the health system. Not all countries use health insurance to get treatment, and I think the University did an inadequate job informing students from foreign countries about exactly what our insurance is, what benefits it affords us, and how it works in the context of Medicare.

---

Opinion

​We’re here for Martese

By Managing Board | March 19, 2015

Whatever details may surface, a member of our community was hurt, and we have witnessed his pain in the harrowing images that have emerged from that event. He was hurt in a space where he is supposed to feel safe — a space he is supposed to call home. And that is where we should focus our conversation — right here, at home.

---

Opinion

​FOGEL: Use guest speakers

By Jared Fogel | March 19, 2015

Not only can students discuss career opportunities — they can also delve deeper into topics both covered and not covered by the course syllabi. These guest speakers use their personal experiences to engage with students, linking course material to the professional working environment.

---

Opinion

​GORMAN: Political spending hurts the individual

By Ryan Gorman | March 19, 2015

Corporations have no business controlling policymaking in the United States. From precedents set by the Citizens United case to the various tax breaks and benefits corporations receive from the federal government, it is clear our legislative and judicial systems — as a whole — have little desire to change the tremendous impact that money has on this nation’s political construct.

---

Opinion

​ROY: Internationalism is a spectrum

By Nayantara Roy | March 19, 2015

More students need to make efforts to bridge the gaps between communities of nationalities or cultural groups to increase dialogue and inclusivity on Grounds. In order to begin communicating across groups openly, the first step is understanding more about the international population.

---

Opinion

​GALARRETA: An endless inquiry into identity

By Diana Galarreta | March 19, 2015

I think my identity enquiry will be endless. I hope both uncomfortable and kind questions about my role as an international scholar and teacher in American institutions keep awaking my teaching and research reflections, stimulating dialogue between faculty, students and the community while touching people’s minds and spirits.

---

Opinion

​EDEL: Rethinking serial killers

By Brennan Edel | March 19, 2015

But for some reason, despite the dearth of serial murders and the rise of more modern fears, the Dursts of the world still hold America rapt with attention. This would be fine if we went about it in a methodical and thoughtful manner, but as coverage of Durst shows, we would rather see these stories crammed into the mold of our preexisting conceptions, to the detriment of the victims and broader awareness of mental health. By perpetuating the stereotype of the insane serial killer, we’re spreading misinformation about serial killers and about legitimate mental illness.

---

Opinion

​SACHS: Israel isn’t an apartheid state

By Jennifer Sachs | March 19, 2015

SPJP, by going as far as calling Israel an apartheid state, is supporting a manipulation of truth, weakening the entire legitimacy of its cause and deflecting attention away from the true problems in this highly nuanced Israeli-Palestinian issue. This cause instead appeals to the emotions of the issue rather than the facts and attacks the legitimacy of Israel as a state.

---

Opinion

WELLS: A culture of excess

By Stephen Wells | March 18, 2015

So the question becomes: Why isn’t the University doing more to address the substance abuse culture that exists here (as it does at most every college and university)? Are we still uncomfortable as a society to be open about it? Are we being haunted by a stigma that one would hope society has moved beyond?

---

Opinion

WALLS: Don’t segregate feminist news stories

By Nora Walls | March 18, 2015

What concerns me is that by putting certain articles in the feminist category and not featuring them elsewhere on websites, news outlets are limiting the number of readers those articles will get. Not everyone is going to see the label “feminist news” and feel compelled to click on it. Those sections will likely only draw readers who feel passionate about feminism.

---

Opinion

The debate about flags on campus

By Managing Board | March 18, 2015

The ensuing outrage against the six students who voted to remove the flag was misplaced for two reasons. First, as we at the University can attest to, the exercise of student self-governance is essential to the operation of a school, and UC Irvine’s student government clearly operates to some extent under a system of checks and balances. While an initial group of students voted on this policy, another group was able to veto it — similar to many functioning political systems.

---

Opinion

JACKSON: Diversity means religion, too

By Lauren Jackson | March 18, 2015

Though founded on staunch secularism (Jefferson pointedly designed the Lawn with a library at the head, not a chapel) the regional influence of a predominantly Christian South has shaped matriculated students’ religious makeup since the University’s founding. While vibrant religious communities exist on Grounds, it is critical to note in what ways religious diversity at the University is lacking and what the University can do in terms of administrative facilitation to foster the inclusive atmosphere it aims to achieve.