Opinion

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.

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Opinion

DOYLE: Why is no one talking about the UBE?

By Bobby Doyle | March 2, 2015

The outgoing chairs of organizations the UBE oversees, such as the Honor Committee, actually take part in helping to select the next year’s members. There is a dangerous potential conflict of interest in letting people pick their own overseer. Without even meaning to, the chairs will pick people of whom they approve. While this does not seem to be a prevalent problem at the moment, there still is the potential for it to become one.

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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

MINK: The hidden dangers of depression

By Alex Mink | March 2, 2015

As can be seen from the wide range of symptoms listed, depression is a complex illness that goes far beyond feelings of sadness, which many fail to understand. This lack of understanding, coupled with the often subtle effects of depression, can cause students to mistake their mood changes and other symptoms as nothing more than unavoidable results of the stress of college, a misunderstanding which prevents the affected students from getting the help they need. Though a certain amount of stress and sadness are normal, students must be made aware of what separates normal amounts of sadness and anxiety from harmful levels that are the result of a mental illness.

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Opinion

BROOM: Creating a diverse newsroom

By Christopher Broom | March 2, 2015

Other areas in which diversity is important cut across the student experience at the University. From financial aid, housing and food choices available on Grounds to how student health is set up there are innumerable topics that affect the day-to-day life of people here. It is critical that people who have different life experiences and different expectations and needs contribute to thinking about stories and questions on these topics.

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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

KHAN: Prioritize computer literacy

By Hasan Khan | February 27, 2015

Teens and young adults picking up languages so late in the game are barred from becoming proficient and fluent at a language in classroom-style settings. In contrast, learning code is much easier to begin later in life — after basic arithmetic concepts have been learned by students — but just as hard to master as conventional foreign languages.

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Opinion

​WAN: Stop overlooking Virginia polo

By Sasha Wan | February 27, 2015

Despite the popular image of polo players as predominantly privileged white males, the Virginia polo team is very diverse. Members of the team are composed of American students and international students from Costa Rica, Colombia, the United Kingdom and Switzerland. In various informal conversation, the players on the team explain their diverse interest and background in polo.