Opinion

Opinion

RUDGLEY: The GOP and the politics of fear

By Ben Rudgley | February 20, 2015

Congressional Republicans have been desperately trying to prove they can govern as well as obstruct, though their recent actions have done little to change their perception. Republicans’ rabid opposition to President Barack Obama’s recent executive action on immigration has led to their latest exercise in brinkmanship: failing to fund the Department of Homeland Security while at the same time bemoaning the national security threats of ISIL and terrorist plots in Europe.

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Opinion

ZIFF: Festivus and the airing of grievances

By Tamar Ziff | February 20, 2015

Are we all just talking at each other? Social media forums are notoriously bad for interacting with other people. Not only are we alone when we stand on our virtual soapboxes, but Facebook and Twitter let us behave like ideological Whack-a-Moles, launching loaded statements and then retreating from any rebuttal into the depths of the Internet.

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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

GORMAN: GOP flunks on higher education

By Ryan Gorman | February 19, 2015

Essentially, the Republican Party identified every student enrolled in a public university as a dependent thinker, and they labeled every university as a factory that exclusively produces liberals. But what if the majority of college students are liberal because they want to be?

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Opinion

RUSSO: The dangers of social media in student elections

By Mary Russo | February 19, 2015

There is nothing inherently wrong with using social media. However, when the number of attendees on a Facebook event becomes the primary indicator of who is to win an election, we should be concerned. At a certain point we should question whom social media campaigns are reaching.

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Opinion

MARTIN: Honor referendum three is a step backward

By Joe Martin | February 19, 2015

I will vote no for the third referendum for the above reasons, and because I think there is much more progress the Committee can make next year without spending the majority of their time considering a multiple sanction system. After nearly a year on the Committee, I believe we can improve the Informed Retraction.

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Opinion

CONNOLLY: The firm morality of a multi-sanction system

By John Connolly | February 19, 2015

Can honor be preserved at this University without the single sanction? Unequivocally, yes. Some will argue the single sanction is what distinguishes our honor from that of other schools and places. But they are mostly wrong. 

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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

EVANS: Honor referenda signal progress

By Will Evans | February 18, 2015

Although the referenda do not directly propose a multi-sanction model, to join the conversation is to realize that single sanction serves as a disincentive in encouraging students to honor the system. After all, the fates of accused cheaters and liars should not be determined by a moral code that was instituted following the slaughter of a professor back in 1840.

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Opinion

LANIUS AND DOWNES: Honor referenda aren’t about self-governance

By W. Andrew Lanius and Colin M. Downes | February 18, 2015

The overall effect of the campaign’s referenda would be to fabricate a mandate for abolition of the single sanction in advance, without having a concrete policy on the table. That would wait until next year, when the proposal would come with both the imprimatur of the Honor Committee and the weight of this year’s referendum behind it.

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Opinion

JACKSON: The importance of being code literate

By Lauren Jackson | February 18, 2015

Not every person needs to be a master coder. Coding is not the only technical skill that develops mental focus, enhances problem-solving capabilities and hones creativity. However, I do agree with Obama that coding is a new literacy that must be acquired so that all people can understand computer science basics and communicate effectively to programmers who have the capacity to make their ideas a reality.

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Opinion

SPINKS: What should we consider real news?

By Ashley Spinks | February 18, 2015

The BBG had a budget of $731 million in fiscal year 2014, which means it has the resources to do a lot of good — or a significant amount of harm. From a solely idealistic standpoint, we can all get behind the mission of the BBG, which involves protecting free speech and providing news that is “accurate, objective, and comprehensive” to countries that often do not have access to a free press.

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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

ALJASSAR: The consequences of the GA’s mental health legislation

By Nazar Aljassar | February 17, 2015

As legal adults, students have a right to mental health privacy. For students who do not want their mental health information shared with their parents, SB 1122 is especially concerning. And according to Davis, CAPS would have to report concerning student behavior to campus threat assessment teams, as University counseling centers would not be exempt from HB 1715.

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Opinion

WHISNANT: So long, Stewart

By Gray Whisnant | February 17, 2015

When I found out Stewart was retiring, my first reaction was a pang of nostalgia for what felt like an exciting political innocence before the cynicism of the late Obama years. When I gave it a bit more thought, my next reaction was one of relief. “The Daily Show” was once a vibrant oasis in a desert of craven television personalities, but in 2015, the American left is better off leaving Jon Stewart and his brand of satire behind.

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Opinion

PATEL: The faulty logic of King v. Burwell

By Sawan Patel | February 17, 2015

The mechanism for the potential demise of Obamacare can be found in ambiguous wording in the original law. The claim by the plaintiffs is that the IRS illegally provided subsidies to individuals who purchased coverage through exchanges set up by the federal government. This is because the original act specified that the subsidies would be provided only for insurance bought through the state.

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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

DOYLE: Why Modi should scare you

By Bobby Doyle | February 16, 2015

Perhaps the most frightening fact about Modi is that he is a Hindu nationalist leading a government made of Hindu nationalists. Hindu nationalism has been on the rise in the last few decades in response to political mobilizations by the lower classes in India. Note that this in not Indian nationalism, but Hindu nationalism.

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Opinion

MINK: Make textbooks affordable

By Alex Mink | February 16, 2015

Almost every University student has experienced the shock of going to buy textbooks at the University bookstore and realizing the text needed for one three credit course costs upwards of $200. With prices for a single course that high, when multiplied by several courses and stretching over eight semesters of school textbooks can add a tremendous amount of money to an already substantial final bill for college.

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Opinion

ADAMES: Hispanic is not a race

By Alexander Adames | February 16, 2015

Hispanics should repudiate being construed as a racial identity because this identification privileges the white identity and ignores other identities. For example, although they may share similar struggles on account of being Hispanic, many white (or white-passing) Hispanics will be immune to certain forms of discrimination based on race and complexion.