Opinion

Opinion

DEZOORT: Popular science for dummies

By Gage DeZoort | February 13, 2015

It’s an unfortunate fact that most humans simply aren’t equipped to distinguish between “Star Wars” and “real science.” For most, there’s little more foreign than string theory or the Higgs boson. Why, then, might the average viewer trust a book or television show to convey such alien abstractions? It’s not the fact that they’re outlandish (or otherwise too difficult for most of the audience to decipher). Rather, it’s the scientific figureheads endorsing them.

---

Opinion

GORMAN: Americans should care more about rhinos

By Ryan Gorman | February 13, 2015

Chances are a poor farmer in Africa does not care what we Americans think; his next meal is more important to him than racking his brain for an answer to a question of humanity. He needs sustenance, but more than that he needs an incentive. Tourism needs to somehow have a positive impact on his livelihood if we want the rhino to stay alive, if we want to stabilize the wealth of all these impoverished African nations.

---

Opinion

KHAN: Obama is right on religion

By Hasan Khan | February 13, 2015

Obama is boldly trying to undermine the sentiment that Islam’s inherent teachings are to blame for the violence caused by ISIS and other extremist groups. People interested in gaining power will always attempt to sanctify the methods in which they attain control, especially when there is a struggle for power. In the Middle East, such a struggle for power has never been greater.

---

Opinion

RIPLEY: Sex after trauma

By Katherine Ripley | February 12, 2015

When sex is difficult because of traumas or fears, it’s probably best to do it with someone you know you can really trust. But I didn’t go that route because I wanted to return to a sense of normalcy. Taking a guy home from the party because I wanted to was part of my normal.

---

Opinion

Stop damning hook-up culture

By Managing Board | February 12, 2015

Essentially, the amount of time and emotional energy required of a relationship is no longer a burden for a woman who prefers casual sex; in fact, she has more time to complete her academic work and achieve good grades. Additionally, women in relationships find it “difficult to meet people” — perhaps an inhibitor to the kind of social networking characteristic of a college experience (a networking that can help later in life when college friends have dispersed around the country and may be helpful in finding jobs).

---

Opinion

SANABIA: Grindr, gay men and the University

By Andre Sanabia | February 12, 2015

Except for those staunchly opposed to hook-up culture, Grindr has touched almost every gay man’s life at some point. It can be difficult to spontaneously meet another gay man within the same social situations that our fellow hetero Hoos meet each other. Unlike its Tinder counterpart, Grindr gives you options as to why you are on it.

---

Opinion

RUIZ: Choose love over hooking up

By Joy Ruiz | February 12, 2015

Hooking up feels good, it’s exciting, it’s fun — of course it makes you feel happy. But is this a sort of happiness that can be maintained? Does it satisfy?

---

Opinion

FOGEL: Choose comedians for Valediction

By Jared Fogel | February 12, 2015

In 2013, the University first implemented the tactic of pairing up a comedian with a politician, selecting former U.S. Senator Jim Webb and comedian Stephen Colbert as the final exercise speakers. Choosing a comedian was a huge success, as it was the first time the University had welcomed a comedian in at least the past 25 years. Additionally, Colbert’s speech was, thanks to YouTube, the most watched in the University’s history, garnering almost half a million views on YouTube.

---

Opinion

EDEL: The Grammys don’t make sense

By Brennan Edel | February 12, 2015

Maybe part of the reason the Grammys seem so contrived these days is that a music community, at one time, did exist. But with the rise of iTunes in the 2000s and the subsequent arrival of music-streaming apps like Pandora and Spotify, the importance of the individual artist is at an all-time low. We can pick and choose what songs we like.

---

Opinion

​SPINKS: End Lee-Jackson Day

By Ashley Spinks | February 11, 2015

If Charlottesville decides to get rid of Lee-Jackson Day, it will join the several other Virginia cities that have already done so, among them Alexandria, Fredericksburg, Lynchburg and Richmond. The question of how Charlottesville should handle this dilemma is wrought with ambiguity, and to suggest otherwise would be historically irresponsible.

---

Opinion

Prevent secrecy in executions

By Managing Board | February 11, 2015

Enshrouding the practice of lethal injection in secrecy will make it difficult for the public to know whether inmates are being subjected to faulty or painful drugs and will prevent us from effectively determining whether current execution practices are acceptable. Such secrecy will also prevent us from determining whether these practices are legal, as determining what constitutes “cruel and unusual punishment” under the Eighth Amendment requires knowledge of what exactly the punishment is that’s being inflicted.

---

Opinion

JACKSON: Misinformation on trafficking

By Lauren Jackson | February 11, 2015

Despite the growing literature on trafficking, relatively few studies assess the issue holistically by questioning how the root causes of gender inequality, cultural norms and income disparities affect the problem. Statistics resulting from limited analyses have been used as authoritative foundations for advocacy and government policies, despite their academic deficiencies.

---

Opinion

WALLS: Sororities should empower, not imprison

By Nora Walls | February 11, 2015

Most of my friends who have joined sororities rave about their experiences. They often tell me about the incredible friends they’ve found, the women who inspire them, how safe they feel in their sisterhood. What’s odd to me, though, is that they always tell me how incredible their sororities are in spite of the rules they have to follow.

---

Opinion

Make college data transparent

By Managing Board | February 10, 2015

The virtue of compiling these data on an individual level — as opposed to the U.S. Department of Education’s current plan, which is to rate schools given various criteria and compare them — is that families and students will be able to assess each school for themselves. Comparing schools with different interests and focuses may prove difficult, but making their information accessible to a wider audience will allow people to evaluate these data and make informed decisions.

---

Opinion

PATEL: The case for mandatory vaccination

By Sawan Patel | February 10, 2015

Anti-vaccination advocates claim there is no reason for Big Brother to tell them what to do with their children. This is not, however, a private concern. Public health requires coordination by all members of society to cooperate for communal health. The violation of that trust for reasons that border on irrational is not a demonstration of individual liberty but it is rather individual selfishness.

---

Opinion

CARSON AND LEWIS: An odious debt

By Greg Lewis and Kelly Carson | February 10, 2015

The national student debt clock now stands at more than $1.2 trillion. In Virginia, almost 60 percent of students graduate with debt. The price tag of public higher education has long been a shock for poor students — the net cost of Virginia’s system is the fifth highest in the nation. These numbers are inexcusable.

---

Opinion

​No concealed carry at schools

By Managing Board | February 9, 2015

There is no obvious reason civilians need to carry firearms at schools — certainly not concealed ones. At least at our University, with an undergraduate population numbering above 14,000, the potential for a mistake — a student failing to turn on “safety” on his gun; a student mistakenly suspecting someone of being dangerous and responding by use of his firearm — could have grave consequences.

---

Opinion

​BROOM: The virtue of proactive coverage

By Christopher Broom | February 9, 2015

Though I pointed out some issues with sources and sourcing last week, the reporters of The Cavalier Daily generally do a good job of telling us what happened. But, as with much news reporting, it is after the fact and in many cases informs us all about an event or issue, but too late to do anything about it should one wish.

---

Opinion

YODER: The moral failures of the honor referenda

By Richard Yoder | February 9, 2015

But it will be impossible to have that discussion if the advocates for a multi-sanction system maintain that the Committee is not concerned with morality as such. To argue or imply, as the authors of Referendum Item One do, that the “fundamental purpose” of honor is student self-governance is to err grievously. It is also historically inaccurate.

---

Opinion

MENNINGER: Give student athletes a proper orientation

By Nate Menninger | February 8, 2015

I argue that since student athletes live a different life, the University should implement an orientation program or class for incoming first-year student athletes in order to ease and accelerate their transition to a comfortable and safe collegiate athletic experience.