Opinion

Opinion

CONNOLLY: Preparing for the future

By John Connolly | November 21, 2013

Natural disasters tend to affect poor areas much more than rich ones. Haiti’s poor infrastructure exacerbated the effects of the devastating 2010 earthquake that struck the country: collapsing buildings and other structures caused thousands of deaths. In contrast, the earthquake that struck California in 1989, which recorded about the same magnitude as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, killed just 63 people.

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Opinion

BOGUE: A false hero

By Russell Bogue | November 21, 2013

As soon as we allow for agents of the state or even citizens of our nation to exempt themselves from common laws on the basis of moral conviction, we allow each person to become, as Justice Brandeis once put it, “a law unto himself.”

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Opinion

A broad education

By Managing Board | November 21, 2013

The number of University students participating in study abroad has not changed much since 2007. In the 2007-2008 academic year, 1,927 students (both undergraduate and graduate) studied abroad. That number dipped the following year to 1,824 and has since remained roughly the same. In the 2012-2013 academic year, 1,975 students left the country.

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Opinion

YAHANDA: Hunting for trouble

By Alex Yahanda | November 19, 2013

Even the most worthwhile cause can be disregarded if a certain group imprudently promotes its views. Such is the case at the University of Texas at Austin, where a student club’s desire for discussion and dialogue has been overshadowed by its own idiocy.

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Opinion

WHISNANT: Moderately deceiving

By Gray Whisnant | November 19, 2013

After years of Tea Party-led trench warfare in Washington, such a message is understandably relieving for liberals looking for an opposition party willing to govern. It is Christie’s brand as a “moderate dealmaker,” however, that ultimately makes him so dangerous to everything liberals claim to value, especially to the New Deal vision of social democracy that liberals have been building for generations.

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Opinion

More than a family matter

By Managing Board | November 19, 2013

First and foremost, our thoughts rest with Deeds and the people who are close to him. Yet we can’t help but dwell on a factor that almost certainly played a part in Tuesday morning’s dispute: the deficiencies in Virginia’s mental health-care infrastructure.

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Opinion

KNAYSI: The virtues of e-debating

By George Knaysi | November 19, 2013

With social media providing a ready-made forum for friends and acquaintances to engage, why wouldn’t we take advantage of it?

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Opinion

KELLY: Between liberty and safety, a middle ground

By Conor Kelly | November 19, 2013

Any attempt to reform the NSA and other such agencies should not be so impassioned as to render the agencies themselves ineffectual. Instead, we should attempt to eliminate impermissible invasions of personal privacy while allowing reasonable intelligence-gathering for national defense purposes.

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Opinion

More than the money

By Managing Board | November 19, 2013

The revised system promises to create a leaner budget. But for all its sleekness, it comes with some hidden costs — some of which aren’t financial.

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Opinion

BERNSTEIN: A conflict of interest

By Dani Bernstein | November 19, 2013

Under orders from current Republican Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, who recently lost his bid for governor, Fairfax County, which leans blue, had to retroactively change the rules so that legal proxies are no longer allowed to advocate for ballots if the voters themselves are not present. Voters had until last Tuesday to come back to the polls to defend their ballots.

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Opinion

Mission statement impossible

By Managing Board | November 17, 2013

To delist the goals of the University is to risk the possibility of them being forgotten. And while the new mission statement is sleek and short, it is so broad and intangible that it fails to encapsulate what the long-term goals of the University should be.

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Opinion

BROOM: A better alternative

By Christopher Broom | November 17, 2013

While the main page of the desktop browser-based website is, to my eye, well-designed and accessible, some of the organization of the website is still kind of a mess.

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Opinion

BERGER: Better than average

By Meredith Berger | November 17, 2013

Grades are only one indicator of success. Students should know that while grades have their place, so do many other important features of University life. As much as it seems our GPA is our identity, it is not.

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Opinion

SPINKS: Very superstitious

By Ashley Spinks | November 17, 2013

I consider myself a logical person, and yet I make a wish every time the clock reads 11:11. I avoid sidewalk cracks. I have lucky pieces of clothing.

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Opinion

RUSIE: Up in the air, still preparing for take-off

By Mike Rusie | November 17, 2013

I am en route to San Francisco for a job interview, sifting through the pages of “The Defining Decade” by Meg Jay.

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Opinion

FOGEL: Entering another dimension

By Jared Fogel | November 14, 2013

How close are we to a society where there is a 3D printer in almost every household? Now with the click of a button, you can create any object you desire: clothes, books, glasses, jewelry or food. Unfortunately, it is not as close to an affordable level as we may hope, but the 3D printing movement is growing by the day.

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Opinion

ALJASSAR: More equal than others

By Nazar Aljassar | November 14, 2013

Legislation that ensures nationwide marriage equality is not a cure-all for the injustices and inequalities associated with sexual orientation.

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Opinion

BOGUE: A lone exception

By Russell Bogue | November 14, 2013

You rarely hear an intelligent case for American exceptionalism. But that doesn’t mean an argument for exceptionalism doesn’t exist.

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Opinion

Visiting the visitors

By Managing Board | November 14, 2013

The Board of Visitors gathers Friday in the Rotunda for another round of meetings. Of the items on the Board’s docket, two stand out: a meeting of the special committee on diversity, and a full Board meeting on the University’s strategic plan.

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Opinion

Accumulating interest

By Managing Board | November 14, 2013

This tension — between, on the one hand, the presence of wealth, and, on the other hand, the desire to serve as a school for the public, a stepping-stone for the talented and disadvantaged — will play out at the University for the foreseeable future. For this reason, interest in AccessUVa — much like the interest on the loans low-income students will now be obliged to take out — will continue to accrue.