Opinion

Opinion

KABIR: Raising the bar

By Fariha Kabir | October 23, 2013

A possible approach to improving the U.S. education system is to have strong pre-school programs available. One of the main ways to decrease the achievement gap between students of different socioeconomic statuses and to ensure all students are at the same basic education level when they enter kindergarten is to have pre-school programs widely available and accessible. This would in turn ensure all students are at a certain performance level.

---

Opinion

WHISNANT: Not a bad choice

By Gray Whisnant | October 22, 2013

For some liberals disappointed with their candidate, voting against Cuccinelli is their only excuse for checking McAuliffe’s name at the ballot box, whereas others have determined to sit out the election to voice their disgust. It’s easy to see why Democrats in a state Barack Obama carried twice might expect a more inspirational candidate than McAuliffe. But many activists and media figures are overlooking that there are very good affirmative reasons to support a McAuliffe candidacy besides his being a warm body that does not belong to Ken Cuccinelli.

---

Opinion

An uneasy alliance

By Managing Board | October 22, 2013

Last Thursday an employee in Concordia College’s admissions office removed all copies of the school’s student newspaper from the college’s campus center. The day before, The Concordian had published a front-page story about students drinking alcohol before campus events.

---

Opinion

KELLY: Mightier than the drone

By Conor Kelly | October 22, 2013

Education can and should play a larger role in the United States’ engagement in the Middle East.

---

Opinion

KNAYSI: Food for thoughtfulness

By George Knaysi | October 22, 2013

The result of these larger influences is a student culture that promotes a skewed perception of what constitutes good mental health. We hold up certain “principles” for well-being that are almost as unhelpful as they are shallow. Who hasn’t seen some “inspirational” meme online which states a vague, common-sense notion like “love yourself”?

---

Opinion

Blindness and insight

By Managing Board | October 22, 2013

The GW Hatchet, George Washington University’s independent student newspaper, scored a scoop Monday. It brought to light that the D.C.-based university had been misrepresenting its admissions policy for years. GW had regularly claimed that it did not factor financial need into admissions. But in fact, the university places hundreds of applicants on the waitlist each year because they cannot pay GW’s tuition.

---

Opinion

BERNSTEIN: What’s in a name

By Dani Bernstein | October 21, 2013

Coming from the Northeast, I still have a lot to adjust to when it comes to Southern culture. I can handle drinking sweet tea and saying “NOVA,” but I was thoroughly unprepared and offended when I learned of the existence of the Jefferson Davis Highway. Davis is undeserving — to say the least — of this kind of memorialization. This highway needs to be renamed immediately.

---

Opinion

Trusting in the arts

By Managing Board | October 21, 2013

Though the University has framed the Arts Trust as a way to support new artistic programs, the trust is as concerned with sustainability as it is with innovation. Without funding, programs do not maintain their levels of quality. They languish. The trust offers a safety net in a climate of budget shortfalls and increased skepticism toward the arts.

---

Opinion

BERGER: A major problem

By Meredith Berger | October 21, 2013

Do you know your passion? If it is not what is written on your major declaration form, perhaps you should take the time to reconsider.

---

Opinion

SPINKS: Leave Miley alone

By Ashley Spinks | October 20, 2013

We need to stop treating celebrities as spectacles and start treating them with the human decency that they deserve. Some may argue that celebrities “sign up for” this abuse in some way. The constant stream of criticism, objectification and judgment is seen as an acceptable byproduct of fame. We need to reflect on how ridiculous that assertion is, though. Nobody should expect emotional abuse. People never forfeit their right to be treated with some amount of respect. A person’s occupation does not determine how much kindness, empathy or understanding we should show them. The horror stories of talented musicians, actors and artists being pushed to the brink of sanity because of a heartless public are too numerous to reiterate here.

---

Opinion

TETTELBACH: Pey-back time

By Carlin Tettelbach | October 20, 2013

Everyone is entitled to his or her own opinions, but I believe Conor Kelly should receive a penalty for unnecessary roughness after his Oct. 15 column about the selection of Peyton Manning as the 2014 Valedictory Exercises keynote speaker. Several yellow flags will be thrown for his bold statements.

---

Opinion

BROOM: Keeping it local

By Christopher Broom | October 20, 2013

The only quotations from a University official were from University spokesperson McGregor McCance who said, essentially, that the University doesn’t have much to do with private student loans and besides that they haven’t had any complaints. While I am sure that’s true, there are certainly experts in the various student aid offices at the University who could help Cavalier Daily readers understand what this report might mean.

---

Opinion

NAGURKA: Hurt-ful politics

By Jarrod Nagurka | October 18, 2013

Charlottesville’s federal workforce of nearly 1,500 should band together with the more than 12,000 federal employees and their families in Rep. Robert Hurt’s congressional district and oust him from Congress.

---

Opinion

FOGEL: Separating to succeed

By Jared Fogel | October 18, 2013

Single-sex education’s benefits may instead lie in teaching. A comprehensive Stanford study of more than 24,000 eighth graders found that girls learn better when taught by female teachers and boys learn better when taught by male teachers. Although I can’t speak to what other school systems are like, I know that when I was growing up, all of my elementary school teachers and most of my middle school teachers were women. Only when I got to high school and college was I met with male teachers. But if I were to compile a list of my top five teachers of all time, they’d all be men.

---

Opinion

Mindfulness or mindlessness?

By Managing Board | October 17, 2013

For the center to be a worthwhile part of the University ecosystem — not merely the whim of a rich donor — it needs to do serious academic work and engage the University community in productive ways. While the center’s attempt to expose a range of people to meditation suggests good intentions, having Chopra and Huffington headline the event does little to dispel suspicion toward contemplation or the “contemplative sciences.” In contrast to the research projects Germano mentioned in the news release, the New Age spirituality of Chopra and Huffington — while it may help some people find meaning — is anti-scientific.

---

Opinion

BROWN: Why we shouldn’t have fall break

By Forrest Brown | October 16, 2013

So how would removing break make life better? Without the disruption to class schedules and the work-week, professors might not have to cram quite so many major assignments into the time directly before and after break. Having these assignments just a little more spread out could make the stress a little less overwhelming for the whole semester. And several headaches that break brings — transportation home, or what to do in town if you stay, for example — would no longer be there to add to the pile.

---

Opinion

Texting while applying

By Managing Board | October 16, 2013

A project to support students’ efforts to get into college by disseminating advice and information through text messaging seeks to address these problems. Ben Castleman, acting assistant professor of education at the University’s Center for Education Policy and Workforce Competitiveness, recently received a $225,000 grant for an initiative that delivers college-planning information to low-income students via text message.

---

Opinion

CONNOLLY: Not just the city’s problem

By John Connolly | October 16, 2013

The presence of great wealth in Charlottesville, juxtaposed against poverty, accentuates the problem of homelessness. Apart from the University (and all that comes with that, such as a world-class medical center), Charlottesville is home to a sizable amount of financial firms, a healthy population of lawyers and is a destination for countless well-to-do University alumni. The contrast between great wealth and great poverty and suffering is startling.

---

Opinion

BOGUE: Bias and balance

By Russell Bogue | October 16, 2013

I find it refreshing when I come across a professor who is open about his stance on different issues, whether political or religious. On the other hand, when a professor’s biases are clear despite his attempts to hide them, I feel uneasy, on the lookout for prejudice and unfair treatment. It’s high time we recognize that merely silencing an opinion doesn’t kill it, and biases will surface in other ways if they don’t have room to breathe.

---

Opinion

WOOD: Manning up

By Isaac Wood | October 16, 2013

Over the past half-century, athletes played a major role in struggles for racial integration and reconciliation, from Jackie Robinson in the United States to the Springbok rugby team in South Africa. Sports figures, colleagues of Manning and Staley, have brought to light many issues of societal importance, from HIV in 1991 (Magic Johnson) to gay rights today (Jason Collins).