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Opinion


Opinion

Circular reputations

To argue that national rankings help shape a university’s reputation seems like a truism. But it is worth bringing up because — pop quiz — what variable in the U.S. News methodology gets the most weight? The magazine treats a university’s reputation, weighted at 22.5 percent (tied with retention), as the most important factor in determining its rank.


Opinion

YAHANDA: Doctor, give me the news

Purdue says that it has no business regulating doctors — a reasonable policy since its job is to produce drugs, not directly control how those drugs are used. Physicians themselves must ultimately make judgment calls on which situations most require the prescription of particular drugs. That being said, if Purdue has reason to suspect that some physicians are abusing the prescription of their product, they need to divulge that information.


Opinion

Latter days

Mormonism’s short history, and its continued vibrancy worldwide, makes it an exciting laboratory for scholars interested in exploring how religious movements develop, mature and gain adherents. But Mormonism, like many other minority subcultures, has only recently become an object of serious academic inquiry. The University, here, is ahead of its competitors.


Opinion

KEADY: The half-life of action

Indecision in the U.S. also sends a message to the Assad regime that it may do as it pleases. Although Obama and Kerry have unequivocally denounced the chemical weapons attacks, claiming the attacks should “shock the conscience of the world,” it is clear that many Americans are opposed to intervening in another Middle Eastern conflict. The U.S. cannot effectively deter the Syrian regime from using chemical weapons again when its own legislature is veering to block any move to demonstrate the executive branch’s disapproval via force. Threats of retaliation lose credibility every day they are debated.


Opinion

SPINKS: Leaving some behind

Bogue’s proposal is saturated with a type of elitism that points to the class- and race-based divides that hinder Americans from relating to each other constructively. Although I’m sure his proposal was not made with the intent of malice or snobbery, in execution it could prove both malicious and elitist by disenfranchising thousands of voters.


Opinion

BROOM: The hard truth

I can understand how difficult it would be as a part of the University community to include information about possible drug use in an article about people coming together to commemorate a young person with tremendous potential who has just died. But the information is still newsworthy and should, then, at least have been reported on in another article.


	Rivas, in 2000, dressed as a Virginia cheerleader for Halloween.
Opinion

RIVAS: Once a Wahoo, always a Wahoo

At my elementary school’s annual fifth grade luau, the DJ played “Rock and Roll” by Gary Glitter — known at the University as “Countdown to Cav Man,” played every time Virginia scores a touchdown. Unaware of the song’s ubiquity across middle school dances and high school athletics nationwide, as the guitar riffs swelled to the chorus I pumped my fists proudly above my head and shrieked, “U-V-A, GO HOOS GO!” Surprisingly, my classmates didn’t seem to be as well-acquainted with the cheer.


Opinion

Ready for your close-up?

Privacy concerns aside, putting up 2,000 cameras, even with a student population of roughly 29,000, is overkill. Precautions of this magnitude may do campus culture more harm than good. Though the school might become marginally safer, the measure smacks of paternalism.


Humor

Romance tips from my 2008 self

When the object of your affection responds less and less over the semester, this is a challenge to up the ante. Sign off with quotes from movies where a white boy’s life is changed by a free-spirited girl. You are the free spirit.


Humor

Don’t be the iguana guy

For me the realization that I was never going to gain the love of another human person came as I was standing brushing my teeth with a beer in my hand while wearing a pink cotton nightgown with flowers on it.


Opinion

BROWN: A middle ground on divestment

Epstein is correct in one respect: Far too much of our current energy comes from fossil fuels for a responsible university to support a complete divestment. But that does not mean the University of Virginia should not treat its energy investments in a more responsible way.


Opinion

BOGUE: The duties of citizenship

I argue that the standards of citizenship — and hence voting — should be the same. We should all view it as a responsibility, a duty, and not simply a free gift that we lazily accept whenever it suits us. Requiring some demonstration of competency in these areas is not some ill-conceived ploy to keep people from voting, but rather an attempt to improve the quality of our democracy.


Opinion

Repairing a troubled agency

ABC agents did not stop Elizabeth Daly because they were unfamiliar with the Constitution (though they probably would benefit from a brush-up). The overriding problem here is not incomprehension of the law. The problem is a lack of courtesy, at best; at worst, it is corruption by power. Constitutional training will not solve this problem. Tightened performance reviews and increased accountability standards for officers might.


Opinion

KABIR: Sleepy schooldays

I do not think that starting school late necessarily solves the problem of students being too tired to focus in the mornings. Since schools will be starting later in morning, students will remain at school until later in the afternoon. Adding on after-school activities means that students will often not go home until dinner time or later. Students will start homework later in the day, and they will stay up later to finish it. So starting school later might not change the number of hours students sleep. Instead, it will simply change the time frame during which they sleep.


Opinion

YAHANDA: Buffing up the curriculum

Such classes would lay the foundation for future athletic pursuits. A class that makes students interested in tennis or soccer, for instance, is arguably as valuable as one that exposes them to new authors or philosophies, because athletic hobbies can provide as much future benefit as intellectual ones.


Opinion

Unpacking Obama’s higher-ed plan

Obama’s proposal seeks to tie federal aid to college performance. He has called for the creation of a ratings system that would assess college performance by taking into account graduation and transfer rates and graduate earnings, among other factors. According to the plan, the president by 2018 will seek legislation that would funnel more federal aid to high-ranking colleges. This legislation would steer taxpayer dollars toward high-performing schools. Students would then maximize their federal aid at institutions providing the “best value,” the plan’s advocates say.

Puzzles
Hoos Spelling

Latest Podcast

The University’s Orientation and Transition programs are vital to supporting first year and transfer students throughout their entire transition to college. But much of their work goes into planning summer orientation sessions. Funlola Fagbohun, associate director of the first year experience, describes her experience working with OTP and how she strives to create a welcoming environment for first-years during orientation and beyond. Along with her role as associate director, summer Orientation leaders and OTP staff work continually to provide a safe and memorable experience for incoming students.