Opinion

Opinion

BERNSTEIN: Board of beneficiaries

By Dani Bernstein | October 7, 2013

Of course, there is no way to fully prove that there is a link between a Board member’s campaign contributions and his or her appointment to the Board, and any politically savvy governor would deny that such a relationship exists (as McDonnell has via his spokespeople). But even if these positions were not used for patronage, there is still little sense in leaving these appointments to the governor.

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Opinion

KELLY: Like a prayer

By Conor Kelly | October 7, 2013

So here we are, faced with the admittedly awkward situation of a majority of the members of the Supreme Court, shortly after attending the Red Mass, hearing arguments in a case about government entanglement with religion.

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Opinion

KNAYSI: Being kind to your mind

By George Knaysi | October 7, 2013

But even if we accept these micro obsessions for certain types of diet and exercise as consistent with good medical standards (they aren’t), our student culture of health and wellness is lacking, for a simple reason: it consistently (and often intentionally) disregards the importance of mental health.

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Opinion

Smile for the camera

By Managing Board | October 6, 2013

A more substantive threat to job prospects — and to online reputations more generally — comes from a different corner of the Web. For students who have been arrested, a sloppy Facebook profile is the least of their worries. The recent advent of for-profit mug shot websites threatens to box some students out of the job market.

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Opinion

BROOM: More information needed

By Christopher Broom | October 6, 2013

The only person quoted in the article is someone who does nothing but hypothesize about what might happen with an e-verify system and raises possible privacy issues. Though privacy concerns are legitimate, an article that draws from another newspaper report and includes only supposition doesn’t help inform readers.

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Opinion

SPINKS: Only in dreams

By Ashley Spinks | October 6, 2013

To me, the problem is not that the American Dream has become unachievable — it is that it is achievable only by the few.

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Opinion

BERGER: In defense of Fridays off

By Meredith Berger | October 6, 2013

We have the rest of our lives to work five-day weeks. So why start now?

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Opinion

By the numbers

By Managing Board | October 3, 2013

The managing board recounts some notable numerals

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Opinion

FOGEL: Don’t count me out

By Jared Fogel | October 3, 2013

In many ways I think students in my high school and surrounding high schools thought they were too good for the University of Virginia. I too was guilty of this, but my opinion has changed since I visited during Days on the Lawn. Nevertheless, it should still be noted that the University is losing its edge of prestige, and we need it back.

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Opinion

ALJASSAR: Turning a blind eye

By Nazar Aljassar | October 3, 2013

Institutional racism is abstruse and often imperceptible; perhaps that’s why we don’t talk about it to the degree that we talk about individual acts of racism. But it’s a conversation we need to have.

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Opinion

Footloose

By Managing Board | October 3, 2013

Even if the noise concerns were valid, the way the Provost’s Office went about establishing the room-reservation policy was misguided. Administrators instituted the policy without seeking feedback from students who would be affected. For a University that prides itself on student self-governance, the failure to consult students marks a significant lapse in judgment.

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Humor

Land of a thousand dead gerbils

By Charlotte Raskovich | October 2, 2013

For Peanut, death was probably a sweet relief, a final liberation from her glass prison.

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Opinion

BOGUE: Against the four-day week

By Russell Bogue | October 2, 2013

We are here to seek and to thirst. Sleep and socializing are necessary and desirable aspects of our life at the University; however, their importance should not be codified so as to permanently exclude an entire cohort of courses, many of which are some of the best at the University.

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Opinion

BROWN: The rush to nowhere

By Forrest Brown | October 2, 2013

How severe should consequences be? I would say the hospitalization of a student with life-threatening alcohol poisoning is worthy of a multi-year banishment of a fraternity from grounds.

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Opinion

Shutting down

By Managing Board | October 1, 2013

The shutdown, taken as an isolated incident, will not harm the University’s research operations much, if at all. But taken as a marker of a broader trend of government dysfunction, it could strike a blow to research, especially basic research, at universities nationwide.

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Opinion

KABIR: Some assembly required

By Fariha Kabir | October 1, 2013

At this juncture between policy and implementation, Western companies can play an important role. They can apply pressure on factory owners to address the issue of workers’ conditions, and threaten to withdraw their business if certain standards are not met.

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Opinion

YAHANDA: Not dreading the end

By Alex Yahanda | October 1, 2013

I am not put off by the idea that the fourth years will be graduating in less than eight months. Graduation, in my opinion, is coming at the proper time.

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Opinion

TAUBMAN: A tarnished ideal

By Joel Taubman | October 1, 2013

The myth of unbiased reporting is absurd. It represents an ideal, one that papers supposedly unaffiliated with partisan views must strive to maintain.

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Opinion

Paying to volunteer

By Managing Board | September 30, 2013

Correlation does not mean causation. But in light of the high proportion of Board members who gave to the governors who appointed them, the claim that political contributions have absolutely nothing to do with Board appointments is tough to swallow.

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Opinion

BERNSTEIN: Don’t rush into rush

By Dani Bernstein | September 30, 2013

The fact of the matter is that when you graduate high school, you don’t automatically leave it behind; you still cling to its social structure and hierarchy, because that’s what you’re familiar with.