ON SATURDAY thousands of people came together on the Mall in Washington to stand for one single, unified purpose: to stop the occupation of Iraq, Afghanistan, Haiti, Colombia and Palestine, to end colonialism and capitalism, to support gay rights and abortion rights, to legalize marijuana, and, judging by the plethora of recycled t-shirts, to elect John Kerry.
PROTESTORS, media and police will never agree on the numbers, but from the packed streets and the endless sea of signs, it was clear that Saturday's demonstration in Washington, D.C.
IN RESPONSE to the Thursday, Sept. 8 story in The Cavalier Daily about the meeting of the University Judiciary Committee's Ad Hoc Sub-committee for Sanctioning of Hate Crimes, I wish to present some counterarguments to the contention that the UJC should create additional or specific punishment guidelines for judicial offenses primarily motivated by hatred based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion or disability.
AS THE death toll from Hurricane Katrina passes 1,000 and while Hurricane Rita inundates the five million residents of the Houston area, it's about time for our political leaders to stop running away from reality.
THIS WEEK saw a continuation of two debates on the letters page: the debate over architecture on campus and one about the single sanction punishment for honor violations. Many letter writers were responding to other letter writers, and it became somewhat convoluted to follow the flurry of opinions and facts being flung back and forth.
ONE OFTEN mentioned proposal for political reform is a reinvigoration of moderate positions in American life.
BENJAMIN Franklin once said, "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." Apparently, Jillian Bandes never read Franklin.
IT'S DEPRESSING to imagine what they must think of us. The outside world, Virginians unaffiliated with our school and folks as far north as Boston, who read about the University over their morning coffee, clucking their tongues at news stories about, as the Washington Post phrased it "at least nine racist incidents -- slurs shouted from cars, ugly words written on message boards, a racist threat scrawled on a bathroom wall." It's disheartening that this is the face of Mr. Jefferson's grand project to those outside our community -- not the architectural glory of the Lawn, not the top ranked academic programs, but the shameful acts of a handful of cowards.
THERE is a recent trend in the United States of federal judges more and more often abandoning their proper roles and allowing personal beliefs to interfere and influence rulings in the absence of a clear and established legislative precedent.
ANYONE who has ever attempted to travel between Charlottesville and Washington, D.C. without a car knows that it is far more difficult than one might think.
AMID the wall-to-wall media coverage of Hurricane Katrina and John Roberts' Supreme Court nomination, one secondary news item merits significant attention: The declaration by a federal judge that the Pledge of Allegiance is unconstitutional.
NATIONALLY, Katrina's winds have, without a doubt, blown the stubborn blanket off of race relations, exposing the lingering racism in America. Locally, the racist incidents at our University have also without a doubt stripped the same blanket off of local race relations, exposing the racism in Charlottesville.
FOR POLITICIANS, posturing is just one aspect of the political game. But one must wonder if they indeed feel as silly as they sometimes look and sound.
I CANNOT express the disappointment that I felt as I read the front-page headline of The Cavalier Daily on Sept.
SINCE entering the Virginia House of Delegates in 2002, Rob Bell, (R) who represents all of Greene and parts of Albemarle, Fluvanna and Orange Counties, has consistently prioritized tax cuts at the expense of the University and our community.
AS THE University grapples with the recent outbreak of racial intolerance, we are confronted with conundrum upon conundrum.
Last week University president John T. Casteen, III announced the choice of William Harvey to be the University's Chief Diversity Officer.
AMERICAN college students must frequently contend with puritanical legislators who wish to control their behavior long past the point where such control is necessary or realistic.
AT THE start of a new year, a series of hate incidents have once again exposed the seedy underbelly of hatred at the University, bringing about a cycle of demonstrations and vociferous condemnations against intolerance.
THIS WEEK provided some wonderful reading material -- an academic soap opera of sorts. That which seems antithetical to emotion has created a fantastic outpouring of rage, love, bewilderment and hope.
