Weekly

Opinion

​EDEL: Breaking down a Computer Science minor

By Brennan Edel | April 23, 2015

Computer Science is an intrinsically different type of discipline in that it is highly vocational, more so than any other major in the College or the Engineering School. A study on return-on-investment for universities came to the conclusion that a Computer Science degree is the most valuable in the nation almost across the board. And the reason for that is that almost everything taught in the department correlates to a job skill.

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Opinion

​GORMAN: The college bubble is going to burst

By Ryan Gorman | April 23, 2015

Sooner rather than later there will come a time where there will be no money left to borrow for students and, as a result, colleges will be forced to lower their rates to such an extent that they will no longer be able to break even on their own business model. Clearly, the United States is on the verge of facing a full-blown educational crisis; the demand for traditional learning will soon greatly exceed the supply, causing the net total of young adults in this nation with diversified, adapted intelligence to fall dramatically.

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Opinion

​SPINKS: Internships aren’t everything

By Ashley Spinks | April 22, 2015

Being a student at the University comes with enough pressure and expectation, without the self-hatred and mania that alway seem to manifest during internship-search season. Give yourself a break, and know that your time here is preparing you well for a fulfilling life, regardless of what you do during the summer of your third year.

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Opinion

​PATEL: Toward a more equitable credit system

By Sawan Patel | April 22, 2015

I, unlike many students, came in with a minimal amount of credit: less than five credit hours. I know of students who came in with upwards of 40, which basically meant they could go straight into fulfilling major requirements. Rather than promoting the idea of a liberal arts curriculum students are bypassing that which makes paying for college worth it.

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Opinion

​MENNINGER: Providing alternatives to the spring party scene

By Nate Menninger | April 22, 2015

To combat this spring trend toward increased drinking and citation, I argue the University has a responsibility to provide legal alternatives to drinking out on the lawn of your house or some random frat party. On Saturdays or weekend nights the University should sanction and promote events for students who wish to drink in a place free from the over-scrutinizing eyes of police officers.

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Opinion

​ALJASSAR: Preserve the college fraternity

By Nazar Aljassar | April 21, 2015

The national conversation surrounding campus fraternities, wrapped in the mantle of elitism, neglects the benefits that our fraternities provide to their members and the University at large. For many people, participation in a fraternity provides them with opportunities for personal development and peer support. The fraternity as an ideal, rooted in shared values of brotherhood and character, is worth our pursuit.

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Opinion

​DOYLE: A community in name only

By Bobby Doyle | April 21, 2015

When Hannah Graham disappeared it wasn’t just students who came out to search; many community members came out to help. Yet when University students look back at that time we talk about how the University came together during that difficult time in solidarity — our narratives naturally exclude the Charlottesville community. This is a criminal level of ignorance in what is supposed to be a center of learning.

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Opinion

​ADAMES: Implement a diversity requirement

By Alexander Adames | April 20, 2015

We live in a society that perpetuates a culture that privileges others on the basis of race and, therefore, reinforces the privilege of one race above others through daily behavior that is regularly glossed over. For example, when people of color accomplish great things (i.e., admission into top-tier schools), their efforts become vulnerable to being dismissed on account of affirmative action.

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Opinion

​BROOM: Making better use of the Opinion section

By Christopher Broom | April 20, 2015

The last couple of weeks in The Cavalier Daily’s Opinion pages have included a lot of inside baseball. That is to say, there have been several pieces that seem written mostly for those who work for The Cavalier Daily. Ashley Spinks offered columns in the last two weeks that are strongly critical of the Managing Board.

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Opinion

​KHAN: The origin of lumbersexuality

By Hasan Khan | April 17, 2015

As feminist philosophy and women's studies have expanded over the last few years, western society has seen the masculine identity quietly splinter into various different sub-masculinities: gamer, brony, metrosexual and lumbersexual, to name a few. Little emphasis has been put on studying contemporary forms of masculinity and how masculinity has become fragmented by trends in the context of post-industrial consumerist society.

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Opinion

​ZIFF: The transformative power of higher education

By Tamar Ziff | April 17, 2015

We can work as much or as little as we like, but it is in a field of our choosing — whether you spend your four years playing beer pong in a fraternity house, in the editing room of the student newspaper or diligently studying in the library, you must choose to declare at least a stated interest in one or more subjects. You are in charge of charting a course for your learning, and pressed — through basic requirements — to explore beyond what you believe you know to like or dislike.

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Opinion

​EDEL: Moving beyond the equal sign

By Brennan Edel | April 16, 2015

The researchers also advocate broadening kids' "definition of the equal sign," meaning they should "be trained to view an equal sign (=) as balancing an equation, not as a command to produce an answer." This poignant idea uncovers probably the most nefarious byproduct of using expressions or "?" equations to teach students math: it commits a subtle semantical error. Asking children to fill in the spot after the equal sign suggests that by doing the arithmetic, one is actually creating the answer to the problem.

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Opinion

​JACKSON: Refugees and the empathy gap

By Lauren Jackson | April 16, 2015

Charlottesville has seen an influx of refugees in recent years, with thousands being relocated to the city suburbs, yet these people remain some of the most marginalized in the city due to lack of citizenship, lack of employment opportunities, lack of adequate housing and lack of access to education and healthcare for children and families. In the current discussions on race at the University and in Charlottesville as a whole, these communities are continually left out of the conversation.

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Opinion

​FOGEL: A world class University

By Jared Fogel | April 16, 2015

We face undeniable disadvantages in building our brand. The largest disadvantage specifically is trying to keep up with high-caliber private institutions and their often superior funding. This larger funding can go toward hiring esteemed faculty or developing more academic programs. Either way, it is difficult as a public institution to compare ourselves with top private institutions. This, however, is what we must strive to do.

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Opinion

​WALLS: Don’t ask about criminal history

By Nora Walls | April 15, 2015

It is unsurprising that many fear allowing ex-convicts into our state employment system, but it is important to remember that not everyone who is arrested or imprisoned has committed crimes of an equal degree. Many people are imprisoned for non-violent crimes. Of course, this is not to say that any crime is excusable. Anyone who commits a crime ought to serve a fitting punishment, but the system in place often fails, handing out punishments that don’t necessarily fit the crime.

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Opinion

​SPINKS: We need accountability, not retractions

By Ashley Spinks | April 15, 2015

It is reprehensible that the Managing Board failed to hold itself to the same standards that it sets for its subordinates. It exercised its own judgement when deciding to run those articles, and the Managing Board needs to stand by its decision. The Cavalier Daily, as an editorially independent institution, had every right both to attempt satire and to publish jokes at others’ expense. The Managing Board actively exercised that right, and to retract the pieces post-hoc suggests that they did so wrongly, which undermines their individual and collective integrity.

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Opinion

​EVANS: I am not myself

By Will Evans | April 15, 2015

We humans are not confined to certain types; in fact, we hold a modest degree of agency over our personalities. This idea is crucial to understanding the generative process of self. If we can learn to take ownership over the different attitudes and behaviors we express, we can begin to consciously latch on to those characteristics that are more conducive to healthy, positive human interaction. Personality need not be a passive. For passivity only leads to complacency, which in turn, wears down the the social fabrics of community.

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Opinion

​OLSON: In favor of the Franklin Project

By Jake Olson | April 14, 2015

Despite the difficulty of implementing such a program, I believe the Franklin Project makes a strong case for the benefits of expanding national service. The core issue the Franklin Project brings to attention is the uncomfortable thought that perhaps the expectations for service on the average American citizen are far too low. Perhaps it is right to remind us that the obligations and duties of citizenship extend beyond just paying your taxes.

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Opinion

​DEZOORT: Mind over money

By Gage DeZoort | April 14, 2015

Though the facts and figures point towards STEM fields, they actually only reflect a subset of what it is to be ‘useful.’ It is, then, not reasonable to generalize that STEM majors are useful and liberal arts majors are not. Here, it’s useful to consider the differences between hard skills and soft skills. Hard skills are easily quantified abilities and skillsets, demonstrated through applicable knowledge and abilities. Soft skills are more qualitative abilities, oftentimes involving personal traits and interpersonal skills.

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Opinion

​DOYLE: The rise of money in politics is corrupting America

By Bobby Doyle | April 14, 2015

The major problem when it comes to limiting money in politics is that it is considered speech since the Citizens United ruling. This ruling makes it very hard to pass any laws limiting political spending since free speech is a dearly held right for Americans. Arguments for free speech do have merit. In principle, no one should be able to tell an American citizen how to spend his money. Yet, when this spending encroaches on other freedoms, the government has a right to step in and protect the rights of the people at the expense of a few individuals.