Weekly

Opinion

​ADAMES: Grinding down gender roles

By Alexander Adames | March 23, 2015

What is fascinating about grinding is the internalization of the roles ascribed in accordance to one’s gender performativity. The next time you are at a party, I encourage you to examine partygoers on the dance floor. You will find there is no discussion of who will take the role of the grindee or grinder. The roles are assumed. Both individuals presume that the male or masculine person should be the grindee and the grinder should be the female or feminine person.

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Opinion

​DOYLE: We need mental health professionals outside of student health

By Bobby Doyle | March 23, 2015

The solution to the lack of training of the PHEs and the lack of confidentiality of CAPS is simple: anonymous mental health advising. These meetings could be on a one-time basis to let students talk through their problems and figure out possible solutions before approaching CAPS. Health professionals could hear students’ problems with no way to report who they were to any sort of medical record.

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Opinion

​BROOM: Exceeding expectations

By Christopher Broom | March 23, 2015

While I think the coverage, overall, has been very good, I do have some concerns. Primarily, I’m struck by the fact that the core of the reporting on this story has been done by two members of the Managing Board.

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Opinion

​WAN: Don’t exaggerate systemic racism

By Sasha Wan | March 20, 2015

The fairer way to describe the situation is that the community is influenced by cultural stereotypes of race. Racism involves dehumanization and discrimination against racial groups by labelling them as inferior, and thus it oppresses the abused groups. Racial stereotypes, on the other hand, are sets of beliefs about typical characteristics of certain groups and mental shortcuts that people employ to help reduce the cognitive efforts without the intent to dehumanize certain groups.

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Opinion

​RUDGLEY: Policy is more powerful than dialogue

By Ben Rudgley | March 20, 2015

If we want something to change we need more than social media activism; we should pursue paths of action that will directly impact our governing institutions. In short, emailing, writing and calling state and federal legislators to advocate on behalf of concrete policy proposals is a far more direct, substantial and powerful way to enact real change. There are four realistic policy proposals that, if campaigned for and implemented into law, would achieve far more than nebulous dialogues.

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Opinion

​FOGEL: Use guest speakers

By Jared Fogel | March 19, 2015

Not only can students discuss career opportunities — they can also delve deeper into topics both covered and not covered by the course syllabi. These guest speakers use their personal experiences to engage with students, linking course material to the professional working environment.

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Opinion

​GORMAN: Political spending hurts the individual

By Ryan Gorman | March 19, 2015

Corporations have no business controlling policymaking in the United States. From precedents set by the Citizens United case to the various tax breaks and benefits corporations receive from the federal government, it is clear our legislative and judicial systems — as a whole — have little desire to change the tremendous impact that money has on this nation’s political construct.

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Opinion

​EDEL: Rethinking serial killers

By Brennan Edel | March 19, 2015

But for some reason, despite the dearth of serial murders and the rise of more modern fears, the Dursts of the world still hold America rapt with attention. This would be fine if we went about it in a methodical and thoughtful manner, but as coverage of Durst shows, we would rather see these stories crammed into the mold of our preexisting conceptions, to the detriment of the victims and broader awareness of mental health. By perpetuating the stereotype of the insane serial killer, we’re spreading misinformation about serial killers and about legitimate mental illness.

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Opinion

WALLS: Don’t segregate feminist news stories

By Nora Walls | March 18, 2015

What concerns me is that by putting certain articles in the feminist category and not featuring them elsewhere on websites, news outlets are limiting the number of readers those articles will get. Not everyone is going to see the label “feminist news” and feel compelled to click on it. Those sections will likely only draw readers who feel passionate about feminism.

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Opinion

JACKSON: Diversity means religion, too

By Lauren Jackson | March 18, 2015

Though founded on staunch secularism (Jefferson pointedly designed the Lawn with a library at the head, not a chapel) the regional influence of a predominantly Christian South has shaped matriculated students’ religious makeup since the University’s founding. While vibrant religious communities exist on Grounds, it is critical to note in what ways religious diversity at the University is lacking and what the University can do in terms of administrative facilitation to foster the inclusive atmosphere it aims to achieve.

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Opinion

SPINKS: A closer look at the IRC

By Ashley Spinks | March 18, 2015

It is presumptuous to assume that because a group of students is entirely “international,” they will necessarily have overlapping University experiences. International students, after all, come from nearly 150 different countries, and so the idea that they can all be adequately served with identical resources and living conditions is faulty. But in my experience, the IRC did not attempt to corral international students, literally or figuratively.

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Opinion

EVANS: Beware the resurgent religious right

By Will Evans | March 18, 2015

It may be rational for a fundamentalist Christian to outright condemn gay marriage so as to lead a morally consistent life, but such an attitude clearly wants for reason and should have zero sway on senate floor, or any floor for that matter. And yet, at present only seven Republican Congressman support gay marriage.

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Opinion

ZIFF: There is no Planet B

By Tamar Ziff | March 17, 2015

Framing climate change as a partisan issue creates unnecessary controversy over minimally substantive projects — such as an extension to Keystone XL — and makes environmental consciousness a political bellwether rather than a social imperative. Climate change is occurring: the Earth is experiencing universally rising temperatures, and human activity — namely, anthropogenic emission of greenhouse gases — is the cause.

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Opinion

ALJASSAR: Living as Jefferson intended

By Nazar Aljassar | March 17, 2015

By and large, the average student will never in his four years at the University take a class with or speak to a faculty member living in a pavilion. The faculty members living in pavilions do not enrich the student experience nearly as much as they once did — so student spaces should replace faculty residences.

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Opinion

​OLSON: A return to basic classroom etiquette

By Jake Olson | March 17, 2015

Whatever the cause may be, it is important that we reject this type of behavior as a social or educational norm. The University offers one of the most envied educations in the country and treating it with any less than the utmost respect certainly doesn’t send a positive message about how students value their time at the University. Fortunately, students have the most influence to ensure that this culture is not representative of the student body at the University.

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Opinion

​DOYLE: Quotas will not break the glass ceiling

By Bobby Doyle | March 17, 2015

Norway was the first country to impose gender quotas of 40 percent, all the way back in 2003. After 12 years any positive effects from quotas should start to show. However, it is very hard to see any change. Less than 6 percent of general managers in Norway are female and not a single CEO out of their 32 largest companies is female.

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Opinion

PATEL: Democratize public events

By Sawan Patel | March 17, 2015

Rather than the usual system, in which congressional members bring guests, a lottery would allow any American a chance to attend a public, political event. Such a change would promote the ideals of equality and political egalitarianism that have come under pressure recently as a result of the barrage of corporate and personal political spending.

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Opinion

MINK: Jefferson deserves our praise

By Alex Mink | March 16, 2015

Where Adames goes wrong, however, is saying that praising “Jefferson as a person” suggests “appreciation for everything about the man, including his personality and practices.” Jefferson was flawed, to be sure, but his sins were the sins of his time, and did not belong to him alone.

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Opinion

​BROOM: Distinguishing pieces and increasing links

By Christopher Broom | March 16, 2015

Effective labeling is especially important in the digital space, where the lines between sections and types of pieces within sections are more easily blurred. In the current website design, sections are labeled in the navigation bar and in text at the top of each article. This seems reasonable for both the News and Opinion sections where the type of piece is then clear. In other sections, though, the readers are left to sort out for themselves whether they are reading an objective news report or an Opinion column.

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Opinion

​HARRINGTON: Why endorsements don’t matter

By Elaine Harrington | March 6, 2015

The 2015 student elections results proved endorsements are insufficient for and unnecessary for winning.