Opinion

Opinion

FOGEL: Separating to succeed

By Jared Fogel | October 18, 2013

Single-sex education’s benefits may instead lie in teaching. A comprehensive Stanford study of more than 24,000 eighth graders found that girls learn better when taught by female teachers and boys learn better when taught by male teachers. Although I can’t speak to what other school systems are like, I know that when I was growing up, all of my elementary school teachers and most of my middle school teachers were women. Only when I got to high school and college was I met with male teachers. But if I were to compile a list of my top five teachers of all time, they’d all be men.

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Opinion

Mindfulness or mindlessness?

By Managing Board | October 17, 2013

For the center to be a worthwhile part of the University ecosystem — not merely the whim of a rich donor — it needs to do serious academic work and engage the University community in productive ways. While the center’s attempt to expose a range of people to meditation suggests good intentions, having Chopra and Huffington headline the event does little to dispel suspicion toward contemplation or the “contemplative sciences.” In contrast to the research projects Germano mentioned in the news release, the New Age spirituality of Chopra and Huffington — while it may help some people find meaning — is anti-scientific.

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Opinion

BROWN: Why we shouldn’t have fall break

By Forrest Brown | October 16, 2013

So how would removing break make life better? Without the disruption to class schedules and the work-week, professors might not have to cram quite so many major assignments into the time directly before and after break. Having these assignments just a little more spread out could make the stress a little less overwhelming for the whole semester. And several headaches that break brings — transportation home, or what to do in town if you stay, for example — would no longer be there to add to the pile.

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Opinion

Texting while applying

By Managing Board | October 16, 2013

A project to support students’ efforts to get into college by disseminating advice and information through text messaging seeks to address these problems. Ben Castleman, acting assistant professor of education at the University’s Center for Education Policy and Workforce Competitiveness, recently received a $225,000 grant for an initiative that delivers college-planning information to low-income students via text message.

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Opinion

CONNOLLY: Not just the city’s problem

By John Connolly | October 16, 2013

The presence of great wealth in Charlottesville, juxtaposed against poverty, accentuates the problem of homelessness. Apart from the University (and all that comes with that, such as a world-class medical center), Charlottesville is home to a sizable amount of financial firms, a healthy population of lawyers and is a destination for countless well-to-do University alumni. The contrast between great wealth and great poverty and suffering is startling.

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Opinion

BOGUE: Bias and balance

By Russell Bogue | October 16, 2013

I find it refreshing when I come across a professor who is open about his stance on different issues, whether political or religious. On the other hand, when a professor’s biases are clear despite his attempts to hide them, I feel uneasy, on the lookout for prejudice and unfair treatment. It’s high time we recognize that merely silencing an opinion doesn’t kill it, and biases will surface in other ways if they don’t have room to breathe.

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Opinion

WOOD: Manning up

By Isaac Wood | October 16, 2013

Over the past half-century, athletes played a major role in struggles for racial integration and reconciliation, from Jackie Robinson in the United States to the Springbok rugby team in South Africa. Sports figures, colleagues of Manning and Staley, have brought to light many issues of societal importance, from HIV in 1991 (Magic Johnson) to gay rights today (Jason Collins).

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Humor

BAUER: Effective stress management

By Chris Bauer | October 16, 2013

As usual, I’m getting away from my original point, which is that we’re all under a lot of stress all the time at this school. Something is always causing us worry, be it classes, extracurricular activities or disturbingly sexual dreams about your roommate (Philippe, call me). So how do we handle this stress? With alcohol. See you all next time.

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Opinion

YAHANDA: The problem with prohibition

By Alex Yahanda | October 16, 2013

Zero-tolerance policies create an environment in which students are hesitant to assist one another. Underage drinking will still occur whether or not the rules exist. Despite the illegality of underage drinking, schools should seek to maximize student safety if students choose to drink. Students looking out for each other lessens the probability that dangerous alcohol-related events — from drunk driving to alcohol poisoning — will occur.

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Opinion

KABIR: Computer therapy

By Fariha Kabir | October 16, 2013

One of the main reasons for my skepticism is that treatment for social anxiety via the Internet is somewhat paradoxical. People often use the internet in isolated situations. In fact, the Internet can play a role in reinforcing social isolation. Research by the Stanford Institute for the Quantitative Study of Society revealed that increased Internet usage can decrease social interaction by as much as 70 minutes a day. Moreover, people who have social anxiety disorder also have a tendency to engage in compulsive Internet use because the Internet allows them to avoid face-to-face interaction. Using the Internet to treat people who have trouble interacting with others thus seems contradictory.

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Opinion

A teachable moment

By Managing Board | October 15, 2013

As the prospect of the U.S. defaulting on its debt looms, the ongoing government shutdown has sent federal research efforts into uneasy hiatus.

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Opinion

KELLY: The descent of Manning

By Conor Kelly | October 15, 2013

Choosing a professional sports star to give an academic address at a premier university creates the wrong impression. To those observing the University from afar, it suggests that the University does not have its priorities set straight.

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Opinion

BERNSTEIN: Guilt by association

By Dani Bernstein | October 15, 2013

Though some might argue that the timing of the Republican-driven shutdown and Cuccinelli’s race (and the association voters will draw between the two) is an unfortunate coincidence, without the polarizing social conservatism he has already displayed, the shutdown wouldn’t be such a blow to his campaign.

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Opinion

BROOM: Exploring an issue

By Christopher Broom | October 15, 2013

In this case the staff of the Cavalier Daily has done an excellent job bringing attention to issues that are not only to be dealt with by women, by vulnerable people, by individuals directly affected, but by all of us as members of the University community.

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Opinion

ALJASSAR: The argument for cousin marriage

By Nazar Aljassar | October 10, 2013

Several studies demonstrate that the increased risk of defects among children born to consanguineous parents is small. An American research panel assembled by the National Society of Genetic Counselors reported that the increased risk of serious birth defect in children born to related parents is insignificant.

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Opinion

FISHER: Unclear standards

By Ronald Fisher | October 10, 2013

The point here is that the University could set up a system which applies a higher evidentiary burden and imposes harsher punishments on sexual offenders. That is to say, it is not clear that such a system is illegal, and there are good reasons to believe that a court might actually uphold it. But by doing so, the University might have to fight the Department of Education in court; and if the University won, it would probably mean that the Sexual Misconduct Board and its analogues at universities across the country would have to apply a higher evidentiary standard than a preponderance of the evidence.

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Opinion

TURNER: Teach for the American dream

By Hal Turner | October 10, 2013

Even though I come from a family of educators, I would have never learned the extent to which educational injustices occur on a daily basis throughout this country if I had not seen it for myself as a Teach for America teacher in New Orleans. Some of my students came into the sixth grade not knowing how to read and write. I worked with students with severe behavioral challenges that prevented them from performing in the classroom and made every day a constant struggle to achieve. I worked with students who fought to stay awake in class because of malnutrition or issues at home. I worked with students whose lives were governed by gang violence. While this was the most challenging work I’ve ever done, it was also the most satisfying. Not all TFA teachers seek out a lifelong career in teaching, but everyone comes away with a lifelong commitment to helping students gain access to quality education.

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Opinion

MANUEL: Making an understatement

By Veronica Manuel | October 10, 2013

For state crime reporting purposes, the Incident Based Reporting System used by the Virginia Department of State Police uses the term “forcible fondling” to include acts of aggravated sexual battery, sexual battery and attempted sexual battery.

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Opinion

CONNOLLY: Affordable apprehensions

By John Connolly | October 10, 2013

According to a statement released by the University, “Provisions of the federal Affordable Care Act are projected to add $7.3 million to the cost of the University health plan in 2014 alone.” A $7.3 million addition to health care costs is nothing to sneeze at, and the figure will surely rise in time. Harsh cutbacks follow this rise in costs — cutbacks that intimately affect the lives of University employees. For instance, this August, the University announced its intention to cut health care coverage to spouses already covered by their own employee plans.

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Opinion

Political animals, political email-ers

By Managing Board | October 10, 2013

The University of Wisconsin at La Crosse has issued an apology for an email a professor sent to students last week that blamed the government shutdown on the “Republican/tea party controlled House of Representatives.” Rachel Slocum, assistant professor of geography, sent the email to all of her students in an online class.