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Opinion


Opinion

BOGUE: Logging on to class

Each day, I sit down in a highly equipped room across from screens that project images of a classroom at Duke, and I learn a new language in concert with students three hours away.


Opinion

BROWN: Debts to the past

Slavery is a critical element of our history as a school. We, as students here, are directly benefiting from the institution of slavery through its contributions to the establishment of our school. The least we can do is acknowledge that wrong and honor the lives that were stolen so the University could become the leading institution it is today.


Opinion

Bearing the market

But the University’s shortcomings when it comes to faculty recruitment (and retention) do not stem primarily from a failure of strategy. These problems arise from a failure to pay top faculty members market-rate wages. Until the University can compensate faculty more generously, this element of the strategic plan will be only a partial solution.


Opinion

KABIR: Meriting attention

Originally, when I read about merit-based pay raises, I hesitated to support it. I recalled opposing this idea in high school, wherein merit pay for teachers would be based on standardized test scores, especially because test scores do not necessarily reflect student learning. By extension, basing pay solely on how college students do on their exams would also be artificial. However, because of the holistic approach that the University is taking to evaluate its faculty, I think merit pay is an effective mechanism for mitigating pay freezes.


Opinion

Breaking away

The report tells us something interesting about the University’s oft-uneasy relationship with the commonwealth. But it’s not what you might think. The proposal for the University to strike away from the state is not a realistic suggestion. It is the result of lingering resentment. This resentment comes from two sources: first, a trend of declining state appropriations (though state funding increased by roughly $8 million in fiscal year 2013); and second, the attempted ouster of University President Teresa Sullivan, instigated by state-appointed officials, that left the school reeling last June.


Opinion

Disrespecting your roots

Cuccinelli claims on the campaign trail that he nearly witnessed an attempted sexual assault on Grounds, inspiring him to become an advocate. But then as a politician he refused to support one of the most successful prevention efforts against sexual violence in recent history.


Opinion

'Try' again

Fritz Metzinger’s article, “Worth a Try,” suffers from an excess of assumption and a dearth of nuance.


Opinion

Virginia and virginity

Off the Hook is more than anti-hookup. It is also pro-abstinence. The organization’s AtUVa page reports that the group believes that “sex is good, but only in the context of marriage.” The group’s purpose, according to its blog, is to promote an “alternative to the hookup scene.” The alternative it offers is simple: don’t do it.


Opinion

CAPPS: Did I mention I was abroad?

When I arrived back in the States, my first problem arose when I wanted to get a coffee. I ordered a shot of espresso and the cashier had to ask his manager how to ring me up since no one had ever ordered one before.


Opinion

BROOM: Working both ways

If you feel there is something important, I suggest reaching out to the various press outlets you hope will cover the meeting or event. They may not choose to cover it, but it will get some consideration that might not happen otherwise simply because they might not know the meeting is taking place to begin with.


Opinion

KEADY: The porn identity

Perhaps the best way to look at pornography and maintain a healthy sex life is to take it with a grain of salt — porn is not meant to be realistic or grounded, and should not be assumed to be so. Most importantly, however, is to be true to oneself — whether in a Google Chrome incognito window or not.


Opinion

TODD: A national treasure

Much has been written through the years about activist judges; however, the definition of activism is somewhat elusive. I’ve heard both the late Chief Justice Rehnquist and retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor say that an activist decision is one with which you do not agree. There’s a lot of truth to that, but it’s not very helpful identifying the line beyond which a judge has exceeded his or her proper role.


Opinion

BERGER: Unhooked

These “casual encounters” could be a one-night stand or a dance floor make-out (commonly referred to as a DFMO). In these scenarios it can be unclear to one or both parties what the result will be of the casual hookup. Does he like me? Will she text me later? Is this the beginning of a possible relationship?


Opinion

An uncommon curriculum

For universities that are thinking through their global initiatives, a joint effort between Yale and the National University of Singapore (NUS) provides a useful case study.


Opinion

An uncommon curriculum

For universities that are thinking through their global initiatives, a joint effort between Yale and the National University of Singapore (NUS) provides a useful case study.


Opinion

Joining the posse

Programs such as AccessUVa give moderate help to many rather than extraordinary help to a few. The University’s financial-aid program is merit-based insofar as a student must win admission to the school to be eligible for aid. But apart from this baseline assessment of merit, AccessUVa assists students based on need alone.


Opinion

BOGUE: On dying well

My grandfather died about three years ago. His last several weeks were spent in a hospital bed, hooked into gleaming machines, undergoing countless tests and treatments that ultimately proved useless in the face of death’s advance.

Latest Video

Latest Podcast

With the Virginia Quarterly Review’s 100th Anniversary approaching Executive Director Allison Wright and Senior Editorial Intern Michael Newell-Dimoff, reflect on the magazine’s last hundred years, their own experiences with VQR and the celebration for the magazine’s 100th anniversary!