Opinion

Opinion

BROWN: Keeping up poise

By Forrest Brown | September 11, 2013

The most recent headache to confront Obama is the situation in Syria, which continues to deteriorate and create complex international political situations. Polls show that Obama’s approval rating on this issue has been steadily dropping as he pushes for intervention, which many see as another political blunder. But I would argue that Obama’s handling of the Syria issue has been his most politically effective campaign in years.

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Opinion

Ask your TA: back-to-school edition

September 11, 2013

Trudie’s back! After an idyllic summer hanging out in her Alderman carrel, shooting the breeze in the Philosophy library, and having her pick of the Clemons DVDs, Trudie has returned to face the realities of the new semester — TA-ing. But Trudie’s here for you too — she isn’t agonizing over her Powerpoint and discussion questions to see you fall at the first hurdle! So life-hack your sections with these tried-and-Trudie tips, prompted by questions from readers just like you.

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Opinion

Circular reputations

By Managing Board | September 11, 2013

To argue that national rankings help shape a university’s reputation seems like a truism. But it is worth bringing up because — pop quiz — what variable in the U.S. News methodology gets the most weight? The magazine treats a university’s reputation, weighted at 22.5 percent (tied with retention), as the most important factor in determining its rank.

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Opinion

YAHANDA: Doctor, give me the news

By Alex Yahanda | September 10, 2013

Purdue says that it has no business regulating doctors — a reasonable policy since its job is to produce drugs, not directly control how those drugs are used. Physicians themselves must ultimately make judgment calls on which situations most require the prescription of particular drugs. That being said, if Purdue has reason to suspect that some physicians are abusing the prescription of their product, they need to divulge that information.

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Opinion

Latter days

By Managing Board | September 9, 2013

Mormonism’s short history, and its continued vibrancy worldwide, makes it an exciting laboratory for scholars interested in exploring how religious movements develop, mature and gain adherents. But Mormonism, like many other minority subcultures, has only recently become an object of serious academic inquiry. The University, here, is ahead of its competitors.

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Opinion

KNAYSI: Forget about the price tag

By George Knaysi | September 9, 2013

Our idolization of athletes (rather than public officials, teachers, or scientists) often reaches extreme levels.

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Opinion

KEADY: The half-life of action

By Walter Keady | September 9, 2013

Indecision in the U.S. also sends a message to the Assad regime that it may do as it pleases. Although Obama and Kerry have unequivocally denounced the chemical weapons attacks, claiming the attacks should “shock the conscience of the world,” it is clear that many Americans are opposed to intervening in another Middle Eastern conflict. The U.S. cannot effectively deter the Syrian regime from using chemical weapons again when its own legislature is veering to block any move to demonstrate the executive branch’s disapproval via force. Threats of retaliation lose credibility every day they are debated.

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Opinion

No longer ‘Hook’-ed

By Managing Board | September 9, 2013

The schism that produced The Hook has now been fully undone: C-Ville Weekly is reabsorbing its literary offspring.

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Opinion

SPINKS: Leaving some behind

By Ashley Spinks | September 8, 2013

Bogue’s proposal is saturated with a type of elitism that points to the class- and race-based divides that hinder Americans from relating to each other constructively. Although I’m sure his proposal was not made with the intent of malice or snobbery, in execution it could prove both malicious and elitist by disenfranchising thousands of voters.

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Opinion

BERGER: Sitting one out

By Meredith Berger | September 8, 2013

The United Nations is still investigating the attacks, and we have no partners in the global arena who are supporting us. So why the rush to judgement?

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Opinion

BROOM: The hard truth

By Christopher Broom | September 8, 2013

I can understand how difficult it would be as a part of the University community to include information about possible drug use in an article about people coming together to commemorate a young person with tremendous potential who has just died. But the information is still newsworthy and should, then, at least have been reported on in another article.

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Opinion

RIVAS: Once a Wahoo, always a Wahoo

By Caitlin Rivas | September 8, 2013

At my elementary school’s annual fifth grade luau, the DJ played “Rock and Roll” by Gary Glitter — known at the University as “Countdown to Cav Man,” played every time Virginia scores a touchdown. Unaware of the song’s ubiquity across middle school dances and high school athletics nationwide, as the guitar riffs swelled to the chorus I pumped my fists proudly above my head and shrieked, “U-V-A, GO HOOS GO!” Surprisingly, my classmates didn’t seem to be as well-acquainted with the cheer.

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Opinion

By the numbers

By Managing Board | September 6, 2013

The managing board recounts some notable numerals

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Opinion

Ready for your close-up?

By Managing Board | September 4, 2013

Privacy concerns aside, putting up 2,000 cameras, even with a student population of roughly 29,000, is overkill. Precautions of this magnitude may do campus culture more harm than good. Though the school might become marginally safer, the measure smacks of paternalism.

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Humor

Romance tips from my 2008 self

By Charlotte Raskovich | September 4, 2013

When the object of your affection responds less and less over the semester, this is a challenge to up the ante. Sign off with quotes from movies where a white boy’s life is changed by a free-spirited girl. You are the free spirit.

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Humor

Don’t be the iguana guy

By Chris Bauer | September 4, 2013

For me the realization that I was never going to gain the love of another human person came as I was standing brushing my teeth with a beer in my hand while wearing a pink cotton nightgown with flowers on it.

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Opinion

BROWN: A middle ground on divestment

By Forrest Brown | September 4, 2013

Epstein is correct in one respect: Far too much of our current energy comes from fossil fuels for a responsible university to support a complete divestment. But that does not mean the University of Virginia should not treat its energy investments in a more responsible way.

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Opinion

BOGUE: The duties of citizenship

By Russell Bogue | September 4, 2013

I argue that the standards of citizenship — and hence voting — should be the same. We should all view it as a responsibility, a duty, and not simply a free gift that we lazily accept whenever it suits us. Requiring some demonstration of competency in these areas is not some ill-conceived ploy to keep people from voting, but rather an attempt to improve the quality of our democracy.

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Opinion

Repairing a troubled agency

By Managing Board | September 3, 2013

ABC agents did not stop Elizabeth Daly because they were unfamiliar with the Constitution (though they probably would benefit from a brush-up). The overriding problem here is not incomprehension of the law. The problem is a lack of courtesy, at best; at worst, it is corruption by power. Constitutional training will not solve this problem. Tightened performance reviews and increased accountability standards for officers might.

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Opinion

KABIR: Sleepy schooldays

By Fariha Kabir | September 3, 2013

I do not think that starting school late necessarily solves the problem of students being too tired to focus in the mornings. Since schools will be starting later in morning, students will remain at school until later in the afternoon. Adding on after-school activities means that students will often not go home until dinner time or later. Students will start homework later in the day, and they will stay up later to finish it. So starting school later might not change the number of hours students sleep. Instead, it will simply change the time frame during which they sleep.