Opinion

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.

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Opinion

MINOT: Doubling the standard

By Jordan Minot | October 10, 2013

The lack of a public response to the Guides incident from the administration, the Guide Service and this newspaper is reprehensible. Hazing should be unacceptable regardless of who perpetrates it and we should not shy away from holding some institutions accountable for the sake of tradition or discomfort.

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Opinion

Make rape a single-sanction offense

By Managing Board | October 10, 2013

Ultimately we must modify the legal codes that pit due process against Title IX to the detriment of student sexual-assault survivors. But even in the context of a flawed system, we can work to improve the lives of students affected by sexual violence, and prevent other attacks.

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Opinion

BOGUE: The price of innocence

By Russell Bogue | October 9, 2013

The free flow of information is a beautiful concept when applied to the news or to theories and ideas; it is something altogether more sinister when someone’s professional reputation is at play.

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Opinion

MENENDEZ: A story of survival

By Sandra Menendez | October 9, 2013

But when I was 16 and in high school and wore floor-length butterfly skirts, I believed that anyone who could possibly even have the slightest afterthought of dating me was a miracle from God. When he came along, I was just getting over the emotional impact of being told by another male classmate that I looked like a horse at the homecoming dance. We were snacking on pretzels in a parking lot and I said yes.

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Opinion

KAPLAN: Ending violence starts here

By Claire Kaplan | October 9, 2013

Ten years ago, the University community was shaken by the murder of one of our students, a fourth-year woman only weeks from graduation. She had worked so hard to complete her college education, and had her whole life ahead of her, and dreamed of becoming a lawyer. Who killed her? The man who professed to love her. Think you know the name of this student? Guess again.