The Cavalier Daily
Serving the University Community Since 1890

Will Evans


​EVANS: Introducing the Clean Power Plan

This piece grasps at these uncertainties by exploring what the CPP entails for the University and Virginia at large, addressing obstacles the state faces in fulfilling its federal requirements. Of equal importance is the role our University can play in the state compliance process. And finally — as stakeholders in a cleaner, more efficient energy economy, University students ought to be attuned to this discussion moving forward.

​EVANS: Don’t cave to consulting

Nearly every fourth-year experiences the undue pressure of having to justify four years of costly education by securing some notable next step: law, medicine, high finance. The problem is the latter of the three has flooded the job market with millions of opportunities to make money by helping others make more money.

​EVANS: I am not myself

We humans are not confined to certain types; in fact, we hold a modest degree of agency over our personalities. This idea is crucial to understanding the generative process of self. If we can learn to take ownership over the different attitudes and behaviors we express, we can begin to consciously latch on to those characteristics that are more conducive to healthy, positive human interaction. Personality need not be a passive. For passivity only leads to complacency, which in turn, wears down the the social fabrics of community.

​EVANS: Natural gas kills

Until we begin to question those conventional structures that leave bodies bloodied and crumpled beneath ruined homes, local environments ravaged and watersheds spoiled, we will not progress as a species whose industrial nature will forever demand some form of efficient energy supply. It is up to our generation to facilitate the delivery of a new energy model that reconciles economic productivity with greater values of social and environmental justice.

EVANS: Beware the resurgent religious right

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.

EVANS: Building a wider base for climate change action

Most action-oriented folk forget that we are a minority whose expertise stems from intense experiences unshared by most. We readily dismiss non actors as hopeless and unwilling to engage in environmental discussion because our idea of what constitutes normal contribution fringes on the extreme. Strong opinions can even have polarizing effects on those who identify with the same overarching cause but hold different personal beliefs on how best to approach it. For instance, I was initially reluctant to engage with climate action at the University.

EVANS: Honor referenda signal progress

Although the referenda do not directly propose a multi-sanction model, to join the conversation is to realize that single sanction serves as a disincentive in encouraging students to honor the system. After all, the fates of accused cheaters and liars should not be determined by a moral code that was instituted following the slaughter of a professor back in 1840.

EVANS: The peril and promise of fusion

Like the fossil fuel industry, fusion power is a highly centralized method of energy supply. Unlike wind, solar and geothermal — which have the potential to transform U.S. cities and towns into self-supporting energy generators through local, collaborative projects — fusion would likely become another energy firehose, much like oil or coal albeit a bit cleaner.

EVANS: Rekindle the conversation

The very people who exist to support the integrity of higher academia appear to be the least likely to encourage its efforts, particularly when that research is centered on climate change.

EVANS: Gleaning meaning

While student social life is fundamental to our University culture, the traditional fraternal experience does not truly complement our University’s core purpose.

More articles »

Latest Video