Opinion

Opinion

Letters to the editor

February 22

Working with Wikipedia Thanks for the Feb. 19 article on Wikipedia, which was the subject of some discussion (pro and con) at the annual faculty Teaching Conference last month. I encourage my students to use Wikipedia as an initial reference source, and don't mind them citing it in papers and presentations as long as they use other more traditional sources as well.

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Opinion

Perfunctory Primary Pondering

By Jacob Shelly | February 19

Political columnists regularly find two temptations irresistible: D.C. silliness being one and relentless horse race "analysis" being the other. These are frequently substitutes for substance. This week, in the spirit of the David Broders and Maureen Dowds of the world, I will succumb to both temptations in the same column.

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Opinion

Staff editorial: AU search committee should take cues from Harvard

February 19

Harvard University recently appointed its first female president in the school's 371-year history. Drew Gilpin Faust, a Civil War scholar, will begin the job July 1. Some see Faust's appointment as an attempt to make up for the sexist comments of previous president Lawrence Summer, who said that genetic differences account for why women cannot attain top-level jobs in science.

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Opinion

Why Feminists are Irrelevant

By Caleb Enerson | February 19

The feminist movement, like the civil rights movement, is one that almost everyone is afraid to criticize. If you attack feminism, you're obviously a sexist, misogynistic male who wishes that women would just stay home and cook, clean and raise children. The issues I have with feminism have nothing to do with the idea of equality between men and women; I just feel that women can and will succeed without the now largely irrelevant feminist movement "supporting" them.

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Opinion

Staff editorial: Take Wikipedia with grains of salt, not a ban

February 19

The history department at Middlebury College in Vermont recently banned students from citing Wikipedia as a primary source in papers. But should a ban on something so widely used even be necessary? It's true that Wikipedia isn't always the most accurate source.

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Opinion

Staff editorial: Kudos on HPV vaccine, but students need information

February 15

The Health Center will begin offering Gardasil, the vaccine that protects women from HPV (a virus that can cause cervical cancer), as soon as the first shipment arrives, which is expected to be by the end of the month. The vaccine is administered in three doses and each dose will cost $150 at the Health Center.

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Opinion

Corrections and Clarifications

February 15

In a Feb. 12 article titled "Music piracy has increased in U.S.," OIT Network Security Director Eric Weakland was incorrectly quoted as saying, "Along with buying Napster for its students, AU also blocks access to many [other] file-sharing programs." In reality, AU does not block access to many file-sharing programs, but instead restricts the amount of bandwidth that many of the programs may use.

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Opinion

Of Dixie Chicks and Democrats

By Paul Perry | February 15

Has anyone else noticed how the fortunes of the Dixie Chicks and the Democrats seem to have been strangely intertwined? It's a virtual parallel. The Dixie Chicks emerged in the early '90s with a new lead singer and experienced nearly a decade of solid stardom.

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Opinion

Staff editorial: Off-campus students should answer to cops, not AU

February 15

The Advisory Neighborhood Commission 3D, a local government group, voted last week to give conditional approval to AU's planned renovations to the McKinley building. The D.C. Zoning Commission will vote on final approval of the project March 15 but generally requires an exemption granted by the local Advisory Neighborhood Commission.

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Opinion

Op-Ed: Morning News: Waking up to Pop Culture

By Allen Xu | February 15

Something huge happened last week. It was such an important event that it dominated all of the major news channels, from FOX News to CNN to the evening news programs on ABC, NBC, FOX and CBS. Thousands of people across the nation tuned in to get the latest bit of information in regards to that huge news happening.

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Opinion

2008 in a Nutshell

By Tom Noble | February 12

It has been less than 100 days since the November election, yet you can already feel momentum gathering for the 2008 presidential contest. Nearly a dozen or so candidates have thrown their proverbial "hats in the ring," despite that the first primaries aren't being held until early next year.

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Opinion

Staff editorial: Party responsibly - and respectfully

February 12

A predominately white fraternity at Clemson University in South Carolina recently held a "gangsta" party where white partygoers wore baggy clothes and "bling" like that often worn by hip-hop and rap artists, according to The Associated Press. One male partygoer showed up in blackface and a female padded her butt to achieve a stereotype of the black female body, the AP also reported.

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Opinion

School Choice: A Pro-Poor Policy, Indeed

By Jared Kotler | February 12

I have been told that I do not care about poor people. This accusation intensified after last week's column regarding the minimum wage. However, such a claim is simply unfair. All of us on either side of the political spectrum want to see our entire society grow and become prosperous.

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Opinion

Letters to the editor

February 12

Kamdar expulsion I am not one to say that in journalism both sides of an issue need to be given equal attention because sometimes, particularly in cases of hatred and prejudice, both sides are not equally valid. However, I have to take issue with Allie Feras' article in the Feb.

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Opinion

Corrections and Clarifications

February 12

In a Feb. 5 article titled "DNC draws '08 presidential hopefuls," the name of Senate Majority Leader Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., was mistakenly included in a list of presidential candidates. The Eagle apologizes for this error. In a Feb. 8 caption regarding a Young Women's Drumming Empowerment Project event last Tuesday, it was not mentioned that AU's Peace and Empowerment Project was responsible for bringing to event to campus.

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Opinion

Staff editorial: Off-campus housing help will ease troubled minds

February 12

The Office of Housing and Dining (spurred by the SG) is in the process of signing a contract with a company to provide a centralized resource for students looking for off-campus housing options. The SG will also offer workshops about finding off-campus housing and how to use financial aid to fund it.

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Opinion

Op-Ed

By Leslie Colwell | February 12

Every year, scores of outstanding college seniors sign up to teach low-income students in urban and rural public schools. Over the past 16 years, 17,000 of them - students of all academic majors who are among the nation's most sought-after young leaders - have committed two years of service to Teach For America, the national teaching corps of recent college graduates who fight educational inequity firsthand in the classroom and become lifelong leaders in the effort to expand opportunity for all children.

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