Decisions behind closed doors
February 27, 2019
Filed under Opinion, Staff Editorial
The University board of trustees officially confirmed the appointment of a new president, Suresh Garimella, Feb. 22. A year ago to the day, student activist group NoNames for Justice blocked Main Street to call for the resignation of current President Tom Sullivan, among other demands, because they bel...
CAS needs to be funded differently
February 20, 2019
Filed under Opinion, Staff Editorial
Incentive-based budgeting, or IBB, poses a threat to humanities and other programs and drives infighting instead of looking for other spending choices. IBB, as used by UVM, is similar to running a business. It prioritizes funding to the most popular programs, encouraging competition between programs. ...
It’s time to fix our fraternities
February 13, 2019
Filed under Opinion, Staff Editorial
Our campus suffered a tragic loss Feb. 2 with the death of first-year Connor Gage. Following a night at two fraternities, Gage died in the snow of a North Winooski Ave. parking lot. When a student dies, it impacts campus and our community — especially since this situation was entirely preventable. Had s...
We need safe and affordable rides
February 6, 2019
Filed under Opinion, Staff Editorial
As college students, we rarely think of a night out as a life or death situation. But all too regularly, we are proven wrong, most recently by the death of first-year Connor Gage, in an incident the Burlington Police Department attributes in part to freezing overnight temperatures, according to an e...
Variation is value is CAS
January 30, 2019
Filed under Opinion, Staff Editorial
Not all degrees are created equal. In October 2018, CAS changed degree requirements for all majors, dropping required credit hours to 30 while increasing the maximum amount of credits students can take from 18 to 19. According to English Department Chair Dan Fogel this change lets students take el...
It’s time for a new Women’s March
January 23, 2019
Filed under Opinion, Staff Editorial
This past Saturday, Vermonters gathered in Montpelier — and in capitals across the nation — for the third annual Women’s March. The march was first conceived in the light of President Donald Trump’s 2016 election win. It’s well-known for being a symbol of resistance and unity, but it has also prov...
Governmental actions affect us all
January 16, 2019
Filed under Opinion, Staff Editorial
At the date of publication of this article, the government will have been shut down for 25 days. That means 25 days that one third of federal workers have gone without pay. The shutdown is the result of a political disagreement over funds demanded by President Trump for his border wall. And althoug...
No second chances in #MeToo
December 12, 2018
Filed under Opinion, Staff Editorial
This time last year, #MeToo and the Time’s Up movement were in full swing. Hollywood actresses came together and spoke up about the abuse and power plays rampant in the industry, proving that even women who we perceive as more privileged are not safe. It was a venture into uncharted territory to see wom...
Juul, but use common sense
December 5, 2018
Filed under Opinion, Staff Editorial
Growing up, we were all told not to smoke. It would make us wheeze, turn our lungs black, give us cancer. Cigarettes were a relic of the past. Now, few of us can be caught flicking a lighter during a smoke break. We’re puffing away discreetly: Juuling. Look around on campus and you’ll see it — in the l...
A future threatened by denial
November 28, 2018
Filed under Opinion, Staff Editorial
Last Wednesday, the same day the death toll from wildfires in California reached 83 people with hundreds more missing, President Donald Trump asked on Twitter, “Whatever happened to Global Warming?” The president’s tweet, based on an unusually cold forecast, contradicts not only the most popular under...
Be conscious in giving thanks
November 14, 2018
Filed under Opinion, Staff Editorial
It’s November and we’ve made it to the final stretch of the semester. Once we hit the middle of the month, the few remaining weeks melt together in a mess of final exams, projects, readings and essays, then, finally, some rest. But, one week in particular can feel especially long — and that ...
“It’s ok to be white” returns
November 7, 2018
Filed under Opinion, Staff Editorial
When signs saying “It’s OK to be white” went up around campus for the second time last week, many students who saw them online may have thought they were seeing last year’s news. The intense backlash to these signs was both immediate and unsurprising to most of the student body. One would as...
