Editorials

• Fighting the Fat: Calorie Counts on Menus

  Editorials March 8, 2012 at 12:48 pm 1 comment

  In 2008, New York and California passed laws requiring restaurant chains with more than 15 and 20 locations respectively to post calorie counts on their menus, the idea being that with access to such information, customers would make healthier decisions when ordering. A study published in 2011 in the British Medical Journal surveyed roughly 8,000 New Yorkers and determined that one in six customers pays attention to calorie counts when ordering. Those who considered this information consumed, on average, 106 calories fewer than those who did not. These results are promising, although not stellar, for those fighting against the obesity epidemic in the U.S. Would this law be beneficial in Virginia? To answer this question, we must first examine the two stakeholders that would be affected: restaurant chains with more than 15 or 20 locations and the customers who dine in them. The laws in New York and California have inconvenienced restaurant chains, particularly smaller chains that lack the necessary capital to make drastic changes to their printed menus. Restaurants in New York can be fined up to $2,000 for violations running the gamut from neglecting to post calorie counts to printing the information too small. The problem lies not […]

   

• I’m Rich! How About You?

  Editorials March 8, 2012 at 12:47 pm Comments are Disabled

  We live in a society where we are constantly bombarded with advertisements, sales and competition. We’re always on the lookout for the next Banana Republic sale and who has the new iPad. We obsess about how skinny Eva Longoria looks in a bathing suit. We judge ourselves and others based on unattainable ideals the media portray as realistic. In reality, these standards are designed to make us mindless consumers. As long as corporations enjoy wide profit margins, they’re not going to do a damn thing about the downfall of our society. Life is not a business transaction. Being a valuable individual is not about spending time and money accumulating material goods. It is not about saving time and money at the expense of health and happiness. Life is about attaining a balance, about having multiple human experiences as one develops; it is about constantly bettering oneself. But some individuals desire to spend their lives chasing fame and fortune. Honestly, what is wealth without the support and smiles of a loved one? Without the bonds of friendship and love, life amounts to nothing other than empty gestures and artificial relationships. So you’re at the local Giant and instead of purchasing the […]

   

• Elephants Aided By Government Interference, Vote Against It

  Editorials February 27, 2012 at 3:31 pm Comments are Disabled

  When the term “conservative” comes to mind, so do the ideas of prohibiting gay marriage and the distribution of contraceptives alongside less government interference and a hatred for programs that foster government reliance. What’s so surprising is that residents of the most conservative states — those people who elect the hard-line conservatives who in turn promise to ban government interference — receive 21.2 percent of their income from the federal government, as opposed to 17.1 percent for residents of the most liberal states. Currently, the GOP is more conservative than ever before, going all the way back to 1879. Therefore, it is logical that the Republican candidates are strongly opposed to increasing the safety net also known as government reliance. The American public has witnessed the way life has unfolded under the Obama administration. According to GOP candidate Rick Santorum, one of the most prominent issues that Obama fosters is America’s addiction to “the narcotic of dependency.” Despite what Santorum believes, Obama hasn’t set out to radically expand the safety net. Rather, the poor state of the economy has reduced personal incomes to such a level that more and more people are becoming eligible for unemployment benefits. We must then […]

   

• The Carousel Rider – The Rule Book for All Brilliant Women

  Editorials February 27, 2012 at 3:30 pm Comments are Disabled

  The world is really cold without a cute pair of mittens. And life is pretty hard without a simple guideline to living happily. No one has all the answers as I sure as hell don’t. However, many pieces of received wisdom have been whispered down the grapevine and finally — we have answers. So what are the rules that brilliant women should live by? Envy no one. Once a woman begins feeling envy toward another woman that’s the second she has forsaken her ability to support and empathize with her sister. More importantly, when you’re focusing on another individual’s successes and failures you forget to recognize your own. Essentially, you’ve lost sight of what truly matters — bettering yourself. One sentiment to travel with: Your life is not a “Mean Girls” remake. Write a mission statement. It doesn’t have to be long. It could be one word that encompasses your reason for being the brilliant lady you are. It could be a long poem that represents you. As you grow, your mission statement should be refined to fit your needs and desires. Every woman’s mission statement should have the underlying theme of bettering herself and the world, even if it’s […]

   

• Nuclear Proliferation Threatens Us All

  Editorials February 27, 2012 at 3:29 pm Comments are Disabled

    This past week George Mason University students Michael Jordan, Joe Butt, Elena Bragg, Natalie Niemeyer, Erica McKenney and I attended the “Reaching Zero Conference” at Yale University. The conference was a meeting of ambitious minds coming together to discuss the most reasonable route to zero nuclear weapons. We met at Yale hoping to liberalize knowledge and share ideas that better help us achieve a world without the threat of a nuclear holocaust. We took our seats Saturday morning in the art gallery within a sea of notable politicians and diplomats, conversing casually with them about the dangers of nuclear weapons. Sitting to my immediate left was Hans Blix, formerly head of both the International Atomic Energy Agency and of the U.N Monitoring, Inspection and Verification Commission. Ahead of me was Yale’s president, Rick Levin, and to the right were Bruce Blair, president of the World Security Institute and co-founder of Global Zero, along with Matt Brown, former secretary of state of Rhode Island and the companion founder of Global Zero. President Levin began the conference with a presentation in which he warned us of the dangers inherent in ignoring nuclear proliferation. The first panel consisted of Blix, chief negotiator […]

   

• Obama’s Birth Control Mandate is Nothing More Than a Trojan Horse

  Editorials February 27, 2012 at 3:28 pm Comments are Disabled

  I’m sure President Obama thinks he’s doing me a huge favor by offering me “free” birth control. Well, Mr. President, thanks but no thanks. The truth is, I’d much rather shell out 20 bucks for a pack of Trojans than deal with the plethora of unintended economic consequences this mandate will inevitably breed. For starters, the birth control mandate has “moral hazard” written all over it. A moral hazard occurs when people overuse a beneficial resource because they don’t pay for it directly. Currently, when women are deciding what type of birth control to purchase, they likely factor in cost as a major consideration. For example, a woman who isn’t very sexually active might use condoms in lieu of the pill in order to save money. Or she might decide to use the generic version of a birth control pill rather than the name brand version because it’s less expensive. Once birth control becomes “free,” however, price will no longer be a consideration. If you’re paying for dinner with the company credit card, why order the Caesar salad when you can get the filet mignon? Similarly, if you aren’t footing the bill for your own birth control, why bother with […]

   

• Protestors: The Plague of George Mason

  Editorials February 27, 2012 at 3:27 pm Comments are Disabled

  You know what I love? I mean really just love? Being accosted on my way across campus. Picture this: It’s an average day outside. I’m looking fresh with my dinosaur backpack, making my way to the Johnson Center  to not study or do anything productive. Suddenly, a little commotion catches my eye. My nostrils dilate as I detect the scent of a pack of them on the prowl. It’s a group of those obnoxious protesters promoting this or protesting that. I stealthily conceal myself behind some bushes and watch the interactions take place. Protester: “Hi — yes — have you heard about [insert stupid cause here]?” Innocent passerby just trying to get to class unscathed: “No, I sure haven’t.” Protester: “Well, let me just tell you a little bit about it. Here’s a pamphlet, which you will crumple up as soon as you walk away from me and throw in the nearest possible trashcan. We are out here today to make people more aware of blah blah blah blah….” It’s at about this time, if not sooner, that you stop paying attention. These people are the absolute worst. If you are one of them, I’m sorry, but no one likes […]

   

• Don’t Be Afraid to Share Your Opinion

  Editorials February 27, 2012 at 3:26 pm Comments are Disabled

  The power of opinions isn’t one that we direct much attention to. Words are just words, right? Words themselves have no real meaning, but it’s people within a cultural group who establish and attach shared meanings to them. Or at least that’s what my “Understanding of Intercultural Communication” textbook says. Our opinions are strung together with those culture-laden meanings, and we attach emotions to a strand of language that many times we struggle to voice. Whether the opinion is about abortion, climate change, religion or politics, when we finally muster the courage to share them, no one wants to listen. I am pro-choice, a believer that climate change is real and I am a registered Democrat, but does any of that mean anything? Many times, those labels categorize me as a crazed feminist liberal who thinks Al Gore has the answers to all environmental problems. Labels and categories cloud what we really try to say or accomplish. Take what happened when Congress tried to pass the health care reform bill. Both Democrats and Republicans spent months wasting taxpayers’ money, pointing fingers and getting hung up on their respective party’s opinions instead of doing the right thing and working together to […]

   

• Catholic Church Going too Far with Abortion

  Editorials February 27, 2012 at 3:24 pm Comments are Disabled

  As many of you may remember (if you watched the news a lot last year), the Westboro Baptist Church which was known for its absolute hatred of gay people was a big news topic in early 2011 for its anti-gay protests at the military funeral of a gay Marine. They also were a newsworthy topic as they appealed all the way to the Supreme Court when the father of this gay Marine sued the group. And more recently, Catholic groups across the country have been rallying to outlaw abortion, whether it be a well-known demonstration like the March for Life or just a small picket line outside the local abortion clinic. Well, I spit in the face of these things. First of all, being gay or lesbian is not a choice (as Dr. Phil McGraw said on Anderson Cooper in October 2010). In the King James Bible, which was one of the earliest English translations of the Bible, it says in Leviticus 20:13: “If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of [these men] have committed an abomination…” It’s important to understand that when the Bible was written, the word “abomination” was different than it […]

   

• Rule Change Keeps Rules the Same: Women Are Able to Serve at Batallion Level, but Still No Combat

  Editorials February 20, 2012 at 2:57 pm Comments are Disabled

  The Pentagon announced on Feb. 9 that it would make changes to existing regulations ultimately easing restrictions on women in combat. The Department of Defense staed that it would be opening up 14,000 jobs to women in the military. According to the Associated Press, the Pentagon guidelines “still ban women from serving as infantry, armor and special operations forces, which are considered the most dangerous combat jobs.” Despite the lack of involvement of women on the front lines, the  military remains one of the most powerful and comparatively progressive armies in the world. In contrast, the Chinese military, the world’s largest in terms of the number of troops, only allows women in support positions. The Chinese also take it so far as to require women to sing and dance in order to be recruited, thus demoralizing the position for these women. It would be wise for the United States to review the 2010 survey by the British Ministry of Defense that examined the militaries of 12 countries which allow women in close combat roles. Considering that “combat” is a somewhat ambiguous term in this day and age, the BMD went so far as to define combat as “engaging an enemy […]