Opinion
Letter to the Editor: How Mason has engaged the student body about a Good Samaritan policy
|A recent issue in Fourth Estate discussed concerns regarding the University’s lack of a medical amnesty policy, or a ‘Good Samaritan’ policy as it is commonly known.
OPINION: Student conduct policies are archaic, dangerous
|It is a real shame when a university that prides itself on innovative thinking refuses to follow policy recommendations that can and will save student lives. As you can read in Ellen Glickman’s article, Mason’s own expert on public health has recommended that the university adopt a Good Samaritan policy.
OPINION: Support for same-sex faculty benefits misguided
|Throughout the fall semester, the powers that be at Mason have been trying to advance their vision of progress regarding LGBT rights.
In October, the Mason Faculty Senate approved a resolution calling for the expansion of partner benefits for same-sex couples employed at Mason.
OPINION: Mason's weapons policies favor criminals, endanger law-abiding students and staff
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Students at Mason are probably well aware of the gun ban on campus and in housing, and due to the lack of outrage, it seems that students don’t mind a temporary suspension of their rights in the name of safety. Students may be “ok” with not being allowed to have a gun on campus, but where does it end? What other self-defense tools are not permitted on campus?
Emergency situations can pop up anywhere, anytime. Law can only deter violence and police can only react to it.
OPINION: We cannot afford more of Cuccinelli's anti-woman policies
|On Sep. 25, the Center for American Progress released a report about Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli’s record of supporting legislation that hurts Virginia women.
This includes (but is not limited to) support of bills that would limit Virginia women’s access to reproductive health care, sponsoring state funding of faith-based crisis pregnancy centers that are not required by law to provide medically accurate information and pushing for trivial regulations on women’s clinics that have already forced several in Virginia to close their doors.
OPINION: Uranium mining poses threat to Fairfax drinking water
|Clean and safe drinking water is fundamental. And typically it’s a given—when was the last time you questioned the safety of your drinking water?
But sadly we are in the midst of a serious fight to protect our drinking water from significant health threats—both our surface waters’ like the Potomac and the Occoquan which are the source for our drinking water here in Fairfax, and groundwater sources that give water to rural communities not served by municipalities, like my family in Pittsylvania County.
What do student leaders do?
|Letter from the Editor
Last week, Fourth Estate published an article entitled “Five things you need to know about student leaders.” Before we jump into the complaints that many of our readers raised in the article’s comments, let me first explain the original intent of the article.
OPINION: Increasing education costs are destroying college
|I am a junior at Mason studying government and international politics.
I pay for my own food, my own housing and my own tuition. I have to pay, out-of-pocket after financial aid, $2,446 this semester for my education (not including food and my cell phone bill each month).
While this may not seem like a lot, the burden of working and class combined is definitely stressful to say the least.
OPINION: The lure and danger of Molly (MDMA)
|When educating young people on the dangers of hard drugs, it is counterproductive to withhold information.
The Fourth Estate article on the drug MDMA, also known as “molly,” only lectures young adults on the dangers of the drug, and makes no effort to delve into why people use it or why its use is becoming so prevalent.
Here’s what MDMA does: users experience an increase in the release of serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine.