Why Would He Do It?
By Whitten Maher, The BreezeFebruary 25, 2010
Excluding Gays and Lesbians from Nondiscrimination Order is Uncalled For Virginia’s new governor has excised protection for gay and lesbian state workers from executive policy, just like he promised he would during the campaign. Bob McDonnell has come a long way since his days at Regent University, when in his infamous thesis he said all those nasty things that were dug up during the campaign — women are detrimental to the family, and the government must intervene in response to homosexual... Read more »
An Admirable Admiral
By Whitten Maher, The BreezeFebruary 12, 2010
‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Goes Against Morality and Practicality The “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy is an abomination. The policy was the fruit of President Clinton’s 1993 attempt to end the ban on gays in the military. He failed and ended up signing a compromise that did next to nothing. Since then Gen. John Shalikashvili, who served as Clinton’s chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has penned two op-eds (one in 2007 for the New York Times and another last June for The Washington... Read more »
The Hazy Argument Against Legalization
By Whitten Maher, The BreezeFebruary 4, 2010
After billions of dollars and millions of incarcerations, marijuana is still the most popular recreational drug, regarded largely with the tacit approval of youthful mischief. In stark contrast to our culture’s nonchalance about weed, anti-drug advocates supporting the current prohibition on cannabis growth, sale and distribution portray the substance as harmful and dangerous. Yet they find more effective arguments in the consequences of its illicit nature than anything else. Arguments against... Read more »
New York, Torture, Hearts & Minds
By Whitten Maher, The BreezeJanuary 21, 2010
In what is likely to be its last season, Fox’s “24” finds itself at its spiritual place of birth. The drama has relocated to New York City after six seasons in Los Angeles and one in Washington, D.C. We won’t ever get another day in Jack Bauer’s amber-tinted Los Angeles, because the last act will play out in cooler, high contrast blues and grays of the city that never sleeps. It makes perfect sense — it’s Jack Bauer in the land of 9/11. When “24” premiered in November 2001, the... Read more »
A Pleasing Presidential Address
By Whitten Maher, The BreezeDecember 3, 2009
Turns Out All That Dithering Paid Off After All There’s something off about the president’s relationship with the country, and it’s been that way for awhile. I hadn’t been able to put my finger on exactly what it is, but others have. Dozens of pundits and columnists have harped on his speaking style, his persona — he’s too cold, too cerebral. For the most part, they’re right, but in Tuesday’s presidential address, announcing the president’s plan for Afghanistan, his style proved... Read more »
With Progress Comes Indecency
By Whitten Maher, The BreezeNovember 12, 2009
The subject of vulgarity, of indecency, has captured me lately. Being a college student in a bubble of like-minded (more or less) 18 to 22-year-olds tends to make one forget about the world. One need only post up at the Port Republic/Devon Lane intersection or listen to conversations on the Quad see the near-complete freedom — of behavior, of expression — we take full advantage of. As a senior, however, thoughts of the workday world and acceptable adult behavior start to grow in the back of... Read more »
Dying for the Latest Technology
By Whitten Maher, The BreezeNovember 5, 2009
She’s telling me to get off the cell phone, my mother. This is out of the ordinary, as it would be for most people, because these conversations are usually 10 minutes at the least. It’s not that she’s telling me to hang up, however, that is disquieting — it’s why. It’s gonna give me cancer, she says. What used to be half a joke is no longer one at all. The link between cell phones and cancer is dubious. Nevertheless, that dubious connection has been around for quite some time. It reared... Read more »
And So We March
By Whitten Maher, The BreezeOctober 15, 2009
Sunday’s National Equality March in D.C. was the first march focused on LGBT rights since 2000’s Millennium March. The “National” stood not just for the marchers and speakers who came from all over the country but also the event’s focus: national action for equality. Specifically, The Defense of Marriage Act and “don’t ask, don’t tell,” both perfectly horrible policies ripe for repeal. Madison Equality, JMU’s LGBT organization, organized a trip to the march, and I went along to... Read more »
For You, Wherever You Are
By Whitten Maher, The BreezeOctober 8, 2009
A Column For LGBT Students, One Year and Two Days Late I dropped the ball in a big way. This time last year, I had the idea of writing a column. I agonized over whether to do it, how to go about it and what I would say. It would have been printed Monday, Oct. 6, 2008. The timing couldn’t have been better. Oct. 6, 2008 was a few days before National Coming Out Day on Oct. 11, the occasion that had caught my interest and sparked the idea. Not only that, but the debate over California’s Proposition... Read more »
A Deal With the Devil, Smoke and All
By Whitten Maher, The BreezeOctober 1, 2009
Menthol Exception to Flavored-Cigarette Ban is a Shameful Compromise With a Shady Ally The noble intention of the most recent tobacco regulation is to stop the targeting of youth with the sweet flavors they love in solid form. The bill, signed by President Obama in June and in effect since last week, smartly recognizes the specific allure of flavored cigarettes; the hardbitten service employee likely doesn’t go for chocolate smokes, which are probably a more effective pitch than Joe Camel ever... Read more »
Check Out New Videos!
March 4, 2010 Issue in Print
2010 Baseball & Softball Guide
