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Michael Veldman



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Opinion

Anti-abortion legislation continues to proliferate at the state level

By Michael Veldman Mar. 13, 2012

Last spring, I wrote about the worrisome nature of the state-level, Republican-led fusillade of attacks on abortion rights. I am sad to report that the barrage has not relented. If you thought that last year’s legislation was shocking, then fetch the smelling salts because this new batch might just knock you out.

Opinion

Abolish the Electoral College

By Michael Veldman Feb. 7, 2012

A new poll from Gallup confirms once again the widespread support for amending the Constitution to provide for presidential election by popular vote. For those unacquainted with the issue, in the United States, the president is not elected by direct popular vote. Rather, the framers of the Constitution saw fit to create a college of electors, appointed and regulated by their respective state legislatures, to choose the president by majority vote. While the procedure for the selection of electors has been modified in the intervening 200 years — for example, electors are now nominated by state political parties and elected on Election Day — the gist is largely the same. Currently, 48 states and Washington D.C. allocate their electoral votes on a winner-take-all basis; only Maine and Nebraska delegate part of their votes on a district-by-district basis.

Opinion

Does OWS have an image problem?

By Michael Veldman Nov. 18, 2011

Certainly there is no shortage of people with “The Definitive Opinion” about Occupy Wall Street and its hundreds of offshoots, but I figured I would go the marginally less tired route of addressing the unacquainted, the undecided, and the just plain uneasy.

Opinion

Abolish the Electoral College

By Michael Veldman Oct. 28, 2011

A new poll from Gallup confirms once again the widespread support for amending the Constitution to provide for presidential election by popular vote. For those unacquainted with the issue, in the United States, the president is not elected by direct popular vote. Rather, the framers of the Constitution saw fit to create a college of electors, appointed and regulated by their respective state legislatures, to choose the president by majority vote. While the procedure for the selection of electors has been modified in the intervening 200 years — for example, electors are now nominated by state political parties and elected on Election Day — the gist is largely the same. Currently, 48 states and Washington D.C. allocate their electoral votes on a winner-take-all basis; only Maine and Nebraska delegate part of their votes on a district-by-district basis.

Opinion

Abortion is a fundamental right

By Michael Veldman Sep. 2, 2011

The debate over abortion is plagued by misconceptions and misinformation. Just last spring I received a pamphlet from a campus pro-life group claiming that abortion raises the risk of breast cancer, yet if we can consider the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health as a trustworthy source, this factoid has been thoroughly debunked. On the flip-side, some pro-choice advocates still maintain that an embryo is not alive. Even without this surplus obfuscation the issue is complicated and delicate; both positions in the debate represent legitimate values on their own terms. In the interest of clarity, I will attempt to put forth a reasoned argument in favor of a person’s right to an abortion.

Opinion

Living Pink (or blue, or green, or obsidian)

By Michael Veldman Aug. 26, 2011

While I realize that almost every freshman has some anxiety about their move to their new home, I know that some of you have worries beyond not finding friends, spending REX alone, or flunking out after the first semester (which I’ll have you know is impossible thanks to pass/no record). Some of you also have to worry about revealing an aspect of your identity that you might not even be comfortable with yourself. You freshmen who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender have the added burden of finding a living group and a circle of friends who accept your deviation from traditional norms.

Opinion

The job crisis: Solved in 10 pages?

By Michael Veldman Jun. 3, 2011

House Republicans, led by Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), recently released their Plan for America’s Job Creators. The document, as well as a shortened summary version, can be accessed from . When I first opened the full document, I thought I had chosen the summary by mistake. As Paul Krugman notes, it “has to rely on extra-large type and lots of pointless pictures to bulk it out even to 10 pages.” Indeed, the equivalent of four pages of the document consists of images of cars at the gas station, scissors cutting red tape, and the like. Another page is a platitude-ridden introduction that could be substituted by manic repetition of the phrases “common-sense,” “pro-growth,” “job creators,” and “remove Washington” to the same effect.

Opinion

Chipping away at fundamental rights

By Michael Veldman May. 10, 2011

In the past few months, an epidemic of anti-abortion legislation has swept over our country. The recent passage of House Resolution 3, or the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Bill, is but one example among almost a thousand measures working their way through state legislatures. While the bill is vanishingly unlikely to pass the Democrat-controlled Senate, its language reflects frightening sentiments on the part of House Republicans (and the 16 Democrats who joined them). One of the most shocking effects of the bill’s becoming law would be necessary “rape audits,” conducted by the IRS, to determine if persons who receive federal funding for abortion in case of rape were lying about being raped. As Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) put it, “if you get raped, you better keep a receipt.”

Opinion

Intelligence variability is not gender-dependent

By Michael Veldman Apr. 29, 2011

It is certainly understandable that many men feel that they must go on the defensive in the ostensible intellectual battle of the sexes. After all, we have been hearing for years about women surpassing men in college graduation rates, mean GPA, and income. Wait, one of those doesn’t belong, does it?

Opinion

The Day of Silence is worth it, even at MIT

By Michael Veldman Apr. 15, 2011

Today you may see a few students in Lobby 7 and in your classes with duct tape inscribed with the phrase “No H8” over their mouths in support of an event called the Day of Silence. I suspect their numbers will be few in light of the fact that MIT’s atmosphere of masochistic pursuit of work leaves little drive for campus activism, but I digress. The Day of Silence is a country-wide effort to spread awareness of the bullying and name-calling of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) youth as well as the effects of the casual use and tacit acceptance of using phrases like, “That’s so gay.”

Opinion

‘Fact or Fiction’ — an appropriate title

By Michael Veldman Mar. 18, 2011

My first reaction upon visiting the Fact or Fiction website was decidedly negative. But after exploring the site more, talking to girls about the campaign, and seeing some of the posters, I can see why — at least — its heart is in the right place.

Opinion

H.R. 3: A frightening affront to rape survivors

By Michael Veldman Feb. 4, 2011

Editors Note: Readers are advised that this article contains discussions of the circumstances of rape.

Opinion

Too few cracks in the glass ceiling

By Michael Veldman Nov. 16, 2010

Everyone knew going in that this primary election would entail huge gains for Republicans. What was predicted by few, and perhaps cared about by even fewer, was the consequence this election would have for the representation of women in Congress: that is, complete stagnation.

Opinion

“It Gets Better” needs to do more

By Michael Veldman Oct. 19, 2010

In an October 15 column in <i>The Tech</i>, Andy Liang expressed his support for the “It Gets Better” campaign, started in response to the recent suicides by LGBT youth. On the face of it, the campaign seems impossible to criticize — what could be wrong with giving hope to desperate and lonely gay teenagers across America?

Opinion

Another gay scandal in the clergy?

By Michael Veldman Oct. 8, 2010

When I first heard about the Eddie Long scandal, my immediate reaction was something along the lines of: “Sheesh, another one?” Although the case has not yet been settled, it certainly looks like what we have on our hands is the same tired story. What does it say about our cultural and religious climate that this narrative, in which the closeted minister of excellent repute outs himself in scandal, has reached the status of cliché?

Opinion

Who knew we elected Bush to a 3rd term?

By Michael Veldman Sep. 17, 2010

Remember when you first got hit with Obamania? I sure do. I was a sophomore in high school in February of 2007 when a politically inclined friend of mine and I started spreading the Good Word about our very own fresh-faced, junior Senator’s bid for the presidency. We stuck with his 21 month long campaign and watched proudly as he was inaugurated — she from the National Mall and I from Chicago.

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