by Joseph Liss

The Virginia Policy Review hosted the National Journal Conference from Friday to Sunday. Nine schools, ranging from Pepperdine and Cornell to several schools from the Washington, DC area, attended the event at the Batten School in Charlottesville, VA.

Collaboration and Sharing Best Practices

Many attendees said they came to the conference to learn from peers and colleagues about how to improve their journals. Senior Editor of The Pulse Kara McLean, from the Chicago Policy Review, said other journals offered useful insights.

“I really wanted to meet the different personalities that are part of a journal,” McLean said.

The Chicago Policy Review uses a different model from most other journals, which revolves around online content.

Editor Gemma Tierney, from New Visions for Public Affairs at the University of Delaware, said she was new to her policy journal and NJC.

“[The executive director of New Visions] attended last year and said it was a really good experience,” Tierney said.

Executive Online Editor Garrett Brinker, from the Georgetown Public Policy Review, was participating in the conference for a second year.

by Grady Brown

It has been a rough couple months for U.Va., since Rolling Stone released its, now mostly-retracted, story covering an alleged rape on U.Va.’s campus. While the fraternity mentioned in the article appears to have been falsely accused, the University is still at the forefront of a growing national issue. According to the Washington Post, there were more than 3,900 reported incidents of sexual assault on college campuses across the country in 2012. This was a 50 percent increase over the previous three years. Interestingly enough, University had decreasing reports of sexual assault between 2010 and 2012. Nevertheless, the University faces a reinvigorated federal review of its Title IX compliance.

Title IX, a portion of the Education Amendments of 1972, is perhaps best known for ensuring female athletes have equal scholarship opportunities. Title IX is, more broadly, a federal civil rights law that prohibits education programs and activities that receive federal funding from discriminating on the basis of sex. In fact, federal interpretation of Title IX outlines a process that universities must use when handling cases of sexual assault. The University is currently working with the Office for Civil Rights to review its policies and has been since 2011, but is now open to increased scrutiny about possible Title IX violations.

by Gabrielle Jorgensen

Following Secretary of State John Kerry’s hearing on December 9, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee authorized the administration to use military force against the Islamic State. The move comes as a shock to no one and represented a symbolic check on executive war powers before the Republican-dominated legislative session began in January. The bill expired and the 114th Congress must now reconsider the issue.

Congress last passed an Authorization for Use of Military Force following the 9/11 terrorist attacks and military intervention in Afghanistan. The proposed new AUMF for the Islamic State puts a considerable constraint on President Obama’s abilities as Commander-in-Chief. In a stipulation supported primarily by Senator Tim Kaine, D-Va., and his fellow Democrats, as well as the noninterventionist Senator Rand Paul, R-Ky., the new AUMF prohibits the administration from deploying ground troops to combat the Islamic State. Despite President Barack Obama’s repeated assurances that the conflict will not escalate to involve “boots on the ground,” even the historically pacifist State Department expressed reservations about the restriction. The administration is likely to appeal this decision to next session’s Republican Senate, hoping that the new crop of hawkish legislators will understand its need to entertain a wider range of defense options.