Viewsday
Analysis, discussion and opinions by members of Newsday's editorial board.
Alleen Barber
Alleen Barber oversees the op-ed pages and works directly with its columnists. Before coming to Newsday's opinion section in 2000 as a production assistant, she was the managing editor at United Features Syndicate. In January 2006, she joined Newsday's editorial board and was named deputy editor in 2007. She grew up in Davidson, N.C., attended Haverford College and earned a master's degree in sociology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Up on the Board: Sexual assault in the military, and drunken bus drivers
Photo credit: Barry Sloan
The editorial board is appalled that the head of the Air Force’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office has been arrested … on a charge of sexual battery. Meanwhile, sexual assault in the military is increasing. What’s needed is a change of culture. Would it help to have more women in the chain of command? Or have top brass lose their jobs when an incident like this happens? NY Sen. Kirsten...
Read more »Up on the Board: Albany corruption, Nassau's court loss, and binding arbitration
Photo credit: AP
It may be that federal prosecutors will be the ones to set de facto term limits in Albany, as yet another denizen fell from grace today. Sen. John Sampson (D-Brooklyn), at one time the co-majority leader of the State Senate, surrendered to the FBI to face charges of embezzlement, obstruction of justice and witness tampering.
Since April 1, federal prosecutors have charged a state senator,...
Read more »McKinstry: Don’t take your eyes off Ken Jenkins
Photo credit: Xavier Mascarenas
Before losing the Democratic nod to run for Westchester County executive, Ken Jenkins gave a rousing speech.
He was clear, focused and inspired.
He was part preacher, part politician, and didn’t fumble around for words or speak in circles. In all my years covering county government, it was the best I’ve ever seen Jenkins.
Before a crowd of roughly 2,000 Democrats at the Westchester...
Read more »Up on the Board: Readers write, public union contracts and LIPA
Photo credit: AP
Readers wrote to us this week about the morning after pill, campaign finance reform and Internet sales taxes. Several people took issue with an op-ed we ran on Monday by Destiny Thompson, a Valley Stream South High School senior who was brought to this country illegally at age 2. She is hoping New York passes a version of the DREAM Act, which would help her pay for a college education. Stay tuned...
Read more »Cartoon: Fracking away Greek yogurt in New York
Mark Wilson is a New York political cartoonist and illustrator who lives in the Adirondacks. He publishes under the pen name Marquil.
MORE CARTOONS: Mark Wilson's cartoon gallery...
Read more »Up on the Board: Nassau sisters, e-hailing taxis and LIPA
Photo credit: Howard Schnapp
Topping the editorial board's agenda for tomorrow: Nassau’s public works commissioner has requested an opinion from the county’s Ethics Board. She gave a $250,000 contract to her sister’s engineering firm and now wants to know whether this was a conflict of interest. We think she should have asked for this opinion before handing out $250,000 in work.
We like the new smartphone app that allows...
Read more »Up on the Board: Immigrants on probation, caffeinated gum and Obama on Syria
Photo credit: AP
To make immigration reform more palatable to those who call it amnesty, there’s a bipartisan proposal being floated in the House of Representatives. Undocumented immigrants would have to plead guilty to a misdemeanor in federal court and serve some time on probation. The editorial board is wary of flooding the court system with this burden. We’re watching the issue to see if it gains support, but...
Read more »Cartoon: George W. Bush's new job

Mark Wilson is a New York political cartoonist and illustrator who lives in the Adirondacks. He publishes under the pen name Marquil.
MORE CARTOONS: Mark Wilson's cartoon gallery
Up on the Board: Jason Collins, One World Trade and Syria's chemical weapons
Photo credit: Getty Images photo
NBA player Jason Collins of the Washington Wizards announced today that he is gay. The editorial board thinks his public statement will be helpful, because it normalizes the idea that people in all walks of life can be gay -- not just those starring on “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.” It softens old stereotypes.
The One World Trade Center spire will hit its 1,776-foot destination height very...
Read more »Up on the Board: Guantanamo hunger strike, low necklines and MTA windfall
Photo credit: Getty Images
The editorial board believes the United States needs to move more aggressively to release terrorism prisoners from Guantanamo Bay, many of whom have been held without charges or trial for 11 years. Holding them without due process is, in a word, un-American. Now, 93 of the 166 suspects are on a hunger strike. The Obama administration must live up to the president’s promise to shutter Guantanamo,...
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