Cody Fenwick

Writer

Why would we raise the pay of people we think are doing a bad job? The answer, as any employer knows, is that increasing compensation is one of the best methods for increasing the size and skill-level of the applicant pool.

Having the political will and acumen to execute social programs effectively is no common gift, and the right person for the job might come with a hefty price tag.

In Favor Of Pay Raises On Beacon Hill And Beyond

Lawmakers are considering changes to vaccine requirements related to the pandemic. (undone/Flickr)

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Opinion

Politics

policy

A city’s architecture ought to evolve as organically as the needs and lives of its citizens.

Pastoral fantasies to the contrary, denser, urban living is the most environmentally-friendly lifestyle

Boston Tall: Breaking Ground On A Vertical Future

Cody Fenwick: "Boston needs more habitable space, and we should be looking up, rather than planning more suburban sprawl." (Karen Testa/AP)

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Business

Economy

An increase in the practice of tipping will almost certainly discourage hotel owners from raising wages. And widening the class of jobs that are reliant on tips is almost certainly a step in the wrong direction.

Should The Wealthy Worry About Inequality?

That certain classes of workers should be paid below-subsistence wages and have to rely on tips to make up the difference underscores the toxic haves-versus-have-nots divide in American culture.

Raise Employees' Wages, Not Their Expectations Of A Tip

Cody Fenwick: "Servers and other tipped staff live off the avails of a lopsided exchange." Pictured: An envelope that Marriott will be placing in 160,000 hotel rooms in the U.S. and Canada beginning this week to encourage guests to leave a tip for the person who cleans the room. The envelopes bear the name of the room attendant. Marriott is launching the project with Maria Shriver, founder of A Woman’s Nation, an organization that works on issues empowering women. (A Woman’s Nation/AP)

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Life

Sometimes, parents...snap. But when snapping leads to slapping, not only is the parent out of control; he or she is telling their child that violence is an appropriate solution to daily challenges.

Think of all the things we try to teach kids: use your words; be nice to each other; respect others' personal space; treat others how you would like to be treated. Without a hint of irony, some parents will try to use physical force to instill these lessons.

Spare The Rod: The Case Against Spanking

Cody Fenwick: "Why do we ignore this kind of violence when it is done to children?."
(-JosephB-/flickr)


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Education

Health

Summers spent away from the classroom hurt our children and weaken our education system.

Commentary: For Our Students’ Sake: A Case Against Summer Break

There is significant evidence that, not only are students not learning during the summer, they are losing abilities they developed the previous year.

For Our Students' Sake: A Case Against Summer Break

Cody Fenwick: "It’s time to put an end to the two-plus months of academic neglect that we call summer vacation." (woodleywonderworks/flickr)

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...people with mental illness are responsible for only 4 percent of the violence in society. We cannot afford to let special interest groups use the lives of those with mental illness as pawns in a political battle.

Don't Scapegoat The Mentally Ill: Help Them

A boy looks at a memorial outside the Boulevard Houses after a news conference there in the borough of Brooklyn in New York on Wednesday, June 4, 2014. On Sunday, June, 1, two children were stabbed at at the housing complex. (Peter Morgan/AP)