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Letters to the Editor
New name doesn’t represent students, alienates alumni
To the Editor:
The name that is being used by your newspaper to represent the university represents neither myself, nor the majority of students at our University. Lately, I have noticed this newspaper referring to CWRU students as “Case Students” and to the university as a whole as “Case.” Contrary to the belief of some members of the community, the Case name represents only a fraction of the students here at CWRU, and only a small piece of this university’s heritage.
As some people reading this letter may know, CWRU was created by a merger between Western Reserve University and the Case Institute of Technology. While the university dated back to 1826, and was home of some wonderful programs, the Case Institute only dated back to 1880, and simply joined the other colleges at Reserve when the two institutions merged in 1967. The Case name never represented the university as a whole, and it never represented the students and programs at Western Reserve University.
As a person majoring in political science, a major never offered by “Case,” and as someone who has a profound respect for the alumni of Western Reserve University, I am insulted when I hear the word “Case” used to describe myself and my university. The name Case comes from the engineering school, which according to fall 2003 enrollment, only accounts for 10.4 percent of the students at CWRU (source: http://www.cwru.edu/provost/registrar/enroll/regcount041.html).
As was written last week by Jeff Nye (1/30/04), the new “branding” as the administration like to call it, alienates the alumni of Western Reserve, which is the university from which came our great schools of Law, Medicine, and Dentistry, along with many undergraduate programs which have now had the name “Case” slapped on them. I consider putting the Case name on all the buildings on campus, and using it as a term to describe students is an insult to all of us that care about the rich history of Western Reserve University, and the great contributions it has made to our society.
Samuel Linetsky
Undergraduate Student
Greater resistance necessary for end of U.S. imperial domination
To the Editor:
Though we disagree with Case for Peace that U.S. elections can advance social justice, we are glad they have contributed to the dialogue on the elections (Letter to the Editor, 1/30/04). In these times it’s critical that anyone in the U.S. who seeks to stand with the people of the world seriously examine what that requires. Popular wisdom says democracy is the solution. But in today’s world horrendous crimes are being committed in the name of democracy. It is U.S. democracy that destroyed the infrastructure of Iraq and murdered hundreds of thousands of Iraqis – “to bring democracy.”
Case for Peace, the Revolutionary Communist Party, and millions of others resisted this unjust war. Resistance within the U.S. itself has inspired people everywhere. We weren’t able to stop the war, but how terrible would it be if all that energy gets channeled into electing some candidate? Think about it. Has any presidential candidate even claimed to oppose the arrogant notion that U.S. rulers have the “responsibility” to determine the political, military and economic order of every nation on the planet? As Bob Avakian notes in Democracy: Can’t we do better than that?, “… elections: are controlled by the bourgeoisie; are not the means through which basic decisions are made in any case; and are really for the primary purpose of legitimizing the system and the policies and actions of the ruling class, giving them the mantle of a ‘popular mandate,’ and of channeling, confining, and controlling the political activity of the masses of people.”
Black people, women, and others fought, died, and won the right to vote; but today one out of three black men rot in prison, a woman is brutalized every four minutes, and the U.S. occupies Iraq and Afghanistan. This world cries out for active, creative participation of all people of conscience in determined resistance against U.S. imperial domination. This world cries out for revolution – proletarian revolution!
“Who the hell wants the right, so-called right, to see which group of oppressors and exploiters is going to oppress and exploit you? We don’t want that right – it’s not worth a damn! We want the right to be rid of being oppressed and exploited – to put an end to the sham of democracy and the reality of dictatorship.” – Bob Avakian, Chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA
Cheryl Lessin
Revolution Books, Co-sponsor of “Consequences of Global Empire”
Resistance and elections both critical to anti-war movements
To the Editor:
On behalf of the Cleveland Not In Our Name youth and student network, we wish to thank Case for Peace for their response to Larry Everest’s keynote speech at the Jan. 17th conference (Letter to the Editor, 1/30/04). We feel that the conference was very successful in bringing various organizations in the anti-war movement together, and we thank Case for Peace and all other groups for their participation. We would also like to thank Case for Peace for voicing their particular criticisms, because without criticism and struggle we cannot build the unity of the anti-war movement.
We would like to clarify that Larry Everest did not speak for Not In Our Name, and that Not In Our Name is broad coalition that includes people with many different ideologies; however, we felt that Larry Everest’s book, Oil, Power, and Empire, is an important, new contribution to the needed dialogue in the broader anti-war movement. His views do not represent Not In Our Name, nor does everyone in Not In Our Name agree with his views.
The question of the elections is a critical issue for the anti-war movement. There are individuals in Not In Our Name who believe that voting is an essential issue for social change; however, Not In Our Name is non-partisan, and does not participate in elections. While voting is an individual choice, Not In Our Name does believe that to change the whole course of history, and derail the trajectory America has been on since 9/11, people do need to resist in many creative ways that step outside of “business as usual,” and do not rely on the everyday functioning of institutions of power. We feel that the experience of both the women’s movement and the black liberation struggles are testament to the power of resistance, as opposed to relying on those in power.
We thank Case for Peace for opening up this debate on the questions of elections and the future of the anti-war movement. To ignore this issue, or to move on without struggle can only hinder both the unity and effectiveness of this movement. We invite all those opposed to the U.S. war on the world, continuing occupation of Iraq, and police state restrictions to work with Not In Our Name. As the Not In Our Name pledge of resistance states, “Another world is possible, and we pledge to make it real!”
Jacqueline Greene
Undergraduate Student
with members of the Cleveland NION youth and student network
Abortion decisions should be between woman and physician
To the Editor:
In the January 16th issue of The Observer, CWRU Right to Life’s president wrote, “today’s legacy of Roe v. Wade is unrestricted abortion,” and that is extremely misleading. There are plenty of restrictions; even the facilities themselves have many limitations. The Hyde Amendment bans the use of federal Medicaid to fund abortions; therefore the vast majority of poor and low-income women in the US are denied access to abortion services (For more information, go to http://www.feminist.org/roevwade). Never mind that patients have to fight their way through crowds of anti-choice protesters, enduring their verbal abuses. Last year, one in five abortion clinics experienced some form of severe violence. Never mind that patients have to bear the pain of making such an important decision. The government, mostly state but federal also, has been slowly chipping away at women’s reproductive rights, making it harder and harder for women to get an abortion if they want one. No. Roe v. Wade may have made abortions legal, but there are still plenty of restrictions.
Here is the “full picture”: when abortions are illegal, women die. Before Roe v. Wade, one in 100 illegal abortions ended in death. In the sixties, a World Health publication estimated 100,000 women worldwide died each year due to complications of illegal abortions. Anti-abortionists call themselves “pro-life,” which is deceiving and misleading. The term pro-life insinuates that they care about life. Does this mean that women’s lives don’t constitute as life? Feminists and other pro-choice activists are very much pro-life. While they celebrate “the small miracles in life,” they also acknowledge that the decision should be made between a woman and her physician, not the government.
With women’s reproduction rights dangling from a 5-4 decision, we must fight to save women’s right to choose and right to life.
Winnie Lai
Undergraduate Student
Education can prevent unwanted pregnancies
To the Editor:
Recent Letters to the Editor seem to focus on two issues: the immorality of abortion due to the resulting loss of infant life and the need to overturn the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision.
I believe that another point needs to be made in this debate. Marianne Hinde (Letter to the Editor, 1/30) brings to our attention the number of unborn children that are lost each year. However, abortion does not only concern the life of a child. Women’s rights are also at stake in this debate. Women did not receive the right to vote until 1920. The use of birth control to prevent birth was made legal in 1936. It wasn’t until 1972 that the Equal Rights Amendment was passed. The Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision was passed in 1973.
This means that at one point during my grandmother’s lifetime, it would have been illegal for her to use birth control or abortion to prevent pregnancy. At the time, it was also socially unacceptable for a pregnant woman to work (my grandmother was forced to quit her job as a secretary for this very reason). These laws put women in a difficult situation. As a woman, I am thankful that laws now exist that guarantee me the right to make decisions concerning my own body.
With that said, I support individuals who wish to end the practice of abortion. However, this does not need to be done in the courts. Over one million abortions are performed each year; there must be a reason why. The key to decreasing the number of abortions involves education and support. Young women and men need to be educated in the areas of intimate relationships and birth control. Expecting mothers that are considering abortion are overwhelmed by the idea of having a child. Instead of legally eliminating abortion as a choice for these women, provide them with other options. Inform them about adoption or support groups that provide aid to new/young/single mothers. Give them help instead of a closed door.
Rights for women have been slow in coming. Roe v. Wade granted women the freedom to make their own choices when it comes to pregnancy. There is no need to legally force a choice (or a lack of choice) on women. Instead, we can educate people about the prevention of unwanted pregnancy as well as about alternative choices for pregnant women.
Meredith Earl
Undergraduate Student
Tuition leaves students searching for creative funding sources
To the Editor:
Sometime’s its not a matter of the buck stopping at a particular place, just a matter of it not being able to go any farther, like a car that runs out of gas on East 50th.
Well, once again, tuition is going up. Somehow, each of us will have to produce an additional $2400 next year to pay for tuition here at Case, plus a bonus $550 - $800 for room and board. Or, we could leave.
It’s amazing to me how Case and indeed, colleges everywhere, keep raising tuition, and our parents and we continue to find new ways to pay for it. For that, I think we deserve a round of applause and a bit of good sex. But after we’ve worked all summer at making enough money and hopefully had good sex on the side, what happens come fall? I don’t think I’m in the worst of situations. I’m not maxed out on loans, I don’t work the maximum 20 hrs. per week on campus, and if worse came to worse we could just put it on the mortgage. After all, what’s $3000 on an already $150,000 mortgage? But there must be lots others here at Case who are running out of options even more than I am.
I still have the spreadsheet we worked in the 12th grade covering all the raises and payments for my college career. So much for financial planning.
So what do we do? First we sigh and fill out the FAFSA. Again. No luck there? Hope for one hell of a job this summer that will produce $3000 more than last summer. OK, that’s a little ambitious. Option three: get Dad to apply for a night job on the side. He did it in college; he can do it again, right? Head to the bank and check on those loans. They look a little scary as it is? Option five: write a letter to The Observer.
But really, I hear Glenn Nicholls, VP of Student Affairs, Adelbert Hall 110, is the one to write to on this matter. I’m sure also a carbon copy to President Hundert, Adelbert 216, wouldn’t hurt either. Neither would a copy to Ohio’s senators, Mike Dewine and George Voinovich.
I’m going to handwrite mine, or at least type and sign instead of e-mailing . It makes the message somehow more heartfelt and desperate. Cheers to another year at Case!
Susannah Handley
Undergraduate Student
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Vonnegut entertains Case
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Tuition to increase 10 percent next year
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Adelbert Road bridge to be replaced in 2005, construction continues
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City Club extends forums to students
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Jan Hopkins speaks of experience at CNN, Citibank
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Knowledge lecture series begins
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Federal judge rules Microsoft violated patents on software
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Congress may pass laws, dropping pell grant funds
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Greek Update
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The Brief Case
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Lady Spartans sputter against Violets, Judges
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Spartans split with Brandeis, NYU
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Case teams turn out first place finishes at Spartan Relays
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Crew club prepares for winter ergattas
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Men defeat, women fall to swimming Wittenberg Tigers
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Bored waiting for football? Watch the Cavs
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Wrestlers finish second in the Second City
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Finnigan Fields construction moves slowly but surely
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Pats win second Super Bowl in three years, 32-29
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Home Shopping poor replacement for sports
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Editorial
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Strategic voting in 2004
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Letters to the Editor
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Simple Plan guitarist discusses stereotypes, sellouts, losing MTV music award to 50 Cent
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Punk bands sound great despite bad crowd
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Where has all the folk music gone?
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Art museum photography exhibit reveals natural lovin'
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Simon's Dinner Party leaves audience hungry
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Miracle: Adrenaline pumping, Communist-friendly fun
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Side Trax
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