TO THE EDITOR:
TO THE EDITOR:
I am Barb of Bill's Art Store. In May, the paper did an article about us closing. We planned to close at the end June since I had a buyer for our supplies who was opening a new art store.
The United States has long been hailed as the land of the free, a land in which people can go to make their dreams come true. We boast of a higher quality of living, clean water and opportunity, but often neglect the inequality of the sexes that runs rampant in our streets.
As former Deans of the School of Interdisciplinary Studies, or Western College Program, we have good, even strong, ties to the alumni of Miami University and the alumnae of the Western College for Women. We therefore read with alarm of plans to demolish Patterson Place in order to make room for a 300-bed residence hall.
What to say, where to start -it's difficult to be unemotional about Miami's current actions regarding Patterson Place. In the worst terms, it feels like being taken advantage of, both of the campus and of the constituency of the Alumnae Association. There are no best terms.
"Love and Honor - it is a phrase that has a lot of meaning to Miami students and alumni. At its core, Love and Honor is about intellect, character and heart."
In her column Friday, April 26, Maddie Laplante-Dube called "heartbreaking . . . the way some news organizations have begun to fail us."
Dear members of the Miami Community,
In the recent opinion piece for The Student, the author expresses her belief that "teaching men not to rape" might propagate the problematic notion that rape arises out of a misunderstanding. We agree wholeheartedly that the often-touted 'grey area' of rape, which has been referenced in several ill-informed opinion pieces written previously for this paper, is a harmful but common misconception about the dynamics of acquaintance rape.
Photo by James Steinbauer, Editorial Editor
College. It's basically a synonym for freedom, which is a synonym for autonomy, choice, nonconformity. Yes, this mostly comes from the removal of parents, from family rules that dictate how many hours you spend at church on Sunday, and even from the responsibility to take care of your dog, but what else is it about the college atmosphere that really allows young adults to explore a realm of openness that allows each person to become more in touch with their individual self?
Here at Miami, we are pretty much all capable of reading. We can sit down and look at a simple sentence and glean enough information from the words on the page to get an idea of what the writer meant. Especially when an idea is explicitly and obviously outlined. So already, at the ripe young age of 20, we are smarter than the 535 congressmen that run our country. Exhibit A: the 1970 Controlled Substances Act.
As we reach the end of the semester, many anxious seniors have questions and uncertainty nagging at the back of their brains. What now? Do I dive head first into that impressive company? Do I take the offer from the firm I interned with? Do I go to more school? Do I take a year or two to work for Ameri-Corps, the Peace-Corps or a another charitable non-profit? Do I spend the rest of my life working for an organization like that?
I am the President of Women Against Violence and Sexual Assault.
I am deeply troubled by lack of coverage over the incident that transpired over Easter weekend. President Hodge's email to the student body was not enough. His inaction to give sufficient details on the incident left me with an impression of someone trying to sweep a hateful act under the rug. Who is he trying to protect? Racists, homophobes and anti-semites? Why not protect the people who were deeply affected by those terrible comments posted in Wells Hall and the unnamed fraternities. I believe that Hodge's vagueness in his email to the student body could be seen as an attempt to try to cover the fact that we have a very serious issue with racism, sexism, religious intolerance and homophobia here at Miami University. This wasn't a one time incident. Throughout the school year I've read about instances in this very paper about racist acts brought against students who attend this institution.
Jonathan Masters stated, "The debate over gun control in the United States has waxed and waned over the years, stirred by a series of incidents involving mass killings by gunmen in civilian settings." I am sure this has been on the minds of our parents and maybe a majority of the student body here at Miami University. Unfortunately, this is a real threat; the university is filled with people at all times of the day, and as we have seen on the news mass killings by a person using a gun at a college campus is a very real threat.
In the last month, The Miami Student has featured numerous Letters to the Editor, column pieces (mine included), editorials and a front page story, all covering
The staff of The Miami Student offered a majority opinion editorial in which they suggested wistfully that maybe these tough sexual assault issues should be punted to law enforcement. While I understand why this may seem the most logical solution to a complex problem, it reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of university processes and why they are needed.