IUSA undermining Middle Way services
Students at IU should be very concerned about the position that IUSA has taken with regard to the Rape Crisis Fund. Rather than examining why the fund has lost so much money, instead it is questioning the involvement and funding for the Middle Way House Rape Crisis Service. Although on campus there is the Sexual Assault Crisis Service (at the IU Health Center) and various programs run by the Office for Women's Affairs, there is no emergency service other than that provided by Middle Way. When women are assaulted or raped, it is Middle Way staff or volunteers, trained by professional staff, who support women at the hospital and provide immediate support and assistance. Denying the transfer of Rape Crisis Funds to Middle Way is to deny women help when they need it the most -- when they are scared, vulnerable and in pain.\nWhen I was dean of women's affairs, I became aware of the large numbers of women on this campus who are sexually assaulted and raped. Without Middle Way, students will be left to fend for themselves. Instead of asking why we give decreasing funds to Middle Way for its Rape Crisis Services, we should be asking how we can give more money!
Professor Jean Robinson\nDepartment of Political Science
Praise for IDS \nRape Crisis Fund editorials
I just wanted to thank you for your attention to the Rape Crisis Fund crisis. I was the vice president of Friends of Middle Way House last year, and I am so glad that the IDS is covering this very important issue in a pro-active light. Both of the editorials written this year (July 20) and (Oct. 24) have been fantastic and bring the importance of the Rape Crisis Fund to the masses. I just wanted to say I truly appreciate it and hope the IDS editorial board continues to press these important issues that affect everyone.\nSincerely,
Brittany Hodge\nAlumna
\nIDS coverage \npro-Hill
Chris Freiberg, in his Oct. 20 article, "Sodrel and Hill bring in millions for campaigns" appears to have abused his position as a journalist to promote congressional candidate Baron Hill. The Indiana Daily Student has a record of defaming Republicans and running on its own agenda, but this is the most blatant slant yet.\nThe article refers to Baron Hill's ad and quotes both Baron Hill and an ostensibly liberal professor on the matter. What was excluded is any opportunity for the Sodrel campaign to respond. In lieu of that, I will respond right here. Mike Sodrel started from the very bottom in life, living in almost poverty. He built a business from scratch, starting with a single truck, and now provides more than 500 good-paying jobs to Hoosier families. For Baron Hill to attack him for fulfilling the American dream and boosting the economy at the same time is ridiculous.\nCongressmen like Mike Sodrel are sparse. Rarely do you see politicians who say what they mean and mean what they say. We know his values, his principles, what he stands for and his votes never falter from that. With Baron Hill, on the other hand, we are left in the dark, and he demonstrates a lack of any leadership qualities whatsoever.\nBaron Hill is a double-speaking former lobbyist (that being, by definition, someone who puts special interests before your own). Remember John Kerry flip-flopping in '04? That same concept defines Baron today. Baron was for No Child Left Behind before he was against it; privatization of social security and now against it; for the war and now against it. Don't vote for a liberal politician, vote for a genuine man of integrity; at least you know where he stands.
Jeff Fraser\nFreshman
\nAbortion-genocide comparison wrong
This letter is in response to Abram Hess' column "Abortion Apathy" published online Oct. 18. I was very disappointed to read Mr. Hess' article comparing abortion to genocide in Africa. Such rhetoric not only harms the intelligent discourse that should be characteristic of sensitive issues like abortion, but also portrays a grossly inaccurate picture of abortion in the United States. Equating genocide, a form of ethnic cleansing, with abortion, a difficult decision faced by many women, belittles not only choices made by these women, but also the memories of those killed in real genocides, such as the one in Rwanda. \nI believe that people are entitled to their opinions, but anti-abortion rallies (such as the one Hess writes about) are not organized to disseminate information. They are merely a pathetic attempt to stir visceral emotions for the fetus without any consideration for the mothers who invariably find themselves as primary care-givers. While Hess is right to suggest that no one really believes that "abortions are good," it would be a stretch to claim that it is a necessary evil. Reproductive rights have helped millions of women around the world exercise control over their bodies and make choices that they see fit. Mr. Hess, while it might serve your purpose to connect harmful rhetoric like murder or genocide to abortion, the truth is that the guarantee of reproductive rights helps bring about true equality for women. I would seriously urge you to consider devoting your efforts to the real genocide at hand now -- Darfur.
Amy Gastelum \nPresident, IU Women's Student Association
\nStudent generosity pays off
Last Tuesday morning when I was ordering my morning coffee in Sugar & Spice, I saw something quite remarkable. I watched a student purchase 10 cans of green beans with her hot chocolate. Green beans and hot chocolate might not seem like a winning combination, but that day it was. She was buying the cans to contribute to the Union's canned food drive and to help in an attempt to break the world record for cans collected in a day. She wasn't alone. I watched as several other people in line behind her bought their cans and placed them in the bin. \nTheir generosity made our canned food drive a huge success. Our "internal" goal was 500 pounds of food. Our donation weighed in at more than 2,500 pounds. We appreciate that our busy students and faculty took time out of their day to make a difference and help end local hunger. \nThe Indiana Memorial Union Dining Services and Sodexho Campus Services would like to thank everyone involved for donating to the Hoosier Hills Food Bank. Together, we made it happen!
Steve Mangan\nGeneral Manager, Indiana Memorial Union Dining Services
Campus bus letting down students
In response to last Thursday's front-page article "B bus overcrowding causes consternation" (by Zachary Osterman), I join the IDS in encouraging the management of IU Campus Bus to try harder to improve service and do more than say "students should show up earlier" at the bus stop. The problem isn't the students, nor can the solution come from them. Campus Bus leaders need to provide better bus service to IU students (as well as faculty and staff) than they have recently, so we all can do the right thing in riding the bus and not adding to traffic and parking congestion on campus. As a veteran staff member and IU alum who regularly rides campus buses, here's my top 10 list:\nTop 10 Reasons Why IU Campus Bus Leaders Should Try Harder\n10. Public transportation is good for the entire campus -- but lately that's not been the case. \n9. You require students to pay $100 a year for campus bus service, whether they want to or not. \n8. B buses are way too crowded, and there haven't been any new greek houses built this year. \n7. Drivers say Campus Bus management took B buses away in early October. Why? \n6. Hauling nearly 100 students at a time means more wear and tear on your vehicles. Won't they break down sooner? \n5. If you keep this up, students will stop riding campus buses and switch back to driving cars to class. Is that what you want?\n4. Your buses are overloaded now in early fall. What's going to happen in January when it's 5 degrees outside? \n3. Taking an earlier bus isn't an option if they are full and pass you by several times in a row. \n2. Didn't you get the memo? IU student enrollment has increased this year. \nAnd the No. 1 reason ...\n1. Can you spell "monopoly?" It's more than a board game!
Cindy Stone \nAlumnus and IUB staff member
\n'Obnoxious' opinion
Responding to "Rude Riding" by Ashlee Green (Oct. 20):\nI am a fifth-year senior at IU and have been both a walker and rider in my tenure at this institution, so I have experience from both sides of the handlebars. I have been milliseconds away from being made roadkill and making roadkill of others. There is a common misconception that bikers are malevolent monsters with a penchant for running over unwitting pedestrians. Yet Ms. Green is wrong. The real problem lies with the pedestrians and the city. \nI can't even enumerate the times when people just walk across the street without looking where they are going. (Ms. Green's injured friend was probably one of them.) If we bikers are to obey traffic rules like other vehicles, then maybe pedestrians should obey common sense. Would you walk across 10th Street without looking for oncoming traffic? Would you walk in front of a speeding car? \nOn Ms. Green's opine that 'obnoxious' bicyclists should obey traffic laws like other vehicles, I query, have you ever ridden anything other than a bus in Bloomington? Many times drivers yell "get the *@%# off the road" as they pass inches from me in their gargantuan gas-guzzling SUVs. How would you feel about two-ton metal death boxes trying to squeeze past you and oncoming traffic at 40 mph? Another more unsightly problem with riding on the streets is that many drivers perceive you as a traveling trash receptacle. I don't know about you, but smelling of stale fries and dripping with dip spit is not my idea of a fashion statement. \nAnd what about those bike lanes? Yeah, Bloomington, what about those bike lanes? Where are they? The fortuitous bike lane thoroughfares are usually residential, which provide little utility to those commuting more than five blocks from campus. There are no bike lanes on major roads such as Third, 10th, Atwater and College. For a city with such a prestigious bike race, Bloomington is not very bike-friendly.\nSo, fellow riders, until something changes, ride aggressive, ride smart and watch out for the preschoolers, umm -- I mean, college students -- crossing the street.
Amy DiIullo\nSenior
\nDarfur: Act now!
After watching numerous stories on Darfur, I feel as though it is time to raise my voice. As a Jewish-American, I know firsthand about genocide. My grandfather lost cousins, uncles and aunts in the Holocaust. I believe even during the worst of times, there are always lessons to be learned. In the case of the Holocaust, the lesson we learned was to never again turn our backs on mankind and to help in times of need. In the past 25 years, there have been genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda and Bosnia, and it seems as though no one took the lesson to heart. Let's change that. Right now in Darfur, the Janjaweed, an African-Arab militia, is attacking villages in the middle of the night and killing men, women and children just because they are not Arab. Roughly 300,000 people have been murdered since 2003. While we can't stop the genocide in Darfur from happening since it has already begun, we can do things to try to help the people who have escaped the mass murders, rapes and destruction. There are Web sites such as savedarfur.org or darfurgenocide.org where people can donate money and learn of ways in which they can help. Just acknowledging this atrocity is the first step in helping. As Americans, whose whole lives are based on freedom and the pursuit of happiness, it is important we be aware of the killings that are occurring in the Sudan. The murders are being fueled by extreme hatred for what is different. We must try to help. I believe each generation has its cause. For the students living in the 1960s and '70s, it was Vietnam. During the '80s, campuses across the country were fighting for peace in Berlin and were dealing with the Cold War. For the students in 2006, this is our cause. We must do something, whether it be writing to our representatives in Congress about the genocide, donating money to charities or just talking about it with friends. This is our cause; let's make a difference.
Laura Malick \nSenior
Anti-Pelosi scare-mongering
I would have laughed at Edward Delp's column "The Democrats are Coming" (Oct. 24) if it wasn't such a sad fact that so many people think the way he does. In the column, Delp states that voters should be very worried about a Democrat-controlled House with Nancy Pelosi as leader. He states: "... Rep. Pelosi, like many committed liberals, has such a deep-seated personal hatred of President Bush that her election to speaker would cause at least two years of complete gridlock in Washington." Pelosi's hatred of Bush, freedom and apple pie aside, the Congress has already been in a Republican-controlled gridlock for many years now. The GOP-led Congress has decided to use valuable time trying to pass laws that only pander to its base. The amendments to outlaw flag-burning and gay marriages are just a few of the examples. While some believe laws banning flag-burning are just as important as health care, many believe that this precious time could be spent on more important matters. A recent USA Today/Gallup poll shows that 68 percent of Americans disapprove of the job Congress is doing while only 24 percent approve.\nDelp goes on to describe Pelosi and the city she represents, San Francisco, as having "radical leftist values that have held the city hostage for so long should not be able to govern the whole country..." As scary as "held hostage" and "leftist values" all sound, let's remember that San Francisco is ranked 28th in the world for quality of life and has lower rates of murder, rape, assault, burglary and theft per capita than Indianapolis. So can the cultural crusaders please grow up and stop demonizing the West Coast as some sort of Gomorrah?\nThe article written by Delp is a classic example of how cultural conservatives try to scare people into voting Republican. You can disagree with Pelosi and Democrats on issues, I do; but let's not use lies and half-truths to scare people to the voting booth.
Tristan Reitz\nIU Student
Silencing 9/11 dissent
Regarding "Good riddance to bad scholarship" by Edward Delp, Opinion Front Intelligence Report (Oct. 25):\nPerhaps before Mr. Delp decides to throw around obnoxious and ill-considered phrases such as "anti-American," he should consider that expressing one's opinions, even when the opinion is one some might dispute, is, in and of itself, a very American idea. Mr. Delp seems not to realize that perhaps Steven Jones started this group not as an attack on America, but simply to voice his thoughts in the public forum -- a right clarified by the Constitution. As long as Jones does not speak as a representative of Brigham Young University, there shouldn't be a problem.\nI'm more than a little appalled that Mr. Delp sees BYU's unfair actions as exemplary. If he wants to throw around words like "crackpot theories," might I first point to his recommendation that universities purge their faculties of professors with similar opinions?
Paige E. Dufour\nSenior
Grad degree \nneeded for success
Regarding "School of hard knocks," IDS staff editorial (Oct. 17):\nFor many graduate students, it is not a choice to enter graduate school but a necessity. With increased outsourcing of manufacturing jobs and the increasing complexity of the jobs that remain within the United States, the bachelor's degree is not what it once was. Increasingly, a bachelor's is not sufficient to gain entrance into a salaried field and almost certainly not sufficient to advance in that field.\nFor those who cannot get a salaried job, the future looks bleaker and bleaker. Minimum wage is barely half what is generally considered a "living wage," one sufficient to cover housing, food, clothing and health care, let alone support a family or save for retirement. With Social Security looking precarious, company pensions becoming a thing of the past and Americans living several decades past retirement, earning enough money to save for retirement is an absolute necessity.\nA master's degree is becoming de rigueur, not the choice that the IDS editorial board would have IU students believe it is. Not a privilege but a lot of hard work and expense for a minimal standard of living.
Maryah Converse\nGraduate student
Grad students right to demand benefits
Regarding "School of hard knocks," IDS staff editorial (Oct. 17):\nGraduate school costs a lot, and graduate students are often underpaid and underfunded -- granted. An obvious statement, as the IDS points out. What is not as obvious is that while this is generally true, graduate employees at IU -- the graduate students who teach your classes, grade your papers and lead your discussion sections -- face some specific problems that aren't as applicable across the board. For example, IU continues to be the only Big Ten school without a dental plan for graduate employees. IU also, on average, provides one of the lowest levels of compensation for teaching work and highest graduate employee teaching loads among the Big Ten schools -- in other words, graduate employees here teach more and are paid less for it. And that's only counting those who are lucky enough to receive teaching assistantships -- many graduate students at IU are left without even that much. And, as if that weren't enough, this year IU has cut funding for graduate employee health care, leaving underpaid graduate employees to shoulder more of the burden of paying health care costs for themselves and their dependents. Yes, this is "the real world," as the IDS puts it, and we graduate students are prepared for the hardships that all graduate students face -- but that's a poor justification for allowing IU to continue to undersupport its graduate employees, much less to significantly reduce that support. Apparently, we're good enough to be responsible for the education of IU's undergraduates and good enough to represent IU to the rest of the academic world but not good enough to be properly compensated for the real, and often grueling, work that we do -- and, according to the IDS, we should just suck it up. Frankly, I'm surprised by the IDS's standpoint on this issue. Purely from a pragmatic standpoint, do the editors of the IDS really want the graduate students who teach their classes to be juggling second or third jobs to pay the bills, to be distracted by health care worries and mumbling through toothaches? Support your own education -- encourage IU to adequately support graduate employees, instead of criticizing us for 'whining.'
Vanessa Reece\nGraduate Employees Organization
Criticism of Rosenbaum 'over-the-top,' unjustified
I found Andy Adamson's attack (in the Jordan River Forum) on columnist Teri Rosenbaum ("Rosenbaum poor political pundit," Oct. 19) to be completely over-the-top and excessive. When I first read it, I thought it was a joke because I couldn't imagine anyone getting so passionately worked up over a mockery of Republican T-shirts. Talk about making a big deal over nothing. Rosenbaum's column made some light-hearted comic jabs at Bush, and Adamson unleashed a torrent of vitriolic hatred in response.\nAdamson's letter also claims that Rosenbaum "describe(d) some disturbing images that have no place in a newspaper." I've read over Rosenbaum's piece and have deduced that these "disturbing images" he's talking about are a few off-color anatomical references. Again, a massive overreaction. Are you not man enough to take a joke? And as to what belongs in a newspaper -- who made you the judge of that? Last time I checked, we have freedom of the press here. That means that it's the paper's job to decide what's acceptable, not yours.\nI, for one, think Rosenbaum's columns are hilarious. I love how she mocks all the ridiculous fashion trends and the uniformly-dressed masses of people, and I am in complete agreement with her. I also don't find her writing style to be poor or lacking in technical skills in any way. This adamant, passionate criticism of her column is unwarranted (and whiny), and the suggestion that she should have a "position at the Iraqi press" is hilariously overblown. In fact, it makes me wonder if Adamson's letter is a joke or if he is actually a friend playing a prank on her by writing a comically serious and literal response to a silly column about T-shirts.
Adam Kent-Isaac\nJunior
