The gay community is one of the most oppressed communities in the world and most poignantly, at Cornell. The actions taken by Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship to remove Chris Donohoe ’09 from his leadership position have highlighted this. But we know that his tale is just one example of such discrimination on college campuses across the nation, where social justice is being halted by fundamental values encroaching into the realm of progressive academics.

A building is meant to be a communal space that represents the needs and wants of its inhabitants. The people who design buildings, however, are increasingly unprepared for a discipline that requires such broad thinking. The architecture program at Cornell has repeatedly abandoned and ignored the need for cross-disciplinary study in favor of courses that keep students within the often-unwelcoming brown brick walls of Rand Hall. A vast divide already exists in the world of professional architecture between the designers and the people for whom they design. We feel that the University — which, as the home of one of the world’s finest architecture programs, serves as an example to the rest of the field — should work to bridge this divide.

Sixty percent of a sample of Cornellians does not engage in community service during a typical week, according to the recent PULSE survey of undergraduates. As the University reassesses its expenditures in light of the economic recession, we hope it will recognize the need to continue to provide students with meaningful opportunities for service.

We are troubled to see the lack of volunteerism exhibited by the survey. And while other results proved that students are mostly happy at Cornell, and that they take advantage of many opportunities available to them, this lack of service is a glaring issue that the University should not overlook.

As the Cornell community commemorated the 40th anniversary of the takeover of Willard Straight Hall this weekend, the question remains: How far have we come since the tumultuous spring of 1969? Four decades later, some facets of campus diversity have us concerned for the future of Cornell.

It is debatable what the takeover itself directly accomplished. Yet it is undeniable that the image of 50 to 100 black students emerging from the straight — armed with weapons, following a 33-hour occupation — caught the nation’s attention and shed light on the unequal representation of black students in institutions of higher education, particularly in the Ivy League.

We write this from the depths of the bat cave in complete and utter secrecy. We’ve been conquered. We’ve been taken over. Our captors are telling us it’s all or nothing. The Sun has three hours to live. They say unless we publish a paper full of complete and utter lunacy, mistakes and typos, we will never see the light of day again. So apologies for this newspaper.

The University has recently terminated on-campus instruction in Dutch, Swedish and Turkish, as well as an English as a Second Language writing course titled English for Academic Purposes. Given President Skorton’s March 26 comments advocating cautiousness when eliminating programs that attract new students, these cuts denote nothing less than a broken promise.

Lately, many staff cuts have been justified as necessary to insulate students’ academic options from the repercussions of the budget crunch, but these course cuts suggest otherwise. Although staff and program reductions are inevitable, by first announcing that jobs were sacrificed for the sake of academics, and then watching courses get cut wholesale, makes us skeptical.

Although the Office of Financial Aid faces the large responsibility to serve all students, some recently reported errors on its part extend too far beyond the pale. It is understood that this time of year, amidst the shuffle of acceptance letters and registration forms, the office faces stressful working conditions and a high volume of materials to process. But many managerial mishaps have now resurfaced, which the recently announced and commendable expansions to students’ financial aid packets cannot fix.

Mike Walsh grad, current student-elected trustee, calls his job the loneliest student leader position on campus. It’s true — being on the Board of Trustees means interacting with a slew of stone-faced alumni as they hash out the future of our University. And being a student means listening to peers and fighting for their rights. To be an intermediary between these two groups requires a strong will while also being malleable to change.

In an admirable move, students emerged from the East Hill bubble earlier this month to rally members of Congress to advocate for additional financial aid, specifically in the form of funding for the Pell Grant program. We were glad to see that despite budget cuts across the University, Cornell agreed to sponsor this trip, bringing to the forefront some of the most pressing roadblocks standing in the way of equal access to education in this country.

It’s a VILLAINOUS world out there for us “journalists” ... and we’re not quite sure why we do it. Why do we slave away, day in and day out? For you, dear reader? That’s what you think. The truth is we’ve dug ourselves into a deep, dark whole. We thought it’d be HEROIC to spruce up our resumes with fancy titles like “editor” and “reporter,” but as newspapers fold throughout the country, we’re beginning to think perhaps it would have been smarter to do something else ... like run for student trustee. Or maybe even the Student Assembly. OK. We went too far with that last one. And to imagine that WVBR VILLAINOUSLY thinks they can buy us out with some late night pizza ...