Guest Room
Interested in submitting a Guest Column?We accept submissions from all members of the community on a piece-by-piece basis. Guest Room columns should be no longer than 800 words. They may speak to pertinent issues in the news. Pieces that seek to correct or critique previous coverage in The Sun, however, may be better suited as letters (see below for more information). Accepted Guest Room authors often speak to subjects with an exceptional level of expertise and/or involvement, or are able to provide fresh and unheard perspectives to critical issues. We do not publish columns written by student groups (no political endorsements from campus political groups). However, we do accept columns by members and leaders of campus groups who speak as individuals. Please send Guest Room submissions to opinion@cornellsun.com
Letters
Interested in writing a Letter to the Editor?All are welcome and encouraged to submit letters to the Editor. Letters should be capped at 250 words. All letters must be signed &em; we do not publish anonymous letters under normal circumstances. Please send letters to opinion@cornellsun.com. Include your name, evening phone number and your graduating year if applicable. The Sun reserves the right to edit for clarity, content and space.
Opinion
Top Story
Who Owns the Moon?
November 20, 2009 - 2:17amTowards the end of my first year of law school I, like most of my classmates, attended a meeting in preparation for the writing competition. The writing competition is used for the law journals at Cornell to select their associates for the next year. At this meeting all the journals gave a brief presentation and distributed a handout providing information on their journal; during the presentation for one of the journals, I noticed that when they formed they originally funded themselves with a bake sale. This struck me as an excellent idea, and I decided I wanted to start my own law journal, The Cornell Journal of Space Law, which I would fund by selling cookies shaped like rocket ships, the sun, etc. (if this idea failed it was suggested to me that I should solicit Richard Branson for funds). While I never followed through with this idea, I do actually remain very interested in space law as a field, and many law students still approach me to discuss or joke about space law.
Other Columns
Speaking Out: Beyond Fiscal Resources
November 20, 2009 - 2:17am“To ensure that our community embraces and supports individuals from all racial, ethnic, religious, gender, sexual orientation, class, disability, and nationality groups in their chosen pursuits.”
— A Cornell Diversity Goal
As Cornell students, we feel that the University must boost its efforts to support Asian and Asian American students, henceforth collectively called “Asian” due to limited space.
Speaking Out: Need Broad-Based Inclusion
November 20, 2009 - 2:17am“We honor [our] legacy of diversity and inclusion and welcome all individuals, including those from groups that historically have been marginalized and previously excluded from equal access to opportunity.”
— Cornell’s Statement on Diversity
The words diversity, inclusion and multiculturalism are often used interchangeably. But what do these words really mean to our University community and how are they applied on our campus? Diversity and multiculturalism imply the inclusion of all cultures and all identities. When we talk about inclusion, we often focus on the minorities whose needs and struggles are not adequately addressed by the majority. Historically, “minority” in the United States has been synonymous with people of color.
The S.A.: Making Decisions to Whose Benefit?
November 19, 2009 - 2:19amThomas Jefferson, one of my personal heroes — and one hell of a legislator — once said, “Power is not alluring to pure minds.” If Jefferson were to sit in on some of the backdoor politicking currently going on in the Student Assembly, he would think that our minds are as dirty as a New Jersey sewer. Thus, when I evaluate the actions of the S.A., I like to follow the logic of a different politician: the ancient Roman judge, Lucius Cassius, who would repeatedly ask himself, “Cui bono?” which literally means “To whose benefit?”
Sucker Punched: Exploring Race and Privilege
November 19, 2009 - 2:19amWhite privilege. Despite my pale, freckled, Irish and Swedish skin (trust me, it doesn’t get much paler than this), it’s not something I really think about on a regular basis.
At least until I go home to Massachusetts. My aunt, whose skin is just as pale and freckled as mine, is a professor at Tufts, teaching classes such as “African American History since 1865” and “Class, Race and Gender in the History of U.S. Education.” She dedicated her education and career to learning about the events that have created white privilege (she acknowledges, ironically, that she occupies a position of privilege as a professor at a majority-white university).
So every time I come home, I am reminded — reprimanded, almost — of the white privilege that my life has been steeped in. My family not only acknowledges our white privilege, but constantly points it out to each other so that we do not take our opportunities for granted.
Editorial
The Student Voice Reverberates
November 19, 2009 - 2:19amToday, thousands of student activists from around the country are cheering loudly — and for good reason.
A nation-wide alliance, the United Students Against Sweatshops, drove a persistent group of protesters to fight for the rights of sweatshop laborers who had been stripped of their jobs at a Russell Athletic factory after workers tried to unionize.
The ‘T’ Word and the True Threat It Poses
November 19, 2009 - 2:19amNews broke last week that the U.S. government had moved to seize four U.S. mosques and a skyscraper on Fifth Avenue, which are owned by an Iranian Muslim non-profit organization. The Alavi Foundation, the non-profit organization in question, provides many extremely important services to the Shiite Muslim community in America. Because of this, the Alavi Foundation has a lot of influence in this community.
Different Paths, Same Idea
November 18, 2009 - 1:55amMy circuitous path to Cornell included two-year stops at the U.S. Naval Academy and the Island of Borneo, where I served as a Mormon missionary. My cocktail hour inquisitors often focus their questions on the discipline and adventure of that period in my life. They want to explore the differences between Cornell and life in uniform — military or priestly. What was basic training like? How about the guns? Did you meet a headhunter? (In order: awful, awesome and I think so, but Borneo is the same as America in at least one way … you don’t just ask a guy if he’s a killer.)
The Epic Tofu Tragedy of 2009
November 18, 2009 - 1:55amAfter a grueling and torturous year of starving at Cornell, all I wanted was to go home and eat my mother’s delicious cooking for an entire summer. I wanted to walk through the kitchen on a sunny afternoon and let the tantalizing aroma envelope my body and soul. My lips would begin to quiver as I bring the food closer to my mouth. My taste buds would tingle and a glistening tear would fall down my cheek as I slowly chewed, savoring every moment, every second, thanking God that I lived to experience this once more.
Abortion’s Secular Demise
November 18, 2009 - 1:55amWhile many have hailed the passage of health care reform in the House (H.R. 3692), much anger remains after the passage of a last-minute amendment, the Stupak Amendment. Pushed for heavily by Catholic bishops, this amendment greatly restricts the use of federal funding for abortion.
While one obviously does not have to be Catholic or even religious to oppose abortion, Catholics, other Christians (including this Lutheran) and many other religious people were concerned that they may end up funding abortions with their taxes in flagrant contradiction of their religious beliefs.
