This past summer, on a hot Saturday afternoon back home in Oklahoma, I decided to take my car to the dealership for an oil change. Not surprisingly, this dealership is located in between a bunch of other dealerships. But the interesting thing is that located right across the street from these dealerships is a cemetery. This is the cemetery where my aunt’s grave is located.

To the Editor:

Re: “Assembly members defend decisions,” Letters, Nov. 3

Some Background:

The Student Assembly invited Cornell Cinema to apply for activity fee funding in the late 1980s. At that time, and since its inception in 1970, the Cinema has been a hybrid organization, run by a professional staff, with students serving in an advisory capacity and as employees actively engaged in the organization. There are legions of Cornell alums who were involved with the Cinema as students and consider that involvement to be a significant part of their Cornell experience.

I attended exactly three films put on by Cornell Cinema last year. In descending order of theater packedness: The Dark Knight; Waltz With Bashir; L’Enfant Sauvage. The first of these films was, well, awesome — as in the biblical sense of the word (not the contemporary, frater-natural lexicon). Waltz With Bashir was gripping — as in this graphic-novel looking thing gripped my throat and coerced me into caring about a massacre I had never heard of. L’Enfant Sauvage was boring — as in I was bored. The 18th Century frog doctor and his feral friend left me squirming in my seat before the Twizzlers and popcorn were all eaten.

Some things are never quite left behind from high school: the acne, the immaturity, the insecurities, the need for social acceptance, but most importantly, the unexplainable urge to create drama. We all claim to hate it and that we’re too good for it. But, come on. Who are we kidding? We’re not in high school, but our mentality is perpetually stuck in it. We thrive on drama because it’s probably the most exciting thing that happens in Ithaca other than a frat party and maybe acing a prelim. It always starts with something small. Then through a series of he-said-she-said miscommunications, one thing leads to another until it finally explodes and turns into an episode of Gossip Girl. And I’m not going to deny it: girls do start most, if not all, of the drama and insist on adding fuel to the fire. Sometimes, for absolutely no reason. Just because, y’know, you have to tell someone if Amanda is being, like, such a bitch — gawd!

When I made my debut in the Opinion section, I advocated a different type of diversity: diversity of thoughts and ideas. Since then, I have avoided that topic, as I consider it too much of a cliché, but a few years later, the time is now ripe to revive this concept with a new twist.

No matter who they side with, those who fail to consider the diverse array of perspectives in composing their arguments are destined to produce poor sketches of their own arguments.

The words “by-line funding” seem to punctuate the arguments of people feuding over Cornell Cinema budget allocations more often than defenders of the cinema smoke cloves and talk about what hipsters they are (ahem, Sun arts staff). But one thing seems amiss in these impassioned debates — few actually know what the heck by-line funding is. So, we here at the Berry Patch have spent the last three-and-a-half minutes digging through the annals of the Student Assembly Charter to bring you the facts you need to know about by-line funding (and our feeble attempt to interpret them) ...

What is By-Line Funding?

To the Editor:

Re: “Bio Major Removes Intro Course; Two Electives to Take Its Place,” News, Nov. 2

This article states: “The instructors of the introductory courses, however, did not play a major role during the deliberation process” and that “the members of the committee were unavailable for comment.”

I believe these two statements to be true.

Students comprise 98 percent of Ithaca’s fourth ward, the district which encompasses Collegetown. Due in part to student apathy and to the disproportionate political influence of the neighborhood’s small minority of permanent residents, students living in Collegetown frequently find their voices marginalized in city politic — an unfortunate reality for a population that contributes so much to the local economy. This is reason alone to fully endorse Eddie Rooker ’09 to represent Ithaca’s fourth ward on the Common Council.

To the Editor:

Re: “Budget Cut Bingo,” Halloween Special Section, Oct. 31

I found the Budget Cut Bingo board to be highly offensive. Sure, plenty of economic downfall references and jokes are thrown around here and there, but for anyone to say “Bear Necessities will accept FOOD STAMPS” is downright inappropriate. Do you know just how extreme emotions can run with the little tickets?

To the Editor:

Re: “In Defense of Our Cinema,” Opinion, Nov. 2

Thanks to The Sun, I’ve heard the different sides of the Student Assembly vs. the Cornell Cinema funding controversy. I like to believe that I am unbiased in the subject. Have I attended movies and programs at the Cornell Cinema? Yes. Have I waited on line to attend an event at the Cornell Cinema only to be told I was on the wrong line and the event is now full? Yes. Have I applied for and obtained funding for a student organization from the Student Assembly? Yes. Have I been told because I didn’t correctly state an estimate in my budget that I was not getting funding? Yes. It’s safe to say that I’ve had a good and bad relationship with the Cornell Cinema and Student Assembly.