On a cold and rainy night this past Friday evening, members of the Board of Trustees, scurrying from dinner to a gala in Bailey Hall, were met with an unlikely greeting: peaceful, yet pronounced, student protest.

A self-described “coalition of students of color” staged the protest to shine light on what they consider to be a lack of administrative support for the needs of various minority communities on campus. Among these concerns were minimal financial resources for Asian and Asian-American students, neglect of student input in the decision to reassign Ujamaa Residential Housing Director Ken Glover and insufficient staffing at the Office of Minority Educational Affairs.

To the Editor:

Re: “Race, Empire and Palestine: A World View,” Opinion, Oct. 22

I was deeply offended by this column. The author’s claims of Israel’s imperialism and racist policies simply do not bear out in practice.

The author appeals to the discredited notion that Zionism is racism in order to support his claim of Israeli apartheid. He also confuses Judaism as a religion with Jews as an ethnic group. Zionism is the belief in an ethnic Jewish right to self-determination in the historical Jewish homeland, the type of right the author surely supports for Palestinians.

The Sun’s Public Editor Rob Tricchinelli has written a column for today’s paper (published right above me) about the interactions between the newspaper and our readers (adoring fans, as I like to call you). And I think that is a great idea, so I am going to take the Cornell route, and rip him off. I have absolutely no idea what he is going to write about, but I am just going to give you the straight dope about my interactions with readers.

For example, two weeks ago I wrote a column. A week later, I had something stolen from me. Vandalism or fan-mail? The jury is still out. Literally.

To the Editor:

Re: “Race, Empire and Palestine: A World View,” Opinion, Oct. 22

We are former Sun columnists who have written in the past about the Arab-Israeli conflict, and understand that the issue is fraught with complexity. While we are proud that The Sun publishes a range of viewpoints, rambling columns that feature demonstrably false “facts” undermine the credibility of the Sun as a whole.

To the Editor:

Re: “Lights Out,” Opinion, Oct. 19

As a member of the staff community who frequently works late at night in my overnight-locked up building, I regret the policy that hall lights must stay on all night. It seems such a waste, but I am literally not permitted to turn off the lights when I leave.

The relationship between The Sun and its readers should be a two-way street. The paper’s coverage, obviously, is a gateway through which the campus community can stay informed. But the paper is ultimately beholden to its readers, and reader feedback must be one element to guide The Sun’s decision-makers in their overall vision for the paper.

Marijuana law reform is back at the forefront of national debate after the Obama Administration’s new guidelines on medical marijuana investigation and prosecution came out Oct. 19. The federal government’s new stance comes as a relief to the many users and suppliers of marijuana for medical purposes and is seen by some as a move towards a more liberalized drug enforcement policy in the nation generally. However, with all the excitement over the new policy comes a wakeup call for the states which have legalized medical marijuana use or are considering such legislation. Inconsistent regulation, vague standards and patchwork enforcement are threatening to stall marijuana law reform.

It’s that time of the year again. You know, when the grass on campus is meticulously trimmed and the landscaping is immaculate, all of which is meant to impress them HEROIC trustees who are here for their semi-annual trek to Ithaca. It’s just like parent’s visiting day at sleep away camp, when the VILLAINOUS sloppy joes would be replaced with HEROIC steak just for the day, so you could convince your parents that their money was being well spent ...

[Editor’s Note: This column is the second installment of a two part series, the first half of which appeared in yesterday’s Sun.]

What does it take for a group of people to be listened to — to be heard loud and clear? Riots, rallies, picketing and sit-ins are so ’60s. It is the age of Facebook groups, twittering and blogs; but it should not always have to come to such things.