Brian Morowczynski/Chronicle

Student award revoked for speaking out

Students of all ages around the country have been voicing their opinions about the issues surrounding the war with Iraq. We can walk out, protest and chant because it is our right. But now a university has decided that they have the power to censor it.

Elizabeth Monnin, a senior at Tufts University in Boston, had her Senior Award for academic achievement and leadership revoked after participating in a protest during President Bush’s speech at the campus on Feb. 26. The protest drew a crowd of more than 4,800 students, faculty and administrators.

Monnin’s rights may not have been taken away, but she was punished for exercising them.

It was the first time the award has been withdrawn in the 48 years that the honor has been given out.
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John West/Chronicle www.johnwestcomics.com

Higher education needs diversity

America is a diverse nation, and institutes of higher education need to reflect this mix of cultures. Within the Columbia campus alone, minority students make up 31 percent of the student body, according to the fall 2002 fact book prepared by the Office of Planning and Institutional Research.

Yet since racism still exists, so do the people who try to keep segregation alive.

Stanley Rothman, a professor at Smith College, recently authored a study aimed to prove that diversity causes racial tension on campuses; therefore sacrificing the quality of education.
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John West/Chronicle www.johnwestcomics.com Donald Rumsfeld: Secretary of Defense

There’s nothing like living on your own

OK, so I admit that I am jealous of the students who live on campus. As I stood waiting for the bus during this past cruel winter, I mumbled obscenities under my breath at my fellow classmates who walked merely blocks to get inside their warm apartments before talking off their scarves, hats, gloves, coats and other necessary frost attire.

I dreaded the ride home, not knowing how long the unpredictable CTA would take to get me there. After a long, exhausting day of classes and headaches and homework, I ached to live closer to school.

But now spring is here. The weather hasn’t been quite as nice as I’d hoped it would be, but at least the bite is gone from this windy city. Flip-flops and tank tops are making appearances, and the glimmer of the beautiful weather to come is shining through.

And, like every spring during my three years here at Columbia, my bitter winter attitude melts away and I remember why I appreciate living off campus.
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Columbia's Voices

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