As the plane prepared to land, I looked out the window and noticed the lush, green and fertile ground of New Orleans. I realized that I would be immersed in a rich and diverse culture for the next few days. However, walking past a decrepit and abandoned building later that afternoon, the emanating smell of mildew provided a visceral reminder that Hurricane Katrina was still a fresh piece of the city’s history. Many people are still displaced, without homes or jobs. This was part of the reason for holding the V to the Tenth celebration in New Orleans — Ensler wanted to bring 12,000 women of the Katrina Diaspora to come back to their hometown for a celebration in “Superlove,” the temporary name of the Superdome. The women were welcomed with yoga lounges, health and well-being lounges, and make-overs given by professional volunteers from around the country.

What I learned from this weekend was that women’s issues are not just for women — they incorporate all aspects of society, and therefore concern everyone. My mind keeps taking me back to the image of the main stage, with its vagina-shaped backdrop. Although it’s a cute, clever image, it also speaks about the underlying theme, that for too long the word “vagina” has been placed in parentheses, silenced and associated with shame. V-Day is about opening mouths, hearts and minds and listening to what has been silenced for too long. For ten years, it has been doing just that.

Founded in 1951 by the Chairman of Traditions, the aim of Dandelion Day was to give students a well deserved break before the finals period commenced.  The Provost would cancel classes, and the day was marked by field-day events.  However, as decades passed, the focus of Dandelion Day diverged away from this.  Spirit events, traditions, and activities were replaced in the 1970s by a carnival atmosphere and beer trucks.  Dandelion Day had become a liability, not a celebration, for the University. Many have resigned to the fact that students are unsafe on Dandelion Day, and therefore it must end. We disagree with this conclusion. Dandelion Day can be preserved, but first it must change.  It must return to its original spirit. This is our aim.

This year, we plan on restoring the field day atmosphere.  It is important to get students outside by engaging them in safe and coordinated activities. This will be possible thanks to the creativity and generosity of many student groups. In addition to programming, we will also be providing live entertainment. Though we cannot name them here, there will be several musical performances outside of Wilson Commons throughout the day. This will provide a central location, the Wilson Quadrangle, for the various programs and entertainment.

We are also providing food for you. Both Uncle Dickie and Nancy’s Fried Dough have agreed to appear. Additionally, Cam Schauf, director of dining services and auxiliary operations, has been incredibly helpful.  He has agreed to allow student Declining and URos donations to offset the cost of food. We raised over $2,500 in two days to pay for free pizza and bagels during the day.

Although our efforts thus far have been successful, we still have a long way to go. We urge student groups to contact us about coordinating various activities throughout the day. Also, we continue to search for sober volunteers. Helping to coordinate Dandelion Day will be both fun and rewarding. Volunteers will be able to say they took an active role in preserving this tradition. The entire student body will be rewarded for your contributions.

As we approach Dandelion Day, the four of us have been filled with both fear and excitement. Our journey to coordinate the day’s events is a dynamic one – every time we find ourselves in a hole, another administrator or student group is there to help us out. Although this success has created a great sense of optimism, we are still fearful that everyone’s time and money will go to waste. The only way this day can be successful is if students stay safe. Members of MERT, ROTC, and Sigma Beta Rho are sacrificing their day to do this. But the only real chance we have at throwing a safe Dandelion Day is if students act responsibly. We ask that you to come outside and enjoy the festivities. Do not sit in your room trying to discover how much vodka your stomach can hold. If you are going to drink, make sure you know your limits and do not exceed them.

Dandelion Day has the potential to continue being an incredibly fun festival for many years to come. But, its success lies in the hands of all 4,000 of us. Let us not rob future students of this exciting and highly anticipated tradition. Our behavior this year will determine the future of Dandelion Day in years to come.  Please contact us at sapres@mail.rochester.edu if you are willing to help us.

These exceptions may seem reasonable until you consider the justifications for the new meal plans in the first place. Residential Life and Dining argued that kitchen availability, not seniority, should determine meal plan requirements. Special Interest Housing groups have the same kitchen access as everyone else in their dorms and should therefore have to follow the same meal plan rules as students only a floor above or below. Moreover, Residential Life is subsidizing dining to allow Residential Advisors to have lower meal plans than they would normally be required to. These changes undermine the legitimacy of the reasoning provided for the meal plan changes, showing that Residential Life does not think its staff should be subjected to this “logic” and is willing to consider the needs of specific Special Interest Housing groups before those of the undergraduate community as whole.

If Residential Life and Dining are willing to make exceptions for some students, why not make them for all? No student wanting to live on campus should feel pressured by high-priced meal plans in their choice of housing. It is clear from Residential Life’s willingness to grant exceptions that they know the concept of linking meal plans to housing holds little merit. It would be appropriate of them to admit their mistake and change meal plan options for everyone rather than granting inconsistent exceptions.

The practice of nonviolence is truly a beautiful lifestyle — one that all should aspire too. But just because the belief is an ideal does not mean that it is something we should disregard as a practical feature of our lifestyle.

M. K. Gandhi was extraordinary; by this I do not mean that he was inhuman or capable of feats everyone else is incapable of. We can mirror Gandhi’s portrayal of nonviolence by incorporating, bit-by-bit, aspects in accordance with his lifestyle. This is easily attributable to everyday life, for if one is transform his or her thinking by considering how simple situations can be handled nonviolently, then actions will quickly follow.

Those who immediately disregard nonviolence as an impractical, idealist fancy, must consider that their own disregard for the belief system is, excuse the expression, out of ignorance. If only we were to take small steps in its practice, then soon we could remake our world — whether that term applies to your own personal world or a larger space around us — in a nonviolent fashion.

Arun Gandhi was a strong practitioner of nonviolence. One should reconsider denouncing his nature because of one poorly written blog post; such conflict is only more violence added to the world. Of all consequences rooted in his blog post, I believe Arun Gandhi would consider that the worst.

The Campus Times was founded in 1873 and enjoyed a 127-year honeymoon as a print newspaper before breaking through to the Internet in the year 2000, emerging victorious from the wreckage of the late ’90s Dot-Com bubble. Today, the circulation amounts to 5,000 print copies and 8,000 e-mail subscriptions, with untold numbers of additional visitors to www.campustimes.org. The year 2008 marks the CT’s boldest venture yet into the uncertain waters of the Internet, as we follow in the grand tradition of visionaries from Mark Cuban to Tila Tequila by creating a blog.

We are excited about our latest effort to stay relevant and join newspapers nationwide in incorporating 21st century technology. The blog gives the CT the ability to serve the University more frequently and less formally. It is a reason for students to check out the CT Web site more than once a week and get quick but authoritative insights on major campus events as soon as they happen. The Alumni section will provide perspective into life after college and maybe offer career advice from some world-wizened alumni. Eventually, an Editor’s Notebook will give CT editors the opportunity to explain their editorial decisions and respond to criticisms or suggestions from the student body, and after that, the future is wide open.

Most importantly, this blog is an opportunity for UR students and alumni to get involved with the newspaper and ensure its continued success and relevance. Want to voice your idea for the best possible Dining plan? Have a response to the actions of the administration or Student Government, or the United States government, for that matter? Yearn for a venue to share your discovery of Rochester’s next great restaurant the rest of campus? This is the place to speak out in front of your peers and the whole UR community on subjects that matter to you, both campus-related and nationally focused.

So don’t be shy, get involved. E-mail editor@campustimes.org if you want to write, or stop by and visit us at Wilson Commons 102.

Sincerely,
Ben Wrobel
Editor-in-Chief

We’ve posed the question, “What were you thinking?” to Mr. Spitzer all too many times. Maybe the power he had as a result of his position as governor gave him the mistaken impression that he was invincible and somehow outside of the law. His last call girl, “Kristen,” was touted as a five-foot-five “pretty brunette,” while sources have said the “Emperor’s Club” Web site enjoyed bragging about how their girls were, of all things, “well-educated.” Never mind that Mr. Spitzer already has a pretty, well educated brunette at home in his wife and, as if it couldn’t get more awkward, 22-year-old “Kristen” is only a few years older than his eldest daughter, Elyssa.

But Harvard-educated Silda Wall Spitzer isn’t even the biggest victim in the fiasco. Mr. Spitzer’s three daughters have it the toughest out of the bunch, for their dad will always be known as the guy who threw away an extraordinary career to be involved in a prostitution ring for an embarrassing amount of money. His daughters are smart girls who have their whole lives ahead of them and they shouldn’t have to deal with this cloud of shame hanging over their heads.

As upset as I am that New Yorkers, including myself, were lied to in an overdose of hypocrisy, my heart goes out to the Spitzer family. I cannot even fathom what they must be going through. It’s time for the media to lay off the matter for the sake of the Spitzers and let them re-piece their lives in private.