Spring Break
Letters to the Editor
Issue date: 2/10/06 Section: Editorials
African-American Read-In excluded
With anticipation, I picked up Tuesday's Student. I smiled as I read the article about Brandi Chastain and Rick Reilly's friendly banter, wondered who would ever want to change a name like "Hole in the Wall," and felt angry as I considered the Miami "bubble" that keeps us safe from issues like the Iraq War and globalization in Asia. While all these articles were compelling and interesting, what I was really eager to read about was the 17th Annual African American Read-In.
When I got to the end of the paper, however, I realized that it had been left out. Another exclusion of a voice that Miami University does not hear often enough.
For the past three years, I have attended and read at the read-in, as part of a small group of professors, students and community members who participate in a nationwide event that has more than a million readers simultaneously reading works by African-American writers (unfortunately, Oxford does not seem to be contributing much to this count).
At this year's read-in, there was a wide range of materials, including selections of Letters from a Birmingham Jail read by Oxford's mayor, poetry by Nikki Giovanni and children's literature books, with the featured speaker being Joyce Carol Thomas, a renowned children's author with a small voice but great passion.
Yet how many students at Miami knew of this amalgamation of individuals and works of literature?
Not enough. To add further insult, nothing was included in The Student, so that next year, when the 18th Annual African American Read-In comes along, we'll still be reading articles on white sports figures and uptown bars, rather than reading an article that discusses how many were in attendance at an event that seeks to give voice to writers who are sometimes unjustly ignored.
LISA YORK
yorklm@muohio.edu
Vaughn refutes judicial use of Facebook.com
I felt compelled to respond to the article "Judicial affairs joins Facebook" in the Jan. 31 edition of The Miami Student because of its numerous inaccuracies.First and foremost, it was made very clear to the reporter that the Office of Ethics and Student Conflict Resolution, formerly the Office of Judicial Affairs, does not use Facebook as a means of seeking out photos that might incriminate students. Secondly, the Office of Ethics and Student Conflict Resolution does not have a profile as suggested by the headline. Thirdly, the Office of Ethics and Student Conflict Resolution does not advocate the use of Facebook as a means of bringing disciplinary charges against students nor is there evidence to suggest the police use it for such purposes. It is unfortunate that the article included so many errors, but it did help call attention to the fact that Facebook information is accessible to others. While university officials do not scan the pages of Facebook looking for violations, users of Facebook would do well to remember that the pages are largely in the public domain. Individuals involved in judicial cases can bring information from Facebook into their case if they choose, at which time this information could be used by the office. As evidenced by recent news reports, people posting on Facebook and other sites like it have encountered everything from stalking, to denied admission to grad school, to employers questioning the college activities of an applicant. Posting personal information on Facebook is technologically akin to posting it on your front door and it could certainly come back to haunt you in a variety of ways.
With anticipation, I picked up Tuesday's Student. I smiled as I read the article about Brandi Chastain and Rick Reilly's friendly banter, wondered who would ever want to change a name like "Hole in the Wall," and felt angry as I considered the Miami "bubble" that keeps us safe from issues like the Iraq War and globalization in Asia. While all these articles were compelling and interesting, what I was really eager to read about was the 17th Annual African American Read-In.
When I got to the end of the paper, however, I realized that it had been left out. Another exclusion of a voice that Miami University does not hear often enough.
For the past three years, I have attended and read at the read-in, as part of a small group of professors, students and community members who participate in a nationwide event that has more than a million readers simultaneously reading works by African-American writers (unfortunately, Oxford does not seem to be contributing much to this count).
At this year's read-in, there was a wide range of materials, including selections of Letters from a Birmingham Jail read by Oxford's mayor, poetry by Nikki Giovanni and children's literature books, with the featured speaker being Joyce Carol Thomas, a renowned children's author with a small voice but great passion.
Yet how many students at Miami knew of this amalgamation of individuals and works of literature?
Not enough. To add further insult, nothing was included in The Student, so that next year, when the 18th Annual African American Read-In comes along, we'll still be reading articles on white sports figures and uptown bars, rather than reading an article that discusses how many were in attendance at an event that seeks to give voice to writers who are sometimes unjustly ignored.
LISA YORK
yorklm@muohio.edu
Vaughn refutes judicial use of Facebook.com
I felt compelled to respond to the article "Judicial affairs joins Facebook" in the Jan. 31 edition of The Miami Student because of its numerous inaccuracies.First and foremost, it was made very clear to the reporter that the Office of Ethics and Student Conflict Resolution, formerly the Office of Judicial Affairs, does not use Facebook as a means of seeking out photos that might incriminate students. Secondly, the Office of Ethics and Student Conflict Resolution does not have a profile as suggested by the headline. Thirdly, the Office of Ethics and Student Conflict Resolution does not advocate the use of Facebook as a means of bringing disciplinary charges against students nor is there evidence to suggest the police use it for such purposes. It is unfortunate that the article included so many errors, but it did help call attention to the fact that Facebook information is accessible to others. While university officials do not scan the pages of Facebook looking for violations, users of Facebook would do well to remember that the pages are largely in the public domain. Individuals involved in judicial cases can bring information from Facebook into their case if they choose, at which time this information could be used by the office. As evidenced by recent news reports, people posting on Facebook and other sites like it have encountered everything from stalking, to denied admission to grad school, to employers questioning the college activities of an applicant. Posting personal information on Facebook is technologically akin to posting it on your front door and it could certainly come back to haunt you in a variety of ways.
