To the Editors,

The newest report issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, comprised of the world’s leading scientists, concluded with at least 90 percent certainty that human activities are the primary cause of global warming.

Fortunately, the report also makes clear that we can still avoid many of the worst effects of global warming by reducing emissions of the pollutants that cause global warming from our cars, trucks and power plants. We can achieve those reductions by making our cars go farther on a gallon of gas, improving the efficiency of our homes and offices and switching to clean energy sources like wind power, solar power and biofuels.

Global warming leaders in the House and Senate have introduced legislation called the Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act (S. 309) that would achieve the 80 percent reduction in emissions by 2050 that is necessary to avoid the worst effects of global warming. This bill puts forth many provisions including emissions standards for vehicles and power plants, a research and development program and requirements for decreasing carbon generation.

We should urge Sherrod Brown and George Voinovich, Ohio’s senators, to both co-sponsor the Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act and provide much needed leadership and support on this very important and urgent environmental issue.

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To the Editors,

I remember spending my last winter in Oberlin trying to figure out what in the world I was going to do after I left. How would I spend my days if I wasn’t relaxing in Wilder Bowl on Friday afternoon reading the Review, cooking meals in the co-op or falling asleep in a womb chair when I was supposed to be reading? Luckily for me, I found the perfect after college job…I joined Teach For America.

Less than three months after graduation, I found myself in the Mississippi Delta facing a class full of high school students as their algebra teacher. I was drawn in by Teach For America’s posters which were all over the mail room: “Help to level the playing field, even in schools that don’t have one.” I admit it; I was drawn to Oberlin since I wanted to “make a difference.” Teach for America was the next logical step.

I knew there was educational inequality in this country, but that knowledge did not prepare me for what I found in the classroom. My high school students entered my algebra classes not knowing how to do simple multiplication, a third grade skill. They had passed from grade to grade based on their polite behavior or their neat handwriting, but not because they had any real knowledge. They were not used to having a teacher who expected them to work hard, but they rose to meet the challenge. They came in after school for extra tutoring, they spent their lunches learning and they shared their lives with me. Not only did I become part of the town of Indianola, I became part of a national movement to address the serious educational inequality still present in this country. My students could not dream of going to Oberlin — I, and thousands of other corps members across the country, were working to change that.

I am proud that my fellow Oberlin graduates also put their principles into action by joining Teach For America. My high school in Mississippi had three Oberlin graduates teaching there for a total of seven years! The students not only knew about Oberlin, they assumed that teaching was what Oberlin graduates did.

My experiences at Oberlin led me to join Teach For America. If you, like me, believe that every child in our nation has the right to an excellent education, I challenge you to help make that dream a reality. I invite you to apply for Teach For America’s 2007 corps. The final deadline is Feb. 18, 2007.

Together we can make a real difference in the lives of thousands of children across our nation. I encourage you to be “fearless.” Take the leap and make a difference. 

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To the Editors,

The Lorain County Rape Crisis Center offers the following resources to anyone in need of sexual assault support services:

· Sexual Assault Care Unit – collection of evidence

· Legal Advocacy

· Child Advocacy

· One-on-one support and education for survivors of sexual assault/abuse

· One-on-one support and education to significant others of survivors

· Curriculum-based support and education group

· Community education

The confidential advocacy hotline is 440-282-2335 and is staffed by Rape Crisis from 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Monday–Friday. The after hours hotline is 1-800-888-6161. Please ask for rape crisis on-call advocate. Please note that the 800 number for the hotline cannot be accessed from a cell phone with a long-distance area code, and students will need to use a land phone to call the hotline or use the local number (440-282-2296).

All services provided at Lorain County Rape Crisis follow the rape crisis model of support and education and the belief and focus that all sexual abuse is about power and control, therefore, examined first and foremost as a crime of violence. Furthermore, services are free and anonymous.

The Lorain Rape Crisis Center also trains and utilizes volunteers both for community education and to answer the hotline. Hotline volunteers include Oberlin College students, Lorain County residents, people of color, people interested in the justice system, bilingual people and LGBT persons.

If you would like to receive training for hotline services or have any questions about the Lorain County Rape Crisis Services, please email Carletta McCoy at CMcCoy@nordcenter.org.

For information about sexual assault, please see www.oberlin.edu/sexualassault.